Sports
Tom Izzo preps Michigan St. for late-night date with Bryant
Feb 15, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo talks with Michigan State Spartans guard Jase Richardson (11) during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images Michigan State opens as the NCAA Tournament late show with no designs on going home early.
The Spartans (27-6) won the Big Ten regular-season title and extended the program’s streak to 27 consecutive appearances in the tournament. They were given the No. 2 seed in the South Region in Cleveland. The reward is a Friday night matchup with America East champion Bryant (23-11) scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET to close out two days of first-round games.
A delayed bedtime aside, head coach Tom Izzo promises to bring a high-alert Michigan State squad to town before what likely is to be a partisan, traveling “Izzone” crowd. For relative comparison, the Big Ten tournament title teams — Wisconsin and champion Michigan — have Thursday games at altitude in Denver.
“I’m ecstatic about where we are. We played awfully good ball, I don’t know if we have ever had a stretch where we played that many high powered teams in critical situations, on the road, short prep time,” Izzo said. “I think we’re prepared for the tournament.”
Bryant has run up against only a few NCAA Tournament teams this season. The Bulldogs lost to St. John’s (99-77) and Grand Canyon (112-66) in December during a four-game losing streak, then went 17-2 after the calendar flipped to 2025.
Head coach Phil Martelli Jr. said Izzo called him Saturday, before knowing they were opponents in the first round, to congratulate him on winning the conference tournament. Phil Martelli Sr. retired from coaching after successful runs at Michigan and St. Joseph’s and also talked to Izzo last week.
“(Izzo) talked to my dad and said, ‘You know, one of these predictions had us playing Bryant.’ And he said to my dad, ‘You know, that really (stinks) for you,'” Martelli Jr. said. “And (Martelli Sr.) goes, ‘Why?’ And (Izzo) goes, ‘You have to root against your son.'”
The Bulldogs are led by a power tandem in Miami and Memphis transfer Earl Timberlake, the America East Player of the Year who averaged 15.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. Another senior guard, Rafael Pinzon, is Bryant’s leading scorer with 18.5 points per game.
Bryant was eliminated in the First Four in 2022 in the program’s first NCAA Tournament. Martelli Jr. became head coach in 2023, moving from assistant coach to interim to the full-time replacement for Jared Grasso.
Michigan State strolls into the tournament highly tested. Seven of the Spartans’ final eight games were against Top 25 teams. They went 7-1, dropping the Big Ten tournament semifinal to Wisconsin, 77-74.
Being a No. 2 seed isn’t new for Izzo. In 2016, the Spartans lost in the first round to Middle Tennessee State. In 2019, they mowed their way to the Final Four.
The usual Izzo tenets apply to this bunch of Spartans: win the rebounding battle, run with a numbers advantage, and get downhill on offense. If MSU has a glaring weakness, it would be shooting, with no singular perimeter threat and a woeful 325th ranking in 3-point percentage (30.8).
Freshman Jase Richardson has become vital to Michigan State’s success as a multi-level scorer playing next to senior Jaden Akins, who has helped spread Izzo’s message that tournament games are won “in the meeting room, in the locker room, or in the hotel” by the team that is best prepared.
“The game will be won before it’s played 90 percent of the time,” Izzo said. “I think that’s your leaders, your seniors that have to get that through to guys, and then Jaden being one of our key guys he’s got to play his best, too.”
Richardson entered the starting lineup in February and has since averaged 17.3 points per game. The son of Jason Richardson, who was on the Spartans’ 2000 national championship team and a second Final Four squad the following year, Jase Richardson seems as if he might’ve been bred for the moment, Izzo said.
“He’s beyond his years in youth. He’s not a freshman. Pressure does not seem to bother him,” Izzo said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Why Cavaliers Should Cover at Home in Game 7 Against Raptors
In the world of basketball, the saying goes, “a series doesn’t start until someone loses at home”. Well, we’re heading into game seven in Cleveland, and neither the Raptors or Cavaliers have been able to steal one on the road. If the Raptors want to pull off the big-time upset, they’re going to have to end that streak and find a way to pull one out in Rocket Arena.
The Cavs have been heavy favorites each game in this series, and enter Sunday once again as 8.5-point favorites. Cleveland is 2-1 ATS at home this series, and had to go the final two minutes of game five without scoring to not be 3-0 ATS.
That’s been the biggest negative for Cleveland in this series. They’ve struggled to close out games and threw away two road games against the Raptors, and now are battling to avoid a massive collapse here in this one.
However, despite losing game six in dramatic fashion, I think they figured a few things out. Donovan Mitchell finally came alive in the 4th quarter, scoring 11 points, finally figuring out how to get into the teeth of this large, physical Raptors defense.
A big reason Toronto’s defense has looked so great is the play of Scottie Barnes. He’s been the by far best player in the series, shutting down Mitchell and company on defense, and scoring on whoever’s thrown on him from Cleveland.
Shockingly, James Harden has actually done a solid job walling up against Barnes. He and Dean Wade have been the only two players to give Barnes any fits at all. Speaking of Wade, it was shocking to see him out of the Cleveland starting lineup the last few games. He’s been inconsistent offensively, but has still provided spacing and saved Cleveland defensively.
