We’ve reached the final stop before the NBA All-Star break, with five games on the schedule tonight.

If last night’s games are any indication, we could be in for some more odd bounces before the association heads to Cleveland.

NBA underdogs went a combined 7-2-1 against the spread last night, with four outright upsets, two of which were by double-digit underdogs.  

We also saw four double-digit comebacks.

Meanwhile, DeMar DeRozan made history by becoming the first player ever to score 35+ points while shooting at least 50 per cent from the field in seven straight games.

As I wrote about earlier this week, DeRozan has forced his way into the MVP conversation with his brilliant play.

Suddenly, he’s a top-six choice to win that award, according to oddsmakers.

Here’s the TSN EDGE Morning Coffee for Thursday Feb. 17, 2022.

DeRozan breaks Chamberlain’s record

DeRozan went off again for a team-high 38 points on 59 per cent shooting as the Chicago Bulls (-5.5) cruised to a 125-118 win over the Sacramento Kings.

As I highlighted earlier in the week, it’s remarkable that any player could match Chamberlain’s record.

The fact that it’s a 6-foot-6 small forward that did it is astonishing. After all, Chamberlain was a 7-for-1 centre.

For what it’s worth, there’s never been another player at the small forward position who has ever even come close to doing what DeRozan is doing right now.

And because DeRozan has elevated his play to an MVP level – not just over this current seven-game stretch, but over the course of the entire season – the Bulls enter tonight’s games with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

It's reached the point where DeRozan can no longer be overlooked as a legitimate MVP candidate, which is reflected in the futures market.

DeRozan opened as high as 150-to-1 to win NBA MVP at one spot. After he matched Chamberlain’s record on Tuesday night, the best number I could find him at was 35-to-1.

At the time, I predicted that DeRozan odds would continue to shorten, especially with a pair of Phoenix Suns’ teammates sitting right above him on the MVP board in Chris Paul and Devin Booker.

Two days later, DeRozan is now the sixth choice to win MVP at 30-to-1.

Still, that number seems higher than it should be.

That’s not to say that DeRozan should be the MVP favourite.

Joel Embiid (+155), Giannis Antetokounmpo (+340), Nikola Jokic (+350), Stephen Curry (+950) and Ja Morant (+1500) all still have shorter odds.

And yes, it’s more likely than not that one of those players goes on to win MVP. Still, even at 30-to-1, I’m intrigued by DeRozan’s potential to win the award.

According to at least one model, DeRozan leads the entire NBA in Win Probability Added by a significant margin.

He also leads the entire NBA in fourth-quarter scoring by a significant margin.

Meanwhile, DeRozan’s efficiency is off the charts, and it’s the biggest reason why Chicago owns the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Any time that a player breaks an all-time record set by an all-time great, it’s going to force people to pay attention.

It’s unreasonable to think that DeRozan can continue to put up 35-plus points on 50 per cent shooting or better night in and night out, but even with some expected regression, we could still be talking about the best player on the team that finishes atop the Eastern Conference.

If you managed to get DeRozan at 50-to-1 to win MVP or better, then you’re probably feeling pretty good about it right now.

I still think that DeRozan’s odds will continue to shorten. It will be interesting to see how he performs the rest of the way, and how the market responds, following this latest remarkable stretch.

Pistons, Blazers pull off notable upsets

While DeRozan’s record-setting performance stole the spotlight, a couple of notable upsets demanded some attention.

Jerami Grant scored a game-high 24 points as the Detroit Pistons (+12.5) upset the Boston Celtics 112-111.

The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Detroit. It also snapped Boston’s nine-game win streak.

Jusuf Nurkic led the way with 32 points as the Portland Trail Blazers (+12.5) beat the Memphis Grizzlies 123-119. Memphis had won six in a row before that loss.

Meanwhile, LeBron James scored 15 of his team-high 33 points in the fourth quarter as the Los Angeles Lakers (+4) upset the Utah Jazz 106-101.

While the Lakers weren’t a double-digit dog, they did end another extended win streak as Utah had won six in a row entering last night’s game.

L.A. lost Anthony Davis to a sprained ankle in the second quarter and trailed by as many as 14 points before rallying for the upset.

A dominant stretch by the favourites in the association over the past couple of weeks made last night’s upsets that much more noticeable.

It will be interesting to see if we see anything similar in the NBA tonight heading into the All-Star break.

Team Canada win gold in women’s hockey

While there were some notable upsets in the NBA, the women’s hockey gold-medal game at the Olympics played out as oddsmakers expected as Team Canada won gold.

Canada, which was a -135 pre-tournament favourite to win gold and a -225 favourite for the gold-medal game, beat Team USA 3-2.

Marie-Philip Poulin delivered the game-winning goal.

It’s the fifth Olympic gold for the Canadian women’s hockey team.