The Knicks knew that the Spurs would come out with their best punch to open Game 3 coming into Madison Square Garden facing a 2-0 NBA Finals deficit.
San Antonio was able to do just that, opening up an 11-point first quarter lead.
New York shook off the slow start right away in the second, though, getting into a rhythm as they knocked down 14-of-19 shots to put up a finals franchise-record 42 points.
They carried a seven-point lead into the break, but quickly things changed.
The Knicks’ offense stalled again coming out of the locker room, allowing the Spurs to regain the momentum and capture the lead heading into the fourth quarter.
With Jalen Brunson on the bench due to foul trouble, they wouldn’t score until the four-minute mark of the final frame, and never quite were able to get back into rhythm.
Clutch buckets kept them alive down the stretch, but they ultimately weren’t able to overcome the woes, as they saw their 13-game playoff winning streak snapped.
New York shot just 36 percent as a team, including 5-of-20 from three in the second-half.
They dished out just 18 assists and turned the ball over a total of 13 times on the night.
“We were as stagnant as I’ve seen us all year,” Mike Brown said. “We just wanted to stand and watch one guy dribble a ton, and then when the ball got passed there were no quick decisions by the guy receiving the basketball.
“You have to be smart, you have to do a good job taking care of the basketball, you have to move the ball and move bodies, and we’ve done that quite a bit but we didn’t do a good job of it tonight.”
Now all the Knicks can do is learn from this, and make the adjustments heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night.
“I think win or lose as a team, our mindset is always get better the next day,” Jalen Brunson said. “We’ve tried our best to learn from wins over the past couple of weeks, but now we have to learn from a loss.
“But I think the most important thing was that we were going to learn regardless, because we knew that there were things we were gonna have to improve heading into the next game, so the mindset stays the same.”
New York trailed after the first quarter, but scored 42 points in the second to take a 64-57 lead into halftime. Although, they were unable to hold onto the lead, coming out slow in the third quarter before their fourth-quarter comeback attempt fell short.
The Spurs outscored the Knicks, 58-47, in the second half and attempted 24 free throws to New York's eight. That wide of a discrepancy was on the front of head coach Mike Brown's mind after the loss, saying he was shocked to see something like it on the NBA Finals stage.
"First of all, I want to get something clear. Coach Mitch Johnson and the Spurs, they won the game tonight. They came and took the game. But I will say this, I never thought I'd be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team's eight," Brown said.
"I don't think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free throw attempts. San Antonio is a great team, they're a great team. It's going to lower our odds big time, big time, if we play Game 4 and in the second half they get 24 free throw attempts to our eight. And maybe we were fouling, maybe we were fouling, but they foul too... There were opportunities for fouls to be called. To at least try to even the free throws out.
Brown made it clear the Knicks could have played much better than they did, but it was still "tough to overcome" the difference in free throw attempts in the second half.
"Now, we didn't play good. San Antonio played great. We could've played better, there were a lot of things that we didn't do that we did in Game 1 and Game 2. But to go 24 free throw attempts in a second half... compared to eight. All the shots we took, we got fouled four times roughly for eight free throw attempts. Again, I don't complain much, but I never thought I'd see that in an NBA Finals game, and I saw it tonight. That's tough to overcome when you're playing a great team."
Overall, San Antonio made 25 of their 32 free throw attempts, while New York went 18-for-22 from the line.
Brown added that the Spurs "level of physicality was great," while his team's "attention to detail wasn't great." He also pointed to allowing Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox to get to the paint with ease and the Knicks' offense not moving the ball well as other main factors in the loss.
"Offensively, we were as stagnate as I've seen us all year. Which helped with the 13 turnovers... the turnover situation, the free throw situation, and our attention to detail about keeping them out of the paint and taking away the vertical threat, not good tonight."
The head coach said he spoke with the officials about the difference in calling fouls and hopes it will be different on Wednesday night in Game 4.
"If they do this in Game 4, where it's 24-8 in the second half, it's going to be tough for us to win... There are a lot of things that we can do better and we're gonna have to do better. But in the same breathe, like I said, hopefully they'll see some more fouls called against them where it's not 24-8. This is a four-point ball game, a one-possession ball game going down the stretch and it's tough to overcome."
Mike Brown is not happy with the officiating after Game 3:
"I never thought I'd be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free throw attempts in the second half to another team's eight." pic.twitter.com/yk3PDJ8HQh
Jun 8, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) vies for the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox (4) during game three of the 2026 NBA Finals in the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
When the San Antonio Spur starting lineup was introduced, the loudest boos were for Victor Wembanyama. Before the national anthem was halfway finished, the loudest boos were for President Sex Offender. By the end of the night, the people’s ire was centered on the officials. And through it all, the Spurs did not care.
San Antonio played from ahead most of the night and this time, critically, finished ahead, winning 115-111 and making it a 2-1 series. Russell Richardson will dive more deeply into things in his recap, but I don’t think I’m stealing his thunder by saying this was the kind of game that has a feel unique to the NBA. The feel of some unseen agenda at work, one unconcerned with the merits of fair play.