Wade has a +23 net rating for the Cavs in the postseason, easily the best on the entire team. Max Strus, who replaced him in the starting lineup, has been a -8.3. More specifically, the starting lineup with Strus has been a -19.7, while the one with Wade has been a +30.8. Cleveland ran the lineup with Wade as they made their comeback in game six, so if he’s inserted back in the starting lineup, I think they have a great chance to cover in this one.
Lastly, Toronto’s offense fell incredibly stagnant in game five after Brandon Ingram’s injury. If he’s unable to go in game seven, I can’t see a way they’re able to pull off the upset.
I love Cleveland -8.5 and o211.5 as they will move on to face the winner of Detroit and Orlando.
Sports
Braves' Spencer Strider set for season debut in finale vs. Rockies
Feb 20, 2026; North Port FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (99) poses for a photo during media day at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images It’s been a long road for Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider since his 20-win All-Star season in 2023.
Strider, 27, will be out to prove he’s not a shadow of his former self on Sunday afternoon when he makes his first start of the season as the Braves bid for a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies in Denver.
After becoming the fastest pitcher to record 100 strikeouts (61 innings) in a season in modern MLB history in 2023, Strider made just two starts in 2024 before undergoing season-ending UCL surgery.
Last season, the right-hander went 7-14 with a 4.45 ERA across 23 starts in his return from injury.
Strider began this season on the injured list with an oblique strain but is prepared to rejoin the sizzling Braves. They have won both games of the weekend series to expand on the best record (24-10) in the majors. Atlanta remains the only team in the majors that hasn’t lost a series and holds a 7 1/2-game lead on the second-place Miami Marlins in the National League East.
The bad news for the Braves in their most recent win, 9-1 over the Rockies on Saturday, was the first-inning exit of star right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. due to a lower-body injury. He will undergo an MRI on Sunday.
“It didn’t look great, him coming off the field,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “I am hoping it’s just some cramping and that type of thing, but he’s getting an MRI. That’s never good when you have to get an MRI.”
Acuna hit a leadoff single in the first inning to extend his on-base streak to 23 games.
“You never like to be challenged like this,” Weiss said of the potential impact of losing Acuna. “He’s one of your best players and most talented players. If it happens, we’ll be OK. We’ve got lots of moving parts.”
Strider, meanwhile, has dominated the Rockies in three career appearances (two starts), going 2-0 with an 0.50 ERA. He struck out 16 batters and scattered two hits over eight innings in a 3-0 win over Colorado on Sept. 1, 2022, before fanning 13 Rockies in a six-inning win last June 14.
The Rockies, who have lost four of their past five games, will turn to veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-2, 3.48 ERA) in the series finale. He will make his fifth start of the season.
Freeland, 32, will appear in his second outing since being activated from the 15-day IL with left shoulder inflammation. On Tuesday, he surrendered four runs on five hits across five innings in a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
“I thought (Freeland) was really good,” Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I considered taking him out after the fourth, but had him go back out for one more and he was good. He competed, kept us right in the ballgame.”
Freeland, the all-time leader in franchise history in starts (235), is 1-5 with a 5.93 ERA in 10 career starts against the Braves.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Boston Celtics Title Window Could Be Closed After First-Round Exit
The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off the upset of the playoffs, knocking off the heavily favored Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the first round 109-100. Boston blew a 3-1 lead in this series and that became another brutal end to a Celtics season.
This core was able to win a finals in 2024, but outside of that important win, Boston has had a lot of disastrous playoff losses that seemingly go under the radar. The Celtics have owned the 76ers over the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era, and that makes this loss so much worse.
Of course, Tatum was absent from game seven due to injury, but Joel Embiid was missing for the entire first half of this series, so that feels like a bit of a wash. Not only that, but the Celtics were the two seed with Tatum missing most of the season anyways.
In recent years, the Celtics have now lost to the eight seed Miami Heat in the Conference Finals, got destroyed by the New York Knicks in the Conference Semis last year, had horrible playoff performances in the final two years of the Brad Stevens era to start the 2020s. They were able to win a Finals in a very down year across the board in the NBA, but this team has had let down spots all over the place in the playoffs.
Currently, it feels like the media has put a spotlight on the Cleveland Cavaliers first round struggles against the Toronto Raptors, but at least those struggles are coming in a 4 vs 5 first round matchup. Boston was completely outplayed by the 7-seed Sixers, who were missing their best player most of the series.
Of course VJ Edgecomb and Paul George having great runs as role players helps, and Tyrese Maxey is a full blown super star; however, this series feels like it’s being swept under the rug by the media. Boston got their ring, but I’m starting to think the window from that core is quietly closing. I’m also interested to see how much grace Boston fans will give to head coach Joe Mazulla.
Boston shot themselves out of this series. This is a team that lives and dies by the three, but at some point you need to make an adjustment when shots simply aren’t falling. Not only that, but the Sixers simply just felt like the better team in this series. I don’t think it’s just bad shooting that won Philly this series. They controlled this series and were able to do whatever they wanted against the Celtics.
The Sixers now head to New York to take on the Knicks, where they are far less of an underdog at only +198 to advance. I think this is a bit of a market overcorrection, and I wouldn’t bet on the Sixers to win this series. Boston might’ve just been a bit of an overrated team, that over performed without Tatum.
Why Cavaliers Should Cover at Home in Game 7 Against Raptors
Braves' Spencer Strider set for season debut in finale vs. Rockies
