Did we just have an NBA Finals preview last night? Between the CAVS and the THUNDER?!?! Who had that on their bingo card before the season started? We’ll dive deep into that game, as well as talk some college football, some Pete Rose, and some Rick Springfield all in today’s STUMP!

The Rundown:

🏀 The Cavs and Thunder gave us the mid-week entertainment we desperately needed

🏈 A message to all football fans

🚒 Update on how the California Wildfires may effect California sport franchises

🙏 Former Baltimore Orioles first round pick tragically passes

Today’s Poll🧠

Results to the post will be revealed tomorrow!

On This Day…

⚾️ On this day in 1991, Major League Baseball officially bans career hit-leader Pete Rose from being elected to the Hall of Fame for betting on baseball.

Rose, one of the greatest of all time, passed away just a few months ago. He was elected into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2016 and saw considerable support to try and get him into Cooperstown before his passing.

Today’s Stump Story…

🥵 Heavyweight Battle in Cleveland

The question heading into the night was could the Cleveland Cavaliers hang with the big dawgs? Safe to say, question answered.

There’s a lot of doubters out there questioning the Cleveland Cavaliers, and rightfully so. The Cavs have been successful in years past, but never really stood as legitimate Finals threats in the East. Then this offseason, they changed literally nothing in their lineup. Not a thing. All they did was fire their coach. Surely that can’t be a recipe for success.

Success wouldn’t probably be a strong enough word for what they are doing this year. Heading into last night, the Cavs had the best record in the NBA at 31-4, just one game better than their opponent the Oklahoma City Thunder. They were riding a 10-game winning streak, second to only the Thunder’s 15-game winning streak. It was only the third time in NBA history two teams have met riding winning streaks of 10-games or better. So it’s safe to say that if the Cavs wanted to be taken seriously, they needed to go toe-to-toe with OKC.

Cleveland and OKC went back and forth all game, in fact there were 30 lead changes through out the whole game. Even though it’s January and there’s more than half a season to go, this game had Finals level intensity.

OKC’s star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, had a classic SGA game. He had 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Their other dude, Jalen Williams, put up 25 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. A strong showing for the Thunder, but not enough to hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers buzzsaw.

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland’s own super star, had one of his worst game of the season with 11 points on 3-16 shooting. But it was their role players who shined ; A true sign of a championship level team. Ty Jerome and Max Strus combined for 32 points off of the bench, shooting a combined 12-14. Jerome especially was huge in the fourth quarter and in total scoring 15 points in 12 minutes played. Spark plug. Jarrett Allen, who was caught flack in years past for his poor performance’s in big games, was Cleveland’s leading scorer with 25 points, and their leading rebounder with 11. Oh, and he also managed to get 6 assists. Even Evan Mobley showed why he should be in consideration for Most Improved Player in the NBA, 21 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists. A fluid offense and a stingy defense lead Cleveland to victory.

You can’t really put a finger on what truly turned this Cavs team into a juggernaut, but whatever it is, it’s fun to watch. Can’t get enough of this matchup? Don’t worry, there’s a rematch in OKC next week.

Quick Hitters

🏈 Understand something here folks: this may be the last GREAT stretch of football we will have for MONTHS, so please soak it in. Let’s break it down: tonight, we have Penn State vs Notre Dame. Two classic college football powerhouses. Then tomorrow we have Ohio State vs Texas, two of the most historic programs in the country. Then we go STRAIGHT into the NFL playoffs with two games on Saturday, three on Sunday, and one on Monday. That’s 7 games in 5 days. Not just any 7 games, 7 DO OR DIE, WIN OR GO HOME, ALL OR NOTHING GAMES. If you aren’t excited, go see your doctor.

⚾️ Former Baltimore Orioles’ 1st-round pick, pitcher Brian Matusz, has passed away at the age of 37. Matusz was the 4th pick in the 2008 MLB draft and spent almost his entire eight-year career with the O’s. He made 68 starts in Baltimore across 2009-2016. He finished his college career at the University of San Diego as the school’s all-time leader in strikeouts, with 396. Matusz was known for having a deep passion for the game and the Baltimore community.

🚒 As the wildfires continue to roar across California, professional sports organizations are beginning to postpone games and/or evaluate all of their options. This goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyways, sports are the least important thing in this situation. Safety of all the individuals in the area is of the upmost importance. The NHL postponed the LA Kings home game last night, while the NBA’s LA Lakers are expected to play in the same arena later tonight but no announcement has been made. The NFL is monitoring their options as well as the LA Rams are hosting the Minnesota Vikings at SoFi Stadium right outside Los Angeles this upcoming weekend. All effected are in our thoughts and prayers.

Other News:

• 🔙 Hurts returns to practice for Eagles

• 👊 James Franklin taking shots at Notre Dame ahead of matchup

• 🤑 Niners want to get Purdy deal done QUICK

Top Performers:

• 🏒 Pierre-Luc Dubois (WAS): 2 goals, one OT winner

• 🏀 Giannis (MIL): 25 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists

• 🏀 Russell Westbrook (DEN): 19 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds

• 🏀 Norman Powell (LAC): 30 points, 4 rebounds

Stump Favorites

🕯️ Connor Bedard LIGHTS THE CANDLE

🤣 Pacers like to keep their jersey numbers low

🪄 Wemby is just trying things now

💯 Full Scoreboards: MLB, Soccer, PGA, NFL, WNBA, NCAAF, NHL

Today’s Slate

*All times are ET*

🏀 NBA: Raptors @ Cavs (7:00 PM), Timberwolves @ Magic (7:00 PM NBATV), Rockets @ Grizzlies (8:00 PM), full schedule

🏀 NCAAW: Texas A&M @ (2) South Carolina (5:00 PM on ESPN2), (6) LSU @ (16) Tennessee (6:30 PM on SECN+), (14) Duke @ (19) UNC (7:00 PM on ACCN), full schedule

🏀 NCAAM: (15) Oregon @ Ohio State (6:00 PM on BTN), (20) Purdue vs Rutgers (6:00 PM on FS1), full schedule

🏒 NHL: Bruins @ Lightning (7:00 PM), Devils @ Rangers (7:00 PM), Maple Leafs @ Hurricanes (7:30 PM on Hulu), full schedule

⚽️ Soccer: Real Madrid vs Mallorca (2:00 PM on ESPN2), full schedule

Can’t thank you enough for sticking to the end of this thing we call The Daily Stump. If you know anybody who might want this bit of daily sports news in their life, send them this link, it would go a long way. Appreciate the hell out of you all…

Trees get chopped. Stumps hold strong 💪