The Sportsletter - Icing on the Beach 🏝️

BY JEFF YODER

FEB. 3, 2023  |  SUBSCRIBE  |  REFER  |  WEB VIEW

Happy Friday 👋

The stars are out this weekend across the sports world. From the NHL and NFL to college football's senior bowl, it's a celebration for the best of the best. Plus, Saturday full of college hoops rivalry games feels like a March Madness teaser. Let's have some fun...

Letter Rip!

NHL ALL-STAR GAME

Hockey Hits the Beach 🏝️

Photo: Eliot J. Schechter / Getty Images

Everything You Need to Know About 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend

The hockey world heads south this weekend for the 2023 NHL All-Star festivities, hosted by the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida. It’s hockey on the beach, and it kicks off the first of three all-star sporting events this month — NHL, NFL and NBA. The All-Star Skills competition is tonight (7:00 pm ET) before tomorrow’s All-Star Game. There are 44 All-Stars with one representative from each team and 12 additional skaters voted in by the fans. The four divisional teams will play two head-to-head games to find the winning division. Here’s a look at the schedule and the All-Star lineups.

NHL All-Star Weekend

2023 NHL All-Star Skills Events (Fri. 7:00 pm ET)

• Splash Shot
• Pitch ’n’ Puck
• Tendy Tandem
• Fastest Skater
• Hardest Shot
• Breakaway Challenge
• Accuracy Shooting

2023 NHL All-Star Game

Central vs. Pacific (Sat. 3:00 pm ET)

Metropolitan vs. Atlantic (Sat. 4:00 pm ET)

Full NHL All-Star Rosters

Additional Storylines

NHL: 2023 NHL All-Star Skills Participants Announced

ESPN: NHL All-Star Game: Ranking Every All-Star Player’s Second-Half Impact

NBA

Greek Freak Gets 50... Again

Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images

Giannis Antetokounmpo Puts Up 54-Point Night; 3rd 50-Point Game in Last Month

We’re starting to sound like a broken record (pun intended), but he’s done it again. Another 50-piece for the Greek Freak? Giannis Antetokounmpo (54 points, 19 rebounds) led the Bucks back from a 21-point deficit to beat the Clippers last night in Milwaukee, and he scored 20 of his 54 in the fourth quarter. The Bucks are winners of six straight games — the NBA’s best active win streak — and they’ve climbed past the 76ers for second in the East. But the real story is the league’s historic scoring clip that just keeps going, and Giannis is just the latest superstar to pop off for 50-plus. He’s dropped 50 three times in the last month, and he also scored 40-or-more points 11 different times this season. Records are falling in 2023. Who will be next to fire a 50-piece?

Watch: Giannis Scores 54 in Bucks’ Comeback Against Clippers (106-105)

Other NBA Highlights

LeBron’s Scoring Chase: The Lakers eked out a win on the road against the Pacers (112-111) thanks to Anthony Davis’s go-ahead bucket to cap a 31-point, 14-rebound night. LeBron James netted 26 points, and he’s now 63 away from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record.

Cavs-Grizz Scuffle: The Cavaliers outlasted the Grizzlies last night in Cleveland (128-113), but Donovan Mitchell and Dillon Brooks were both ejected after a scuffle in the third quarter. Mitchell had scored just six points in a frustrating performance before he threw the ball at Brooks after a flagrant foul.

Joker’s 17th Triple-Double: Another night, another triple-double for Nikola Jokic. Just a casual 22-16-14 night marked his league-leading 17th triple-double of the season. Jamal Murray added 33 points as the Nuggets handed the Warriors a beating (134-117).

NCAA

College Hoops: Big Nights 👏

Women: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark Drops 42 Points

A top-10 matchup in the Big Ten turned into a track meet on Thursday night as #6 Iowa beat #8 Maryland (96-82) courtesy of star sharpshooter Caitlin Clark. Clark drilled six 3s and finished with a final stat line of 42 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.

