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🚨 Headlines

🏀 50 for 50: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander notched his fourth 50-point game of the season (51 points) to get the Thunder to 50 wins (50-11). SGA is averaging 32.6 points per game, nearly two more than any other player.

🏁 Historic debut: Katherine Legge will drive in Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 in Phoenix, making her the first woman to compete in NASCAR’s top circuit since Danica Patrick in 2018.

🏒 Florida loses Tkachuk: Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk will miss the rest of the regular season with a groin injury that he sustained while playing for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off. The reigning champs hope to get him back for the playoffs.

🏀 39 years later: No. 2 USC has its highest ranking in the women’s AP poll since 1986, which is the last time the Trojans made it to the NCAA title game. Coincidentally, they lost that game to Texas, who is currently ranked No. 1.

🏈 Johnson calls it quits: Hall of Fame coach and longtime NFL analyst Jimmy Johnson is retiring from broadcasting. “The most fun I’ve ever had in my career was at Fox Sports,” said the 81-year-old, who has been with Fox since its debut NFL season in 1994.

🏀 “The Great Barrier Thief” strikes again

Amid the NBA’s offensive explosion, a 21-year-old from Australia is putting on a defensive clinic as the league’s premier pickpocket.

His latest display: Hawks guard Dyson Daniels provided the signature moment of his DPOY-worthy campaign on Monday night in Memphis, swiping the ball from Desmond Bane in the final seconds then passing it up the court to lift Atlanta to a wild 132-130 win at the buzzer.

By the numbers: Daniels (aka. “The Great Barrier Thief”) is averaging 3.0 steals per game this season, which is 1.2 more than second place and puts him on pace to become just the eighth player to average three thefts since steals were first recorded in 1973 — and the first in 31 years.

• Consider this: Daniels is averaging 67% more steals than anyone else. If a player was averaging 67% more points than anyone else, they’d be scoring 54.4 points per game.

• And it’s not just steals: Daniels ranks third among guards in blocks per game (0.8) and he’s logged an obscene 333 deflections in 56 games, which is 105 more (!!!) than any other player. The dude is an absolute menace.

The art of the steal: Daniels, whom the Pelicans traded to the Hawks this offseason after taking him with the No. 8 pick in the 2022 draft, makes the theme from “Jaws” run through ball-handlers’ heads as he prowls the perimeter, writes Yahoo Sports’ Dan Devine.

It rarely feels like Daniels is freelancing his way out of position, and yet, whenever the ball’s in play, he just apparates. Inbounds passes aren’t safe. Entry passes to the post and elbow aren’t safe. Skips to the corner aren’t safe.

Crossovers aren’t safe, no matter how tight your handle is. Power dribbles in the paint aren’t safe, no matter how strong your hands are. Turning your back to him as you try to mouse-in-the-house his teammate on the block? Definitely not safe.

Even dribble handoffs aren’t safe. Daniels will blow those up, staying connected to the ball-handler as he curls around the screen and forcing his way to the ball like a blitzing linebacker. He even talks about it like a football player: “For me, you know, it’s ‘See ball, get ball.'”

And if you think you’ve blocked it up, been able to bump him off the play, turn the corner and get downhill to the basket? Think again: Daniels, still in pursuit like a heat-seeking horror movie villain, will close the game with his 6-foot-10.5-inch wingspan and poke the ball out from behind.

Bottom line: Stephen Curry is the greatest shooter to ever live. LeBron James is arguably the best all-around player. Could we also be watching the best thief? It’s still way too early to anoint Daniels, but his breakout campaign has the hoops world buzzing.

⚽️ 16 contenders: Who will be crowned Kings of Europe?

The Champions League knockout stage kicks off today with matches across Europe.

The contenders: The league phase began with 36 clubs from 16 different countries. That’s been whittled down to 16 clubs from eight different countries, spanning from England in the north to Spain in the south and from Portugal in the west to Germany in the east.

