Good Morning, Stumpers!

Picture this, the Warriors are 7-1 in their last 8, Steph Curry just hit an OBNOXIOUS 12 threes, he totaled 56 points! What year is this from? Yeah, it’s from yesterday! Let’s go over Steph’s Magic, the tempo town king Jake Knapp, and the triple-decker STUMPSET in women’s college hoops. Good Stump for ya today!

Today’s Rundown

Everything you’ll get in today’s edition, and more:

• 🏀 Curry. Was. Cookin’.

• ⛳️ Jake Knapp making history and looking smooth doing it

• 🏀 Women’s College Ball Chaos

• 🔵 “No one knows what it’s like….to be the bad man…”

On This Day

On This Day…

🤝 Mattingly Gets Captain Title

In the history of the New York Yankees, there have been 16 captains, all holding the distinct title for various lengths during their tenure with the franchise. Most recently, Aaron Judge was named captain in 2023 and currently holds the title.

Enough about Judge, because on this day in 1991, Yankees legend Don Mattingly was named the 14th captain in the history of the New York Yankees. Mattingly played the entirety of his 14-year career with the New York Yankees, holding the captain title until his retirement in 1995.

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: (B) Alex Ovechkin. Ovi not only won the Rookie of the Year Award over fellow rookie Sydney Crosby, but also finished the season with more points than him. Two of hockey's GOATs!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Here’s Yesterday’s MUST-See’s

• 🏀 Michigan buzzer beater FROM WAYYYYY DOWN TOWN

• 🐊 Billy Horschel goes TOE-TO-TOE with alligator

• 🤯 Charles Barkley was traded… to the LAKERS???

• 3️⃣ Steph from THREE QUARTER COURT

• 🏀 SKINNY ZION TRIPLE DOUBLE

The Hot Stove

NBA

👨‍🍳 Curry Was Cookin’

What to know: There hadn’t really been a classic “Steph Curry game” yet this season, but the good basketball gods shined down upon us last night as Chef Curry got cooking at home against the Magic.

The 36-year-old found himself and the Warriors in rough shape, trailing Orlando by 11 points at the end of the first quarter, and it looked like the Magic were going to take a 17-point lead into halftime. Then, from the opposite three-point line, Curry hit a buzzer beater to cut into the lead.

I’m not sure what that shot did to Steph, but the rest of the league should be worried. Curry came out to the second half on a fireball. By the end of the third, the Warriors had taken the lead and Steph had put up twenty points in the quarter. A vintage Steph Curry hot streak powered the Warriors to the win.

What’s most impressive is how efficient Curry was en route to a 56-point masterclass. He shot 16 for 25 in the game, including 12 for 19 from three. Shooting north of 60% from beyond the arc with that kind of volume is NUTS!

I can’t imagine a better time for Steph to turn back the clock, either. Since the acquisition of Jimmy Butler, Golden State is 7-1, winners in their last 5 matchups. This team has looked entirely different since they added Jimmy, with Draymond Green going as far as guaranteeing a championship this season during the All-Star break. Not sure if I’d go that far, but if they have this Steph Curry, we know nobody can stop them.

Golf

🧈 Smooth as Butter: Jake Knapp

What to know: If you’ve never seen Jake Knapp hit a golf ball, you’re absolutely missing out. This guy has maybe the smoothest swing in the game of golf, and when he has it going, it’s a pretty sight. If you managed to watch any of his performance at the Cognizant Classic yesterday, you witnessed golf history with a side quest to Tempo Town.

Knapp came out firing with five-straight birdies, but then came back down to earth (kinda) with three-straight pars. He must’ve sipped some birdie juice on his way to the ninth tee-box, though, as he got hot again. He birdied 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15.

Somewhere along that birdie train the crowd and twitter sphere started to whisper the term “history”. Going into the 16th hole, Knapp needed to shoot just one-under to break 60, or two-under to join Jim Furyk as the only people to shoot 58 on the PGA Tour.

Take a deep breath, Jim, because Knapp ONLY shot a 59. Becoming the 15th player in PGA Tour history to do so. Knapp two-putted on 18 for a closing birdie to secure the sub-60 score.

