Welcome to The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live, streaming nightly during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs.
After the big game of the night, our experts go live to react to the match that was, break down the key moments and storylines and read your opinions.
On tonight's show, Emma Lingan, Mike Augello and Kelsey Surmacz react to the Carolina Hurricanes beating the Washington Capitals to take a 3-1 lead in their second-round series.
Welcome, once again, to Screen Shots, a regular TheHockeyNews.com series in which your humble senior digital correspondent tackles a few different hockey topics and breaks them down in a handful of short paragraphs. Let’s get right down to business.
It’s tempting to say yes, although if you look at the opportunities former New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello has had, right up through his 82nd birthday, the 69-year-old Holland may still have more than one GM stint left in him.
That said, would Holland be the right person for the job in Los Angeles? Certainly, there are a number of key roles already filled for the Kings. They’ve got young stars including center Quinton Byfield, veteran anchors like defenseman Drew Doughty and left winger Adrian Kempe, and up-and-comers including blueliner Brandt Clarke.
Meanwhile, the Kings are projected to have about $23.3 million in salary cap space this summer, and although some of that will have to be spent on a D-man to shore up the defense corps, Los Angeles will still have enough to spend on a proven veteran to shake up the chemistry of the Kings next season.
You can see, then, why the Kings’ GM job would be very appealing to Holland and why Holland would be appealing to the Kings. They need someone with the experience and track record of being a winner.
Time will tell whether the Kings officially hire Holland, but his pedigree and hunger to still be a mover-and-shaker in the NHL world mean he’s very likely to get another kick at the can when it comes to running a team.
It’s no secret this writer is a big believer in Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill.
As the reigning, back-to-back winner of the NHL’s Jim Gregory GM of the Year Award, Nill has once again set the table for the Stars to continue on another deep Stanley Cup playoff run. There’s no question Nill understands how to get the most out of his draft and development team and his salary cap space, and it should surprise no one if Nill wins the award for the third straight season.
With pending UFAs, including right winger Jamie Benn, center Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund, and RFA right winger Mavrik Bourque looking for new contracts, there won’t be room on the Stars for all of them next year.
But there’s no GM we trust more than Nill to fill out his roster with capable contributors. And no matter what happens the rest of these playoffs, Dallas is fully set up to be a top team in the NHL in 2025-26.
Finally, we’ve seen an all-time marathon game in the PHWL, with the Ottawa Charge and Montreal Victoire needing four overtime periods and a 5:34 game to decide a winner, Montreal. That raises the question: do hockey fans like the idea of unlimited overtime, or should extra-long playoff games be settled in a shootout or 3-on-3 overtime?
From this writer’s perspective, we’d always go with 5-on-5 OT until someone scores a playoff game-winner. It’s a different story in the regular season, where 3-on-3 play and shootouts guarantee a timely end to games. That’s crucial when fans are potentially on their own fixed schedules, but the beauty of unlimited 5-on-5 OT play is that fans know going into it that there could be many extra periods of hockey needed to decide a winner.
When you do have 5-on-5 OT in the post-season, you know teams will have to deal with fatigue as part of the challenge of unlimited overtime. That’s part of what makes playoff hockey so compelling. So yes, let’s stick with the following plan: 3-on-3 OT and shootouts in the regular season and 5-on-5 OT in the post-season.
It’s been a long road back for DJ LeMahieu, but it appears he’s officially ready to return.
The veteran infielder is expected to be activated from the injured list prior to Tuesday night’s game and he’ll be back in the Yankees' lineup for Wednesday’s series finale against the Mariners, manager Aaron Boone said.
LeMahieu is with the team in Seattle, but they’ll wait one more day to officially activate him.
“I think he’s in a good spot,” Boone told reporters pregame Monday. “I feel like his ramp-up’s been good. He’s had a pretty good long runway of build up. I feel like he’s ready to go and hopefully ready to contribute.”
The oft-injured LeMahieu has missed the first 40 games of the season due to a left calf strain he suffered during his second spring training at-bat.
He's been progressing well over the past couple of weeks and has impressed during his recent minor league rehab appearances -- going 12-for-27 with a pair of extra base-hits while playing the full game in the field.
