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This one is a bit personal for me.
I’ve been a Nikola Vučević fan since he was traded from Philadelphia to Orlando, and for years I hoped the Montenegrin big man would eventually suit up for the Boston Celtics. That trade to Orlando happened back in 2012, when I was still in high school. Fast forward 14 years, and the wish finally came true when Boston acquired Vučević.
Unfortunately, 12 games into his Celtics tenure, Vučević suffered a fractured right ring finger against the Dallas Mavericks and missed the next 14 games.
In the 16 regular-season games he played for Boston, Vučević averaged 9.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and two assists while shooting 34% from 3-point range and 43.9% from the field.
The numbers don’t jump out, but there are plenty of explanations as to why he wasn’t an instant fit.
The biggest factor was the injury. Vučević simply didn’t get enough time on the court with his new teammates to learn everyone’s tendencies and settle into the system. From the moment he arrived in Boston, he was already playing catch-up.
Vučević has never been known as a great defender, so adjusting to Joe Mazzulla’s system was always going to take time. With such a strong emphasis on communication and knowing every assignment, he needed reps that he ultimately never got. By the time he returned from injury, he had only four games left in the regular season to ramp up before the playoffs began.
Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens also acknowledged the impact the injury had on Vučević’s season. “He’s our only unrestricted free agent. I thought, obviously, getting traded here when he did, he had some moments. Broke his finger, that probably set him back,” Stevens said.
There were flashes during the season that showed what Vučević could bring to the roster. Against Brooklyn, he posted 28 points and 11 rebounds. In his Celtics debut against Miami, he recorded a double-double in a win.
In the playoffs, though, Vučević struggled.
Facing the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round was never an ideal matchup for him, and that showed throughout most of the series. His season ultimately ended with a DNP-CD in Game 7.
“This was a hard matchup for all of us. I think when I looked at it the other day, he ended up being a plus in the series, but it was back and forth with all those guys,” Stevens said.
“I thought Vuč gave us all that he had and did what we asked. It was a hard matchup,” Stevens added. “I have a lot of respect for Vuč as a person and as a pro. I know he was really good in our locker room. I thought he was a really good person to have around.”
As the team’s lone unrestricted free agent, it’ll be interesting to see what Vučević prioritizes this offseason. Is it money? A contender? A mix of both?
If the Celtics want him back, they can certainly offer him a chance to compete for another title, though it would likely need to come on a team-friendly contract, if not a veteran minimum deal.
If Vučević is open to returning, I’d be all for bringing him back on a reasonable contract. He’s still a solid frontcourt option and could provide valuable depth alongside Neemias Queta and Luka Garza.
Scouts, exec assess fair value if Sharks decide to trade 2026 No. 2 overall pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
What’s a fair trade for the Sharks’ No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft?
Of course, odds are, the Sharks aren’t actually going to deal the pick: The last time that a top-five selection moved, post-draft lottery, was in 2008.
That said?
“Mike Grier is absolutely open to moving the No. 2 pick,” insider Pierre LeBrun reported in The Athletic on Wednesday, “depending on the offers.”
So what are fair offers for No. 2 overall?
San Jose Hockey Now spoke with three NHL scouts and an executive to come up with some reasonable deals.
Two trade scenarios seem to make the most sense for the Sharks: Trading back from No. 2 and still coming out with a high pick or dangling No. 2 for an established star.
The Sharks, as an organization, are deep up front and shallow on defense.
So while there’s much thought that wingers Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg are the top prospects of the draft, there’s also a handful of blueline prospects, Chase Reid, Carson Carels, Keaton Verhoeff and Alberts Smits, who could well be future No. 1 defensemen.
The Sharks must also add to their current blueline, which has just two defensemen signed for next year, veteran Dmitry Orlov and rookie Sam Dickinson.
So trading back can still net the Sharks a high pick, which they can use on a top defensive prospect, and they can acquire some blueline help right now, too.
Could the Sharks trade No. 2 to the Blackhawks for the No. 4 pick, defenseman Kevin Korchinski and Chicago’s 2026 second-rounder — No. 34 overall?
“I think that would be a fair trade,” the executive said.
“I like this trade for San Jose,” Scout No. 1 said.
Korchinski would be an intriguing-but-risky gamble. The 2022 No. 7 pick has bounced between the NHL and AHL for the last two years.
“I’m only 50-50 that he’s a top-four guy [in the future],” the exec said. “He’s sort of erratic. Has trouble slowing the game down.”
That said, the 6-foot-1 left-hander is just 21, talented, and could benefit from a change of scenery.
