The Cavaliers and Thunder made the NBA's regular season matter again

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win today. I hope you’re having a good week so far.

It’s rare for a hyped matchup lives up to the expectations that we, as a sports-viewing public, place on them. Those expectations are usually our enemy. We always want the game we’re watching to be perfect and it rarely is. That’s simply the nature of sports.

That didn’t apply to Thunder-Cavaliers on Wednesday. Nothing in this world is perfect, but this game came so close to it.

THE BIG WINNERS: The Cavaliers had so much to gain with a win in this game,

The Cavs beat the Thunder, 129-122, in an epic battle between the two best teams in the NBA. That third quarter? It was special, man. The two teams combined for a whopping 84 points. There wasn’t a ton of foul-baiting. Nobody shot 50 3-pointers. There wasn’t any controversy. Just a whole lot of bucket-getting across the board.

The Cavs’ front court eked out the win on a night where Donovan Mitchell, the team’s best player, just didn’t have it. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen became the first duo of Cavs players to have at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (LOL) did it in 2017.

There were special performances on the other side. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up 31 points and looked like the MVP despite the loss. Jalen Williams had 25 points, nine assists and this impossible move under his belt.

What. A. Game. I cannot stress this enough, guys. I hope you got a chance to watch it. If you didn’t, you missed an instant classic.

People haven’t cared about regular season NBA basketball in a long, long time. And, look. I get it. The NBA’s regular season is long. These are two (mostly) unproven teams, too. The last 70-win NBA team completely fell apart in the NBA Finals, so it feels like none of this really matters.

But, man. It certainly seemed like it mattered to these two teams. This was No. 1 in the East vs. No. 1 in the West. They treated this one like they might see each other again in June. This game didn’t necessarily “count” for anything, but it carried all the weight of a potential Finals matchup. The only thing that could’ve made it better was overtime.

Luckily for us, they’ll run it back again next Thursday. If you missed this one, I’d encourage you to tap in then.

Bill Belichick might be pulling a Belichick

Bill Belichick is the greatest NFL head coach in the league’s history. That should be the first line of his story.

The second one, in my humble opinion, should be about how he resigned from the Jets on a napkin.

First of all, that’s just hilarious. Second, it shows you what type of dude he is. When he’s committed? He might be 20-years committed. When he’s not? Whew, buddy. He’s out of there.

That should worry North Carolina. Christian D’Andrea has more on how Bill Belichick could abandon Chapel Hill for an NFL coaching gig in 2025:

“North Carolina placed a $10 million buyout on Belichick’s contract, but that may not be a significant deterrent in a league where coaching salaries can double that. That buyout also drops to just $1 million after June 1 — probably a moot point, but something that could be worked around for a team intent on bending the rules and hiring a future Hall of Famer.”

Belichick says he doesn’t want an NFL role right now, and I hear him. But it just feels like that post-June 1 buyout number tells us something different.

We’ll see. Tread lightly, UNC.

90s Nostalgia works every time

Watching Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews go head-to-head in a trick shot battle was one of the most enjoyable moments of my day.

This McDonald’s showdown commercial brings back 90s vibes in a major way.

This is a riff off of the Showdown commercials McDonald’s used to do in the 90s. Wayne Gretzky and Mats Sundin did one on the ice. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird did one on the court.

If I’m reading the tea leaves here, this means we’re getting an Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander version of this at some point in the near future.

Make it happen, Mickey D’s.

Quick hits: The LA wildfires … Playoff Power Rankings … and more

— Our heart goes out to everyone in LA impacted by the wildfires today. Here’s how the tragedy has impacted the sports world so far.

— Here are our NFL Playoff Power Rankings from Robert Zeglinski. The Lions are ready, folks.

— Here’s Cory Woodroof with some Super Bowl underdogs for you, including the under-the-radar Commanders.

— Angel Reese haters are not having a good day today. Here’s Meg Hall with more.

— Blake Schuster has you covered with the best bets from the Sony Open.

— Sorry in advance, but please listen to this song. You have to. Just go in blind — it’s the best way to do it.

Thanks so much for reading TMW today. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic Thursday. Peace.

-Sykes