🎵 We're Play-In Basketball

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Good Morning! And guess what? Postseason basketball is upon us! The NBA Play-In Tournament begins tonight, and we have a full preview of everything you need to know before the sneaks squeak the hardwood. On the ice, the NHL regular season ends Thursday, but playoff puck has essentially begun for four teams jockeying for the final wild-card spot in the East, and we’re in for a photo finish. On the diamond, Game 162 will be here before you know it, but 42 was the only number that mattered yesterday, as the league celebrated Jackie Robinson Day with all 30 MLB teams in action. (Let us rejoice that Fanatics managed to get No. 42 jerseys out to every club on time!) Finally, as we have been reporting for a couple of weeks, the Fever shocked the world and selected Caitlin Clark with the first pick in the WNBA Draft (please credit Morning Blitz for the inside scoop). Let’s go!

WTF Stat: Capped by his victory at the Masters on Sunday, Scottie Scheffler made $12,653,735 in on-course earnings in the span of 35 days dating back to March 10 - for those counting at home, that's $361,535 per day!

🏀 Fever selected G Caitlin Clark (Iowa) with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, followed by the Sparks selecting F Cameron Brink (Stanford) and the Sky selecting C Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina) to round out the top three picks - see the full WNBA Draft results here

🏀 Nets plan to hire Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez as their next head coach - Brooklyn fired former HC Jacque Vaughn on Feb. 19 and finished the season with a 32-50 record; Fernandez, 41, has spent the last two years as Sacramento’s associate head coach

🏀 Team USA is finalizing their men’s basketball roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics, highlighted by Lakers F LeBron James, Warriors G Stephen Curry, Suns F Kevin Durant, and Celtics F Jayson Tatum - HC Grant Hill will keep one spot open on the 12-man roster ahead of the team’s training camp in July

🏈 Eagles and WR DeVonta Smith have agreed to a 3-year, $75M contract extension through the 2028 season, with $51M guaranteed - Smith, 25, is coming off his second straight 1,000-yard season and tallied seven touchdowns in both years

⚾️ Yankees longtime radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling is retiring effective immediately after spending over 30 years in the team’s broadcast booth - Sterling, 85, made the announcement yesterday citing health concerns

👟 Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia won Monday’s Boston Marathon in convincing fashion with a time of 2:06:17, while Hellen Obiri of Kenya claimed her second straight women’s title at the event with a time of 2:22:37

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NHL - Top Games

• New York Rangers 4, Ottawa Senators 0: The Presidents’ Trophy belongs to the Blue Shirts for the first time since 2015! Artemi Panarin (1 G, 1 A) scored his 49th goal of the season and added an apple, Igor Shesterkin (26 SV) was perfect between the pipes, and the Rangers rolled the Senators at MSG to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record with a 55-23-4 campaign - New York has now won the Presidents’ Trophy four times, with their first two coming in the 1991-92 and 1993-94 seasons, the latter of which they went on to win the Stanley Cup

• Detroit Red Wings 5, Montreal Canadiens 4: Needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Red Wings were on the brink of elimination down 4-1 in the 2nd period, but goals from JT Compher (2 G) and Alex DeBrincat (2 G) cut the deficit to one, and then Lucas Raymond (2 G) tied the game with 1:27 left in the 3rd period before burying the OT-winner to cap a pivotal come-from-behind victory over Brendan Gallagher (2 G) and the Habs in Motown - with one game remaining, Detroit will earn the final wild-card spot in the East if they win at Montreal and Washington loses at Philadelphia tonight

• Washington Capitals 2, Boston Bruins 0: Regardless of Detroit’s dub, the Caps moved one victory away from reaching the playoffs by shutting out the B’s, as John Carlson (1 G) scored the go-ahead goal and Charlie Lindgren (16 SV) made some huge stops down the stretch before Nic Dowd (1 G) sealed the deal with an empty-netter

• Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Nashville Predators 2: The Pens are also clinging to life for the final wild-card spot in the East, as Sidney Crosby (1 G, 1 A) notched his 42nd bingo of the year, and Erik Karlsson (1 G, 1 A) matched him in the box score to lead Pittsburgh past Filip Forsberg (1 G) and the Preds, who have already clinched a playoff berth via wild card - Pittsburgh remains one point behind Washington and Detroit and needs them both to lose tomorrow for their game against the Islanders on Wednesday to carry any meaning

See the full NHL scoreboard here and the current standings here.

MLB - Top Games

• Philadelphia Phillies 2, Colorado Rockies 1 (F/10): Colorado’s Cal Quantrill (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 K) and Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 9 Ks) were each dealing, but the Phils got the win as Bryce Harper (1-3, 1 RBI) saved a run in the top of the 10th with a leaping grab before Cristian Pache (1-1, 1 RBI) ripped an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning for a walk-off win at the Bank - it’s Pache’s first career walk-off

• Atlanta Braves 6, Houston Astros 1: Houston, do we have a problem? Alex Bregman’s (2-4, 1 RBI) ribbie put the Astros up 1-0 in the 1st, but it was all Atlanta from there, as Ronald Acuna Jr. (2-4, 1 R), Austin Riley (3-5, 1 RBI), and the Bravos manufactured six unanswered runs, including four in the 9th inning, to drop Houston to 6-12 on the year - Atlanta (10-5) holds a two-game lead on Philadelphia (9-8) atop the NL East

• Los Angeles Angels 7, Tampa Bay Rays 3: This just in: Mike Trout is still very good at baseball. Trout (2-5, 1 HR, 2 RBIs) blasted a two-run go-ahead shot in the 8th to spark a five-run inning for the Halos, who took down Harold Ramirez (1-4, 1 HR, 3 RBIs) and the Rays to improve to .500 with an 8-8 record - Angels broadcaster Wayne Randazzo gave a nod to John Sterling on Trout’s home run call

• Chicago Cubs 3, Arizona Diamondbacks 2 (F/11): Look at the Cubbies! In Jackie Robinson-esque fashion, Nico Hoerner (2-4, 1 RBI) scored from second on a wild pitch in the 9th inning to force extras and then delivered a game-winning RBI single in the top of the 11th, as the Cubs rallied to steal one from Corbin Carroll (1-5, 1 RBI) and the Snakes in the desert for their 10th win of the season

See the full MLB scoreboard here and the current standings here.