Also, the Blackhawks aren’t likely to trade their top young defensemen, think Alex Vlasic and Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel, just to move up two spots in the draft. Meanwhile, the Sharks might still end up with their choice of defenseman in the draft, if the top-three picks are forwards, and they’re adding some quality assets on top of that.
In the same vein, could the Sharks trade No. 2 to the New York Rangers for the No. 5 pick, defenseman Braden Schneider and the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2026 second-rounder? That pick will be in the 60’s.
Schneider, unlike Korchinski, is an established NHL player. He’s 24, big and mobile, and averaged over 20 minutes a night this season.
But there are also questions about what the pending RFA’s ceiling is, if he’s more of a high-end bottom-pairing defender as opposed to a true top-four.
“He didn’t elevate his play last year,” Scout No. 2 said. “But he would be a stabilizer for the Sharks. Not a big numbers guy, [can be] second-pairing and kill penalties.”
Schneider could be a solid replacement for possibly departing UFA Mario Ferraro. Both are stay-at-home defenders.
“I like this trade for both teams,” the executive said.
“This one could be close,” Scout No. 3 said.
This deal might lose the Sharks their top choice of defenseman in this draft, but that could be acceptable, if they like multiple blueliners equally or if their favorite is a less celebrated one like Smits.
Or, the Sharks could get teen superstar Macklin Celebrini some real help right now.
There aren’t a lot of true No. 1 defensemen in the NHL, and even fewer potentially available for the No. 2 pick. So who’s a top blueliner who could be conceivably available?
Keep in mind, this is less likely than a trade back, and simply an exercise in ascertaining fair value.
Could the Sharks trade No. 2 and center prospect Filip Bystedt (or goalie prospect Joshua Ravensbergen) to the Rangers for defenseman Adam Fox?
Fox, 28, is a right-hander with a $9.5 million AAV until 2029. He has a No-Movement Clause next year, which becomes a 16-team No-Trade List after that.
“If I were San Jose, I would be scared to take Fox,” the executive said, remembering that the star defenseman forced his way out of the Calgary Flames, who drafted him, and the Carolina Hurricanes, before landing in the Big Apple. Is he finally ready to go West?
New York was one of the NHL’s worst teams this year, though Rangers general manager Chris Drury hasn’t signaled that the organization is ready to rebuild.
Fox is not considered by most to be in the class of arguable best defenseman in the world, Cale Makar, but he’s still a true No. 1, a point-per-game force who was the 2021 Norris Trophy winner and a four-time top-five Norris finalist. Despite these accolades, Fox’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years, as he struggled for Team USA at Four Nations and was passed over for the 2026 Olympics.
“Value is fair,” the executive said of the No. 2 and Bystedt for Fox.
“I like the Fox scenario [for both sides],” Scout No. 2 said.
If the No. 2 pick and 2022 first-rounder Bystedt, a good-but-not-great third-line center prospect, feels light for Fox, perhaps 2025 first-rounder and top goalie prospect Ravensbergen instead of Bystedt is more appropriate value? The Rangers don’t appear to have an heir apparent for veteran Igor Shesterkin, while the Sharks have 23-year-old Yaroslav Askarov tabbed as their starter of the future.
“I’m sure they’d ask for a higher-end prospect than Bystedt,” Scout No. 3 opined, “or a young player already in the NHL.”
That said, youngsters Michael Misa, Sam Dickinson or Igor Chernyshov, along with the No. 2, would probably tip the scales too much in the Rangers’ favor.
Anyway, remember these trade proposals are just exercises in figuring out fair value.
“I think all have some traction to them,” Scout No. 2 said.
MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: We’re still a bit of a ways off from the Trade Deadline and the season leading up to it, but a picture is starting to be painted in regards to what the Yankees might do. Reports have the Yankees looking at relievers and catching options most notably.
MLB.com | Clark Fahrenthold: The phrase “there’s no such thing as a pitching prospect,” isn’t meant to be taken literally, as much as it is to get across that so much can go wrong for even the most “can’t miss” young pitchers. However, you can still get excited by them, and Carlos Lagrange is an exciting one. While he still has to put things all together, Lagrange has had the raw “stuff” for a while now, and he’s turning heads down in Triple-A.
New York Post | Greg Joyce: The Yankees’ roster as currently made up contains quite a number of left-handed hitters. Now while they do have quite a very good right-handed hitter in Aaron Judge, the only other currently righty regulars are José Caballero, and Paul Goldschmidt. That’s why the Yankees believe that Giancarlo Stanton’s eventual return to the lineup will be a massive plus, even if he had gotten off to a slow start prior to his injury.
