Escobar's Progress Soothes Nerves

In Miami, the sheen of a 2023 NBA Finals run has long since worn off. It has been replaced by an ongoing public feud between Heat team president Pat Riley and star forward Jimmy Butler, who’s trying to force himself into a new team before the trade deadline. The Nuggets rolled into town at a critical moment in the soap opera Friday, defeating the Heat 133-113 in Butler’s first game back from a seven-game suspension imposed by Riley for conduct detrimental to the team. Jamal Murray went for 30 points (20 in the first half), seven rebounds and eight assists, and the Nuggets (25-16) reached the halfway point of the season on a pace for 50 wins. Sleeved up Joker After an alarming last-minute injury scratch from the lineup on Wednesday, Nikola Jokic was able to play with a sprained right elbow in Miami.

Niwot runner and 5A state champion Addison Ritzenhein has been named Gatorade Colorado Girls Cross Country Player of the Year for the second straight year, Gatorade announced this week. The junior put up a time of 16:54.7 to take home that individual state title — her third straight — and lead her team to a fifth-place finish.

As a freshman last season, Colorado State’s 6-foot-7 forward Rashaan Mbemba showed glimpses of what he could do once he grew into an expanded role with the team. The Austria native played sparingly as the team’s No. 2 big man behind Patrick Cartier but made the most of his opportunities when he got on the court. He averaged 11 minutes per game off the bench, scoring 3.8 points and grabbing 2.2 rebounds per contest, reaching a then-career high in points (13) twice, against San Jose State and Creighton. CSU head coach Niko Medved and his teammates knew that Mbemba could be something special, and teammate Nique Clifford emphasized that during Mountain West Conference media days before the start of the season while providing some foreshadowing to what the big man would do this season. “The thing for Rashaan is, he’s been playing against grown men for what, since he was like 13 years old,” Clifford said.

This probably wasn’t a season destined for history. Not like last year, when the Colorado men’s basketball program set a team record with 26 victories, won a pair of games at the NCAA Tournament, and sent three players into the NBA Draft. As it turns out, the Buffaloes are indeed trending toward history.

When the Colorado women’s basketball team left West Virginia on Thursday morning, the message was simple. “I said, ‘When we leave West Virginia, we’re leaving West Virginia,’” head coach JR Payne said after her team’s 73-46 loss to the 20th-ranked Mountaineers on Wednesday night. The Buffs (12-5, 3-3 Big 12) are looking to move past that one quickly as they visit Cincinnati on Saturday. “Since we got here, it’s just all been focused on getting ready for Cincinnati,” Payne said. In turning the page, CU could have easily set its focus on the season-high 30 turnovers it committed against West Virginia – the most for the program in a game in 18 years.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will miss the team’s upcoming road trip after experiencing increased swelling in his left knee after a workout Thursday, the team announced, meaning Embiid will not play in Denver for the fifth consecutive season. The Nuggets and Sixers are set to play next Tuesday (8 p.m.