Comment on Preston Mattingly's unlikely journey: MLB draft at 18, college basketball at 28, back to MLB

PHOENIX — Unlike the last two years, the Nuggets were not surrounded by the comforts of home this Christmas. Extracted from the mountains and dropped in the desert, they couldn’t find any flow in a 110-100 loss to the Suns. Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant combined for 52 points with impressive shot-making inside the arc, and Denver’s offense had an uncharacteristic dud at Footprint Center.

Colorado defensive end BJ Green II during a game against Kansas State on Oct. 12, 2024, at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo.(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer) SAN ANTONIO – BJ Green II took a chance on Colorado when he opted to spend his final season of college football with the Buffaloes. Already an established star with Arizona State, Green could have wrapped up his career with one more solid season with the Sun Devils.

Merry Nixmas. And Happy New Year? Bo Nix and the Broncos have exceeded expectations, posting their first winning season since 2016. But the joy they have brought Broncos Country also makes them prisoners of their success. We are a society defined by instant gratification. Puzzles and government bonds were not under the tree Wednesday.

By WILL GRAVES PITTSBURGH — Andy Reid donned a Santa Claus suit in a giddy Kansas City Chiefs locker room on Christmas Day, then handed his team a present it increasingly looks like it deserves: home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. How Reid managed to slide into the costume so quickly after Kansas City’s clinical 29-10 victory over the reeling Pittsburgh Steelers to lock up the top seed in the AFC for the fourth time in seven years is a mystery (though he hinted there’s an elf involved). How Reid’s team manages to pull away from the pack year after year is not. A lot of Patrick Mahomes.

Here’s a look at what you need to know about the NBA’s Christmas games: San Antonio Spurs (15-14) at New York Knicks (19-10) Time: 10 a.m. MT | TV: ABC, ESPN Line: Knicks -7.5 (via BetMGM) Spurs team leaders: Scoring — Victor Wembanyama (24.8 ppg). Rebounding — Wembanyama (9.9 rpg). Assists — Chris Paul (8.4 apg).

Though vocally skeptical of the allegations, a Denver judge has agreed to allow an aunt of former Granby Ranch ski area CEO Melissa Cipriani to investigate whether she used the ski area to fraudulently transfer money and evade the aunt’s $19 million court judgment. “I’m frustrated with this case,” Judge David Goldberg said at a Dec.