Undermanned side upsets finals-bound ACT Brumbies 21-19
Players come together to mark victory and club’s expected demise
An undermanned Moana Pasifika have capped off their potential final match with a stirring victory, upsetting the finals-bound ACT Brumbies 21-19.
But there were mixed feelings as players celebrated a rare win before coming together with staff to mark the occasion of the club’s farewell game and expected demise with an emotionally charged hymn.
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A drunken lifeguard. A laptop with no disk space. A millenial regularly buying and consuming avocado toast. The San Francisco Giants bullpen.
What do they have in common? They’re not good at saving.
That was the case Friday night at Coors Field, where the Colorado Rockies hit two home runs and scored five runs off Caleb Killian (1-3) in the bottom of the 9th inning, sending the Giants to their fourth straight loss and their eighth loss in their last 10 games.
Hunter Goodman hit a three-run homer to tie the game. Then with two outs, Ezequiel Tovar finished the shot with a two-run shot to left that gave Colorado an 8-6 victory and prompted the Rockies social media department to quote a song from “The Lizzie Maguire Movie,” which is about Lizzie Maguire traveling to Italy and meeting a pop star who looks exactly like her — a plot point only slightly more improbable than this Giants loss.
Just a note: That film pre-dated Hannah Montana, a series where Miley Cyrus leads a double life as a regular teenager and a famous pop star, but no one notices because she wears a blonde wig. Also for some reason, Haylie Duff does the singing for her sister’s Italian doppelganger.
Was that a digression? Sure, but isn’t it better than talking about the 2026 Giants?
Perhaps the Giants should have been more wary of a clutch two-run homer from Tovar, considering he did it one inning earlier to pull the Rockies to a 4-3 deficit in the 8th. Tovar hit it off Keaton Winn and the official 441-foot measurement honestly seems low.
How did the Giants get enough of a lead to set up their epic bullpen collapse? Logan Webb returned from the IL and fought his way through 4 1/3 innings that included three hits, three walks, a hit-by-pitch, and surrendering a steal of home on a Little League-caliber trick play.
But the Giants still held a 3-1 lead after five innings, even after SF nemesis Goodman (2-for-4, 3 RBI, BB) doubled the pitch-hit Tyler Freeman to third and Jung Hoo Lee, also fresh off the IL, made a very creative catch in right field.
You know who else is bad at saving? People not lucky enough to join the Safeway Select Club.
The Giants got on the board when DH Bryce Eldridge (1-for-1, two walks and a sac fly) doubled in the third and scored on a Willy Adames sac fly. They took the lead in the third with two walks, a Daniel Susac sacrifice fly, a single from Lee (4-for-5, two runs) and an RBI single from Harrison Bader.
The Giants scored three runs on sacrifice flies and another when Lee scored from second on Bader’s single, and not one player was thrown out at home plate. Welcome back to the third base coaching box, Ron Wotus!
Like the outs at home plate, the Giants also solved their season-long aversion to insurance runs Friday night. Lee doubled and Eldridge drove him home to make it 4-1 in the 8th. In the 9th, the Giants made it 6-3 after Rafeal Devers tripled home Luis Arraez, and Matt Chapman followed with an RBI single.
That missionary who tried to convert the tribespeople of North Sentinel Island, that guy was really bad at saves.
But a three-run lead wasn’t enough at Coors Field. Killian allowed an infield single to himself to start the 9th. Freeman singled and Goodman hit a Carlton Fisk-esque bomb to left field that just barely stayed fair. The umpires reviewed the play and confirmed the home run, which Goodman appreciated because he was “pretty gassed.”
That was Goodman’s fifth career home run against the Giants and his 24th-26th RBIs, which is 11 more than he has against any other team. He’s also slugging .591 against the Giants and he may have advised the Giants to buy the Curran Theatre in the offseason.
Jose Mejia (1-4) got his first win of the season and did not deserve it one bit after giving up two runs and three hits in the 9th, while also hitting a batter. Tovar ended up doubling his 2026 home run total in two at-bats, having gone deep twice in his first 202 trips to the plate this season before duplicating that feat after the 7th inning.
We should note that Tovar’s walkoff didn’t just give the Rockies a win. It gave the Rockies fans discounted tacos. At participating Denver-area Taco Bells, four crispy tacos can be had for just $3 from 4-6 PM tomorrow night. Just a warning — fans still have to pay for their own toilet paper after that promotion gives them diarrhea.
Saturday night Adrian Hauser takes the mound for the Giants as they face right-hander Ryan Feltner, who is coming off the injured list. He’ll probably throw a no-hitter.
