Jackson Free Press

Records, news, trades, playoffs and retirements have fueled the sports world for nearly the last 24 hours. It seems that if you look away for a single second, or go to bed before midnight like I did last night, you missed something happening in sports.

Things got started in the NHL as the playoffs got underway last night with three games. Tampa Bay outlasted Detroit 3-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Pittsburgh used a hat trick from Patric Hornqvist to beat the New York Rangers 5-2. Finally, the St. Louis Blues needed overtime to get past the Chicago Blackhawks in their 1-0 win.

The NHL Playoffs were nice, but the final night of the NBA regular season had a legend in his final game and a chase for a record. In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant played in his final game at home as a Laker. In Oakland, the Golden State Warriors went for win 73 to break the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins in the regular season.

In his final game, Kobe didn’t disappoint as http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400829115">he put on a show for the home fans. The Laker great went for 60 points in his final game.

Bryant became the oldest player to score 50 or more points in an NBA game. There is one catch to Kobe’s big night, though: It took http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400829115">him 50 shots to get 60 points.

He had 22 made shots out of 50 attempts, six made three-point shots off of 21 attempts and 10 of 12 free throws made on the night. Just two other Lakers attempted double-digit shots.

Sure, Kobe got 50, but he got there pretty ugly. But the only thing people will remember is that Bryant got 60 in his final game—not the way he got the points.

On a side note, the Staples Center, where the Lakers play their home games, along with the Clippers, http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15203007/staples-center-sells-12-million-worth-kobe-bryant-merchandise-set-one-day-record">sold $1.2 million worth of merchandise in one day. That breaks the record for most merchandise sold in a single day in any arena in the world. The previous record belonged to O2 Arena in London when Led Zeppelin sold $1 million worth of merchandise in their first full-length concert in 30 years.

While Kobe remembered that there wasn’t a shot he didn’t like in his NBA career, the http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?id=400829114">Warriors were trying get their 73 wins. Golden State cruised to a 20-point lead at halftime over the Memphis Grizzlies, and Stephen Curry had hit 399 three-point shots at that point in the season.

Curry wasted no time getting his http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/15200619/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-nails-400th-3-pointer-cap-season-record">400th three-point shot of the season shortly after halftime. He finished the regular season with an NBA record 402 three-point shots.

The http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/116632/infographic-inside-the-warriors-73-win-season">Warriors' star also became the third player in NBA history to shoot more than 90 percent from the free throw line, 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from the three-point range. The only other players are Curry’s coach Steve Kerr, who did it with the Bulls during their record breaking season, and Steve Nash, who accomplished the feat during the 2007-2008 season.

Golden State finishes the regular season with 73 wins, the most in NBA history. It also had just nine loses and are the favorite to win the NBA title.

This morning, while everyone was around the water cooler or coffee pot discussing Kobe and the Warriors, the NFL decided to jump into the action. Just three weeks before the NFL Draft, the http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/15201946/tennessee-titans-trade-no-1-pick-los-angeles-rams">Tennessee Titans and the Los Angeles Rams made a trade.

Tennessee traded the No. 1 pick to the Rams, along with its 113th pick in the fourth round and the 177th pick in the sixth round. Los Angeles gave the Titans 15th overall pick in the first round, the 43rd and 45th pick in the second round, and the 76th pick in the third round.

The Titans also got the Rams' first- and third-round picks in the 2017 NFL Draft. Los Angeles is doing the NFL and television folks a solid and not telling who it's picking with that No. 1 spot.

With the NBA off tonight, the NFL is trying to own Thursday by releasing the schedule tonight starting at 7 p.m., which can be seen on the NFL Network and ESPN. The NHL playoffs also continue tonight.

Put on a pot of coffee because it could be a long night.