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If it wasn’t already clear, Nikola Jokic vs. Victor Wembanyama will remain appointment viewing for the duration of Jokic’s prime.
Wembanyama went for 35 points and 18 rebounds as the Spurs won a 113-110 thriller over the Nuggets on Friday night at Ball Arena. The European bigs will run it back on Saturday in San Antonio to complete a back-to-back.

Vance Joseph was honest. When Dondrea Tillman arrived at Broncos’ training camp in July, the defensive coordinator didn’t know what to expect from the 26-year-old outside linebacker the team had signed out of the United Football League.

Garett Bolles spoke from the bottom of a hole deeper than the 50-point loss his team had just suffered.
The veteran offensive lineman couldn’t hold in bubbling frustration as his seventh professional season started with a third straight defeat, this one a 70-20 embarrassment at the hands of the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 24, 2023.

All year, the Broncos’ receiving group has been Courtland Sutton and then the rest.
That hasn’t changed completely in recent weeks, but a new face has entered the equation.
Suddenly, Marvin Mims Jr. is squarely in the picture.
Over the past six games, Sutton has 34 catches (51 targets) for 414 yards and four touchdowns. In the same span, Mims still trails behind at 23 catches (28 targets) but has turned those into 383 yards and four touchdowns.

Scott Wedgewood was walking around the Colorado Avalanche facility Friday in flip-flops, a pretty encouraging sign for a goaltender who left Ball Arena the night before in a walking boot.
Avs coach Jared Bednar said there’s still no timeline for Wedgewood’s return, but the club is expecting him to be out for at least the next handful of games.

There hasn’t been a cornerback named the NFL’s defensive player of the year since Stephon Gilmore in 2019. Sean Payton strongly believes Pat Surtain II should end that streak.
“It’s an easy case to make,” the Broncos head coach said. “Sometimes it’s a more difficult case to make, but certainly he’s deserving of that type of award. He’s that good.”

Michael Malone’s inner monologue might be too cartoonishly profane for him to share on live television.
“I was, man, walking off the court at halftime — you should hear some of the conversations I have with myself,” he said Wednesday after Denver allowed 71 points in the first half of an eventual 139-120 win over the Hawks.

Around the AFC
MV3. What a season it’s been for quarterbacks in the AFC. Any of Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson or Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow would be worthy of the award most years. They all enter Week 18 with 40-plus touchdowns — Burrow 44 (42 passing), Jackson 43 (39 passing) and Allen 40 (28 passing) — and eight or fewer interceptions. They’ve each done things that usually guarantee hardware. Jackson’s terrific season should get the slightest of nods and deliver him a third MVP.

Perhaps more than any player in the NBA today, Michael Porter Jr. is the actualization of positional size, a basketball principle that drives front offices such as Denver’s.
He’s a “small forward” only in title, towering over most wings with a 6-foot-10 stature that doubles the potency of his 3-pointer. There is no such thing as a contested shot for Porter, who’s 42% from the perimeter this season.

By BRETT MARTEL
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish found the right balance of family and football to produce a memorable performance under unprecedented, emotionally trying circumstances.