The blitz of Super Bowl coverage is behind us now that the Seahawks crushed the Broncos on Sunday night.
Here are 10 things in sports you may have missed while your attention was devoted to the NFL.
Remember this J.R. Smith?
The player who won the Sixth Man Award last season is back playing at a high level after a tumultuous and controversial start to the season.
Since his second benching, over a playing-time disagreement with coach Mike Woodson, Smith has scored in double figures in nine straight games. Perhaps more importantly, he has not been a constant negative storyline around the team.
The Knicks need that to continue as they try to slink into the playoffs.
The game of the season in college basketball
Syracuse and Duke’s first game as ACC foes was an epic.
The now-No. 1-ranked Orange held off the Blue Devils in overtime after Rasheed Sulaimon hit a game-tying 3 at the end of regulation for Duke.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a better game in here where both teams played at such a high level,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who has seen a few games in his time.
“Both teams just went after it. We’ve had a lot of games that have been here that are great. There’s never been one as good as this one.”
Syracuse and Wichita State are college basketball’s lone unbeatens after Arizona fell to Cal on Saturday night. The Wildcats’ biggest loss, though, was having Brandon Ashley suffer a season-ending foot injury.
Rangers could be on verge of dealing Callahan
With contract extension talks at a standstill, the Rangers are interested in trading captain Ryan Callahan — a move that would send shockwaves through the franchise — and prefer to deal him before the Olympic break, which starts Friday.
Despite the reports, the Rangers continued their stellar play on the ice by beating the Devils and Islanders to sweep the games at Yankee Stadium.
Burnett not done yet, with a twist
The Yankees bust turned Pirates ace was thought to be a lock to stay in Pittsburgh if he decided to pitch again. Instead, the 37-year-old opted to test the free-agent market. The Orioles and Phillies, along with the Pirates, are considered the front-runners to land Burnett.
Lance Berkman, Michael Young retire
Two stellar major league veterans, Lance Berkman and Michael Young, retired within a day of each other last week.
They combined for 13 All-Star appearances, while each playing the bulk of their careers in Texas – Young for the Rangers and Berkman for the Astros. Berkman had the lone World Series win (2011 Cardinals) between the two. Young had a Gold Glove (2008) and a batting title (2005) to his credit.
Lin blasts off for Rockets
Jeremy Lin’s time in Houston has been underwhelming — at least compared to the frenzy of his stay in New York — but he may have found his niche as the Rockets’ sixth man.
Lin shined in two starts this week in place of James Harden for wins over the Spurs and Mavericks, and then had his first career triple-double off the bench in a win over the Cavaliers on Saturday. He posted 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in 29 minutes.
Good news on the Mets’ financial front
Fred Wilpon is close to refinancing a $250 million loan and giving the Mets some much-needed financial breathing room, The Post reported.
Ken Davidoff weighed in on how this could affect the team’s spending going forward.
Optimism around St. John’s
After a brutal 0-5 Big East start, St. John’s has won three of its past four league games, looking more like the team many expected to see from the start. Though it’s likely too late to recover for an at-large bid, it will raise expectations heading into the Big East tournament.
The only loss during the stretch came when Creighton’s Doug McDermott beat St. John’s on a 3-pointer in the final seconds on Tuesday night.
Tiger off to a rough start
Will the old Tiger Woods be back in 2014 or just an older Tiger Woods?
It looked like the latter as he finished 41st in Dubai this weekend. It marked the first time in his career he finished outside the top 20 in his first two events of the season, after he finished 80th in the Farmers Insurance Open to open the year, getting cut after the third round.
Durant stamps ridiculous run in Miami
The Seahawks are the NFL champs and Seattle’s former basketball franchise might be the favorites to take the NBA crown.
Kevin Durant continued his ridiculous run by dropping 33 points on LeBron James and the Heat on Wednesday night in a 112-95 win for the Oklahoma City Thunder nee Seattle SuperSonics.
The victory was part of the Thunder’s 10-game winning streak, all without the injured Russell Westbrook.