Did the Spurs deserve to win? They did. They had the best player on the floor tonight, and he was the biggest difference. The Knicks have been playing string theory basketball for nearly two months; you don’t have a lead over them in the final two minutes of the first two games if you’re not a bit of the real deal yourself. The Spurs were physical. They were improved. They were lots of things, some of which I didn’t care for. At the end of the day, they are all they cared to be: Game 3 winners.
They were always going to come out swinging and, per usual this series, those early swings were connecting. Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio to their third first-quarter double-digit lead of the Finals (ordinals!), opening the scoring with a dunk, then dunking again, then single-handedly destroying an entire Knicks possession before blocking a seemingly safe Mikal Bridges corner 3.
The visitors were in the zone pretty much the entire quarter, with 11 assists in the 12 minutes. Early foul trouble for Jalen Brunson meant early minutes for Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson, after which the Knicks began chipping away at the lead. One reason they were down but never out: the Spurs either scored on their first shot or they didn’t score, period, going nearly the entire half without a second-chance point.
The prolific efficiency of Josh Hart and OG Anunoby kept the Knicks coming and the deficit going; a Brunson 3 over Wembanyama gave them their first lead at 50-49. As hot as the Spurs were in the first, the Knicks were hotter, hitting 14 of 19 shots while getting to the line 14 times in what became a 42-point frame (a franchise Finals record, and boy isn’t that sweet to type) and a seven-point lead at the break.
San Antonio was aggressive the first two games; this time they turned it up a notch. Wembanyama got away with a grossly unethical assault on Brunson’s head. On one Spurs’ set Castle ran baseline at Brunson like you’re taught to in practice — football practice. Devin Vassell gave Landry Shamet, minding his business, a bit of the extracurricular. Wemby laughed at a visibly pissed Brunson after his cheap shot. Vassell laughed after his dickery with Shamet. What a bunch of creeps.
And yet while none of those acts was deemed flagrant-worthy, even after video review, Brunson was called for a flagrant for being in Julian Champagnie’s landing area after a 3, a call Tim Legler immediately disputed. Maybe it was the assault and battery, maybe it was the magnitude of the moment, but the Knicks had a ton of different-wavelength turnovers, where the passer threw the ball to someone who didn’t cut when expected or who cut when it wasn’t. Still, heading into the fourth it was only a one-point game in the Spurs’ favor.
With Adam Silver in the arena the bluetooth was probably a little better than usual in the officials’ earpieces, so when the final quarter got going so did the whistles, putting San Antonio in the penalty faster than you can say “James Bowie was a nudnik.” Alvarado and Hart are both beautiful players, and probably people, but having two shooters who don’t wanna shoot — even making four 3s tonight, Hart never *wants* to shoot — against that defense is like waking up to a boa constrictor wrapped around you and nodding off again, hoping it all works out. However long that plan takes to fail, it’s gonna fail.
The teams went at each other back and forth, both relentless. Dylan Harper nearly put the Spurs up nine midway through the fourth, only to be stopped on the break by Anunoby, leading to a Brunson 3-point play that cut the gap to four. Soon after, a Brunson turnover ended with Wembanyama free throws, pushing the edge back up to eight. The stats will say the Knicks had offensive rebounds. That’s a lie. The Spurs seemed to move a little faster and jump a little higher when it came to the defensive glass.
Brunson checked in with seven and change left and took it to the cup for a lay-up, making it 100-95 Spurs. Video replay should be abolished, but in this game it saved the Knicks from getting screwed by the whistle even more times. The Knicks very nearly got a great look a few times, only for Wembanyama to erase the space. A Towns 3 would have made it a three-point game, but it wouldn’t stay down. A Brunson jumper at the buzzer pulled the Knicks within four.
As the clock passed the two-minute mark, Castle replied with a 3-point buzzer beater to make it 111-104. With precisely 33.3 seconds left, another Brunson 3, New York’s first of the fourth in 10 tries, made it 111-108. It felt like one more stop and the Knicks would find a way to tie it, take it to overtime, take a 3-0 series lead. De’Aaron Fox doesn’t care about our feelings. The rich man’s Avery Johnson pulled a ‘99 Game 5, hitting the jumper that felt like the nail in the coffin.
But this team doesn’t know when it’s dead. OG caught an inbounds tight in the corner, turned and busted out the Evan Fournier, making a difficult trey to cut it to deux. If Castle would simply have obliged by missing one of his two free throws with 6 seconds left, we could have looked forward to the drama of a last-second shot to settle a Finals game. Though knowing the Spurs, they would have fouled before letting the Knicks get a shot off. And Castle made both free throws anyway. Creeps.
That’s all for now. Check back in for Russell’s take. One day at a time, loves.
Jun 8, 2026; New York, New York, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) controls the ball against New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) in the first quarter during game three of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
The San Antonio Spurs prevented the New York Knicks from taking an insurmountable lead in the Finals with their Game 3 win behind enemy lines. They came out playing with a higher level of force and much of it had to do with the team’s blazing shooting, and Victor Wembanyama (32 points, eight rebounds, six assists) being a destructive force on defense. Their third-quarter storm matched their early intensity, trickling over into the final stretch.
