Make it two ✌️ | Sports Daily Newsletter

The dominoes continue to fall.

After a disastrous collapse to close out the 2023 season, the Eagles already have parted ways with two keys to their defensive leadership. Now it’s the offense’s turn. Brian Johnson is out as offensive coordinator after just one season.

Johnson had a successful stint as the Birds’ quarterbacks coach, but Jalen Hurts and the offense regressed this season. The reason (or reasons) behind that regression may not be fully clear, but one thing remains the same, regardless of who the offensive coordinator is: The Eagles go as Hurts goes.

That means it will be on Hurts to engineer a renaissance in 2024, David Murphy writes.

— Maria McIlwain, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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Joel Embiid is the reigning league MVP, but the game has seemed to slow down for the Sixers center this season under new coach Nick Nurse. The big guy has become even more dominant. That was evident Monday night when he finished with a franchise-record 70 points against the Spurs. His ability to score is something the league hasn’t seen from a big man since Wilt Chamberlain, Keith Pompey writes.

The locker room was aglow after the historic win over Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. Gina Mizell takes us behind the scenes of that celebration along with other insider moments from the past couple of weeks.

And here’s a deeper look at the numbers behind Joel Embiid’s 70-point performance.

Next: The Sixers hit the road for a five-game road trip, starting Thursday at the Indiana Pacers (7 p.m., NBCSP+).

Now, for the stats that didn’t work out. Here’s looking at you, Eagles.

On defense, we saw just how ineffective the team was after a change in play-caller. But throughout the season, there were signs this wasn’t quite the bunch that carried the Eagles to the Super Bowl just a year earlier. From the starting corners to the pass rush, it was a tough year.

On offense, Jalen Hurts regressed as he faced the blitz more often. The Eagles in the end struggled to account for it. And that already came in a year when save for Tush Pushes, Hurts was used less often in the running game.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame’s latest class was announced Tuesday, and three players were elected. But the Phillies went 0-for-4.

Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Bobby Abreu, and Billy Wagner fell short of the threshold for election, which is appearing on 75% of ballots as cast by voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Wagner, in his ninth year on the ballot, was closest with 73.8% of votes. In other words, he was just five votes short of election.

As for the future, farm director Preston Mattingly is expecting big things from these two 18-year-olds.

Those prospects aren’t the only reasons for excitement. The Phillies’ promotional calendar is out, and there are some great giveaways, especially for the kids. Can that towel be for adults, too?

The Flyers will be without their No. 1 goalie Carter Hart for the foreseeable future.

The team announced Tuesday that Hart has requested and been granted an indefinite leave of absence from the Flyers, citing personal reasons. The 25-year-old is 12-9-3 with a .906 save percentage this season. The reason for Hart’s leave of absence is unknown, but we’ll see today if we learn anything from general manager Danny Brière who was already scheduled to speak with the media on Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to the loss of their netminder, the Flyers again felt the pressure of needing to dig itself out of a hole after a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Flyers trailed by as much as three, managed to rally but as you can see from the scoreline, couldn’t hold on. Flyers reporter Jacke Spiegel has more on what happened and what they need to do to get back on track.

Next: The Flyers will be at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (7 p.m., NBCSP).

The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are upon us, and that means teenage sensation Isabeau Levito, who’s from Mount Holly and trains in Mount Laurel, is on the ice. She won the title last year at 15 years old, and now she’s back for more.

Inquirer figure skating expert Ellen Dunkel breaks down the competition, from Levito’s biggest competition to when you can catch the action on TV.

Next: Levito competes in the women’s short program on Thursday (8 p.m., USA).

Only one of these Sixers (Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Michael Carter-Williams, Allen Iverson) has not won NBA rookie of the year. Who is it?

Answer: B: Joel Embiid. The big man, who now owns the Sixers’ franchise record for points in a game with 70, was drafted in 2014 but didn’t make his NBA debut until 2016-17, when he finished behind Malcolm Brogdon and Sixers teammate Dario Šarić in the voting.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from David Murphy, Jeff McLane, Keith Pompey, Gina Mizell, Josh Tolentino, Olivia Reiner, Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, Gabriela Carroll, Jackie Spiegel, Ellen Dunkel, Matt Ryan, Owen McCue, and Finn Courtney.

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