Thursday Things You Might Have Missed
NFL
San Francisco 49er's running back Christian McCaffery is causing some concern among fans after missing his 2nd straight practice on Thursday, siting a calf injury. McCaffery's backup Elijah Mitchell also missed his 2nd straight practice with a groin injury. The 26-year-old star running back says that he will do walk throughs and go over all the plays with the running back coaches but he will just be operating on a lighter physical load this week leading up to Championship Sunday. He did say that he will be ready to go and that there is "zero" chance that will not be out there on Sunday.
The New York Jets making the announcement on Thursday that they have hired former Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator. Hackett will be replacing Mike LaFleur, who spent 2 seasons with New York but was let go on Jan. 11.
NBA
Dallas Mavericks big man, Luka Doncic left Thursdays 99-95 win over the Phoenix Suns just 3 minutes into the matchup with an ankle sprain. The team did say that an x-ray has been done and it did come back negative.
The Boston Celtics dropped their 3rd straight game on Thursday night. This loss came in OT to the New York Knicks 120-117, after Boston's Jaylen Brown missed 2 free-throws with 7.6 seconds left and the chance to put the Celtics ahead. Julius Randle led the way for New York with 37 points and 9 rebounds and hit the free-throws that put the Knicks ahead for good. Bostons continues to stay on top of the east despite the 3 losses. Jaylen Brown saying after the game:
“Just got to be better. Tonight was just a rough game and I’m a better basketball player than I played today. Those two free throws embodied the whole game for me.”
NHL
The Tampa Bay Lightning grabbed their team record tying 11th straight home victory, and affectively snapped the Boston Bruins 6 game winning streak in the process. Victor Hedman scored the go-ahead goal for Tampa with 6:31 remaining and that would put them on top for good giving them the 3-2 win over the Bruins.
The Vancouver Canucks have come to an agreement with forward Andrei Kuzmenko on a 2-year contract extension that carries an average annual value of $5.5 million. Kuzmenko was a pending unrestricted free agent after signing a 1-year contract last July with Vancouver.
MLB
The Houston Astros making the announcement on Thursday that they have hired Dana Brown as their new general manager. Brown spent the last 4 seasons as the vice president of scouting for the Atlanta Braves. Astros owner Jim Crane saying in a statement:
"We are excited to have Dana join our organization. He brings championship-caliber experience to our team and is the right fit for us to continue to deliver a winning franchise on and off the field."
The Baltimore Orioles have picked up left-handed starter Cole Irvin as well as right-handed minor-league pitcher Kyle Virbitsky in exchange for infield prospect Darell Hernaiz from the Oakland A's.