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🏈 An UNBELIEVABLE Sports Weekend.

🏈 An UNBELIEVABLE Sports Weekend.

December 19, 2022

Good morning BTP family. Another cold Monday awaits us after a wild sports weekend. We had Argentina win the World Cup over France in penalties, Joe Burrow lead the Bengals to a 17-point comeback over Tom Brady and the Bucs, the Jaguars erased a 27-10 deficit to beat the Cowboys, the Vikings pulled off the largest comeback in NFL history, and the Raiders UNREAL walk-off fumble recovery TD against the Patriots. Not to mention in basketball we had a legendary performance by Nikola Jokic, a 40-ball from Jordan Poole, and a vintage LeBron lead victory over the Wizards. Take a deep dive with us into this storybook sports weekend!

Start your week off here!

'THE GOAT'

Argentina Wins World Cup Ending The Messi 'GOAT' Debate

For as brilliant a footballer as Lionel Messi is, he’s always been held to an unfair standard. Some people consider Ronaldo the superior player despite Messi winning two more Ballon d’Or awards (think the MVP award but for all of football) and scoring or assisting more goals on a per-game basis than CR7. For others, namely his fellow Argentinians, he isn’t as good as Diego Maradona, simply because up until yesterday, he hadn’t won a World Cup.

The Maradona debate has always been particularly unfair and has caused Messi far more strife than a perceived rivalry with Ronaldo. For nearly his entire career, Messi has been taken for granted by a significant portion of Argentina’s rabid fanbase. These fans consistently championed Maradona over Messi as the better player in the face of glaring evidence to the contrary. Messi’s club success objectively obliterates Maradona’s, and his time on the international stage, which is understandably more important to them, has also been far more prolific (Messi has scored 97 goals to Maradona’s 34). But without the World Cup victory, they refused to listen. Well, that’s over now.

Not only did Messi win his World Cup, but he did so in stunning fashion. Messi recorded seven goals and three assists, tallied two penalty shots, and became the first player to score in every round of the tournament. He was also awarded the Golden Ball trophy for being the tournament’s best player for a second time, which, you guessed it, is another record. Messi was already the GOAT; the only thing that’s changed is more people can see it now.

HEROIC PERFORMANCE

Inside Nikola Jokic's Career Night, MVP Race Heats Up

Last night Nikola Jokic had one of the most impressive performances of the NBA season so far. Jokic put up 40 points, a career-high 27 rebounds, and 10 assists in his fifth triple-double of the season. Not to mention, Jokic had 20 rebounds in the first half alone! At the end of the game Jokic sealed the victory with two free throws as his performance was just enough to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Charlotte Hornets 119-115.

Nikola Jokic’s performance put him in the history books with some impressive company. The only other player to put up at least 40 points, 27 rebounds, and 10 assists in a single game is Wilt Chamberlain who did it four times in his career! Jokic also had an impressive 43 points, 14 rebounds, and 8 assists just a few nights ago.

Jokic MVP?

Over the last seven games Jokic has put together some very impressive performances in all facets of the game. According to NBA.com, Jokic is currently third in the MVP rankings for this season only behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum. This season Jokic is averaging 25.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 9 assists per game. Giannis is just above him at 30.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. While Tatum is number one at 30.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. There is no doubt Jokic could easily take over the top spot if he and the Nuggets keep up the impressive play. However there is no sign of Giannis or Tatum slowing down either.

BROKEN DREAMS

James Harden "Was Broken" after Heat Playoff Loss

James Harden has had a lot of grueling moments in the playoffs, but last season’s loss to the Miami Heat was reportedly his lowest point. As you might recall, the Heat held Harden to 20 or fewer points in five of six games, including a brutal elimination game where he had 11 points and attempted just two shots in the second half of the game. Naturally, this left James feeling some kind of way, and thanks to a Fox Sports interview with Harden and various people connected to him, we know just how bad things got.

For as talented a player as Harden is, his resume is incredibly lacking when it comes to postseason success, and as such, he’s developed a coping mechanism for when things inevitably go south. According to his manager and longtime friend, Harden reacts to year-ending losses by escaping to his Houston home and “withdrawing from the world” for a while. But this loss hit different. One of Harden’s friends called him "broken”, and according to his manager, Harden was reportedly unreachable for around ten days.

Eventually, Harden got in touch and revealed that he was hurting physically and emotionally and that the multiple trades, injuries, and playoff failures left him “drained and deflated.” While the injuries were something of an anomaly given his previous standing as an NBA ironman, it’s hard to have much sympathy for his trade situations, considering he orchestrated them both while landing in his preferred location each time.

Harden is off to a good start in his first full season in Philly, and despite being limited to just 13 games, he's averaging an impressive 22.1 points, 10.8 assists, and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 36.2 percent from three. But as always is the case with Harden, let’s see if he can sustain that come playoff time.

THE RUMOR MILL

The Lakers are eyeing Bradley Beal for a trade, according to report

Trade rumor ranking: Patrick Beverley, Cam Reddish and more

THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

December 19, 2010: "Miracle at the Meadowlands," Philadelphia Eagles trail New York Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play before scoring 4 touchdowns in the final 7 minutes, including dramatic walk-off punt return by DeSean Jackson