Arsenal relied on their brilliant defence to see off PSG in the semi-finals and frustrate Parma in the final in 1994
The Cup Winners’ Cup would become a victim of the Champions League’s expansion in the late 1990s, but there could be no questioning the quality of the competition when Arsenal won it in the 1993-94 season. Real Madrid, Ajax, Parma, Torino, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain stood in Arsenal’s way as they tried to win their first European trophy since the Fairs Cup in 1970.
The first round was far from encouraging. Arsenal limped past Danish club Odense 3-2 on aggregate. But the 10-0 demolition of Standard Liège – including a 7-0 win in Belgium – took George Graham’s side into a testing quarter-final against Torino.
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A hard-fought Western Conference Finals will culminate in a Game Seven between two of the best teams in the NBA. The San Antonio Spurs will venture to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder after a dominant 118-91 win in Game Six. It will be the biggest game of many of the young Spurs’ careers.
The Spurs took down the defending champions in Game Six thanks to an elite defensive performance. That same level of shut-down defense has been hard to come by on the road in this series. San Antonio will need to bring the same level of aggression and attention to defensive detail they’ve had at home to the sea of blue in OKC.
It all starts with Victor Wembanyama, who has been up and down in the series. When Wembanyama dominates, the Spurs do too. Oklahoma City has done whatever they can to slow down the 7-foot-4 alien. It’s on Wembanyama and the Spurs to find a way to free him up for easy looks in this elimination game.
Oklahoma City will come into Game Seven down two key players: Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell. Williams suited up in Game Six but looked extremely limited. He is ruled out for Game Seven. The Thunder will rely on the two-time MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the guard duo of Jared McCain and Alex Caruso to handle the ball and guard the perimeter.
The winner of Game Seven will go on to face the New York Knicks, who are on a 10-game winning streak heading into the NBA Finals. In many ways, this series has been two heavyweights trading major blows to qualify for the championship fight. We’ll see who lands the final knockout punch on Saturday night.
Spurs Injuries: No injuries to report.
Thunder Injuries: Thomas Sorber – Out (knee), Ajay Mitchell – Out (calf), Jalen Williams – Out (hamstring)
It’s pretty simple: Wembanyama has to dominate for the Spurs to win. The Thunder have done everything in their power to keep him out of the paint. They’ve put stronger defenders on him to push him out of the paint. They’ve doubled him on lobs and sent two defenders at his post touches. The Spurs responded to this in Game Six by trying to get Wembanyama involved in empty-side pick-and-rolls or setting screens to get him moving toward the paint. Wemby mainly hurt the Thunder from deep in Game Six, but he’ll do his best work inside. A standout performance would establish him as one of the best players in the world.
Mistakes will bury a team in Game Seven. Giving up second-chance points or easy buckets off of turnovers are debilitating when the stakes are high. San Antonio has done much better at taking care of the basketball since De’Aaron Fox returnred in Game Three. They have given up some offensive rebounds here and there in this series, mainly on long boards or when Wembanyama is out of position after going for a block. Minimizing turnovers and easy offensive boards will be crucial in Game Seven.
This series has been defined by guard play. The Spurs haven’t relented guarding SGA with physical defenders like Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell. While SGA hasn’t had a great series, his teammates have picked up the slack. McCain and Caruso have been awesome at home. San Antonio can’t let the Thunder’s role players heat up. McCain and Caruso can swing this game with their effort and shot making. Similarly, Dylan Harper and Castle can give the Spurs an edge by aggressively attacking the paint and putting pressure on the Thunder’s paint defenders. Watch out for Fox’s shot making. He’s been cold all series, but could be due for a big game.
J.P. Crawford hit two homers, saved the go-ahead run, and then scored the winning run in extras.
The Mariners returned to .500 with a 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks. Randy Arozarena picked up the final knock, lacing a double into the right center gap to score Crawford in the 10th. It was the 13th — and the sixth for extra bases — on what turned out to be a phenomenal day for the Mariners’ lineup. But a sixth-inning implosion another blown save for Andrés Muñoz kept this one close to the very end.
It all started with Crawford, way back in the first inning. He led off and worked a three-ball count, as he does, laying off a nibbling Zac Gallen. Crawford got a fastball up and out over the plate, turned, and launched it into the right field stands.
It’s been a great season for Crawford at the plate. He’s continued to showcase his tremendous eye, and he’s continued to avoid strikeouts. His 0.81 K/BB is top 20 in baseball. But it’s his .179 ISO that really stands out, looking far closer to his excellent 2023 than what we’ve seen the last two season. The (relative) power is back.
