Friday Facts You Might Have Missed
NFL
NFL owners voted Friday and approve the proposed resolution that will modify this year's playoff format. The changes will make it possible for the AFC Championship Game to be held at a neutral site and a coin flip could possibly determine who will get home field advantage, in the case that there is a wild-card game between the Baltimore Ravens and Bengals. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor made his displeasure with the playoff resolution known earlier on Friday. Despite Cincinnati clinching the AFC North title, they may not get to host a wild-card game. Taylor saying:
"We had control and now we don't. There are positives for a lot of teams and negatives for us."
This Sunday will see the much anticipated NFC matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. Lions safety DeShon Elliott making his eagerness to face Aaron Rodgers and the Packers known on Friday.
"They don't respect us. A-Rod doesn't respect us, that team doesn't respect us. We're used to being the underdog. No matter what the record says, we're going out there, and we're gonna fight our ass off, play smashmouth football, just because of the respect factor. We all got here someway, somehow. Yeah, (Rodgers is) a Hall of Famer, but I just don't like the way he's been talking about my guys all year, the way that team views us. We wanna go out there and prove something."
Miami Dolphins will put the ball in the hands of Skylar Thompson to start in a must win game against the New York Jets on Sunday. Tua remains under concussion protocol and Teddy Bridgewater is still out with the finger injury he suffered in last weeks loss to the Miami Dolphins. Things on the other side of the field changed throughout the week with the starting quarterback situation as well. Zack Wilson was originally expected to be inactive for this weeks game but will now serve as backup to Joe Flacco, who was originally expected to be backup for Mike White. White was ruled out after continuing to deal with a rib injury he suffered earlier in the season.
NBA
LeBron James made his return from being out with illness with 25 points and 10 assists. The Los Angeles Lakers grab their 4th win in a row beating the Atlanta Hawks 130-114 on Friday night. Russell Westbrook contributed 18 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists.
The Denver Nuggets took advantage of the Cleveland Cavaliers being without Donovan Mitchell and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-108 on Friday night. Nikola Jokic put up a triple-double with 28 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, Jamal Murray scored 18 points for the 1st time in back-to-back games since having knee surgery. This was Jokic's 10th triple-double, he leads the NBA.
The Brooklyn Nets outlasted the New Orleans Pelicans 108-102 on Friday night. Durant put up 33 points and 10 rebounds, Kyrie Irving scored 19. This was only the 5th time the Pelicans have lost at home this season. Irving saying after the game:
“Our growth as a team is just seeing some of the leaders on our team, including myself, be poised. That's probably where I feel like we’re making incredible strides in games like this."
NHL
The Tampa Bay Lightning taking a messy loss to the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Friday night. Tampa head coach John Cooper making his dissatisfaction with his teams performance known to the media after the game.
"It's a complete lack of discipline," the Bolts head coach said following the defeat. "It was embarrassing what we did. How many five-on-threes you're up against in one season, you (can) count on maybe one hand, and we gave them two minute-and-a-half five-on-threes in one game. Unacceptable. That shouldn't happen. Good on Winnipeg. Honestly, it was really a nothing game going on. That game could've been 0-0 and a shootout. They stayed disciplined, said, '(Let's) sit back and wait for Tampa to screw it up, and they did."