D-backs stun Phillies, advance to World Series | Nuggets, Suns open NBA season with a bang

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Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Let's get right to it.

Good morning to everyone but especially ...

THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

A few weeks ago, the 84-win Diamondbacks were a nice story with some nice young pieces and a well-earned playoff appearance to show for it. Nothing more, nothing less. Then they swept the Brewers. Then they swept the Dodgers. Now, they've come back to shock the Phillies and advance to the World Series after securing a4-2 Game 7 victory in Philadelphia.

As it turns out, these snakes are lethal.

Corbin Carroll, quiet most of the series, became the first player ever to have three hits and multiple steals in a Game 7. Fittingly, he also caught the final out.

Carroll wasn't the only youngster to star. Fellow rookie Brandon Pfaadt threw four solid innings, and second-year catcherGabriel Morenohad two hits, including the go-ahead RBI single.

Ketel Marte was

named NLCS MVP after running his postseason hitting streak to 16 games -- a record to begin a career.

Five Arizona relievers combined for five scoreless innings. The late-inning guys -- Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald -- were lights-out again. Overall, they threw 8 2/3 shutout innings in this series.

Arizona's 84 regular-season wins are third-fewest by a World Series team in a 162-game season.

I cannot say enough good things about these Diamondbacks. They could have folded after trailing the series 2-0 or when going on the road down 3-2. Plenty of teams have. Plenty of teams will. But not these Diamondbacks. Maybe they're too young to know any better. Maybe they have the right veterans in place to know how to handle the pressure. More likely, it's a combination of both.

They'll face the Rangers in the World Series, and we'll have plenty of preview content coming. But for now, celebrate like crazy, Diamondbacks fans. You're cheering on an awesome team.

Honorable mentions

Former Red Sox pitcher Craig Breslow is the team's new chief baseball officer.

Bob Melvin is the Giants' new manager, leaving the

Padres

searching for their next chief.

Kareem Jackson's suspension was reduced from four games to two.

And not such a good morning for ...

THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Citizens Bank Park had been a fortress for the Phillies and a house of horrors for opponents all postseason. Then the magic disappeared.

Trea Turner and Bryce Harper went a combined 0 for 15 over Games 6 and 7. Both had been on fire before that.

Nick Castellanos hit .391 -- with plenty of heroic and historic moments -- in the Wild Card Series and NLDS combined. He went 1 for 24 (.042) in the NLCS.

With chances to close things out, Aaron Nola and Ranger Surez

-- both with terrific postseason numbers -- struggled, forcing the Phillies to lean heavily on a bullpen that cost them earlier in the series.

That's baseball. Matt Snyder has the anatomy of the meltdown, including ...

Snyder: "Craig Kimbrel -- In Game 3, Kimbrel entered the game with a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the ninth. He would walk two and allow two singles while only recording one out. The Diamondbacks won the game to cut the Phillies' series lead to 2-1. In Game 4, the Phillies took a 5-3 lead to the bottom of the eighth. ... It didn't take long for Kimbrel to blow it. ... The bottom line is the Phillies win this series in five if Kimbrel doesn't throw Game 4 away."

It'll be a long offseason in Philadelphia.

Not so honorable mentions

Deshaun Watson's shoulder injury isn't going away.

New evidence continues to emerge in the Michigan sign-stealing probe.

Nuggets, Suns win on NBA opening night

Nikola Jokiclikes to spend his offseason celebrating championships, watching his horses race and (admittedly) playing basketball as little as possible while doing enough to remain the best player in the world. It's working wonderfully. Jokic had a triple-double as theNuggetsreceived their championship rings and shredded theLakers,119-107 on opening night.

The 29 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists constituted Jokic's106th career triple-double, one behind LeBron James and Jason Kidd for fourth all-time.

Jamal Murrayscored 21 points, andKentavious Caldwell-Popehad 20. It's the first time Denver had at least three 20-point scorers in a season-opener since 1994.

"Who's your daddy?" chants rained down throughout.

James, meanwhile, scored 21 points.The Lakers outscored the Nuggets by seven in the 29 minutes James played and were outscored by 19 in the 19 minutes he sat.That difference is notable, but so too isJames only playing 29 minutes, writes Sam Quinn.

In the nightcap, the Devin Bookerscored 32 points, Kevin Durant had 18 (and got a nice tribute video), and the Suns beat the Warriors, 108-104. Both Draymond Green (ankle) and Bradley Beal (back) were out, so we'll have to wait to see both teams at full strength, but for now, Phoenix will relish the 1-0 start.

