The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Happy Night Before The Night Before. The NFL is the gift that keeps on giving, and we’ve games three nights in a row. We’ll cover today’s NFL matchups, and we’ve also got some great games to cover in the NBA and NHL.

NFL on Saturdays

Cincinnati Bengals(8-6) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7)

📺️ Gametime is 4:30 pm ET on NBC

💰️ The Bengals are 3 point favorite on the road, and the O/U is 38.5

👀 The Bengals who are sitting in the AFC standings as the 6th seed and the Steelers are the 10th seed. To say it straight, this is a MUST-WIN for both squads, but I think one team has a clear advantage: Jake Browning. Jake Browning is the backup for the Bengals, and even though Ja’Marr Chase won’t be playing and the conditions will be cold and wet in Pittsburgh, Browning will need to make some plays today. Due to the conditions, both teams will rely on the ground game, and both offenses are going up against tough defensive fronts. So here’s the deal: the Steelers are starting their 3rd string QB Mason Rudolph, and I can’t really see him getting much going. That’s why it’s going to be up to Browning to be the difference maker for the Bengals. Browning will need to make some longer yardage 3 & 8+ throws, and he’ll need to get one or two shots downfield to really open the run game. I’d probably stay away from the spread here, but I feel confident in the under today if you can get it above 37.5 points.

Buffalo Bills (8-6) @ LA Chargers (5-9)

📺️ Gametime is 8 pm ET and is streaming on Peacock

💰️ The Bills are 12-point favorites on the road, and the O/U is 44.5

👀 At this point last week I was really dreading this game but now that the Bills dominated the Cowboys and the Chargers fired their head coach, this is looking like a fun matchup! The Bills just held the Cowboys’ offense to under 200 yards, and the Chargers have way less firepower than Dallas. LA will be without Keenan Allen tonight, and they have backup QB Easton Stick behind center. The Chargers' defense just gave up 63 points to the Raiders, but they should be a little better after some extra rest. Of course, the Chargers haven’t been able to stop anyone this year, so I wouldn’t expect anything to change today. I’d likely stay away from the spread here today as it’s been moving around the 12-14-point range, and that’s just a lot in the NFL. If you can get the under at anything above 43.5, I think that’s a good bet.

NBA Spoils, Stats, and Scores

Zions Contract Issues

🔈️ There’s a lot of talk about Zion Williamson’s contract and how it’s no longer fully guaranteed. Let’s break it down real quick.

📜 Zion signed an extension with the Pelicans before the 2022-23 season, and it had some specific clauses about his weight and his playing availability. He has already breached some of these clauses, which could make his final three years of the extension not guaranteed.

❤️‍🩹 First off, Zion needed fewer than 23 games last season, and he missed 53. This triggered his 2025-26, 2026-27, and 2027-28 salaries to become non-guaranteed. But, there are some ways he can get some money back!

🏃 If Zion can pass certain weigh ins in the 2024-2025 season, he’ll get 20% of the next seasons salary. If he plays in half of the regular season of 24-25, he’ll get another 40% of the next year’s salary guaranteed. If he plays in 61 of 82 games in 2024-25, he’ll get the full salary of 2025-26 guaranteed.

💸Zion has the same clauses for each year of the following years, and if he can’t meet the gameplay or weigh-in clauses, he can watch the money fly away!

Jordan Poole’s Return To SF Is Spoiled

Jordan Poole returned to the Chase Center to face his former team. Poole, who now plays for the Washington Wizard, got a standing ovation from the Golden State Warriors fans before the game started. Poole would score the first basket of the game, and the Wizards would keep it close in the first half. The score at the start of the 3rd quarter was 63-61, Golden State. The Warriors would come in the third quarter and outscore the Wizards 38-22, and GS would be up 20 heading into the final quarter. Golden State was able to get some guys some rest and still hold off a late push to get the 129-118 win. Jordan Poole finished with 25 after a slow start in the 1st quarter. Steph Curry got off to a slow start as well but finished with 30 points and hit eight 3-pointers.

Other Scores and Stats From Friday Night

🏀 Joel Embiid tallied his 14th straight 30-point game when he put up 31 in a 76ers 121-111 win against the Toronto Raptors

🏀 The Denver Nuggets survived a close one with the Brooklyn Nets. Nikola Jokic finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds in the 122-117 win.

⛅️ The season remains partly cloudy for the Phoneix Suns as they drop another game in the West. The Suns fell to the Sacramento Kings 120-105. Domantas Sabonis recorded a triple-double for the Kings with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.

NHL Update

It was a wild Friday night on the ice with comebacks, shootouts, and Canadian clubs getting victories.

📈 The Edmonton Oilers had a third-period comeback win over the New York Rangers last night as the Oilers scored four goals over the span of 6 minutes in the 3rd period. The wild thing is the Oilers did the same thing the night before against the Devils. Oilers were down 3-2 on Thursday night and scored four goals in 7 minutes to beat the Devils

🤯 The Detroit Red Wings had a 5-1 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers at the end of the 1st period last night. Philly would score five goals over the next two periods, and the Red Wings would answer back with a goal with 5 minutes to go in regulation to send this thing to OT and then a shootout. Patrick Kane would end the shootout with a nice wrister.

👉️ The Montreal Canadiens would get a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

👉️ The Bruins lost a road matchup in Winnipeg 5-1 after Nino Niederreiter scored two goals for the Jets on power plays.

Today’s Schedule

We’ve got 14 matchups tonight with Philly, Montreal, Edmonton, and Winnipeg all getting an early start to the Christmas break. Check out all the matchups here.

What Else Is On TV?

We’ve got quite a few bowl games going on this afternoon and into the night.

🏈 James Madison vs. Air Force @ 3:30 pm ET on ABC in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

🏈 Georgia State vs. Utah State @ 3:30 pm ET on ESPN in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

🏈 South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan @ 7 pm ET on ESPN in the 68 Ventures Bowl

🏈 Utah vs. Northwest @ 7:30 pm ET on ABC in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl

🏈 Coastal Carolina vs San Jose State @ 10:30 pm ET on ESPN in the EasyPost Hawai’i Bowl

Before we let you go, let’s draw up our playbook for the next few days. We’ll be doing another NFL preview tomorrow for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day games. We’ve also got some NBA matchups on Christmas that we’ll cover, and the NHL is taking a few well-deserved days off the ice.

Enjoy the day

-The Daily Breakroom