In some ways, it never really left. Crawford changed his swing in 2023 and began hitting the ball much harder. He maintained that hard contact in 2024 even as he struggled, and it stuck around for his bounce back season last year, too. The lesser power numbers in either season were more about the angle that contact was going. Last year, most of his hardest hit balls were on the ground. This year, they’re in the air.
We saw that again in the fifth. Jhonny Pereda smoked a groundball single to lead off the inning. Crawford got a changeup down and out over the plate. He crushed the pitch at 104.8 mph and a perfect 27 degrees and sent it 417 feet over the fence in center field.
Crawford is now up to a 121 wRC+ on the season. It wasn’t just the homers that improved his line Friday. In the third, he drew an eight-pitch walk with two outs. That kept the inning alive to bring Julio to the plate. Gallen hung a slider, and Julio hit a missile to left — 113.6 mph at a razor thin 16 degrees:
It was Julio’s 11th homer of 2026 and his ninth in May. It’s the most homers he’s ever hit in a month for his career. It’s not quite his best month ever as a matter of total production; he entered the day with a mere 141 wRC+ (Julio has had some very, very, very good months). But he’s making great contact, hitting the ball hard and in the air, and avoiding strikeouts. Julio also rocketed a 109.2 mph single and 112.3 mph double on Friday to bring his wRC+ up to 126 on the year.
That’s how the Mariners built a comfortable 5-0 lead, setting themselves up to cruise to a fourth win this week. It wasn’t so easy from there.
George Kirby was fine until he wasn’t. He faced the minimum in the first, thanks to a nifty double play turned by Cole Young. He faced the minimum in the second. He worked around a hit and a walk in the third, and he gave up a leadoff homer in the fourth. He got through five inning without too much trouble and holding 5-1 lead.
Then the Diamondbacks stepped to the plate in the sixth. As it happens, this was exactly the start of their third time through the lineup — something Mariners’ pitchers have struggled with this season. Kirby entered the day with a 4.07 FIP on the third pass in 2026, making him the Mariners only somewhat effective pitcher on that split. That wasn’t the case Friday.
Corbin Carroll laced a one-out single. Geraldo Perdomo flared a weak double to left that got tangled where the wall juts out in foul territory. Gabriel Moreno plated them both with a well-hit double to make it 5-3. That was the end of Kirby’s day: 5 1/3 innings, six hits, four strikeouts, one walk, and a fair amount of hard contact allowed. Meh.
Matt Brash replaced Kirby. He was bad. He walked a batter and gave up a sharp single to load the bases, still with one out. He gave up a run on a groundout. He gave up another on a single to tie the game at 5-5. He walked one final batter but finally ended the inning — the 10th batter of the frame — with a strikeout. It was his worst outing of the season, or rather, his first bad one.
The Mariners lead was gone. No matter: Luke Raley stepped to the plate. With his all-or-nothing dial set to “all,” Raley crushed a hanging, middle-middle changeup way out to right field, giving the Mariners a 6-5 lead. He now leads the team with 12 homers.
Then came the tight rope. The Diamondbacks threatened in the seventh with a couple hits, but Eduard Bazardo eventually shut the door. The Diamondbacks threatened in the eight with a double and a walk, but Dan Wilson brought in Gabe Speier to strikeout Carroll — the best left-on-left hitter in baseball — on three pitches.
That got the ball to Muñoz in the ninth with a 6-5 lead. He struggled, as he has several times this year. He gave up a pair of leadoff singles. Then he hit Nolan Arenado really hard in the elbow to load the bases with nobody out; Arenado exited in considerable pain. Muñoz limited the damage, but still gave up a run on a weak roller. He escaped the inning with a blown save and a 6-6 tie.
Cooper Criswell worked the 10th. He got a groundout to move the Manfred man to third. The Mariners infield came in to cut off the run at home. Carroll then smacked a 101.6 mph hopper up the middle. Crawford ranged a step to his left and dove, snared the grounder, popped to his feet, looked the runner back to third, and fired in time to first.
“That’s just a great reaction on his part to glove that ball, to get it and get the throw to first and keep that runner at third,” Dan Wilson said after the game. “I thought that was the turning point in the game there.”
The play kept things tied until the Mariners turn to bat in the 10th. Arozarena stepped to the plate with one out and Crawford on second as the Manfred Man. Juan Morillo go him to two strikes, and he got Arozarena to chase a nasty slider way out of the zone. But Arozarena was on it, driving it hard the into the left-center gap, bringing Crawford around to score the winning run 7-6.