Despite the offense having its dry spells, it still was very effective, particularly in the half court. Additionally, one of the main reasons for their win was not getting careless with the ball for most of the night and the extra hustle at key moments bailing them out. Stephon Castle was a man possessed in the first half (23 points, five rebounds, five assists), and then Wembanyma stepped up with the game in the balance, hitting big shots and rejecting them, too.
Observations
Wembanyama’s early burst had to do with him working more at close range off catches. Switching it up made him work less hard and put extra pressure on New York’s defense. Then Karl-Anthony Towns made it tougher for him as the game went on, and the Knicks also tightened up their coverages to allow fewer clean passes to Wemby on the inside. Still, he countered with successful shooting at the rim and arc.
The first two non-Wemby minutes were a critical part of the game because the Spurs didn’t give up much ground in part by not falling apart offensively. They were only outscored by one point after both stretches of the first half, and then Luke Kornet did a nice job as Wemby rested in the third.
The Spurs had shaky moments, like early in the second quarter when they committed two bad fouls that derailed rhythm, and the period then turned into a Knicks avalanche while the Spurs couldn’t make a field goal in the last three minutes. The Knicks scored 42 points on 73.7 percent shooting in that span.
Julian Champagnie has been the Spurs’ only consistent deep threat in the Finals, and this time he got some help from Devin Vassell (11 points on 75 percent 3-point shooting). The team cooled down eventually from deep, but their early marksmanship made it up for their spotty free throw shooting.
Castle’s paint strikes helped set the mood. He was making them when not much else was falling for the team, and he was carrying them during the non-Wemby minutes. He still had some mistakes but played more in control and his late 3-pointer in the fourth was the best biggest shot of his career.
The valiant effort in the third quarter showed a lot of the team’s real character. The public was waiting to see how they’d handle adversity after losing the first home games, and they could have rolled over, and many teams probably would have there, but they didn’t. Wembanyama and Champagnie deserve the most credit for keeping the offense going in that span with three baskets apiece.
De’Aaron Fox, despite his seven assists at the time, and Keldon Johnson, hadn’t done much in the game, but were on the floor at the start of the fourth and helped add to the lead by the first substitution of the period. Their stats won’t impress anyone, but they gave it their all on defense and those were crucial minutes that helped swing the game. Further more, Fox also hit the biggest shot of his career, breaking down to the left side for a 15-footer to put the Spurs up five with 12.2 seconds left.
Victor Wembanyama had a brilliant night to deny the Knicks victory.Photograph: Jesse D Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images
The spectacle at Madison Square Garden on Monday night was such that the basketball almost took a back seat to everything else. The president in the suites. The mayor in the crowd. Movie stars along the sideline. The culmination of days of talk over $10,000 tickets, heightened security and cancelled watch parties alongside the anticipation for New York City’s first home NBA finals game since 25 June 1999.
By the end of the game, Victor Wembanyama had given New York something fresh to talk about. The San Antonio Spurs snapped the Knicks’ 13-game postseason winning streak with a 115-111 victory, playing spoiler to the Garden’s party and cutting the deficit to 2-1 in this year’s finals. Game 4 is Wednesday in New York.
Wembanyama put together his best performance of the series, finishing with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks. Stephon Castle, who had 23 points, hit two free throws with 6.8 seconds left in the third nail-biting finish in as many games.
Jalen Brunson fueled the Knicks with 32 points and OG Anunoby added 28, but the rest of their team went cold in the fourth quarter. It was the most points New York have allowed these playoffs, and they finished frustrated by a discrepancy in foul calls.
“Really tried to relax [after Game 2]. The playoffs, it’s like ... a whirlwind. It’s hard to put your head out of the water,” he said of his approach to Monday night. “I need some time off, let my brain cool down.”
He opened Game 3 with a new sense of energy and urgency, scoring nine points in his first nine minutes and giving the Madison Square Garden crowd a hint of what was to come the rest of the night.
“At home it really feels like playing six against five. Here it feels like five against six,” Wembanyama said with a smile. “It really shows what teams are made of.”
Before Monday, New York’s postseason run had carried an air of inevitability, with the bruising Brunson consistently coming up clutch, forward Karl-Anthony Towns playing some of the best basketball of his career, and their depth carrying them through games. It all came amid the fervor of a city anxiously hoping for its first NBA championship since 1973.
Monday night’s atmosphere brought perhaps the fiercest test of their focus yet. Donald Trump, a longtime Knicks fan invited as a guest of team owner James Dolan, watched from a suite, received heavy boos when he appeared on the jumbotron during the national anthem. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani attended separately; he said earlier Monday he paid about $1,000 for his standing-room-only ticket. Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet, Ben Stiller, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and Larry David were among the stars on celebrity row.
They – and the thousands of fans watching across the five boroughs – were left at a loss for the first time since 23 April.
“We’ve done our best to try to learn from wins over the past couple weeks. But now we have to learn from a loss,” Brunson said. “But I think the most important thing is that we are going to learn regardless, because we knew there were things that we were going to have to improve on going into next game. So mindset stays the same.”
