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THE BOSTON CELTICS<\/a> Ah, midterm grades<\/strong>. If you’re doing well, you’re happy, but you know there’s a long way to go. If you’re not doing well, at least there’s time to improve. It applies to school and it applies to… the NBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n With roughly half of the season down, we’ve handed out grades for every team<\/a><\/span> as well as individual awards<\/a><\/span>. Let’s start with the team side<\/a><\/span>, where eight different teams earned a grade in the “A” range. But for my money, of those eight, no team has been as impressive as the Boston Celtics<\/strong>. Here’s what Michael Kaskey-Blomain says<\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n Keep in mind that all of this has come with several Boston regulars, including\u00a0Robert Williams III<\/a>, Al Horford<\/a><\/strong> and, most recently, Jaylen Brown<\/a><\/strong>, missing significant time. The Celtics’ most popular starting lineup from last season — those three plus Tatum and Marcus Smart<\/a><\/strong> — has not played a single minute together this season.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael mentioned Tatum as an MVP candidate<\/strong>, but he’ll need to catch the current favorite — and\u00a0our midseason pick<\/a><\/span>\u00a0— Nikola Jokic<\/a><\/strong>. The two-time defending MVP is somehow taking his game to an even higher level, on pace for career-highs in shooting percentage, assists per game and offensive rating. While our MVP pick wasn’t unanimous, three major awards were.\u00a0You can see all of our experts’ picks here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n MATT WEISS<\/strong><\/p>\n Matt Weiss<\/strong> has only been the Michigan<\/strong> co-offensive coordinator for one season, and this certainly isn’t a good early impression.\u00a0 The 39-year-old Weiss was placed on leave amid an ongoing university police investigation of a “report of computer access crimes.”<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Details are sparse:<\/p>\n Man, the NFL<\/a> field shrinks quickly, doesn’t it? Two weeks ago, we had 32 teams playing. Last weekend there were still 14. And now we’ve cut roughly in half again, down to eight.<\/p>\n To me, this is the best round of the playoffs<\/strong>: top seeds making their playoff debut, strong contenders looking to prove themselves and Cinderellas hoping to keep dancing. Every team is three games away from becoming a Super Bowl champion, but all of them also have questions to answer.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, even the No. 1 seeds aren’t exempt, especially when it comes to one quarterback in particular<\/a><\/span>, writes Cody Benjamin.<\/p>\n If Hurts is healthy, expect a ton of quarterback runs in this one by both Hurts and his opposing quarterback, Daniel Jones<\/strong>. Hurts and Jones ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in rushing yards among quarterbacks this season, and Jones ran 17 times for 78 yards in the Giants<\/strong>‘ Wild Card win over the Vikings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You can see the biggest question for all eight teams left here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n We’ve talked plenty about Tom Brady<\/strong>‘s future in this newsletter this week, but there’s another former MVP quarterback — this one nearly 20 years younger — whose future is very much a mystery: Lamar Jackson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The path we’ve taken to get here is a long and winding one.<\/p>\n Still, plenty of quarterbacks have had lukewarm-at-best relationships with their franchises (Kyler Murray<\/strong>) or significant injuries (Dak Prescott)<\/strong> prior to signing a massive extension. Plus, Baltimore has plenty of options in negotiating with him, as former sports agent Joel Corry notes.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n But the possibility of Jackson playing elsewhere is hanging around like a dark cloud.<\/strong> Where could he go if that happens? Cody Benjamin has 15(!!!) potential landing spots for Jackson<\/a><\/span>. Yes, that’s nearly half of the NFL. Yes, Jackson would be worth it.<\/strong>\u00a0Cody makes a compelling case for each<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Look at the ACC standings <\/a>and you’ll see an unfamiliar name at the top:\u00a0No. 19 Clemson<\/strong>. The Tigers have one ACC regular-season title ever, back in 1989-90. But under the leadership of Brad Brownell<\/strong>, they’re off to a great start this season.<\/p>\n Brownell opened this season on the hot seat, and he\u00a0spoke with our Matt Norlander in this week’s Court Report<\/a><\/span>. It’s an awesome interview with a ton of great insights. Oh, and Matt delivered even more of the goods with his midseason Coach of the Year and Player of the Year picks<\/a><\/span>. As for the latter, Purdue<\/strong>‘s Zach Edey<\/strong> is running away with it.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfc0 No. 23 Rutgers at Michigan State<\/strong>, 6:30 p.m. on FS1
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Honorable mentions<\/h3>\n
And not such a good morning for…<\/h2>\n
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Not so honorable mentions<\/h3>\n
Biggest question for the NFL playoff teams still alive \ud83c\udfc8<\/h2>\n
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Where could Lamar Jackson go if he doesn’t return to Ravens? \ud83c\udfc8<\/h2>\n
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How Brad Brownell is keeping his cool on the hot seat \ud83c\udfc0<\/h2>\n
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What we’re watching Thursday \ud83d\udcfa<\/h2>\n
\ud83c\udfc0 Warriors<\/a> at Celtics<\/strong>, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
\ud83c\udfd2 Lightning at Oilers<\/strong>, 9 p.m. on ESPN
\ud83c\udfc0 Nets<\/a> at Suns<\/a><\/strong>, 10 p.m. on TNT
\ud83c\udfc0 No. 5 UCLA at Arizona State<\/strong>, 10:30 p.m. on FS1<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n