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Good Morning 👋
It felt like the 90s last night at Madison Square Garden. Give me six more games of Knicks-Pacers, please. The playoffs keep moving this week. We crown NBA Rookie of the Year and pause to recognize Shohei Ohtani’s absurd plate production in today's edition. Plus, the next two days will decide the Champions League final pairing. May's variety of sports always keeps us on our toes. Letter Rip! |
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Garden Party: Brunson Goin' Ballistic |
Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images |
Jalen Brunson (43 pts) & Knicks Take Down Pacers at MSG / Timberwolves Thrash Nuggets by 26 Points to Take 2-0 Lead
Deciding between Jalen Brunson or Anthony Edwards for today’s feature photo was a coin toss. Both are doing historic things in these playoffs, but one of last night's games was a little more interesting down the stretch. Game 1 of Knicks-Pacers had a chaotic finish at Madison Square Garden last night while Game 2 of Wolves-Nuggets was... a blowout surprise? New stars are emerging in the NBA postseason. Let’s do it. Fireworks at MSG in Renewed Rivalry
Gm 1: Knicks def. Pacers (121-117)
The much-hyped Pacers-Knicks showdown started with a bang on Monday. Jalen Brunson (43 pts) scored 40-plus for the 4th straight playoff game, and the Knicks rallied late in the 4th for a win at MSG in a frenetic finish that featured three challenged calls. The Pacers had a pair of highlight dunks, but the calls haunted them down the stretch. Miles Turner was whistled for a moving screen on the would-be final possession. The Villanova 3 — Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo — scored 29 of New York’s 39 4th-quarter points. The Garden was rocking. Knicks take the early advantage. NYK Leads Series (1-0)
Fun Stat: Jalen Brunson’s 210 points in the last five games is the most in a five-game playoff stretch since Michael Jordan (1993). Wow.
Ant & Kat Turn Champs to Chumps Gm 2: Timberwolves def. Nuggets (106-80)
There’s no way the defending champs would fall down 0-2 at home, right? The Timberwolves are feasting. Anthony Edwards (27 pts) and Karl-Anthony Towns (27 pts) handed the Nuggets a first-half shocker, outscoring Denver by 26 before halftime. They led by more than 30 at one point. Minnesota held Nikola Jokic (16-16-8) and Jamal Murray (8 pts) to a combined 24 points?! The Wolves are up big heading back to Minneapolis. MIN Leads Series (2-0)
Fun Stats: Monday’s 26-point win was the Timberwolves’ second-largest playoff win in franchise history. They’re now 6-0 in the postseason after sweeping the Suns and winning Games 1 and 2 against the Nuggets. |
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Photo: Icon Sportswire / Getty Images |
Bruins Blast Panthers in Game 1 (5-1) With Full-Team Effort & Goaltending Masterclass From Jeremy Swayman
We’re off and running in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and so are the Bruins. Boston shellacked Florida (5-1) in the only game of the night on Monday. And, get this, a dozen different skaters had a goal or an assist in the game. That’s a full-team effort against their Atlantic Division rivals. By night’s end, the star of the game was Bruins’ goaltender Jeremy Swayman. He made a career-high 38 saves in a near clean sheet, and he was standing on business with a bunch of highlight-reel stops. Today’s NHL section remains short with just one game, but we’ll get two more tonight.
Stanley Cup Playoffs (Round 2)
Gm 1: Bruins def. Panthers (5-1) BOS Leads Series (1-0) Read More NBC Sports: Stellar Swayman Leads Bruins to 5-1 Win in Game 1 The Athletic: How Jeremy Swayman Kept Bruins’ Momentum Going in Game 1 |
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Wemby Wins Rookie of the Year 🏆 |
Photo: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images |
Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama Named 6th Unanimous Rookie of the Year in NBA History
Victor Wembanyama stepped into the NBA last fall with the perfect situation in San Antonio after being selected with the No. 1 pick. His team, the Gregg Popovich-led Spurs, had little-to-no playoff expectations this season, but the individual long-term expectations for the 20-year-old from France couldn’t have been higher. He sent a message in Year 1. A 7-foot-4 alien, Wemby became the sixth unanimous rookie of the Year in NBA history on Monday following a season full of oohs and ahhs. He garnered all 99 first-place votes ahead of two other players on the ballot — Chet Holmgren (2nd, Thunder) and Brandon Miller (3rd, Hornets). The Spurs (22-60) didn’t win much this year, but the future is bright. Wemby, humble as can be, joined the likes of five other NBA superstars to win the award unanimously, including one Spurs legend (David Robinson, 1990). He's the first unanimous winner in eight seasons.
