What we think we know about the NBA going into the final couple months of the regular season, now that All-Star Weekend has wrapped up and no one has to play a game again until Thursday at the earliest:
== The Lakers have 29 games left, the Clippers have 27, and the teams have to play each other twice more, once on Sunday March 8, and then figure out how to rescheduled the postponed game from Jan. 28.
How the rest of the week unfolds for the Lakers (41-21, still at No. 2 in the ESPN NBA Power Rankings)
= Vs. Memphis, Staples Center, Friday at 7:30 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet
= Vs. Boston, Staples Center, Sunday at 12:30 p.m., Channel 7
How the rest of the week unfolds for the Clippers (37-18, still at No. 6 in the ESPN NBA Power Rankings)
= Vs. Sacramento, Staples Center, Saturday at 12:30 p.m., Prime Ticket
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What we get a better sense about with the college basketball season two weeks away from March:
== Do we have to be aware of 23-2 Dayton? Obi Toppin’s team is one spot below 26-0 San Diego State in the latest AP Top 25, still trailing Baylor (23-1), Gonzaga (26-1) and Kansas (22-3). The Pac 12 is represented by Oregon (20-6), up three spots to No. 14; Colorado (20-6), down two spots to No. 18, and Arizona (18-7), up two spots to No. 24.
How the week plays out for USC (19-7, 8-5 in the Pac-12, and the No. 10 seed in the Midwest in the latest ESPN Bracketology)
= At Colorado, Thursday at 6 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2
= At Utah, Sunday at 3 p.m., ESPNU
How the week plays out for UCLA (15-11, 8-5, and not one of the six Pac-12 schools in the ESPN Bracketology)
= At Utah, Thursday at 7:30 p.m., FS1
= At Colorado, Saturday at 1 p.m., Channel 2
How the week plays out for Cal State Northridge (11-16, 6-5 and tied for second in the Big West)
= Vs. UC Irvine, Matadome, Saturday at 7 p.m.
How the week plays out for Long Beach State (9-17, 4-6 in the Big West)
= At UC Irvine, Wednesday at 7 p.m., ESPN3
= Vs. Hawaii, Walter Pyramid, Saturday at 4 p.m., ESPN3
How the week plays out for Loyola Marymount (9-17, 3-9 in the West Coast Conference)
= At Saint Mary’s, Thursday at 8 p.m., CBSSN
= At Portland, Satrday at 7 p.m.
How the week plays out for Pepperdine (14-13, 7-6 in the West Coast Conference)
= At Portland, Thursday at 6 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet
= At San Francisco, Saturday at 3 p.m., Spectrum SportsNet
Games of national interest this week include:
Monday
Iowa State at Kansas, 6 p.m., ESPN
North Carolina at Notre Dame, 4 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday
Illinois at Penn State, 3:30 p.m., FS1
Baylor at Oklahoma, 6 p.m., ESPN2
Kentucky at LSU, 6 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday
Butler at Seton Hall, 3:30 p.m., FS1
Duke at North Carolina State, 6 p.m., ESPN
Villanova at DePaul, 6 p.m., CBSSN
Cal at Washington State, 7 p.m., Pac 12 Net
Thursday
Oregon State at Arizona, 5 p.m., Pac 12 Net
Oregon at Arizona State, 6 p.m.
Stanford at Washington, 7 p.m.
San Francisco at Gonzaga, 8 p.m., CBSSN
Santa Clara at BYU, 6 p.m., CBSSN
Saturday
No. 3 Kansas at No. 1 Baylor, 9 a.m., ESPN
Tennessee at Auburn, 9 a.m., Channel 2
Marquette at Providence, 9 a.m., Channel 11
Texas at Kansas State, 11 a.m., Channel 2
Villanova at Xavier, 11:30 a.m., Channel 11
North Carolina at Louisville, 1 p.m., ESPN
Virginia Tech at Duke, 1 .m.
Florida at Kentucky, 3 p.m., ESPN
Cal at Washington, 3 p.m., Pac 12 Net
UNLV at San Diego State, 4:30 p.m., CBSSN
Oregon State at Arizona State, 5 p.m.
Oregon at Arizona, 6 p.m., ESPN
Georgetown at DePaul, 6 p.m., FS1
Gonzaga at BYU, 7 p.m.
Sunday
Penn State at Indiana, 9 a.m., FS1
St. John’s at Seton Hall, 11 a.m., Channel 2
Maryland at Ohio State, 1 p.m., Channel 2
Butler at Creighton, 1 p.m., FS1
Stanford at Washington State, 5 p.m., ESPNU
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What we pretend to know about the latest, greatest heavyweight championship boxing match:
== The “Unfinished Business” rematch of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury comes up Saturday night (MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, ESPN+ and Fox Sports PPV, $79.99), more than a year since their first meeting at Staples Center on Dec. 1, 2018, when Wilder, the undefeated and defending WBC champ took on the undefeated and former WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and lineal champ Fury. It was a controversial split draw: 115-111 for Wilder, 114-112 for Fury and 113-113, even though Wilder knocked Fury down twice and narrowly beat a 10-count in the final round. Wilder, 42-0-1 with 41 KOs, from Tuscaloosa, Ala., stands at 6-foot-7, but that’s still two inches shorter than Fury, 29-0-1 with 20 KOs, from Manchester, England.
