Sully Buttes 33, Ethan 25

The Nuggets didn’t have a very merry Christmas, but they at least salvaged a happy new year. In their first game of 2025, they picked up their third consecutive win, 139-120 over the Hawks, by pulling away in a 41-24 third quarter when a dose of defense was desperately needed. They distanced themselves with a 12-0 run a few minutes into the second half, led by some tough shot-making from Michael Porter Jr. “I think as the year’s gone on and on, we’re getting better and better (offensively),” Porter said. Nikola Jokic amassed 23 points, 17 rebounds assists and 15 assists in 29 minutes.

Colorado’s Jade Masogayo, left, is defended by TCU’s Sedona Prince on Jan. 1, 2025, at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. (CU Athletics) Fast break Why the Buffs lost: CU played good enough defense but didn’t generate enough offensively. The Buffs hit just 35.3% of their shots and had 17 turnovers, which TCU converted into 16 points. Three stars: 1.

Sean Payton found the courage to cut Russell Wilson and absorb a $53 million cap hit this season, freeing the Broncos to find something foreign for the past eight years: hope. His name is Bo Nix. As he stood at the podium on a raw Wednesday afternoon before the last regular regular-season game, the quarterback exuded confidence that belied his experience. This is the guy you think can’t beat Carson Wentz? That’s cute. We have no idea what Nix’s career will look like, not until the Broncos upgrade the weapons around him with a pass-catching tight end (Tyler Warren, please) and a No.

The Broncos are treating Sunday’s regular-season finale as a postseason game, even if the opposition views it differently. Denver needs a win over the Chiefs to secure its first playoff berth in eight years. And despite Kansas City’s plan to play mostly backups in Week 18’s matchup, the Broncos are not walking into Empower Field at Mile High Stadium expecting an easy win. “We don’t care,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said.

Sean Payton spent 16 years of his coaching career in New Orleans. He got there in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and led the Saints as the NFL team helped the city heal. They won a Super Bowl in 2009, and he became one of the city’s mainstays until resigning after the 2021 season. Wednesday afternoon, hours after what the FBI called an act of terrorism in which a man rammed a truck into a French Quarter crowd around 3 a.m.

By DAVE SKRETTA KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs will start backup Carson Wentz at quarterback on Sunday in Denver in a game that means nothing to Kansas City, which has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, but could mean everything to the Broncos. Chiefs coach Andy Reid announced his decision to rest Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday, shortly before they returned to practice from an extended break following their Christmas Day win in Pittsburgh.