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Every year around this time, people are busy searching for plans and/or gifts for their special someone/s. Valentine's Day has been dubbed the unofficial holiday of love. From the pictures of Cupid with his bow and arrow, to the many versions of hearts, Valentine's Day has turned into another commercially charged day of consumer spending.
Part of that spending is the planning of dates and buying of gifts. While it has been geared more towards women being on the receiving end of the dates and gifts, men have experienced their share of gifts as well. The ratio of which sex receives gifts is about 87,963:1, and I'm being generous.
With all that being said, I was sitting back contemplating what to get the wife for Valentine's Day. There are the traditional candies, cards, and flowers; but there's also jewelry, really nice dinners at upscale restaurants, new houses and/or cars. Some of this stuff she already has or won't want. As I was thinking of what to get her, it crossed my mind: if sports were a significant other, what would I get them for Valentine's Day? Since I asked, and I don't mind talking to myself, here's what I'd get them for Valentine's Day:
Football: a nice piece of jewelry
Football is the one sport I had to work hard at playing when I was younger. The fact that I couldn't master it with little to no effort intrigued me. Now that I've done all the necessary watching, networking, and intense studying, I feel like our relationship has been taken to a new level and I'm ready to commit.
Basketball: a new car
This has been my ride or die since day one. She's always been there for me and has never left my side. She was there for me before the Sports Map fame, before the radio guest spots, and even before I was an intern at 1560. For her always being there and being my go-to move, she deserves a nice new car.
Baseball: a nice card and candy
Baseball was always the one that played hard to get. I'd invest hours on end into baseball, only to get rejected. Especially in the 90s when I moved to Atlanta. The Braves went from worst to first and appeared in several World Series. They finally pulled through and won in 1995. However, they haven't won since. I waited 22 years until 2017 when the Astros won a title before a team I rooted for won it all. This is all baseball gets from me for now.
Soccer: upscale dinner date
Every once in a while, you come across that one that makes you want to change your ways. There's a person in your life that comes along that makes you want to change. You feel the need to impress this person and their family. So, you do what you can to impress her and her family because you feel this could be "the next one." This is how I feel about soccer. It's the sport that I've grown to truly appreciate over the last few years and have spent more quality time investing in.
I'd love to hear from you guys on which sports you'd buy gifts for, and if so, what gifts you'd buy for which gifts for. Sometimes, you can't help yourself. There's enough talent there so you can't help but make a leap of faith. This list is fluid and could change on a day to day basis depending on how I feel about the different sports.
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Road teams made a stand on Monday, and a pair of series are suddenly knotted up.
Day 3 of the NBA playoffs was about the visitors. Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points — his most in any game since December 2023, his most in a playoff game since 2021 — to lift the Los Angeles Clippers past Denver 105-102. And in New York, Cade Cunningham scored 33 points, Dennis Schröder had a big 3-pointer with 55.7 seconds left and Detroit beat the Knicks 100-94 for its first playoff win in 17 years.
Those series are now tied at a game apiece, heading back to L.A. and Detroit.
There are three games on Tuesday, with Indiana playing host to Milwaukee, Oklahoma City hosting Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting Minnesota. The Pacers and Thunder are seeking 2-0 leads; the Lakers will try to make it 1-1 before the series shifts to Minnesota.
Tuesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Milwaukee at Indiana (NBA TV)
7:30 p.m. — Memphis at Oklahoma City (TNT/truTV)
10 p.m. — Minnesota at L.A. Lakers (TNT/truTV)
Wednesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Orlando at Boston (TNT/truTV)
7:30 p.m. — Miami at Cleveland (NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — Golden State at Houston (TNT/truTV)
Thursday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — New York at Detroit (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
10 p.m. — Denver at L.A. Clippers (NBA TV)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+600), Golden State (+1400), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1600), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2000), New York (+4000), Minnesota (+4000) and Denver (+5000).
Denver's odds took a big hit after the Nuggets lost Game 2 at home to the Clippers — whose odds, in turn, improved greatly.
From there, it's Indiana (+8000), Houston (+10000), Milwaukee (+15000), Detroit (+35000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +100000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is favored (-375) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston. The Warriors entered that matchup favored, and Sunday's win moved those odds even more.
Other underdogs now favored to advance: Minnesota and the Clippers.
Award season
The first of the major NBA awards comes out on Tuesday, when the league announces the sixth man of the year — either Detroit's Malik Beasley, Cleveland's Ty Jerome or Boston's Payton Pritchard.
It’ll be revealed at 7 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
The other awards this week: clutch player (Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), defensive player of the year (Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), and the hustle awards (Friday at 2 p.m.).
Key upcoming events
April 26 — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Tuesday's games: Pacers-Bucks, Thunder-Grizzlies, Lakers-Timberwolves.
— Tom Thibodeau isn't happy with how Game 2 was officiated.
— Mavs GM Nico Harrison didn't know how beloved Luka Doncic was in Dallas.
— The NBA finalists for seven awards are released.
— The playoffs could be wide-open. Again.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award.
Stats of the day
— The Pistons snapped a 15-game playoff losing streak. Another loss would have tied the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (1975-79) for the second-longest in U.S. pro sports at 16. The playoff-futility record is held by baseball's Minnesota Twins, who once dropped 18 straight.
— The last time Detroit won a playoff game before Monday, LeBron James was 249th on the all-time scoring list and Gregg Popovich was 19th on the all-time coaching wins list. They're both No. 1 now by wide margins.
— Strange but true: The last three playoff triple-doubles have come in losing efforts. Nikola Jokic had one Monday night in Denver's loss to the Clippers and Luka Doncic's final two playoff ones for Dallas last season — one against Minnesota in the West finals, the other against Boston in the NBA Finals — both were in losses.