The A to Z (New Year's Eve Edition)

A is for Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, logged his first triple double of the season last night when he finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in Milwaukee's game with the Heat. Unfortunately it wasn't enough as the Bucks lost for the third time in five games, falling 119-108. 

B is for Baylor. The Baylor Bears Men's Basketball Team, ranked second in the country, improved to 8-0 yesterday with a 105-76 win over winless Alcorn State. Baylor finished with six players in double figures led by Senior MaCio Teague's 18 points. Baylor returns to action on Saturday against Iowa State. 

C is for Chris Paul. The veteran point guard is averaging 9.5 assists through the Phoenix Suns' first four games this season. If he can maintain this average it will be the most assists Paul has averaged since the 2015-16 season when he was with the Clippers (10.0 apg). The Suns are 3-1 this season after going just 34-39 last season.

D is for Duke's Mayo Bowl. The Wisconsin Badgers averaged just 2.8 yards per rush yesterday, but made every yard count with five rushing touchdowns. Wisconsin defeated Wake Forest in the Duke's Mayo Bowl 42-28. Wisconsin improved to 4-3 on the year while Wake Forest fell to 4-5. 

E is for  Embiid. 76ers center Joel Embiid is in the Top 5 in the NBA in both scoring (28.3 points per game) and rebounding (13.3 rebounds per game). He's the only player in the league in the Top 5 in both categories and the 76ers are currently 3-1 and in first place in the Atlantic Division. 

F is for Finale. The NFL's regular season finale is Sunday with five playoff spots (three in the AFC, two in the NFC) still up for grabs. Some of the key games to watch this weekend (teams that can still clinch a spot in the playoffs in bold): Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills; Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals; Cleveland Browns vs Pittsburgh Steelers; Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans; Indianapolis Colts vs Jacksonville Jaguars; Washington Football Team at Philadelphia Eagles; Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants; Chicago Bears vs Green Bay Packers; Los Angeles Rams vs Arizona Cardinals. 

G is for Glass Ceiling. Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon became the first woman to lead an NBA team last night when Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich was ejected in the second quarter of their loss to the Lakers. Hammon, a 6-time WNBA All-Star and Olympic Bronze Medal Winner, has been with the Spurs since 2014.

H is for Herro. In the Miami Heat's 119-108 win over the Bucks last night (See "A"), the Heat's starting point guard, Tyler Herro grabbed a career high 15 rebounds. Herro, a rookie last season, entered the game with a previous career high of 11 that came in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in September. 

I is for Indianapolis. Indianapolis Colts quarterback Phillip Rivers passed Dan Marino last weekend and moved into fifth place all time in NFL passing yards with 63,276. Rivers, who has 4,005 yards passing this season, has eclipsed the 4,000 yard mark for eight straight seasons. 

J is for Jaylen Brown. The Celtics guard erupted for a career high 42 points last night helping the Celtics to a 126-107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Brown, in his fifth year with the Celtics, is averaging a career high 28.0 points per game this season. 

K is for King. LeBron James celebrated his 36th birthday yesterday with a typically steady performance finishing with 26 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists in the Lakers' 121-107 win over the San Antonio Spurs. James is in the midst of an 18th straight NBA season where he's averaged at least 20 points per game. 

L is for LaMelo. Hornets rookie point guard LaMelo Ball had the best game of his young NBA career last night when he scored a career high 22 points, grabbed a career high 8 rebounds and matched a career best with 5 assists in Charlotte's 118-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks. 

M is for Milwaukee. On Tuesday, the Milwaukee Bucks hit an NBA-record 29 three-pointers in their 144-97 rout of the Miami Heat. The Bucks connected on 29/51 three-point attempts, had 12 different players connect on at least one, and were led by Jrue Holiday's six. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the only Bucks player on the floor who did not hit a three pointer. 

N is for New Year's Eve Bowl Games. There are three bowl games on the schedule today: Tulsa vs Mississippi State (Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl); Ball State vs Arizona State (Offerpad Arizona Bowl); West Virginia vs Army (AutoZone Liberty Bowl).

O is for Oklahoma. The Sooners ran for 435 yards, led by Senior Rhamondre Stevenson's 186, as Oklahoma cruised to a 55-20 Cotton Bowl win over the short-handed Florida Gators. Oklahoma, who entered the game ranked sixth in the country, finished the season 9-2. 

P is for Padres. Don't look now, but the San Diego Padres are winning the MLB offseason after acquiring ace starting pitchers Blake Snell (from Tampa Bay) and Yu Darvish (from the Cubs). The Padres went 37-23 in 2020, and with a young core built around Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and others, they figure to give the Dodgers a real run in 2021 and beyond. 

Q is for Quarantine. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins will finally make their Rockets debuts tonight having completed their COVID-19 quarantine. The Rockets went 0-2 without them, and face off against Sacramento at 7:30 Eastern. 

R is for Real Madrid. Real Madrid jumped out to an early 1-0 lead yesterday, but failed to put away struggling Elche and were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw. Real Madrid are currently in second place in La Liga, two points behind league leaders Atlético Madrid.

S is for Suárez. Luis Suárez scored the only goal of the match yesterday as Atlético Madrid defeated Getafe 1-0. Atlético Madrid currently sits atop La Liga, two points clear of Real Madrid with two matches in hand. Suárez now has eight goals on the year, good for second most in the league entering play today. 

T is for Triple Doubles. In addition to Antetokounmpo's effort last night, there were three triple doubles on Tuesday as well: Julius Randall (Knicks) with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against Cleveland; Russell Westbrook (Wizards) with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists against Chicago; and Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists against Sacramento. 

U is for Undefeated. Following Atlanta's wild 145-141 loss to the Brooklyn Nets last night, the Orlando Magic are now the last undefeated team in the NBA, sitting atop the Eastern Conference with a record of 4-0. Orlando's leading scorer is reserve shooting guard Terrence Ross who's contributed 21 points per game thus far. Nikola Vucevic has averaged 20 points and 11.5 rebounds. 

V is for Volunteers. Tennessee's 7th ranked Men's Basketball team knocked off 12th ranked Missouri 73-53 yesterday. The Volunteers remain a perfect 7-0 while the loss was the Tigers first of the season as they fall to 6-1. Both teams are back in action on Saturday with Tennessee taking on Alabama and Missouri facing off against Arkansas. 

W is for Winless. Heading into play tonight, four NBA teams are still winless: Houston Rockets (0-2), Toronto Raptors (0-3), Detroit Pistons (0-4) and Washington Wizards (0-4). Only the Pistons are not in action tonight as Houston hosts Sacramento, Toronto hosts the Knicks, and Washington hosts the Bulls.

X is for Xavien Howard. The Dolphins cornerback heads into the final week of the season with an NFL-best 9 interceptions. Howard's previous career high was 7 set in 2018. 

Y is for Young. Trae Young and the Hawks are no longer undefeated after falling to the Nets last night, but Young has shown no signs of slowing down scoring at least 29 points in all four of the Hawks games thus far. The third year point guard out of Oklahoma is averaging 33.0 points and 8.3 assists while shooting over 50% from the floor. 

Z is for Zero. Newcastle United and Liverpool played to a 0-0 draw yesterday, but Liverpool was still able to expand its lead atop the Premier League to three points over Manchester United. It marked the first time in 16 matches that Liverpool failed to score. Karl Darlow earned the clean sheet in net for Newcastle.