🏀 We’re Play-In Basketball

NBA Play-In Tournament Preview

The 82-game marathon is over, and postseason basketball is officially here! The NBA's Play-In Tournament tips off today and will take place through Friday to determine the final two playoff seeds in each conference, beginning with the West’s first two games tonight. Here’s how it works…

Play-In Tournament Format

• For starters, the top six teams in each conference have already clinched a playoff berth, and their seeds (Nos. 1-6) are locked. The Play-In Tournament is used to determine the final two playoff spots in each conference amongst seeds Nos. 7-10

• In the Play-In Tournament, the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds in each conference will play each other in a single elimination game; the losers will go home

• The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in each conference will also play each other, with the winner earning a bid to the playoffs as the new No. 7 seed - they will face the No. 2 seed in the first round of their respective conference playoffs

• The loser of the No. 7 versus No. 8 matchup in each conference will then play the winner of the No. 9 versus No. 10 matchup in a do-or-die game, with the winner earning a bid to the playoffs as the new No. 8 seed - they will face the No. 1 seed in the first round of their respective conference playoffs

See the final regular season standings here and the full NBA playoff bracket here.

Tonight’s Matchups - Game Previews

• West | #8 Los Angeles Lakers @ #7 New Orleans Pelicans 7:30pm ET, TNT: Things looked bleak at times for the Lakers this year, but they went 11-3 to close the regular season and avoid the single elimination game, setting up a rematch of Sunday’s win against the Pelicans in which LeBron James and Anthony Davis dominated. New Orleans held the fifth seed for the majority of March but has gone 5-6 in their past 11 games and lost the season series to Los Angeles 3-1. With Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram leading the charge, the Pels have the talent to make a run, but getting through James and a revitalized Lakers squad will be a tough first step.

• West | #10 Golden State Warriors @ #9 Sacramento Kings 10:00pm ET, TNT: This is not the same Sacramento team that earned the No. 3 seed in 2023. After leading the NBA in scoring last season (121.7 PPG), the Kings rank ninth in that category this year (116.6), and they’re allowing the fifth-most points per game in the Western Conference (114.4). Now they’ll face the team that bounced in them in the first round of last year’s playoffs — Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. The Dubs rank one spot above Sacramento in points per game (116.6) and one spot below Sacramento in points allowed per game (115.2), but they’re an impressive 25-16 on the road this season. Taking out Curry and a core that’s won four titles in the past decade in a do-or-die scenario will be a tall order. With that said, they’re the No. 10 seed for a reason.

The Rest of the Play-In Tournament Schedule

Wednesday, April 17

• East | #8 Miami Heat @ #7 Philadelphia 76ers 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• East | #10 Atlanta Hawks @ #9 Chicago Bulls 9:30pm ET, ESPN

Friday, April 19

• East | 9/10 Winner @ 7/8 Loser Time TBD, ESPN

• West | 9/10 Winner @ 7/8 Loser Time TBD, ESPN

Blitz Prime Tuesday’s Picks

On April 16, 1997, the Hartford Whalers played their last NHL game, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 at the Hartford Civic Center. Team captain Kevin Dineen, who had returned to Hartford midway through the 1995-96 season after a brief stint with the Flyers, scored the final goal in Whalers history, which was also the game-winner. The Whalers moved to Hartford in 1974 and joined the NHL in the NHL-WHA merger of 1979. In 1997, the franchise relocated to North Carolina, where it became the Carolina Hurricanes, robbing us of one of the greatest logos in sports. During their 18 years in the NHL, the Whalers recorded three winning seasons, made the Stanley Cup playoffs eight times and only won one playoff series, earning the nickname "The Forever .500s." But I mean, come on, that logo is spectacular - the Hurricanes would go on to win the Stanely Cup in 2006; Hartford remembers.

NBA - Play-In Tournament

• #8 New Orleans Pelicans @ #7 Los Angeles Lakers 7:30pm ET, TNT

• #10 Golden State Warriors @ #9 Sacramento Kings 10:00pm ET, TNT

NHL

• Washington Capitals @ Philadelphia Flyers 7:00pm ET, NHLPP / ESPN+

• Toronto Maple Leafs @ Florida Panthers 7:30pm ET, ESPN

• Calgary Flames @ Vancouver Canucks 10:00pm ET, Hulu / ESPN+

• Full Schedule

MLB

• Texas Rangers @ Detroit Tigers 1:10pm ET, ESPN+

• Atlanta Braves @ Houston Astros 8:10pm ET, TBS

• Chicago Cubs @ Arizona Diamondbacks 9:40pm ET, Local

• Full Schedule

Trivia Time Answer

C. 2013. The last time a team won the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the season was 11 years ago when the top-seeded Blackhawks ran the table to hoist Lord Stanley in 2013. Chicago finished the regular season with a league-best 36-7-5 record (the regular season was shortened to only 48 games due to a lockout) and went on to beat the Bruins in six games in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the history of the NHL, only eight teams have won both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Cup in the same season - will the Rangers be the ninth?

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Thanks for reading… Same time tomorrow!