When I heard that Knapp finished with a 12-under, I was certain he would have a MONSTER lead. Wrong. Knapp holds a 4-stroke lead over Daniel Berger, Russel Henley, and Sami Valimaki. Behind them sits a BIG TIME group of golfers that includes some of the following: Sam Ryder, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Brian Harman, and Cashmere Keith Mitchell.

So if Knapp wants to win this tournament, he’s gonna have to put together some really good rounds for the rest of the weekend.

College Hoops

🏀🚨 TRIPLE STUMPSET ALERT!

What to know: There were three ranked STUMPSETS in Women’s Hoops last night. It just wouldn’t be right to not give them a little love. You know us, suckers for a good Stumpset. You give us three in one night??? Fuggedaboudit (with accent).

(24) Florida St def. (3) Notre Dame, 86-81 - Stumpset. Of. The. Night. This one was a shocker! The Fighting Irish have been a staple of the college hoops season this year, but there have now been a few moments that raise eyebrows. There was the late loss in Double OT to NC State, another Top 10 team on the road, that one was understandable. What happened last night nobody saw coming. The Irish were on their home turf, and after building up a 15-point lead midway through the second, it was all Seminoles after that. Ta’Niya Laston had a team-high 23 points, and Makayala Timpson was right behind her with 22. The Noles definitely raised their stock yesterday, and now who knows if Notre Dame will even get a 1-seed.

(20) Alabama def. (7) LSU in OT, 88-85 - This SEC SHOWDOWN was intense. 4 quarters of ball was not enough to decide a winner. One name to know from this one, Aaliyah Nye. The leading scorer for the Tide was on one all-night and ended up with 29 points, on a very efficient 9 for 12 from the field. It was a foul-filled night for the stars on LSU, and it was something that burned them in the gritty part of the game. An admirable 4th quarter comeback from LSU was met with more juice from Alabama in OT, it was a little too much juice for LSU to handle. Alabama 88. LSU 85.

(16) Duke def. (8) North Carolina, 68-53 - A heated conference rivalry on the road, this was the least shocking of the three stumpsets, but still a stumpset nonetheless. It’s hard to win games when you get a combined total of 4 points off of your bench. That’s exactly what happened for the Tar Heels. They have been able to have a balanced attack all season to bring them into the top 10, but that was not seen on Thursday night. It was Duke’s Toby Fournier off the bench who 19 and 10 of her own! Blue Devils get the win, 68-53. Maybe we see these gals again soon…

Quick Hitters

• 🏈 Kelce Set to stay on the field for 2025!

• 🏀 UConn Women Clinch 5th Straight Big East Reg Season Title

• 🏈 Bucs set to reinstate Jon Gruden into Ring of Honor

• 🏀 Gregg Popovich officially will not return this season

What We’re Watching

🏀 The NBA heads back to ESPN tonight:

• ESPN Double Header: Cavs @ Celtics (7:30 PM), Clippers @ Lakers (10:00 PM)

• More to watch: Pacers @ Heat (8:00 PM), Knicks @ Grizzlies (8:00 PM)

🏒 3-game slate in the NHL!

• Maple Leafs @ Rangers (7:00 PM on NHL Net), Kings @ Stars (8:00 PM), Wild @ Avs (9:00 PM)

⚾️ Spring Training Schedule:

• O’s @ Twins (1:05 PM), Red Sox @ Phillies (1:05 PM), Braves @ Marlins (1:10 PM), Nats @ Mets (1:10 PM), Cubs @ Rangers (3:05 PM), Blue Jays @ Yankees (6:35 PM), Angels @ Dodgers (8:05 PM), full schedule

🏀 College Basketball ranked action:

• Men’s: UCLA @ (20) Purdue (8:00 PM on FOX)

• Women’s: No ranked action going on today

⚽️ International Futbol!

• English FA Cup: Aston Villa vs Cardiff City (3:00 PM)

• German Bundesliga: VfB Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich (2:30 PM)

⛳️ Day two of the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, live from PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Here’s the leaderboard…

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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Trees may get chopped. Stumps hold strong 🌴