Men: Arizona’s Azuolas Tubelis Scores 40 Points

A Pac-12 showcase pitted #5 Arizona hosting Oregon, and the Wildcats won their fifth straight with ease (91-76). In the process, Lithuanian big man Azuolas Tubelis poured in a career-high 40 points — the most by an Arizona player in 28 years.

THE STORYLINES

🏀 LeBron’s Scoring Chase

Consistency, longevity and durability have carried the four-time champion during a 20-year career whose strength is in the numbers. LeBron James — “King of the Grind” — relies on three traits as he closes in on the NBA’s all-time scoring title. (USA Today)

🏈 Raiders, Rodgers, Reunion?

With Tom Brady no longer an option for the Las Vegas Raiders, thanks to the legend's retirement, perhaps they will look to reunite Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers in 2023. The Raiders receiver is making his case for Rodgers for in black and silver. (Bleacher Report)

💰 Rise of the Same-Game Parlay

Same-game parlays, or SGPs, have emerged as not only one of the most popular bets on the board for bettors but also one of the most profitable for bookmakers. And this year’s Super Bowl is no exception. (ESPN)

🗓️ WEEKEND SCHEDULE

The Must-Watch List

Get ready for a weekend of specialty events on the sports calendar alongside a rivalry-packed weekend in college hoops. The NHL All-Star and NFL Pro Bowl festivities overlap this weekend, and NASCAR returns with its first race of 2023. We’ll recap everything on Monday. Enjoy!

NHL All-Star Weekend

2023 NHL All-Star Skills Event (Fri. 7:00 pm)

2023 NHL All-Star Game (Sat. 3:00 pm)

Football (Special Events)

College Football Senior Bowl (Sat. 2:30 pm)

NFL Pro Bowl (Sun. 3:00 pm)

NBA

Suns at Celtics (Fri. 7:30 pm)

Lakers at Pelicans (Sat. 6:00 pm)

Heat at Bucks (Sat. 8:00 pm)

Mavericks at Warriors (Sat. 8:30 pm)

76ers at Knicks (Sun. 6:00 pm)

Full NBA Schedule

NCAA Men’s Basketball

#6 Virginia at Virginia Tech (Sat. Noon)

#8 Kansas at #13 Iowa State (Sat. Noon)

#25 Auburn at #2 Tennessee (Sat. 2:00 pm)

#1 Purdue at #21 Indiana (Sat. 4:00 pm)

#4 Alabama at LSU (Sat. 4:00 pm)

#10 Texas at #7 Kansas State (Sat. 4:00 pm)

Duke at North Carolina (Sat. 6:30 pm)

#12 Gonzaga at #18 Saint Mary’s (Sat. 10:30 pm)

NCAA Women’s Basketball

#1 South Carolina at #5 UConn (Sun. Noon)

#11 North Carolina at Louisville (Sun. Noon)

#16 Duke at #9 Notre Dame (Sun. 1:00 pm)

#4 Indiana at Purdue (Sun. 2:00 pm)

#10 Ohio State at #8 Maryland (Sun. 4:00 pm)

Soccer

EPL: Tottenham vs. Manchester City (Sun. 11:30 am)

ITA: Inter vs. AC Milan (Sun. 2:45 pm)

PGA Tour

Pebble Beach Pro-Am (All Weekend)

NASCAR

Clash at the Coliseum (Sun. 8:00 pm)

*All Times ET

📰 THE HEADLINES

• Dolphins Hire Vic Fangio as Defensive Coordinator (USA Today)
• Robert Kraft Wants Tom Brady to Retire as a Patriot (SI)
• Kylian Mbappe Expected to Miss PSG’s Champions League 1st Leg Against Bayern Munich (ESPN)
• Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman Expected to Miss Super Bowl LVII With Injury (B/R)
• Lakers Ticket Prices Skyrocket as LeBron James Nears Scoring Record (Yahoo! Sports)

• Bengals RB Joe Mixon Faces Arrest Warrant After Allegedly Poitning Firearm at Woman (CBS Sports)

• New York Liberty Add PG Courtney Vandersloot in Another Free Agent Signing (ESPN)

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