When asked if the fanfare of the occasion influenced their struggles, Towns demurred and praised the crowd for their energy.
“Of course our fans brought it,” said Towns, who had a quiet night of 11 points and eight rebounds after back-to-back double-doubles in San Antonio. “Of course they lived up to the expectations. Exceeded them. We didn’t do our job to give them something to cheer for [during] the game.”
After the Spurs raced out to an 11-point first-quarter lead, the Knicks swung the momentum back in their favor and out-scored San Antonio 42-24 in the second. Each time the Spurs threatened – at one point Wembanyama hit a three and slammed an alley-oop dunk in a span of 38 seconds – New York found an answer. Brunson lit up the crowd on a three with 41 seconds left in the first half, and Wembanyama’s missed floater meant the Knicks went into the break up 64-57.
Outside of Wembanyama and Castle, who combined for nearly half of their team’s total points, the Spurs found a lifeline with 21 points off the Knicks’ 13 turnovers. Neither side managed to pull away in the third quarter, with the largest lead by either team being five.
The Knicks’ frustration over the officiating – “refs, you suck!” chants broke out at least three times throughout the night – boiled over in the fourth quarter. New York were whistled three times in the first 64 seconds of the period, and took just eight free throws in the second half to the Spurs’ 24.
As Wembanyama ticked past the 30-point mark, Brunson kept the Knicks in the game with 12 points in the final period, but his teammates went just 3 for 20 from the field. A pair of threes by Brunson and Anunoby gave the crowd a jolt of hope, but a countering triple by De’Aaron Fox and Castle’s free throws silenced them.
No NBA team has lost the first two games of the finals on its home floor and come back to win the championship, but the Spurs’ hopes of doing so remain alive.
The Knicks were defeated by the Spurs 115-111 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday night.
New York's 13-game playoff winning streak has come to an end, and the series sits at 2-1.
Here are some takeaways...
-- MSG was unsurprisingly jumping from the get-go in the first home Finals game since 1999, but it was the Spurs who got off to a strong start. With Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle leading the charge, they were able to make 10 of their first 13 buckets from the field to establish an early double-digit advantage (11).
Wemby was somehow not called for a foul after shoving Jalen Brunson in the neck in the first.
-- New York struggled to get into a groove as a team, but Josh Hart was doing what he could to keep them in the game. Hart came into the night with just three points over the first two games of the series, but he started 3-of-4 from the field to more than double that total.
Hart received a technical foul for retaliating on Luke Kornet following a collision after the whistle.
-- The Knicks trailed by 11 after one, but quickly came storming back with as good a quarter as they've had all series. Led by OG Anunoby (17) and a suddenly hot Hart (13) they knocked down 14-of-19 shots to put up a franchise finals record 42 points and open up a seven-point lead.
Jordan Clarkson (5) and Jose Alvarado (4) also stepped up with big minutes off the bench.
-- San Antonio came out of the locker room with some fire and they were eventually able to regain the momentum. They trailed for most of a back-and-forth quarter until they were finally able to jump back in front after Brunson picked up his fourth foul of the night with four minutes to go.
New York's bench stepped up again in the non-Brunson minutes, but they still trailed going to the fourth.
-- The Knicks' offense looked a bit lost with their captain sitting early in the fourth, as they didn't record a bucket until Mitchell Robinson had a putback just over four minutes into the quarter. New York quickly found themselves in the bonus as well, and the lead was stretched back out to seven.
-- Every time it looked like the Knicks were going to cut into the deficit, Wemby and the Spurs had an answer. New York missed their first nine threes to open the fourth, before Brunson and Anunoby drilled back-to-back clutch ones to keep them alive in the closing seconds.
-- Castle knocked down two clutch free throws in a two-point game to put this one to rest. The UConn product backed up his talk about the Spurs winning the series following their Game 2 loss, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, five rebounds, and five assists.
-- The stars, Wemby and Brunson, led all scorers with 32 points apiece.
-- Anunoby had 28 points and Hart chipped in 16, but the rest of the Knicks' starting five was quiet. Karl-Anthony Towns had just 11 points on 10 shot attempts and Mikal Bridges finished with just two points. Landry Shamet also struggled, making just one of his eight shot.
Game MVP: Stephon Castle
The former UConn Husky made the clutch late three to put this one to bed.
Highlights
The Wollman Rink watch party reacts as Josh Hart knocks down the first points of the night for the Knicks pic.twitter.com/DPaJrSC3B3
Victor Wembanyama, fresh off a blunder to finish Game 2, responded with a 32-point, 8-rebound, 6-assist night to go along with three assists. Six more Spurs scored in double figures to withstand yet another late New York rally.
The Knicks, however, still hold home-court advantage and with a 2-1 lead in the series, they have an opportunity to get that commanding third win in Game 4 before the series shifts back to San Antonio.
When is Game 4? Here's everything you need to know:
When is Game 4 of the NBA Finals?