Arozarena said after the game he wasn’t trying to do too much in that spot, just get the ball in play and try to move the runner. He said the team feels relaxed right now, with everyone feeding off each other’s at bats.
“I think this whole team, right now, it’s in a good spot. Everybody’s been working, putting up good at-bats, and even last year, we still had a good team, but I think right now things are just working and clicking.”
For Crawford, scoring the final run was a nice cap for one of his best games as a Mariner. It’s been a weird start to the 2026 season, with his replacement getting a historic contract and eventually a call up. Crawford’s defense has been measurably and observably poor, with talk of a move to third (to this point, it remains just talk). But it’s games like Friday that show why he’s still around. He gets on base, sometimes he slugs, and he’s one of the great clutch performers in team history. He did all those things Friday. The Mariners won.
San Antonio Spurs (62-20, second in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (64-18, first in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT
LINE: Thunder -3.5; over/under is 212.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: Series tied 3-3
BOTTOM LINE: The San Antonio Spurs visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in game seven of the Western Conference finals. The Spurs defeated the Thunder 118-91 in the last matchup on Friday. Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 28 points, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 15.
The Thunder are 41-11 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City ranks third in the league with 34.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Chet Holmgren averaging 7.0.
The Spurs have gone 36-16 against Western Conference opponents. San Antonio is second in the Western Conference with 47.0 rebounds per game led by Wembanyama averaging 11.5.
The Thunder's 13.8 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.8 more made shots on average than the 13.0 per game the Spurs give up. The Spurs are shooting 48.3% from the field, 4.6% higher than the 43.7% the Thunder's opponents have shot this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.1 points and 6.6 assists for the Thunder. Holmgren is averaging 15.1 points over the last 10 games.
Stephon Castle is scoring 16.6 points per game and averaging 5.3 rebounds for the Spurs. Wembanyama is averaging 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 7-3, averaging 113.9 points, 41.2 rebounds, 26.2 assists, 10.6 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.3 points per game.
Spurs: 6-4, averaging 116.7 points, 48.7 rebounds, 25.5 assists, 9.0 steals and 7.0 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.8 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Ajay Mitchell: out (calf), Jalen Williams: out (hamstring), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).
Spurs: David Jones Garcia: out for season (ankle).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
After the game 4 win over Montreal with a 4-0 score, Carolina Captain Jordan Staal was quoted as saying that his team was “playing like a machine”.
Well, the machine kept on running without so much of a hiccup as they finished off the Eastern Conference Final series with a 6-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
After dropping game one, they finished up with four straight wins to close things out in five games. Their postseason record is now an amazing 12-1. Only three other teams in the modern era have accomplished this.
The Canes jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. They outshot the Habs 15-4 and outhit them 10-4 in that key period.
Carolina’s second line continued to do the major damage as Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake, and Logan Stankoven contributed. Stankoven and Hall both had a goal and two assists while Blake chipped in with a goal and an assist.
Goalie Frederik Andersen had 23 saves on 24 shots and earned his 12th win of the postseason. It was an emotional night for Andersen, who considered the late Claude Lemieux like “family”. Lemieux also served as his agent.
The home team got things rolling about midway through the first period when Taylor Hall knocked in a puck from in close. The Canadiens challenged the goal for goaltender interference because Stankoven had taken the puck into the net and brushed Dobes. Apparently, the refs didn’t think there was enough contact to overturn the goal so the score stood.
About six minutes later, Stankoven would snipe one off a pass from Hall and it was 2-0.
Just a minute and change after that, Eric Robinson broke in alone and got another one past Dobes and it was 3-0. It was Robinson’s third goal of the playoffs.
At 7:19 into the second period, Jackson Blake knocked in a rebound off a Hall shot and the pressure was off at 4-0. Media members started making plane reservations to Vegas.
Just before the end of the period, Shayne Gostisbehere scored a powerplay goal when he snuck behind the Montreal defense to tap in a Seth Jarvis pass. At the end of the second, it was 5-0.
At this point, the partisan Carolina crowd was serenading the arena by singing “ole’ ole’ ole’ ” as a (tribute) to Montreal fans.
The Habs ruined Andersen’s shutout bid with a powerplay goal late in the game by Cole Caulfield, but Seth Jarvis would close out the scoring on an empty-netter.
The Canes will take Saturday off before preparing for the next series against the Las Vegas Golden Knights which starts Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center. We will have much more about that coming up.
After the game during interviews, each player to a man was very business like as they knew they had another tough task before them.
Game Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20252026/GS030315.HTM
Event Summary – https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20252026/ES030315.HTM
The Athletics as an organization have gotten themselves in a weird situation where they, as a major league team, are playing games in a minor league ballpark. The team themselves are a perfectly solid major league team, fighting atop an iffy AL West at this point of the season, with young talent that could make them very dangerous in the coming years.
