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What more could a sports fan ask for? A weekend of NBA All-Star history capped off an exciting Sunday after double overtime at the Daytona 500 and a new No. 1 in golf. March Madness is just weeks away, and the spring sports calendar is starting to bloom. It\’s the \”stars and cars\” edition. Let\’s get at it…
Letter Rip!
NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND
Tatum\’s 55 Caps Historic All-Star Weekend
Jayson Tatum Scores ASG-Record 55 Points as Team Giannis Defeats Team LeBron (184-175)
A weekend of fun and flare brought the NBA’s best to Salt Lake City for the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend, and teams across the league pushed pause on their playoff push for the festivities. Friday night’s Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Game got the party started before the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Contest and Dunk Contest on Saturday night. That\’s where Mac McClung left NBA fans speechless with his dunk package. On Sunday night, the league’s captains — LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo — led the fun by drafting the teams before both left early with injuries, although neither injuries were severe. Once the ball was tipped, it quickly became the Jayson Tatum show as the Celtics star put on a record-breaking performance.
Inside Tatum’s 55-Point, Record-Breaking ASG
The All-Star Draft took place in the pre-game where LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo acted as captains for a pickup game of epic proportions. Giannis took Jayson Tatum with his first pick, and it turned out to be the right choice. Tatum went off for 55 points, including ten 3s (10-for-18) en route to an All-Star Game record and the Kobe Bryant ASG MVP Award. He had 27 points in the third quarter alone — the most ever in any quarter of the All-Star Game. He also became the second player ever to knock down ten triples (Steph Curry). Tatum’s 55-point mark broke Anthony Davis’s previous ASG record of 52 points, and he became the first Celtics player to ASG MVP since Larry Bird (1982). History on overload…
How the All-Star Game Was Won
Team Giannis entered the 4th quarter with a 17-point lead (158-141), before the new format and the 24-point target score set the winning number at 182 to end the game. After Team LeBron trimmed the lead to six (181-175), Damian Lillard knocked down the dagger (184-175) and walked it off.
2023 NBA All-Star Top Performers
J. Tatum (BOS): 55 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists
D. Mitchell (CLE): 40 points, 10 assists
J. Brown (BOS): 35 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists
J. Embiid (PHI): 32 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
K. Irving (DAL): 32 points, 15 assists, 6 rebounds
D. Lillard (POR): 26 points, 4 assists
Fun Fact: Tatum is the first player in NBA history to record a 50-point game in the regular season, postseason and All-Star Game.
2023 NBA All-Star Game Highlights
Jayson Tatum’s 55-Point ASG Highlights
2023 NBA All-Star Game (Full Highlights)
Other 2023 NBA All-Star Event Highlights
Blazers’ Damian LIllard Beats Pacers Duo in 3-Point Shootout
76ers’ Mac McClung Puts On A Show in Dunk Contest
Pelicans’ Jose Alvarado Wins Rising Stars MVP
The Miz Nearly Wins NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Half-Court Game Winner
NBA regular season action returns Thursday.
Additional Storylines
B/R: Biggest Winners & Losers From 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend
Yahoo! Sports: Celtics Star Jayson Tatum’s 55 Points Earns MVP, Sets All-Star Game Record
SI: Vin Diesel Kicked Off the NBA All-Star Game With Weird Speech & Fans Were Rightfully Confused
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RACING
Daytona 500 Goes Double OT
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ends 5-Year Losing Streak With Daytona 500 Victory in Double Overtime
The wait is over! After a roller-coaster career for Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the 2023 Daytona 500 provided a milestone of epic relief. The Great American Race was one for the ages on Sunday as Stenhouse Jr. claimed just his third career NASCAR Cup Series win in 14 seasons, and his first win in the 500. The 35-year-old last won in 2017 at Talladega and Daytona’s summer race, but he ended a 199-race winless streak by winning the big one on Sunday. It was also the first Daytona 500 win for JTG Daugherty Racing.
How Stenhouse Jr. Won the 500
Sunday\’s Great American Race ended up being the longest Daytona 500 in history, requiring double overtime and 212 laps before Stenhouse Jr. narrowly beat out Joey Logano down the stretch. Unofficially, the race became the Daytona 530 before the checkered flag was waved. The overtimes were sparked by a late Stage 2 wreck that took out some of the frontrunners. And since NASCAR no longer ends on caution, another overtime wreck led to a restart where Stenhouse Jr. took the lead and held it with another crash behind him in the final laps. He started the race in 31st (out of 40) and led just 10 laps, but he held the lead in the ones that mattered most.