Game 4 between the Knicks and Spurs will be played on Wednesday, June 10 at Madison Square Garden. It could potentially be the final game of this NBA season in New York if the Knicks are able to close out the series in San Antonio.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JUNE 08: Cody Bellinger #35 of the New York Yankees hits a two-run single during the tenth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on June 08, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Yankees won a June game with an October feel. Aaron Boone and Stephen Vogt managed Tuesday night’s contest like a playoff game. The Yankees emptied their bench, both teams had quick hooks on their relievers, and momentum swung back and forth throughout the evening before New York finally emerged with a 7-5 victory in 10 innings.
Paul Goldschmidt wasted no time getting the Yankees on the board. After Ben Rice reached base to begin the game, Goldschmidt jumped on a Gavin Williams offering and deposited it into a Yankees fan’s glove just as they emerged from the left-field tunnel for a two-run homer. The blast, his eighth of the season, gave New York an early 2-0 lead and continued a recent stretch of strong play from the veteran first baseman.
The Yankees added another run in the third inning, though this one came in far less conventional fashion. Trent Grisham crossed the plate when a throwing error by Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio allowed Cody Bellinger to reach safely. Up 3-0 early, the Yankees appeared poised to seize complete control of the game.
However, Will Warren labored through his outing. The Guardians worked deep into counts and in the third inning things unraveled both in front of and behind him. A wild pitch allowed Steven Kwan to score before Rocchio redeemed himself with an RBI groundout. Cleveland eventually pulled even when José Caballero was charged with a fielding error that allowed José Ramírez to score. Of the three runs charged against Warren during the inning, only two were earned as defensive miscues once again proved costly for New York.
The Yankees reclaimed the lead in the fifth thanks to Ryan McMahon. After review, McMahon was awarded his seventh home run of the season when replay confirmed his drive had cleared the wall in left-center field. The solo shot continued what has quietly been a much-improved stretch for the Yankees third baseman and pushed New York back in front, 4-3.
That advantage held until the sixth. After Peter Blackburn entered in relief, Angel Martínez turned around a pitch and launched a two-run homer into the right-center field seats. The blast scored David Fry and gave Cleveland its first lead of the night at 5-4. The vibes quickly turned bad.
The Yankees, however, refused to go quietly into the Cleveland night. In the eighth inning, Grisham once again helped spark the offense and eventually came home when Goldschmidt beat out a slow roller that was a potential double-play ball. The run tied the game at five. The Bombers threatened again, but Cleveland closer Cade Smith was able to get a groundball that Rocchio turned into a slick double play to end the rally and kept the game deadlocked.
The Guardians threatened in the bottom of the eighth, putting two runners aboard with one out and had Travis Bazzana and Ramírez looming. Boone responded by calling on Tim Hill. The veteran left-hander got Bazzana to pop out on the infield before Ramírez lifted a fly ball to Spencer Jones in right, allowing the Yankees to escape the inning unscathed.
Hill and David Bednar were able to keep Cleveland off the board in the ninth and sent the game to extras. In the tenth, with Ali Sánchez serving as the automatic runner, Grisham was unable to advance him, but Cleveland elected to intentionally walk Ben Rice. Max Schuemann then worked a walk of his own after successfully challenging a strike call, loading the bases with one out.
That set the stage for Bellinger who is stepping up in the absence of the captain. The Yankees right fielder lined a single into left field that plated both Sánchez and Rice to give New York a 7-5 lead. Schuemann was caught trying to advance to third, but the damage had already been done.
Bednar had needed just seven pitches to get the final two outs of the ninth, so he stayed on for the 10th. Immediately faced with the tying run at the plate due to the automatic runner, thc Renegade made it even more tense by walking Martinez to bring the winning run up. But he stared down the challenge and retired the Guardians in order after that, getting a lineout from Kwan, burying Bailey on a three-pitch K, and coaxing a full-count groundout from Rocchio to end it on his 27th offering of the night.
The Rays won, so the Yankees needed this hard-fought win to keep pace with them in the relative share of first place. Game two between New York and Cleveland is set for 6:40pm ET again tomorrow as Gerrit Cole is set to face Slade Cecconi.
Jun 8, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor (12) celebrates with his teammates after hitting a grand slam during the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
The good thing about the punishing grind of an MLB season is it doesn’t allow a lot of time for wallowing. Just one day after the Mariners blew a winnable game in Detroit to drop a series against the lowly Tigers, they escaped with a win in Baltimore today in the series opener against the Orioles, 6-3. There were many aspects of this game that mirrored Sunday’s heartbreaking loss, but today the Mariners came out on top thanks to some timely challenges and a big blast from Josh Naylor.
Emerson Hancock was good, not great, today. The Achilles heel in Hancock’s breakout season – aside from some yucky peripherals on his fastball – has been his occasional command outages, something that’s plagued him since he was in the minors, although his struggles with command now seem to be more related to his expanded arsenal, especially the devastating but finicky sweeper.
That sweeper got away from Hancock in the third: he hit Blaze Alexander to lead off the inning before getting it back to strike out Sam Huff looking on the pitch. But Hancock then lost the handle on his sinker to Taylor Ward, walking him on five pitches, and losing an eight-pitch battle with Gunnar Henderson to walk the bases full. A sacrifice fly from Pete Alonso brought home the first run of the game, but Hancock was able to cap the damage there, getting Colton Cowser to fly out harmlessly to end the Orioles threat.