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England (3): Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool

• 🇪🇸 Spain (3): Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

• 🇩🇪 Germany (3): Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund

• 🇫🇷 France (2): Lille, Paris Saint-Germain

• 🇳🇱 Netherlands (2): Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven

• 🇮🇹 Italy: Inter Milan

• 🇵🇹 Portugal: Benfica

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: Club Brugge

The favorites: Barcelona (+170 at BetMGM) has the best odds to reach the final, followed by Real Madrid (+200), Liverpool (+250), Bayern (+275), Arsenal (+275), Inter (+450), PSG (+600), Atlético (+900) and Leverkusen (+1000). Unsurprisingly, eight of those clubs are among the 14 richest in the world, with Leverkusen being the only exception.

🇺🇸 America in photos

Durham, N.C. — Cooper Flagg filled up the stat sheet (28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals) in what was almost certainly his final game at Cameroon Indoor. Duke blew out Wake Forest to clinch at least a share of the ACC regular-season title.

Washington, D.C. — Fighting is no longer a nightly occurrence in the NHL, but we got a heavyweight bout on Monday when Senators winger Brady Tkachuk (6’4″, 225 lbs) and Capitals defenseman Tom Wilson (6’4″, 220 lbs) dropped gloves in the nation’s capital.

Dallas — Kyrie Irving went down with a scary looking knee injury in the Mavericks’ loss to the Kings. He stayed in the game to shoot free throws before leaving the floor in obvious pain. “We’re running out of bodies,” said head coach Jason Kidd, whose injury-riddled team can ill afford to lose their star point guard.

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Palm Beach Gardens, Florida — Los Angeles Golf Club (Colin Morikawa, Tommy Fleetwood, Sahith Theegala) stormed back to beat The Bay Golf Club (Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee) to earn the No. 1 seed in the TGL’s inaugural postseason.

🏀 NBA payrolls: Suns flailing, Pistons thriving

Payroll isn’t always indicative of success, and no NBA teams illustrate that better than the Suns and Pistons.

Where it stands: Phoenix has the NBA’s highest payroll ($214.4 million) and finds itself four games out of a play-in spot after losing 11 of its last 14 games. Detroit has the lowest payroll ($141.8 million) and sits a half-game out of fourth place after winning 10 of its last 11.

Wild stat: Detroit’s entire roster will make less money this season ($141.8 million) than the Suns’ big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal ($149.3 million).

📺 Watchlist: NBA doubleheader

Tonight’s NBA doubleheader begins in New York with Warriors at Knicks (7:30pm ET, TNT) before heading to Phoenix for Clippers at Suns (10pm, TNT).

New York renaissance: The Knicks have won 40 games in three straight seasons for the first time since doing so in seven straight seasons from 1992-98.

More to watch:

• 🏀 NCAAM: No. 1 Auburn at No. 22 Texas A&M (9pm, ESPN); No. 23 BYU at No. 10 Iowa State (9pm, ESPN2) … Final week of the regular season.

• ⚽️ Champions League: Round of 16 (12:45-3pm, Paramount+) … Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid (3pm) is the headliner.

• ⚽️ Champions Cup: LAFC vs. Columbus Crew (10:30pm, FS2) … Two of the seven MLS clubs that made it to the Round of 16.

• ⛳️ TGL: Atlanta vs. Jupiter Links (7pm, ESPN) … Regular-season finale.

• ⚾️ Spring training: Mets at Cardinals (1pm, ESPN) … 23 days until Opening Day!*

*MLB countdown: Technically, the regular season starts in just 14 days, with the Dodgers and Cubs playing a two-game set in Tokyo on March 18-19. But traditional Opening Day is set for Thursday, March 27, with all 30 teams in action.

🏈 Coach trivia

Jimmy Johnson, who is retiring from Fox after 31 years, is one of three head coaches to win both a Super Bowl (two with Dallas) and a college football national title (one with Miami).

Question: Can you name the other two?

Hint: One is still active.

Answer at the bottom.

📸 Photo finish

Gary Antuanne Russell may have lost the battle on this punch, but the Maryland native won the war, defeating Jose Valenzuela by unanimous decision on Saturday night in Brooklyn to become the new WBA super lightweight champion of the world.

Trivia answer: Barry Switzer (Cowboys and Oklahoma) and Pete Carroll (Seahawks and USC)

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