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February Arizona baseball sounds pretty decent right about now.
The Dodgers start full-squad workouts Tuesday, a day after the Angels. The MLB player reporting date is Friday, and exhibition season runs through March 24.
But it starts with games Saturday at noon (1 p.m. local time) – The Dodgers are at Scottsdale Stadium against San Francisco (SportsNet LA), while the Angels have a split-squad setup with one at Glendale, Ariz., against the Chicago White Sox and the other at their own Tempe Diablo Stadium vs. Kansas City (FSW)
Sunday: Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs in Glendale, Ariz., 12:05 p.m., SNLA: Angels vs. Colorado in Tempe, Ariz., 12:10 p.m., FSW
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What we can expect for the NHL moving forward:
== Last week’s Kings-Avalanche game was outdoors at the Air Force Academy. The next time they meet again, the Kings will go retro on them – as part of a ‘90s Night promotion on Saturday, there’s a Snoop Dogg talking bobblehead giveaway in order.
The Kings are also wearing their throw-back jersey they wore in the ‘90s – it debuted when Wayne Gretzky arrived and hung around for 10 seasons.
== And thanks, Tyler Toffoli.
Also this week for the Kings (21-33-5, 47 points, last in the Western Conference )
= At Winnipeg, Tuesday at 5 p.m., Fox Sports West
= Vs. Florida, Staples Center, Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Fox Sports West
= Vs. Colorado, Staples Center, Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports West
= Vs. Edmonton, Staples Center, Sunday at 7 p.m., Fox Sports West
Also this week for the Ducks (24-28-7, 55 points, next-to-last in the Western Conference)
= At Calgary, Monday at 1 p.m., Prime Ticket
= Vs. Florida, Honda Center, Wednesday at 7 p.m., Prime Ticket
= Vs. Colorado, Honda Center, Friday at 7 p.m., Prime Ticket
= Vs. Vegas, Honda Center, Sunday at 7 p.m., NBCSN
Week two of college baseball:
How the week plays out for UCLA (3-0 after sweeping UC Riverside in the opening series)
= Vs. Loyola Marymount, Jackie Robinson Stadium, Tuesday at 6 p.m.
= Vs. Saint Mary’s, Jackie Robinson Stadium, Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
How the week plays out for USC (2-1, with wins of 16-2 and 14-3 over Western Michigan in the opening series)
At the Tony Gwynn Classic in at Tony Gwynn Stadium/San Diego State
= Vs. Seattle, Friday at 1 p.m.
= Vs. Southern Illinois, Saturday at 1 p.m.
= At San Diego State, Sunday at 2 p.m.
How the week plays out for Long Beach State (2-1)
= Vs. Washington, Blair Field, Tuesday at 6 p.m.
= Vs. Wake Forest, Blair Field, Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
How the week plays out for Cal State Northridge (4-0 after a sweep of San Francisco, then Washington State on Monday)
At the Grand Canyon College Classic in Phoenix:
= Vs. Fordham, Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
= Vs. Grand Canyon, Friday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
How the week plays out for Cal State Fullerton (2-1 after opening at Stanford)
= Vs. Tulane, at Goodwin Field, Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.
How the week plays out for Loyola Marymount (2-1 after nearing sweeping Washington)
= At UCLA, Tuesday at 6 p.m.
= Vs. Cal State Bakersfield, Page Stadium, Wednesday at 6 p.m.
= At Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Tex., Friday at 4:30 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m., Sunday at 11 a.m.
How the week plays out for Pepperdine (3-0 after winning three at the Angels College Classic in Phoenix)
= At Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, Tuesday at 6 p.m.
= Vs. Akron, at Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu, Friday at 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
== Week 3 of the XFL has your 0-2 Wildcats sticking around for a home game vs. the 2-0 DC Defenders (Sports Dignity Health Park in Carson, Sunday at 3 p.m., FS1)
The rest of the Week 3 schedule:
= Houston at Tampa Bay, Saturday at 11 a.m., Channel 7
= Dallas at Seattle, Saturday at 2 p.m., Channel 11
= New York at St. Louis, Sunday at noon, ESPN
== The PGA Tour moves to the WGC Mexico Championship in Mexico City’s Club de Golf Chapultepec with a $10.5 million purse (Thursday-Sunday, Golf Channel and Channel 4) while the rest of the field goes to the Puerto Rico Open, with a $3 million purse (Thursday-Sunday, Golf Channel)
== LAFC, by virtue of winning the Supports Shield with the best regular-season record in the MLS last season, has a CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 home-and-home series against Liga MX’s Club Leon. Leg 1 is Tuesday at Estadio Leon in Mexico City, 7 p.m., with the second game in L.A. on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m., three days before the launch of the 2020 MLS season. The CONCACAF Champions League features the top 16 clubs in North America, Central America and the Caribbean in knockout rounds. In each round, the team with the most combined goals at the end of both games advances. LAFC is looking to become the first MLS team to win the tournament in its current format. The winner of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League will face the champions of the world’s other five confederations, including the UEFA Champions League, in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup.
Tom Hoffarth's The Drill: More Farther Off the Wall 