It wasn’t pretty – Hancock was at 69 pitches by the end of the third before bouncing back with a six-pitch fourth – with Hancock missing his good secondaries, needing to lean heavily on the sinker today, a pitch that has a propensity to get hit hard; he almost doubled up his usage of the pitch today, but also had some extra velo on the sinker, which helped keep the ball finding gloves. The only tick against Hancock was his search for command cost him about an inning of work, going just five innings a day after the Mariners got just 5.2 innings out of their starter yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Mariners hitters struggled against Orioles rookie Trey Gibson (not to be confused with umpire “Power” Tripp Gibson), making a start in place of the injured Chris Bassitt. Gibson poounded the bottom of the zone, eliciting a bunch of weak-contact groundball outs. Finally, in the fifth, Dominic Canzone led off the inning with a single, and then with one out Jhonny Pereda hit a solid line drive single (101.2 mph exit velocity). Ryan Bliss, getting a start after Colt Emerson was a late scratch with back tightness and J.P. Crawford was placed on the 10-day IL after being hit in the hand by Public Enemy #1 Framber Valdez – did his job, knocking in the run with a sac fly. Pretty good, considering Bliss had been ferried to the ballpark with such little fanfare his bags didn’t even arrive (leading to a very cute exchange postgame where similar Short King Brad Adam offered to loan Bliss some of his clothes). Cole Young, pressed into leadoff duty, kept the pressure on, cashing in his Dollar Token of the day (good for one (1) single per game).
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz didn’t want his rookie starter seeing the top of the Mariners a third time, and yanked Gibson for fellow rookie Anthony Nunez, who started off by walking Julio to load the bases for Josh Naylor. Right field at Orioles Park isn’t the friendliest in baseball, but it’s still pretty darn personable, as was the Orioles fan who helpfully stuck out a hat to catch Naylor’s grand slam, hit a mere 358 feet – out in 19 0f 30 parks.
With Hancock going short, Cooper Criswell handled the sixth, hanging a zero. Wilson attempted to get a seventh inning out of his long reliever, but the first two batters reached – a walk and a ground ball single, some more tough BABIP luck for Criswell – and moved to scoring position with a swinging bunt from Huff. With the lineup turning over, Wilson tapped Matt Brash to put out the fire and Brash didn’t so much put out the fire as he did pour gasoline on it, strike a match, and drain the local water supply just in case. Brash just did not have a handle on any of his pitches, immediately throwing a slider to the backstop, allowing the runner to score from third, before drilling Ward on the next pitch, a 98 mph sinker. Brash then walked Henderson, landing a few pitches on the plate but also missing wildly armside with his slider, to load the bases, bringing up Alonso in another RBI opportunity.
Jhonny Pereda has been an offensive lift to the club if not always Gold Glove level behind the dish – he ranks dead last in MLB in challenges won as a catcher among catchers with a minimum of 10 challenges – but what Pereda does understand is momentum swing challenges. He might not challenge the correct pitches, but he does pick the correct inflection points, if that makes sense. Here, potentially burning the Mariners’ final challenge in order to get a called strike three and not walk in a run, and create an out for a struggling pitcher, was the right inflection point challenge; it just also happened to be a good pitch to challenge on.
Brash would wiggle off the hook poised over barracuda-infested waters in the next at-bat, with Ryan Bliss cleanly handling a groundout to put down the Orioles threat.
After the excitement of that inning, the Mariners offense added another run in the top of the eighth – Naylor produced another hit, a single, took second on a wild pitch, and then hustled home on a ground ball single to right from Arozarena, giving Eduard Bazardo a four-run cushion for the bottom of the inning. But Bazardo wasn’t sharp, giving that run back immediately on a single, walk, and flyout that moved the runners into scoring position before giving up an RBI single to Blaze Alexander. The Orioles pinch-hit for Huff with lefty Samuel Basallo, who hit a deep sac fly that looked like it easily scored the runner from third – but wait! This wacky game was not out of wack just yet. Julio made a strong throw in from center that nailed Blaze Alexander at second. Dan Wilson then challenged that Alexander was out at second before Holliday crossed home plate, and on review, it was clear that Holliday’s foot was still mid-stride. Score one for Jake Kuruc and the replay room.
Score two for us getting the gift of Bazardo reverse Dirty Dancing Julio in the dugout:
Run off the board, back to a three-run lead for Andrés Muñoz. Would it be enough?
Like everything else in this game, it wasn’t pretty, but it was enough. Muñoz talked to the media postgame about how much it meant that his team had faith in him to go back out there and do what he hadn’t been able to do yesterday, acknowledging he’d let the team down a few times, but avowed that he’s working hard, and that’s all he can do, to navigate over the baches en el camino – the bumps in the road, team translator Freddy Llanos supplied. Emerson Hancock – always one to deflect praise – was quick to defend his teammate in his postgame interview.
