The sports world decided to go coo coo bananas on Tuesday night with the NHL and NBA dueling for who could have the most ludicrous moment of the night. There were games that never ended, a headbutt, and a player going full Super Saiyan — so let’s catch you up on everything that happened.
Everything you missed last night, from never-ending hockey to a Giannis headbutt
Tuesday night was WILD.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The Lightning and Blue Jackets decided they wanted to play FOREVER.
On paper the NHL’s Tuesday slate made perfect sense. Tampa Bay and Columbus would play at 3 p.m. ET, followed by Carolina and Boston at 8 p.m. ET. Clean, easy, good — that was until Tampa and Columbus decided they just didn’t feel like leaving the ice.
There’s no shootout in playoff hockey, meaning the game had to be played to completion. It ended up taking FIVE OVERTIMES before the Lightning scored the game winning goal, and mercifully ended things SIX HOURS AND THIRTEEN MINUTES after the game started. It was the fourth longest playoff game in history, and wrecked the schedule so much that it pushed Hurricanes vs. Bruins to Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. ET.
The Canes were pretty fed up with it all.
Even Raw Charge, our Lightning blog was over this.
“Let’s not do this again. Please.”
On the plus side we get MORNING PLAYOFF HOCKEY, which will be the perfect way to start the day off with nauseating stress.
Damian Lillard decided to go off on the Mavericks.
There’s something beautiful about an athlete being so good they can just choose to obliterate a team as quickly as Thanos snapped his fingers. On Tuesday night Dame was Thanos.
Blazers vs. Mavericks was a score-fest, to be certain. Portland won 134-131 in the end, with Lillard scoring an astonishing 61 points. Not only did he shoot 17-32 from the field, including nine threes, but he also dished out 8 assists on the night. You know you’re doing something right when you score as many points as Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic COMBINED, and in the end he was totally unstoppable.
Also, put some respect on his name.
Lillard became the first Blazer in history to score 50+ points in back-to-back games. At this point it’s Dame’s world, and we’re just living in it.
Also, Giannis headbutted a dude.
Not to be outdone by the rest of the sports world, Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected in the first half against the Wizards for headbutting Moritz Wagner.
This wasn’t some “I accidentally touched your head with mine” headbutt either. This was some seriously intentional headbutting. Personally, I’m here for it. Not that I inherently advocate for the use of violence — but it’s kind of refreshing to see this kind of outburst from an NBA superstar, not a bit player. Giannis knew full well that getting ejected would hurt his team, and decided the headbutt was more important. That kind of decision making is normally reserved for brawls between soccer hooligans in a pub.
The best part? It didn’t really hurt Milwaukee either. They remain the Bucks, and the Wizards — well, they’re still the Wizards. Giannis’ team won 126-113 without their star player for over half the game.
Damn, that team’s good ... or the Wizards are really bad ... or both.