That being said, during Friday night’s series opener in West Sacramento, one team was definitely at a higher level, and it wasn’t the A’s.
Led by home runs from Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan McMahon, and Ben Rice, the Yankees’ offense had no issues against Athletics’ pitching, putting up eight runs on 11 hits. Meanwhile on the mound, starting pitcher Carlos Rodón had arguably his best start of the season so far. He went six innings, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks, striking out three. From the first inning on, there wasn’t much drama in the game, as the Yankees came away with an 8-2 win.
While former Yankee and current Athletic Luis Severino retired Trent Grisham to open the game, his former team then got off to a quick start after that. The Yankees got a bit of fortune as A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz threw wide of a covering Severino after a Ben Rice grounder, which was then followed by a Severino balk. Aaron Judge then poked through a single to get the scoring started. Following another single from Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt then kept his good run going, homering to left to put up a crooked number.
The Athletics did get one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Nick Kurtz hit a home run of his own in the first, getting his team on the board.
During his warmup pitches prior to the second inning, Severino appeared to tweak something, leading to his exit before the frame even began. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious, as lot of us still have a soft sport for Sevy.
The Yankees’ offense continued to add on to their lead after Severino’s departure. In the second, Rice hit an RBI single that scored José Caballero, who was on after a double. In the third, Ryan McMahon hit a homer in his second consecutive game, also reaching the No. 150 mark for his career. Then in the fourth, Aaron Judge grounded out with two runners on, but it was a weak and slow enough grounder to allow Grisham to score from third.
Rodón would end up getting through six innings before making way for the bullpen. He ended his day on a very strong note, retiring the last seven batters he faced.
In the top of the seventh, Rice picked up his second RBI of the day with a homer to center-ish field. It broke a seven-game home run-less streak, which had been the longest of his season to this point.
Replacing Rodón was Brent Headrick, who enetered for his daily appearance. This time around, he got one quick out, but then loaded the bases, leading to Aaron Boone going back to the bullpen. Fernando Cruz came in for him and induced a 1-2-3 double play to get out of the jam.
Paul Blackburn then got the eighth and worked a quick inning, despite having to hit the deck to avoid taking a comebacker to the face. Blackburn returned for the ninth and got in some early trouble when the first two Athletics’ batters reached base. One of those runs did come around to score, but Blackburn bounced back after that to finish the proceedings.
The Yankees and A’s will continue their set tomorrow night, with a game starting at 10:05 pm ET. Ryan Weathers and J.T. Ginn are expected to be the starting pitchers in that one.
Full recap to follow shortly. Feel free to vent on the close loss in the comments!
The GameDay Thread was certainly….interesting tonight. A final tally of 396 comments at time of publishing with Comment of the Game by popular vote awarded to Dano_in_Tucson for his lineup advice to Torey:
The Diamondbacks face the Mariners for the second game of this 3-game set tomorrow evening with a 7:10pm first pitch Arizona time. Righthander Bryan Woo (4-3, 3.82 ERA) will take the mound for Seattle and Ryne Nelson (2-3, 4.65 ERA) takes the ball for the good guys. Hopefully Ryno can get the starting pitching back on track after Gallen’s hiccup tonight.
The Athletics and New York Yankees kicked off a three-game weekend series tonight in Sacramento. The A’s entered the game trying to end a three-game losing streak, while the Yankees sought to make it five-straight wins. The “Bronx Bombers” took the lead before most fans had reached their seats and did not look back, earning a blowout 8-2 victory over the A’s in a game they dominated in all facets.
A’s starting pitcher Luis Severino gave up runs in the first inning for a second-straight outing, but this time he was not helped by his defense. A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz made a throwing error allowing Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice to reach safely. Rice advanced to second on Severino’s balk and then scored on Aaron Judge’s RBI single to give the Yankees an immediate lead. A few batters later, with two on and two outs, Yankees’ first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit his sixth home run of the season, a three-run blast just over the left field wall to give the visitors a 4-0 lead after the first half inning of the game. All four runs were unearned, yet that three-run home run really stung.
In the bottom of the first, the A’s got a run back. Kurtz atoned for his error by hitting his ninth home run of the season, a solo blast to left-center field.
In the second inning, Severino got hurt warming up, exiting his start with right arm soreness. Apparently, he has been dealing with shoulder soreness, which is why his start got pushed back to tonight. Maybe it should have been pushed back a bit longer to prevent a bullpen game to open the series.
