🏀 The Last Dance

Happy Friday! Playoffs?! Yeah, we are talkin’ playoffs once again. Why? Because the action is absolutely beautiful. The NBA saw two teams that got blown out in Game 1s respond in Game 2 with convincing wins of their own. The Rangers didn’t need MSG to spark some magic, while the Stars lit the lamp early and often in front of the home crowd. Is there any better way to start your weekend than here? As the dynamic duo of Nelly Furtado and Timbaland once said so remarkably well, “Nope… didn’t think so!” Let’s have a god damn good Friday!

WTF Stat: Since leaving Golden State in 2019 where he won two NBA Finals, Kevin Durant has had six different head coaches and just two playoff wins (played with Nets & Suns).

🏀 Pat Beverly will be suspended for four games next season for throwing a ball at fan in the Bucks playoff loss to the Pacers last series

🏀 Knicks F OG Anunoby will be out for tonight’s Game 3 vs. the Pacers with a strained left hamstring - Brunson is questionable with a foot injury

🏀 Suns have fired head coach Frank Vogel and former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has emerged as the top candidate to replace him

🏀 Caitlin Clark scored 12 points in her home debut pre-season game for the Indiana Fever that drew a crowd of over 13,000 people, more than triple their average attendance for regular season games

⛳ Rory McIlroy is a member of the new “transaction committee” and will assist in negotiations with Saudi Arabia regarding their potential multibillion-dollar deal with the PGA Tour

NBA Playoffs

Western Conference - Semifinals

• Dallas Mavericks 119, Oklahoma City Thunder 110 (Series tied 1-1): Luka Doncic (29 PTS, 10 REB, 7 AST) got his with some surprise help off the hot hand of PJ Washington (29 PTS, 11 REB) hitting seven of eleven three-balls. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33 PTS, 12 REB, 8 AST) was fantastic but the lack of depth for the Thunder could kill them in the long-run - Luka Doncic Had more threes tonight (5) than his last three games combined

Eastern Conference - Semifinals

• Cleveland Cavaliers 118, Boston Celtics 94 (Series tied 1-1): After a Game 1 rout, roles were reserved in Boston with the Cavaliers heading into the 4th Quarter with a 12-point thanks to big nights from Donovan Mitchell (29 PTS, 8 AST, 7 REB) and Evan Mobley (21 PTS, 10 REB, 5 AST) sending C’s fans home early grabbing their first playoff win in Boston since 2018 - this Mitchell buzzer-beater was cool

Tonight’s Games

• East Semis - Game 3 | Indiana Pacers @ New York Knicks (NYK leads series 2-0) 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• West Semis - Game 3 | Denver Nuggets @ Minnesota Timberwolves (MIN leads series 2-0) 9:30pm ET, ESPN

See the full playoff bracket here.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference - Semifinals

• New York Rangers 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2 OT (NYR leads series 3-0): Hurricanes fans had faith after a late goal from Andrei Svechnikov tied the game at 2-2, but it wasn’t enough as Artemi Panarin ended the game less than two minutes into the free period with a nifty tip-in goal putting the Hurricanes in a devastating series deficit of 3-0 - four teams in NHL history have made the improbable 0-3 series comeback with the 2014 Kings being the last to do so

Western Conference - Semifinals

• Dallas Stars 5, Colorado Avalanche 3 (Series tied 1-1): Miro Heiskanen scored two man-up goals while his teammate Tyler Seguin tucked one while being man-down. Of course, the Avs tried that thing where they go down a bunch of goals and then try and mount a comeback scoring three goals in the third period to give Dallas another comeback scare, but it was too little too late - Dallas added an empty-netter with 20 seconds left

Tonight’s Games

• East Semis - Game 3 | Florida Panthers @ Boston Bruins (Series 1-1) 7:00pm ET, TNT

• West Semis - Game 2 | Vancouver Canucks @ Edmonton Oilers (VAN leads series 1-0) 10:00pm ET, ESPN

See the full playoff bracket here.

MLB - Top Games

• Minnesota Twins 11, Seattle Mariners 1: The Twins opened up with five runs in the first inning highlighted by a three-run double off the bat of Manual Margot and never looked back - RIP any NRFI bettors

• Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Cincinnati Reds 4: The Reds evened the game with three runs in the bottom of the 7th, but last season’s NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll took back the lead for the D-Backs with an RBI single in the 8th inning to secure the win

• Milwaukee Brewers 7, St. Louis Cardinals 1: The Brew Crew rolled hitting three HRs off Sonny Gray with an RBI triple from Christian Yelich as they now sit in first place of the NL Central with the Cards headed the opposite direction losing a fifth straight game

See the full scoreboard here.

On May 10, 2022, 1993, the legendary Bill Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Bill was the No. 1 overall pick in 1974 going to the Portland Trail Blazers after being the Player of the Year in college basketball three times for UCLA. He won two NBA Championships, was 1978 MVP, mixed in a 6th Man of the Year in 1986, spent a couple seasons on first team all-defense roster and lots more accolades - if you do anything if your lifetime as a sports fan, listen to Bill Walton call a West coast, late night college basketball, he’s literally on mushrooms and it’s hilarious.

NBA Playoffs

• East Semis - Game 3 | Indiana Pacers @ New York Knicks 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• West Semis - Game 3 | Denver Nuggets @ Minnesota Timberwolves 9:30pm ET, ESPN

NHL Playoffs

• East Semis - Game 3 | Florida Panthers @ Boston Bruins 7:00pm ET, TNT

• West Semis - Game 2 | Vancouver Canucks @ Edmonton Oilers 10:00pm ET, ESPN

MLB

• Arizona Diamondbacks @ Baltimore Orioles 7:05pm ET, Apple TV+

• Full Schedule

Trivia Time Answer

B. Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Lions superstar WR ripped off 1,515 yards last season, but still finish well off pace of Tyreek Hill (1,799) and CeeDee Lamb (1,749). Although, the All-Pro season earned St. Brown a pay day of $120M over the next four years.

Prime Lock of the Day

That’s a wrap folks. Cannot stress how much I love you all for opening this newsletter for the last five years. The greatest years of my entire life. Blitz to the GOD DAMN MOON!