NFL Power Rankings: Chiefs on top, Ravens climb

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Through seven weeks, theChiefsandEaglesare the only 6-1 teams in the league. They were the two teams with the shortest odds to win the Super Bowl entering the season, and it certainly looks like a championship rematch could be in the cards.

But there's still a long way between now and then, and as Week 7 showed us,we should expect the unexpected.After an upset-filled week, the top five ofPete Prisco's Power Rankingslooks different once again.

Chiefs (previous: 1)

Eagles (5)

Ravens (9)

Jaguars (7)

49ers (4)

The Ravens' six-spot jump is well-deserved, andPete's super impressed with both sides of the ball.

Prisco:"Lamar Jackson is certainly now in the MVP conversation. ... At times in his career, Jackson has been an erratic passer, capable of the wow moments but full of inconsistent periods of inaccuracy. That is no more. ... When you add in that the Ravens are the top-ranked scoring defense in the league, giving up 13.9 points per game, Baltimore is definitely a Super Bowl contender."

Baltimore didn't have the biggest jump, though; that belonged to another AFC North team. TheSteelerswent from 22nd to 11th with their win over theRams. On the flip side, theBuccaneershave lost two straight and were this week's biggest fallers, going from 14th to 20th.

Ranking the top college basketball teams entering the season

The NBA is officially back, and college basketball isn't far behind. We're a dozen days away from the season opener, and I could not be more excited. Neither could Matt Norlander, and he's celebrating with his Top 100 And 1 college basketball teams entering the season. Here's the top five:

Purdue -- "Everything starts withZach Edey (22.3 ppg, 12.9 rpg), the near-unanimous pick to repeat as national player of the year."

Marquette -- "MU swept its regular-season and postseason conference titles for the first time in school history and managed to lose just one player of impact."

Kansas --

"For the fourth time in school history, KU is ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25. It doesn't get the same acclaim here, but third is no shortage of appreciation for one of the best projected starting fives in college hoops."

Baylor -- "Baylor is hanging out at 20th in the AP poll, but this team should be better than that forecast."

Duke -- "It's the quintessential blend and roster breakdown for Duke: backcourt vets, proven talents with at least a year of experience and highly ranked freshman prospects."

This list is a work of art: detailed analysis, insider information and plenty of bold calls. If you love where Matt has your team, remember, it's a long season, and no one's played a game yet. If you hate where Matt has your team, remember, it's a long season, and no one's played a game yet.

Champions League: Man United finally wins, plus predictions and previews

Calling Andre Onana's first season at Manchester United "up and down" would be a nice way to put it. (It's been mostly down.) But Tuesday was definitely an "up." The Red Devils' goalkeeper stoppedJordan Larsson's penalty kick in stoppage time, and Manchester United got its first win of this UEFA Champions League campaign, 1-0 over Copenhagen. Chuck Booth

praised not only Onana's play, but his leadership as well.

Another team earning plenty of praise?Bayern Munich.In a 3-1 win at Galatasaray, Bayern looked the part of a title contender, Chuck writes.

Booth: "The difference between a good team and a great one is that great teams adjust to hostile environments and eventually get the job done and Bayern did just that scoring two second half goals to pull away and secure the points after doing almost the same last matchday against Copenhagen. It's a gear that Bayern lacked last season and that the addition of Harry Kane -- who had a goal and an assist in the match -- brings to the club."

Elsewhere across Europe ...

Jude Bellingham's magnificence for Real Madrid continued.

Same for Gabriel Jess for Arsenal ... though he left with an injury.

The 1-1 Lens-PSV draw holds huge implications.

Full takeaways and results

We have eight more matches today on CBS and Paramount+.

Barcelona vs. Shakhtar Donetsk (preview)

Feyenoord vs. Lazio

PSG vs. AC Milan (preview)

Newcastle vs. Borussia Dortmund (preview)

Young Boys vs. Manchester City (preview)

Antwerp vs. Porto

RB Leipzig vs. Red Star Belgrade

Celtic vs. Atltico Madrid

Here are our experts' picks and analyses.

What we're watching Wednesday

UEFA Champions League,streaming on CBS and Paramount+ Celtics at Knicks, 7 p.m. on ESPN Jacksonville State at FIU, 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network Capitals at Devils, 7:30 p.m. on TNT Mavericks at Spurs, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN

NFL Slimetime

UEFA Champions League

Watch NFL Slimetime, co-hosted by Nate Burleson and Young Dylan, on Wednesdays at 7:30/6:30c on Nickelodeon and streaming the next day on Paramount+!Tune In

Kylian Mbapp and PSG take on Christian Pulisic an AC Milan on Matchday 3. Watch Exclusively on Paramount+Try It Free

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1401 West Cypress Creek Road, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309