Daytona 500 Results
1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2. Joey Logano
3. Christopher Bell
4. Chris Buescher
5. Alex Bowman
Watch: Stenhouse Jr. Wins 65th Daytona 500
Additional Storylines
CBS Sports: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Narrowly Beats Joey Logano to Win Double OT Thriller in Daytona 500
NASCAR: Joey Logano Finishes 2nd in 2023 Daytona 500: ‘Second is the Worst, Man’
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PGA
Rahm Rolls at Riviera
Jon Rahm (-17) Wins Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club for 3rd Victory in 5 Starts
When Jon Rahm plays golf in 2023, he wins. While all the talk at the Riviera Country Club surrounded the return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour this weekend, Rahm was a wrecking ball on the leaderboard as he played nearly perfect from Thursday to Sunday. The World No. 3 jumped back to No. 1 after carding a 65-68-65-69 this weekend to hold off Sunday runs from Max Homa (-15), Patrick Cantlay (-14) and Will Zalatoris (-13). Woods carded sub-70 rounds on Thursday and Saturday, but a pair of bogey-filled slides on Friday and Sunday took him out of contention. And when the dust settled, it was Rahm, for the third time in five starts, hoisting the hardware on Sunday.
Genesis Invitational Leaderboard
1. Jon Rahm (-17)
2. Max Homa (-15)
3. Patrick Cantlay (-14)
4. Will Zalatoris (-13)
5. Keith Mitchell (-12)
Other Notable Scorecards: S. Theegala (-11), C. Morikawa (-11), M. Kuchar (-10), S. Scheffler (-8), J. Thomas (-5), T. Finau (-5), R. McIlroy (-4), X. Schauffele (-3), T. Woods (-1) | Full Leaderboard
Watch: Genesis Invitational Highlights
Additional Storylines
ESPN: Jon Rahm Returns to No. 1 After ‘Pretty Incredible’ Victory at Genesis Invitational
PGA: Wearing Red, Jon Rahm Uses Tiger Woods’ Winning Formula at the Genesis Invitational
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THE HIGHLIGHTS
NHL: Kane Nets 9th Career Hat Trick
Among the weekend highlights on ice was Patrick Kane’s ninth career NHL hat trick to spark the Blackhawks in an upset against the Maple Leafs (5-3). Kane also recorded an assist in a rare bright night for Chicago, but the Blackhawks are still dead last in the Central Division.
SOC: USWNT Blanks Japan in SheBelieves Opener
The SheBelieves Cup kicked off over the weekend between four of the top nations in the world in what will act as a women’s World Cup tune-up. The U.S. Women’s National Team opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over Japan on Mallory Swanson’s lone goal just before halftime.
NCAA Scoreboard (Men’s)
#2 Houston def. Memphis (72-64)
#5 Kansas def. #9 Baylor (87-71)
#6 Texas def. Oklahoma (85-83, OT)
#7 Virginia def. Notre Dame (57-55)
Kentucky def. #10 Tennessee (66-54)
NCAA Scoreboard (Women’s)
#1 South Carolina def. Ole Miss (64-57, OT)
#2 Indiana def. Purdue (83-60)
#3 Stanford def. #25 USC (50-47)
#18 Arizona def. #4 Utah (82-72)
#6 UConn def. #14 Villanova (60-51)
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THE SPORTSLETTER
The Must-Watch Calendar
Sports are constantly moving, and knowing when the biggest events are happening shouldn’t be a chore. The Sportsletter’s Must-Watch Calendar delivers a one-stop destination for users to see how each sport’s biggest events fit into their day simply by adding it to the place they check the most — their personal calendar. With the events added to your own Google calendar, you will be able to easily see when certain events occur, and it will be even easier to fit them into your busy schedule. If you read The Sportsletter each week, you’re familiar with our “Must-Watch List” on Fridays. It just got bigger and better.
If you have any feedback on the calendar, please email us (team@thesportsletter.com) with any questions or concerns.
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THE HEADLINES
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