Bracket Briefing: 25 Most Important Players In The Final Four

NEW ORLEANS — Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will not play against the Pelicans on Friday night due to personal reasons, according to the team’s injury report. Jokic was ruled out Friday around noon after being listed as questionable on Thursday. The Nuggets (7-3) are tipping off a three-game road trip in New Orleans with their first NBA Cup group-stage game. The three-time MVP is off to one of the best starts to a season in his 10-year NBA career.

Around the AFC No country for old men. The Aaron Rodgers era for the Jets has not gone to plan. Now healthy, Rodgers and the Jets have stumbled to a 3-7 mark. After a spirited win against Houston on Halloween, New York got blasted Sunday by Arizona. They’re virtually out of the playoff race already unless they win their final seven.

The Broncos woke up the morning after one of the most excruciating regular-season losses most of them had experienced to a two-part reality. Naturally, the sting of their 16-14 loss at Kansas City and the blocked field goal that sealed it wasn’t going to just disappear. But also, if the postseason started today, Denver would be in as the No.

The Northern Colorado Hailstorm is without a league. The United Soccer League announced Thursday that it terminated the Windsor-based club’s franchise agreement with the USL League One in the third division of American professional soccer. In an official statement, the league said the decision “reflects our commitment to uphold the standards of our organization and protect the interests of our clubs’ ownership.” The termination came just a day after Law360 reported the club sued the league for not paying the club its $100,000 prize for winning the inaugural USL Jägermeister Cup in September.

It is the first play of the fourth quarter in New Orleans, and Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles slams his right hand into Chase Young’s chest. Young loses his balance, if not his dignity, as he falls face-first into the turf. Bolles is sculpted for the task of bodyguard for quarterback Bo Nix.

Partial resistance to key malaria drug found in young children in Uganda University of Minnesota Twin CitiesResistance to crucial malaria drug detected in severely ill kids in Africa Nature.comScientists Worried As Lifesaving Malaria Drug In Africa Proving Less Effective NDTVFears for spread of malaria in Africa as study finds resistance to frontline drug The Guardian