“We’re a team. We are a team. We’re together,” declared Hancock. “There are going to be nights when we’re going to have to pick each other up…it’s a long season, and it’s about sticking together. When you know the guys behind you have your back, it can help you in those moments out there.”
“This game is about responding and tonight – huge moment for him, he put yesterday behind him and went out and had a huge save for our team.”
The Mariners responded tonight, not playing their cleanest game but securing a win nonetheless. They’ll need to continue responding in that fashion over the course of this lengthy road trip, their longest of the season to date, where the bumps in the road might be metaphorical and literal.
Joona Koppanen has signed a contract with the SHL's Lulea in Sweden. It was officially announced one day after the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins were eliminated by the Toronto Marlies in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final in the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs.
WBS was two wins away from advancing to the Calder Cup Final, but couldn't get enough scoring in the series.
🚨 Vi välkomnar 195 cm finsk center till Luleå Hockey!
💬 "Jag ser verkligen fram emot att bli en del av Luleå Hockey och att få spela i SHL – där många av mina kompisar spelat sedan tidigare och gillat det..."
Koppanen spent the last three seasons with the Penguins' organization. He played in 44 AHL games during the 2025-26 season, compiling eight goals and 25 points. He also played in 13 NHL games, finishing with one point (an assist).
Koppanen played in 11 NHL games during the 2024-25 season, scoring one goal. He played in 56 AHL games during that season, racking up eight goals and 23 points.
Overall, Koppanen appeared in 28 NHL games over the last three seasons with the Penguins and compiled two points.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrived at Madison Square Garden to watch the New York Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday, June 8.
He was spotted being escorted by security guards from a blacked-out SUV across the street and toward the Madison Square Garden entrance.
During a news conference earlier Monday, Mamdani said he "bought my ticket for nearly $1,000 from Madison Square Garden. I will be going to tonight's Game 3; I will be standing for the duration of the game."
Mamdani's office shared a photo during the game of the mayor high above the court with state lawmakers.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is watching the Knicks game with state lawmakers from a perch that appears to be high above the court. (Photo from the mayor’s office.) pic.twitter.com/pNN8tlSL8r
May 19, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) reacts to missing a free throw against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the third quarter of game one of the eastern conference finals during the 2026 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The Lakers’ search for a center is going to be another wide-ranging one this offseason. After attempting to find a discount solution last offseason in Deandre Ayton, the team still needs a long-term answer.
Given their cap space and the draft picks available, the pool of players should be larger this time around. Included in that could be one of the few players still playing.
Mitchell Robinson has blossomed into one of the vital pieces of the Knicks’ rotation. The big man is one of the league’s best offensive rebounders and a tremendous lob threat.
It makes sense why the Lakers would be interested.
Robinson is set for free agency. While it would make sense for the Knicks to keep an important piece of their team after a Finals run, a big pay day could lure him away from New York.
In a recent piece on Substack, NBA reporter Jake Fischer talked about Robinson’s free agency and linked the Lakers to him.
“Teams regularly relayed to me when I’ve asked around about Robinson’s status have pointed to the Bulls, Hornets, Lakers and Raptors. Those are all clubs known to be looking for center upgrades.”
Now, this wording is pretty vaguely, and probably intentionally so. It barely crosses the line of reporting. This could simply be chatter around the league and all of them are assuming the Lakers would be interested.
Even if that’s the case, it makes sense to link the two. His modest stat line of 5.7 points and 8.8 rebounds does not tell the whole story. His offensive rebound rate of 23.9% dwarfs those of Deandre Ayton (11.5%) and Jaxson Hayes (10%). He also amassed 97 dunks in 60 games,
The biggest issue for him is availability. The 60 games he played this year are more than he played in any of the last three years. Between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, he played a combined 48 games.
There are some big question marks about him. When he plays, he’s extremely impactful. But that doesn’t come all that frequently in most seasons.
Still, in the right situation, would it be worth a risk for the Lakers?
Darkness crawls across the land / The midnight hour is close at hand.
This Vegas Golden Knights team is practically unrecognizable from the one that lost to the Edmonton Oilers in five games last postseason.
It all started over the summer, when they acquired Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs and brought in Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon. The roster turnover continued during the regular season— in October, they signed goaltender Carter Hart. In January, they swapped Zach Whitecloud for Rasmus Andersson; they brought in forwards Cole Smith and Nic Dowd at the trade deadline.
Of course, the facelift didn’t stop with roster reconstruction. The Golden Knights took the hockey world by surprise when they announced a coaching change with just eight games remaining in the regular season. Despite being less than three weeks out from the postseason, they relieved Bruce Cassidy of his duties as head coach and brought in John Tortorella to take his place.
It clearly worked. Now, just 71 days after the coaching change, the Golden Knights have a 2-1 lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final… But that’s another story.
Throughout the season, despite the roster turnover and the coaching change, the Golden Knights have been remarkably consistent in one aspect: they simply refuse to die. The score of the game doesn’t matter– they play the same way whether they’re up one or down three. And, even when they’re down three, you can’t count them out.