Wemby’s Rookie Season (71 Games) 21.4 points | 10.6 rebounds | 3.9 assists | 3.6 blocks
FG: 46.5% | 3pt: 32.5% | FT: 79.6% Former Unanimous ROYs: Ralph Sampson (’84), David Robinson (’90), Blake Griffin (’11), Damian Lillard (’13), and Karl-Anthony Towns (’16). Read More Yahoo! Sports: Wembanyama Wins NBA Rookie of the Year After Delivering on Unprecedented Hype The Ringer: The Encyclopedia of “Oh S—“ Moments From Victor Wembanyama’s Rookie Season |
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Oh-My-Tani: Shohei's HR Pace |
Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images |
Shohei Ohtani Hits 11th Blast (4th in 9 ABs) to Lead MLB’s Early Home Run Race… And Nearly Every Batting Category
It’s like… enough already! Even without being able to pitch, Shohei Ohtani is making sure we say his name. The Dodgers’ star seems to hit a home run every other night, sometimes multiple, and sometimes moonshots. It was another bomb for Ohtani last night in the Dodgers’ 6-3 win over the Marlins. That gave him 11 blasts in just 36 games, including four in nine at-bats this week. He's now on pace for a plus-50 HR season. Ohtani also leads the league in batting average (.368), OPS (1.130), slugging (.703), and he ranks second to teammate Mookie Betts in on-base percentage (.427). He’s also first in doubles (14) and top-10 in RBIs (27). Two-way. One way. There’s no way anyone should be this good.
Gunnar Henderson History: Excuse me as I hop off the Ohtani hype, but No. 2 on the list is also doing something special. Orioles’ SS Gunnar Henderson (10 HRs) hit his 10th homer a week ago before a recent cold spell, but he still became the youngest player (22 yrs) in MLB history with 10 homers before May 1.
Early MLB Home Run Race 1. Shohei Ohtani (LAD): 11 HRs T2. Gunnar Henderson (BAL): 10 HRs T2. Marcell Ozuna (ATL): 10 HRs T2. Mike Trout (LAA): 10 HRs
5 Players With 9 HRs: Riley Greene (DET), Tyler O’Neill (BOS), Kyle Schwarber (PHI), Kyle Tucker (HOU)Teoscar Hernandez (LAD)
11 Players With 8 HRs: Juan Soto (NYY), Max Muncy (LAD), Bryce Harper (PHI), Adolis Garcia (TEX), Elly De La Cruz (CIN), Pete Alonso (NYM) & More |
⚾️ MLB Highlights
Buehler’s Return: Dodgers’ pitcher Walker Buehler made his first start in two years — a 6-3 win with the help of the aforementioned Ohtani and crew. Buehler (4 IP, 6 Hits, 3 Runs, 4 Ks) was simply happy to be back.
J-Ram Makes History: Jose Ramirez hit a go-ahead solo homer to give the Guardians a 2-1 win over the Tigers, and he passed Larry Doby for the most go-ahead HRs in franchise history (87).
Phillies Still Wheelin’: Zack Wheeler kept the Phillies riding high with 11 Ks in a 6-1 win over the Giants Monday. That gave Philly the series sweep, and they’ve now won six straight and 10 of their last 11. |
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🏀 Welcome to the Caitlin Clark Era
More than three hours before Caitlin Clark made her WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever in a preseason game, fans among the sellout crowd were lined up outside the arena dressed in No. 22 Iowa jerseys. (FOX Sports)
🏒 The Conn Smythe Watch
Every week, new heroes emerge in the race for playoff MVP, while previous front-runners fade to the background. With the NHL postseason down to its final eight teams, here are the favorites. (ESPN+)
📺 The Tom Brady Roast Highlights
Netflix’s three-hour Tom Brady-blasting roast, ‘The Greatest Roast of All Time,’ was both wildly entertaining and raunchy. From Bill Belichick to Robert Kraft and Kevin Hart to Randy Moss, here are some of the best moments. (Yahoo! Sports) |
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⚽️ Champions League (Semis, Leg 2) PSG vs. Borussia Dortmund (3:00 pm ET, CBS/Par+)
🏀 NBA Playoffs Gm 1: Cavaliers at Celtics (7:00 pm ET, TNT) Gm 1: Mavericks at Thunder (9:30 pm ET, TNT) 🏒 Stanley Cup Playoffs Gm 2: Hurricanes at Rangers (7:00 pm ET, ESPN)
Gm 1: Avalanche at Stars (9:30 pm ET, ESPN) ⚾️ MLB Rangers at A's (3:30 pm ET, ESPN+) Astros at Yankees (7:05 pm ET, TBS) Red Sox at Braves (7:20 pm ET, NESN) |
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We’re gearing up for another sports summer series. Last year, we focused on the rise in sports betting. This ongoing series of stories will be published June-July-August with 1-2 stories per month, but we’re giving you the ball. Cast your vote below and let us know which topic you’re most interested in. (click to vote) Franchises Changing Cities
Athlete Brand Deals Global Sports on the Rise |
Yesterday, we asked: Which 2nd-Round NBA Playoff series is most intriguing? Nearly half of the votes went to Nuggets-Wolves, but that series may be over sooner than expected. Knicks-Pacers came in second. Timberwolves-Nuggets (48%) Knicks-Pacers (22%)
Celtics-Cavaliers (16%) Thunder-Mavericks (14%) |
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