Left-hander Jose Suarez replaced him on the mound. The Yankees’ offense went right back to work. They got three-straight hits with Rice’s RBI single pushing their fifth run across home plate. Suarez escaped the inning, limiting the damage to one run.
Athletics left fielder Tyler Soderstrom worked a walk to begin the A’s half of the second. Center fielder Henry Bolte singled to left, advancing his teammate to second base. The A’s rally fizzled out from there as back-t0-back groundouts with runners in scoring position erased the momentum they had built at the start of the frame.
Suarez only pitched one inning. A’s reliever Joel Kuhnel replaced him in the third. He gave up third baseman Ryan McMahon’s sixth home run of the season, a two-out solo shot to right-center. The Yankees added a seventh run in the fourth, courtesy of Judge’s RBI groundout. Through four innings, the Yankees scored at least one run in every inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Soderstrom and Bolte strung together two-straight singles with two outs. Alas, Rodòn got Gelof to fly out, completing a third-straight scoreless inning. Gelof has twice failed to come through in prime run-scoring opportunities for the hosts this evening. Left-handed reliever Hogan Harris answered by recording the first scoreless inning by an A’s pitcher in the fifth.
With a six-run cushion, Rodòn cruised through six innings of one-run ball, limiting the slumping A’s offense to only four hits. In the seventh, the Yankees extended their lead to seven runs via their third home run of the game. Rice blasted his 17th home run of the season against new A’s reliever Scott Barlow. He finished with three hits in five at-bats and was a triple shy of the cycle.
Bolte was one of the few positives for the A’s tonight. He recorded three singles in four at-bats, the last one coming off Yankees’ left-handed reliever Brent Headrick in the seventh. After his third single, he moved up a base on Gelof’s first of two hits in this game.
With the bases loaded, Yankees manager Aaron Boone replaced Headrick with right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz. A’s manager Mark Kotsay countered by bringing Carlos Cortes off the bench to pinch hit for Darell Hernaiz. Cruz won the matchup, inducing an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play as the A’s failed yet again with runners in scoring position and less than two outs.
That outcome was indicative of the A’s teamwide offensive struggles not only tonight, but this whole week. The Athletics’ recent offensive ineptitude during home games remains perplexing, especially considering that visiting teams seem to take full advantage of the hitter-friendly ballpark to score runs in bunches.
The A’s offensive struggles carried over to defense. In the ninth, three A’s defenders collided trying to cleanly field Rice’s catchable pop-up that somehow ended up on the grass.
The A’s got a consolation run off former A’s pitcher Paul Blackburn in the ninth. Gelof’s RBI single scored designated hitter Brent Rooker, who started the rally with an infield single, for the A’s second run of the night. Blackburn buckled down, retiring the next two hitters to seal the Yankees fifth straight win and doom the Athletics to further misery.
The A’s have been outscored 30-6 during this woeful, winless late May homestand. Additionally, they have committed 15 errors in their past 17 games. Currently riding a four-game losing streak that has dropped their record to 27-30, the vibes are not good for this team. As a result, something must be done sooner than later to restore some positivity and turn things around before the team’s 2026 season spirals completely out of control.
The Athletics will look to snap their losing skid and even up this series tomorrow evening. Right-hander J.T. Ginn, who is 2-3 with a 3.19 ERA, will look to play stopper. The A’s need him to pitch at least five or six innings in the wake of the bullpen having to cover eight innings today. The Yankees will counter with left-hander Ryan Weathers, who is 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA.
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen was playing with a heavy heart in Game 5 after the death of his agent, four-time Stanley Cup winner Claude Lemieux.
Andersen came up with one of his better efforts of the Eastern Conference finals, stopping 23 shots in a 6-1 win that sent the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006. It's also Andersen's first trip.
"I can't talk enough good things about this team and the way they've supported me," he told TNT. "It's been awesome."
Lemieux died at 60 on Thursday, three days after he took part in the Canadiens' torch-bearing ceremony before Game 3 at Montreal's Bell Centre.
Though Lemieux identified with the Canadiens as the team that drafted him and where he won his first Stanley Cup as a rookie, he had ties with the Hurricanes. In addition to having Andersen as a client, his son Brendan played for Carolina during the 2023-24 season. The Hurricanes paid tribute to Claude Lemieux before Friday's game.
Asked what Lemieux would say if he were still here, Andersen told TNT that his agent would tell him, "Just go get it."
"He's the ultimate competitor and he's got the biggest heart," the goalie said. "He wanted so much for me and this team."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Frederik Andersen wins clinching Game 5 while mourning Claude Lemieux