Jarron Cumberland: Drops 21 points in win

During a full slate of NBA games Wednesday night, there was only one matchup that had the potential to feature two players who have both won back-to-back MVPs. It was neither of the nationally televised games, though both of those matchups had their own built-in storylines as part of the league's "Rivals Week." It was the Denver Nuggets against the Milwaukee Bucks, where the two players who have combined to win the last four MVP awards were set to face off. But with the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back, reigning MVP Nikola Jokic didn't play, neither did Jamal Murray or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in a 107-99 loss against Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee.

The Brooklyn Nets suffered a surprising 130-122 loss to the lowly Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, and have now lost six of their last eight games to fall to 29-19 on the season, which puts them in a tie with the Cleveland Cavaliers for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Jordan Poole had himself an eventful 80 seconds to close the Warriors' wild win over Memphis on Wednesday night. After attempting a somewhat ill-advised 3-pointer that irked Stephen Curry to the point the Warriors star hurled his mouthpiece into the stands, which led to his being ejected, Poole redeemed himself by producing the game-winning layup off a baseline out-of-bounds play as Golden State escaped with a 122-120 victory.

Love (back) won't play Thursday against the Rockets, Chris Fedor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. After getting added to the injury report late Thursday, Love will ultimately sit out against the Rockets, putting Dean Wade and Cedi Osman in line for more minutes. The veteran's next chance to return to the court will be Friday against the Thunder.

Gordon has been ruled out for Thursday's game against Cleveland due to right knee soreness. Gordon has played at least 30 minutes in each of his last six appearances, averaging 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 31.3 minutes per game over that stretch. However, he's dealing with a knee issue that will sideline him for the first time since Dec. 27. Jae'Sean Tate (ankle) is also out, so Kenyon Martin, Garrison Mathews and Tari Eason will likely see increased run Thursday.

The Big 12 has once again established itself as far and away the best conference in college basketball with six teams in the top 13 of the Top 25 And 1 (and only two outside of the top 45 of the NET). After Iowa State beat Kansas State 80-76 late Tuesday, and Texas handled Oklahoma State 89-75, what we have is a three-way tie for first in the league standings between UT, ISU and KSU.

Good morning to everyone but especially to... PATRICK MAHOMES AND THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS... When Patrick Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain against the Jaguars, it didn't look good. Not for the rest of that game, and not for any potential games going forward. Yet, as he so often does while...

Doncic (ankle) will not return to Thursday's contest against the Suns, NBA writer Marc Stein reports. Doncic picked up a left ankle sprain three minutes into Thursday's matchup with Phoenix and he won't return, finishing with only one rebound. Expect Josh Green, Spencer Dinwiddie and Tim Hardaway to all see an uptick in minutes for the remainder of Thursday's contest. The severity of Doncic's ankle injury is uncertain at this point.

Current Records: Bucknell 8-14; Loyola-Maryland 7-15 The Loyola-Maryland Greyhounds will be returning home after a two-game road trip. The Greyhounds and the Bucknell Bison will face off in a Patriot battle at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday at Reitz Arena. Neither of those teams managed to put together many points in their previous contests, so their meeting could be a low-scoring affair.

After a chaotic week which saw teams near the top of the bracket losing almost every night, there are some changes in the latest bracket update. Purdue and Alabama are still the top two overall seeds. Both were tested this week but came away with wins. Kansas State remains on the top line despite a loss at Iowa State. Arizona moved up to a No. 1 seed after Kansas lost at Baylor for its third straight defeat.

Ayton (illness) was present for Wednesday's practice and was spotted taking part in work during the media-access portion of the session, Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic reports. While it's unclear if Ayton was a full or partial participant in the session, his involvement in any capacity bodes well for...

Turner is questionable for Friday's game against Milwaukee due to a right ankle sprain. Turner has appeared in the Pacers' last six matchups and has averaged 19.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in 30.0 minutes per game during that time. If he's unavailable against the Bucks, Jalen Smith, Isaiah Jackson and Terry Taylor would be candidates to see increased minutes.

Five weeks ago, after what the Chicago Sun-Times' Joe Cowley described as a "blowup between players" at halftime of the Chicago Bulls' loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. NBC Sports' K.C. Johnson reported that "multiple teammates directed frustration at Zach LaVine, and the situation intensified." Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the team had held multiple meetings "to try to work our their issues," including "one-on-one, face-to-face sitdowns" between LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.

MACOMB, Ill. (AP) Trenton Massner scored 23 points as Western Illinois beat South Dakota 75-72 on Thursday night. Massner had six rebounds and six assists for the Leathernecks (13-8, 6-4 Summit League). Jesiah West scored 11 points and added eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. Quinlan Bennett finished 5 of 6 from the floor to finish with 11 points, while adding six rebounds.

T-3. USC (7-3) The class of the conference remains Arizona and UCLA with Utah emerging as a surprising third-best team after being picked 10th in the Pac-12 preseason media poll. I have Arizona at No. 8 and UCLA at No. 10 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. I could easily see the Wildcats and/or Bruins advancing all the way to the 2023 Final Four. Both are really good -- but their resumes are flawed for different reasons.

Rubio chipped in five points (2-7 FG, 1-2 3Pt), three rebounds, seven assists and one steal over 17 minutes during Thursday's 113-95 victory over the Rockets. Rubio continues to play a limited role off the bench and has not scored more than nine points in any of his games. However, he was able to dish out a season-high seven assists in the win. The fact he remains limited even with Donovan Mitchell (hamstring) sidelined tells you everything you need to know about his role moving forward. The Cavaliers want to have him up and running come the playoffs, meaning he could be locked in at no more than 20 minutes per night, at least for the foreseeable future.

The Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies battled Wednesday in the latest chapter of one of the NBA's growing rivalries, but Stephen Curry wasn't allowed to take part in the final 74 seconds of the nail-biter due to one of the more bizarre ejections you'll ever see. With 1:23 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Warriors leading by two, Klay Thompson missed a mid-range jumper that would've doubled the Warriors' two-point lead. Donte DiVincenzo grabbed the offensive board and quickly passed to Jordan Poole, and that's where things got out of hand.

Bojan Bogdanovic turns 34 years old in April, and he's averaging a career-high 21.5 points on a career-high 63.4 percent true shooting for a young team that has the second-worst record in the league. It is not hard to figure out why he's a candidate to be moved before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.

Another day, another set of trade rumors as the NBA's deadline approaches. We are now less than two weeks away from the final buzzer, and we're still waiting on the sort of moves that tend to define a deadline. That hasn't been for lack of trying. There has been plenty of news surrounding what teams are trying to accomplish over the past several days, and on Friday, we have a whole new batch to sift through.

Kucherov scored a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Wild. After helping to set up Steven Stamkos for the game-winner midway through the third period, Kucherov iced things with an empty-netter. The 29-year-old has found the scoresheet in four straight games and nine of the last 10, racking up six goals and 15 points over that stretch. If he can stay healthy, Kucherov is on track to reach 100 points for the first time since 2018-19.