The A to Z (Christmas Eve Edition)

A is for André-Pierre Gignac. The French striker who plays for Tigres UANL in Liga MX scored his tournament-best sixth goal in the 84th minute of the CONCACAF Champions League Final to give Tigres a 2-1 win over MLS's LAFC. 

B is for Buddy Hield. Hield tipped it in a missed dunk by Harrison Barnes at the buzzer in overtime to give the Sacramento Kings a 124-122 opening night win over the Denver Nuggets.

C is for COVID. Due to positive or inconclusive tests, and player quarantines, the Houston Rockets were not able to dress eight players for their opening night game against the Oklahoma City Thunder resulting in the game's postponement. 

D is for Dennis Schroder. The 27 year old point guard made his Lakers debut on Tuesday night and was two assists away from a triple double finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. 

E is for Edwards. Anthony Edwards, the number one overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, made his NBA debut on Wednesday coming off the bench for Minnesota in their 111-101 win over the Detroit Pistons. Edwards finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. 

F is for Football. Heading into play on Christmas Day, only six teams have clinched a spot in the NFL postseason with two weeks to go: Buffalo, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, New Orleans and Seattle. 

G is for Gonzaga. The #1 ranked Bulldogs Men's Basketball Team scored a pair of wins over Northwestern State this week to improve their record to 6-0. The Zags are back in action on Saturday against 16th ranked Virginia.

H is for Harden. Due to a violation of the NBA's health and safety protocols this past week, Houston Rockets guard James Harden was fined $50,000 and contributed to Houston not being able to play their season opener (See "C"). Harden, who has demanded/requested a trade is under contract with the Rockets for two more seasons. 

I is for Ice Hockey. The NHL will begin its season on January 13th with a slate of five games.

J is for Jokic. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic tallied a triple double in an overtime loss to Sacramento (See "B") finishing with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists. The Serbian 7 footer had 13 triple doubles last season.

K is for King James. LeBron was relatively quiet in the Lakers' season opener on Tuesday finishing with just 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists over 28 minutes as the Lakers fell to the Clippers 116-109.

L is for LaMelo. The highly touted 19 year old LaMelo Ball, drafted third overall by the Charlotte Hornets, made his NBA debut on Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ball logged 16 minutes off the bench, but missed all five of his shots and was held scoreless. He did add two steals and three assists, but also had three turnovers. Cleveland won the game 121-114. 

M is for Manchester United. Man U defeated Everton 2-0 on Wednesday to advance to the Carabao Cup Semifinals. United got late goals from Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial in the win. The four teams in the Carabao Cup Semis are: Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford.

N is for NBA. The NBA kicked off the 2020-21 season Tuesday night with a pair of matches. the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Golden State Warriors 125-99 and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Lakers 116-109.

O is for Ohio State. Ohio State's Men's Basketball team dealt #11 Rutgers their first loss of the season on Wednesday night 80-68. The Scarlet Knights had entered the game 6-0. Ohio State is currently ranked 23rd.

P is for Peoples. Appalachian State running back Camerun Peoples ran for 317 yards and 5 touchdowns against North Texas in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Peoples, a sophomore, only had two other games this season where he even eclipsed 100 rushing yards. 

Q is for Quickley. Immanuel Quickley was drafted 25th overall in the 2020 NBA draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder and subsequently traded to the New York Knicks. Quickley made his NBA debut on Wednesday night in New York's 121-107 loss to Indiana. The Kentucky alum tallied five points in the losing effort. 

R is for Russell Westbrook. Suiting up for the Washington Wizards for the first time, Westbrook continued to fill up the box score netting a triple double in Washington's 113-107 loss to the 76ers. Westbrook finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists. It marked the 147th triple double of his career.

S is for Star Wars. Anyone else still reeling after that Mandalorian Season 2 finale? My goodness!

T is for Trae Young. Young opened the NBA season with a 37 point effort as his Atlanta Hawks defeated the Chicago Bulls 124-104. Young averaged 29.6 points last season. 

U is for Upstate. The University of South Carolina (USC) Upstate Spartans, a team I honestly didn't even know existed before today, fell to 0-8 in Men's Basketball after dropping an 80-60 affair to #8 Tennessee on Wednesday.

V is for Vela. Carlos Vela put LAFC on his back and nearly helped them become the first MLS team to win the CONCACAF Champions League in its modern format. LAFC knocked off three Mexican sides (León, Cruz Azul, América) and took a 1-0 lead into the 72nd minute of the final before eventually falling 2-1 to Tigres UANL. Vela finished the tournament with five goals, second behind André-Pierre Gignac (see "A").

W is for Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers, despite their 5-6 record, will play in a bowl game on Saturday when they take on Georgia State in the Lending Tree Bowl. 

X is for Xavier. The 22nd ranked Musketeers dropped their first game of the Men's Basketball season falling to 13th ranked Creighton on Wednesday 66-61. Xavier is now 8-1, while Creighton is 7-2. 

Y is for Yuletide. Merry Christmas Reader(s)!

Z is for Zach Wilson. The BYU quarterback threw for a season high 425 yards and three touchdowns as BYU defeated UCF 49-23 in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. It was Wilson's second 400 yard game of the year.