Thuuz Sports, the most powerful automated video highlights production platform for worldwide sports, today announced their February Top 10 most exciting games across all broadcast sports events. While the Patriots Super Bowl win and the NBA and NHL All-Star Games missed the list, the NBA and college hoops dominated for the second month of the year, with both Miami Heat vs Golden State Warriors matchups making the list. LSU was on the list twice, winning two nail-biters, and three Boston games made the Top 10.
Using their custom designed algorithms to measure real-time event excitement, Thuuz will provide a unique look into what games have gotten fans the most excited and engaged as 2019 rolls along.
The game excitement ratings are measured on a 0 to 100 scale and take into consideration game pace, team parity, play novelty, momentum shifts, social buzz, and historical context. The algorithms behind the excitement ratings are statistically calibrated to insure the appropriate distribution of ratings across the duration of a season or course of a tournament.
“We head to March Madness, but February was all about basketball,” said Thuuz CEO Warren Packard. “It is always amazing to show how even regular season games can bring the most excitement, while some of the games we anticipate the most, like the Super Bowl, can fall short. We look forward to seeing what will dominate and surprise once again this month, using our custom ranking system.”
Using the Thuuz excitement measurement platform, the top ten most exciting games were:
1. West Virginia 104, TCU 96 (NCAAMB): 2/26: WVU outlasted TCU in a triple OT showdown in Big 12 conference play. WVU had 4 players play over 50 minutes in the game, led by Derek Culver who ended the game with 22 points and 21 rebounds.
2. Boston 6, San Jose 5 (NHL): 2/18: Controversial ending saw the Bruins score a tying goal against the Sharks with under two minutes remaining in regulation, a goal that should have been called off for a high touch. Hockey legend “Jumbo” Joe Thornton scored his 1st hat trick in 9 years, and did it against the Bruins, the team that drafted him. Young D-man Charlie McAvoy won the game for Boston in OT.
3. Duke 71, Louisville 69 (NCAAMB): 2/12: Louisville was winning 59-36 with under 10 min left in the 2nd half, before Zion Williamson and Duke began a massive comeback that ended in a 2-point victory. Duke freshman Cam Reddish made 2 FT’s with 15 seconds remaining to give Duke their 1st lead since they were up 21-20 in the 1st half. A defensive stand after those FT’s led to an improbable Duke victory.
4. LSU 73, Kentucky 71 (NCAAMB): 2/12: #19 LSU defeated #5 Kentucky on a controversial buzzer-beating tip-in for their 1st win over Kentucky since 2009. This incredibly close game was within 5 points for the final 14 minutes of the game, as the 2 SEC rivals went back and forth in a conference showdown.
5. LSU 82, Tennessee 80 (NCAAMB): 2/23: After a crucial foul by Tennessee with less than a second remaining, LSU’s Ja’vonte Smart drained the go-ahead FT’s and as Tigers beat the Vols in OT. This was LSU’s 2nd victory in 2 weeks over a top-5 SEC team. Smart scored a career-high 29 points in the win.
6. Los Angeles Lakers 129, Boston Celtics 128 (NBA): 2/7: The NBA’s 2 most historic franchises played a nail-biter in Boston that saw former Celtic Rajon Rondo hit a jump shot at the buzzer to down his former team. LeBron James led the Lakers with a 28-12-12 triple-double.
7. Golden State 120, Miami 118 (NBA): 2/10: The Warriors were down by 19 before staging a massive comeback and withstanding a late Miami push to win by 2. KD hit a tying 3-pointer for his 25th point in the 2nd half, before getting away with a double-dribble that led to a DeMarcus Cousins offensive rebound and game winning FT’s.
8. Miami 126, Golden State 125 (NBA): 2/27: Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade hit the most improbable one-legged, buzzer-beating bank-shot to give the Heat a 1-pt victory. The rematch between these 2 teams saw a very similar storyline play out. The Warriors were down early in the game once again, this time by 24, before staging a huge comeback and holding a 2-pt lead with 8 seconds remaining before Wade sank the Warriors with his game-winner.
9. Oklahoma City 148, Utah 147 (NBA): 2/22: OKC came out on top in this double OT thriller behind 88 combined points from their superstars: Russ and PG13. PG13 owned OT as he had a windmill dunk and the eventual game-winning floater with 0.8 seconds remaining over last season’s defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert.
10. Milwaukee 98, Boston 97 (NBA): 2/21: Two Eastern Conference favorites battled in a low-scoring playoff atmosphere as a Khris Middleton hit a critical 3-pointer in the last minute to give the Bucks a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The Greek Freak led the Bucks with 30 points and 13 rebounds as they improved to 30 games above .500 with this win.