1/18/24 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Thursday
18 January 2024 Sports
The Packers were back on the practice field Wednesday getting ready for the 49ers.
Sunday’s 48-32 win over the Cowboys might have been an unexpected outcome for even a majority of Green Bay Packers fans, but it’s all clicking at the right time.
From a few months ago, draft pick positioning leading the conversation, to now — a chance to shock the NFL again, this time in San Francisco. Especially in a place they have had such trouble in the past. But this team doesn’t care about that, still rolling the dice and running the table — hopefully all the way to a Super Bowl.
Green Bay has found a way to thrive in the postseason anyhow. The Packers (10-8) are the youngest team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to win a playoff game, at least according to one metric.
The 49ers’ defense might be a different animal, but again, it goes back to the confidence this offense is riding into the divisional round.
“Everyone was executing at a high level and it made it seem almost easy. It’s fun to be a part of,” Packers QB Jordan Love said Wednesday.
“Man. it feels great. We definitely feel like we have lighting in a bottle a little bit right now. Timing is definitely right, it feels great,” Center Josh Myers said.
“Our confidence never went away, but it definitely got a lot better. Like, we are definitely more confident than what we were,” added DT Devonte Wyatt.
“They want to continue to play. Our guys have been in that mode for feels like months now,” Head Coach Matt LaFleur said.
Saturday night’s game at Santa Clara starts at 7:15 with the pregame at 5:00 on FM 1023, The Bug.
Donovan Mitchell had 31 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers took advantage of Milwaukee being without superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to extend their winning streak to a season-best six games by pounding the Bucks 135-95 on Wednesday night.
Antetokounmpo sat with a bruised right shoulder, an injury that kept him out of the lineup for the first time in 29 games — the second longest streak of his career. The two-time MVP is not expected to be out for an extended period.
Georges Niang made 13 of 14 shots and added a career-high 33 points — 20 in the first half — for the Cavs, who improved to 11-3 since they lost Darius Garland (broken jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee surgery) with injuries last month.
Jarrett Allen added 21 points and 13 rebounds — his 10th straight double-double — for Cleveland.
On a night when the Bucks were missing Antetokounmpo’s presence along with his 31 points and needed someone to step up, no one did.
Damian Lillard, who hit a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer to beat Sacramento on Sunday, led Milwaukee with 17 points on just 7 of 20 shooting. Khris Middleton had two points, going 1 of 10 from the field.
The injuries to Garland and Mobley threatened to derail Cleveland’s season. However, the opposite has happened as the Cavs have played better at both ends without them and moved among the Eastern Conference’s top teams. They took the Bucks out of this one almost immediately, blasting to a 20-point lead in the first six minutes.
Any thought Milwaukee had of staging a comeback ended in the second quarter, when Niang made four 3-pointers, his last giving the Cavs a 55-30 lead.
Cleveland’s lead swelled to 40 in the third quarter before Bucks coach Adrian Griffin pulled his starters and cleared his bench, bringing in seldom used Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis’ younger brother.
It was the first of three games between the Bucks and Cavs in nine days. They’ll play on Jan. 24 and Jan. 26 in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee made just one of its first 13 shots, and the Bucks didn’t get their second field goal until 5:41 remained in the quarter.
The Bucks are at Detroit on Saturday.
The Wisconsin Herd, NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks, lost to the College Park Skyhawks 116-92.
Milwaukee Bucks two-way player TyTy Washington Jr. led the Herd with 15 points while Drew Timme added a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
The College Park Skyhawks’ top scorer was Kobe Bufkin with 25 points followed by Robert Baker and Brandon Randolph with 17 points each.
The Herd will take on the College Park Skyhawks in the second game of the back-to-back series tomorrow Thursday, Jan. 18 with tip-off set for 6:00 p.m. CST.
Mike McCarthy will get another chance to end a nearly three-decade stretch without a deep playoff run for the Dallas Cowboys.
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Wednesday night McCarthy will be back for a fifth season as coach after a stunning 48-32 wild-card loss to Green Bay.
The Cowboys were the first team to lose to a No. 7 seed since the 14-team format was adopted in 2020. Dallas surged to the NFC East title in the final two weeks and had a chance for multiple home playoff games. Instead, McCarthy’s team is the first not to reach a conference title game after three consecutive 12-win playoff seasons.
McCarthy was hired to get Dallas past the divisional round for the first time since the 1995 season, the last of the storied franchise’s five Super Bowl titles.
The 60-year-old won a Super Bowl with Green Bay 13 years ago and reached the NFC championship game three other times in 12-plus seasons leading the Packers.
McCarthy was fired midway through a second consecutive losing season in 2018 in Green Bay. He was out of football in 2019 before Jones hired him. He is 167-102-2 overall and 42-25 with Dallas.
McCarthy has one year remaining on his contract. Jones’ statement made no mention of an extension.
Men’s College Basketball (Wed.)
Ripon College 75, Lawrence University 52. The Red Hawks improve to 5-12 overall and 3-5 in the conference.
UW-Lacrosse 88, UW-Oshkosh 75. The Titans fall to 7-9 and 0-5 in the conference.
Women’s College Basketball (Wed.)
Ripon College 62, Lawrence University 48. Ripon improves 11-6 overall and 8-0 in conference play.
UW-Oshkosh 68, UW-Lacrosse 56. The Titan women improve to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in the conference.
Boys and Girls Basketball 1/18/2024
Boys:
Markesan at Ripon –Tipoff at 5:45
Kettle Moraine Lutheran at Waupun
Plymouth at Winneconne
Kewaskum at Berlin
Menasha at Green Bay East
West De Pere at New London
Seymour at Green Bay West
Kimberly at Appleton East
Westfield at Adams-Friendship
Wautoma at Mauston
Wisconsin Dells at Nekoosa
Central Wisconsin Christian at Valley Christian
Girls:
Winnebago Lutheran at Ripon-Tipoff at 7:15 on AM 1600/93.1 FM, WRPN.
Beaver Dam at Fort Atkinson
Southern Door at North Fond du Lac
Omro at Kohler
Mayville at Living Word Lutheran
Wrightstown at Freedom
Oconto Falls at Luxemburg-Casco
Waupaca at Denmark
Central Wisconsin Christian at Valley Christian
Lourdes Academy at Hustisford
Horicon at Oakfield
Wayland Academy at Dodgeland
Cambria-Friesland at Rio
Fall River at Randolph
Montello at Pardeeville
Princeton/Green Lake at Markesan
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