The Golden Knights could have starred as extras in the Thriller music video. The second you think they’re dead and buried, they stick their hands up from the earth, claw their way out of their graves, and reel you right back in.
Ever since John Tortorella took over as head coach, he’s stressed the importance of having the right mindset. But even before he took over, the Golden Knights were a team with exceptional mental toughness.
“I think [mental toughness] has been our foundation,” said Tortorella following practice on Monday. “And I know, prior to me coming here, it was going on during the regular season too. They just know how to handle themselves.”
You could see it from the first game of the regular season, a 6-5 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings that featured an early two-goal comeback and a late blown two-goal lead. You could see it in Game 3 against the Colorado Avalanche, when they rallied to overcome a three-goal deficit.
It’s possible that Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes featured the greatest test for the Golden Knights’ mental toughness yet. They entered the third period with a 4-0 lead, only to watch the Hurricanes strike three times in just 39 seconds, and again with the goalie pulled to force overtime.
“I haven’t been involved in many games, especially playoff games, where a team scores three goals within 40 seconds,” Tortorella admitted. “That can set you back a little bit. But it didn’t affect us; there was no panic. I actually thought we were playing really well up to that point, and thought we played really well after that point.”
Blowing a four-goal lead would devastate most teams. The Hurricanes had all the momentum, and they knew it. It would have been very easy for the Golden Knights to fold.
Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, the Golden Knights have never once taken the easy route.
“ Again, they get it,” continued Tortorella. “The only way I can explain it is that they get it. They’ve been there. A lot of this team has won and gone through the process of going through the playoffs, and they rely on that. I think they challenge themselves.
“And it isn’t a physical skill,” Tortrella finished. “It’s not a physical skill; it’s a mental skill. And we have that. I don’t know if we will win the series, but I know we have that in this organization.”
Grisly ghouls from every tomb / Are closing in to seal your doom.
And though you fight to stay alive / Your body starts to shiver.
For no mere mortal can resist / The evil of the thriller.
The Yankees gave up an early lead, but fought back to tie the game in the eighth inning and go on to beat the Cleveland Guardians, 7-5, in 10 innings on Monday night.
This is New York's first extra-innings win of the year.
Here are the takeaways…
-- Paul Goldschmidt got the Yanks on the board right away in the top of the first inning, blasting a two-run homer over the left field wall off of Gavin Williams to put New York up 2-0.
-- Cleveland should have gotten out of the third inning with a double play, but shortstop Brayan Rocchio's throw went wide, allowing Cody Bellinger to reach first safely and Trent Grisham to score as the Yanks took a 3-0 lead.
-- Will Warren opened the game by striking out the side and kept it going in the second inning. Despite issuing a 10-pitch walk to the leadoff man Kyle Manzardo, Warren forced a big double play and another ground out.
The right-hander ran into some trouble in the third inning as he walked Steven Kwan and let up a double to Patrick Bailey, giving the Guardians runners on second and third with no outs. Kwan then scored on a wild pitch and Bailey scored on a ground out to make it a 3-2 game. Warren had a chance to get out of the frame after letting up two straight singles, but Manzardo made it three straight and tied the game at 3-3.
Warren plunked Rocchio to open the fifth inning and then struck out Travis Bazzana, but was pulled after 87 pitches. Overall, Warren allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks over 4.1 IP. Brent Headrick held onto the lead by getting the final two outs of the inning.
-- Thanks to the replay review, Ryan McMahon's "double" off the top of the left field wall in the fifth inning was changed to a home run, putting the Yanks up 4-3.
-- Paul Blackburn gave up the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning against his first batter as Angel Martínez blasted a two-run homer to center field, making it a 5-4 game.
-- Needing to get something going, Grisham and Ben Rice hit back-to-back singles to lead off the eighth inning. With runners on first and third base, Goldschmidt came through with the game-tying RBI, beating out Rocchio's throw to first to avoid the double play. Bellinger then singled to keep it going, but Rocchio made an impressive diving stop to turn two and get out of the inning.
-- After the Yanks went down in order following Spencer Jones' leadoff single in the ninth, Tim Hill and David Bednar shut down the Guardians to send the game to extra innings tied up at 5-5.
Bellinger delivered the big hit in the 10th with the bases loaded, slapping it through the infield to left field to give the team a 7-5 lead. Bednar closed it out in the bottom of the inning, recording three straight outs after a leadoff walk.
Game MVP: Paul Goldschmidt
While Bellinger was the hero in extras, Goldschmidt had a big night. The veteran homered in the first and drove in the game-tying run in the fifth, finishing 1-for-4 with three RBI.
Knicks fans have had enough of Victor Wembanyama, the new Madison Square Garden villain.
As Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns shot free throws late in the second quarter, the MSG faithful chanted “f–k you, Wemby” at the Spurs’ 7-foot-4 phenom, who has been extra physical Monday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals as he helped San Antonio team to a 115-111 win.
The Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama (1) shoves Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) in the back of the head during Game 3 of the NBA Finals at MSG on June 8, 2026. ABC
Knicks fans were electric as they took in the team’s first NBA Finals home game since 1999, but the outcome wasn’t what they had hoped for.