The expectation is that he'll see the bulk of the playing time at second until Jazz Chisholm returns from injury, and then he'll share duties with Oswaldo Cabrera at the hot corner, as long as he can stay healthy.
"The biggest thing is health,” Boone said. "DJ can fall out of bed and hit. The biggest thing that’s tripped him up over the years is just the different nagging injuries that have popped up on him and have slowed him.
"Obviously, he’s a little older now, but I always feel like guys that can really hit like him, if you’re healthy you can usually really hit late in your career. So hopefully he can come and be a real contributor for us."
Cricket Australia is working with the Australian government and BCCI around “security arrangements and safety” for players set to return to action in the IPL in India as a clash with preparations for the World Test Championship final looms.
Despite the need for a hero to save the day, Warriors forward Draymond Green is against the idea of Steph Curry turning into Superman.
Following Golden State’s Game 4 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Green advised against a hypothetical scenario in which injured superstar Curry rushed his return to the court for a must-win Game 5.
“Nah, we’re not going to Superman this thing. If he’s in a place where he can play, I’m sure he will,” Green told reporters.
“Him and Rick [Celebrini] and everyone else will figure that out, but we don’t need Superman. You got to play the long game, so, if he can, we know he will. But there’s no pressure. We got to find a way to win whether he plays or not.”
Following the loss, coach Steve Kerr avoided giving a definite answer on whether or not Curry could return Wednesday from a Grade 1 hamstring strain.
Steve Kerr avoids a hypothetical question about Steph Curry playing Game 5 on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/jTU6T83WLb
Curry, speaking with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, played off of Green’s words, alluding that he doesn’t expect to be available for Game 5.
Without Curry’s magic on the court, the Warriors shot 43 percent from the floor and knocked in a dismal 8 of 27 from 3-point range Monday night.
Green, a four-time NBA champion, acknowledges there’s no greater postseason luxury than a healthy roster.
“When you’re competing for championships or trying to, the most important thing you can have on your side is health,” Green added.
Although it’s unlikely Curry returns for Game 5, Green assures there’s a plan in motion.
“As far as Steph, he’s working his tail off every day,” Green concluded. “He’s in here eight, nine hours a day, working and doing what he can to try to get back.
“His morale is great. Obviously, nobody is excited right now, but he’s working to get back. That’s all you can do at this point.”
SAN FRANCISCO – Despite the definitive change of momentum in the series when Warriors star Stephen Curry limped off the court with a hamstring injury in Game 1, Minnesota Timberwolves all-world guard Anthony Edwards wishes the two-time NBA scoring champ were healthy and able to play.
The two were teammates on the USA’s gold-medal winning team in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Edwards’ appreciation of Curry grew to a higher level than it was before.
“Trust me, I wish he could be out there to play against him, no matter how it goes,” Edwards said. “Just from working out with him in the summer. He’s the greatest, greatest shooter of all time.”
While Edwards was racing up and down the court on his way to 30 points in the Timberwolves’ 117-110 victory, Curry once again sat on the Warriors’ bench watching it go down.
At one point, the two men got into a playful exchange after Edwards sank one of the six 3-pointers.
“He was like, ‘You weren’t going to make that. You were too open,’ ” Edwards said. “And I was like, ‘I ain’t never going to stop. Never stop shooting. I learned that from you this summer.’ ”
"I learned that from you this summer."
Anthony Edwards recalls what he told Steph on the sideline of Game 4 tonight after spending last summer at the 2024 Olympics in Paris 🐜👨🍳 pic.twitter.com/gXv8Y1Se1t
Edwards never stopped shooting against the Warriors in Game 4, knocking down 11 of 21 shots, including 6 of 11 behind the arc. He added five assists and four rebounds, helping the Wolves move one step closer to sending the Warriors packing into the offseason.
One of the game’s biggest moments happened just before halftime when Edwards pulled up for a 30-foot jumper that cut Golden State’s lead to 60-58 at the half.
Players from both sides felt Edwards’ shot was a clear momentum-changer.
“He is one of one,” Draymond Green said. “With the increased volume (of shots), the ability that he’s worked his tail off for, to be able to shoot the ball like that makes him a tough cover for sure. But we’ve also got to do a better job.”
The Warriors put on a decent show in the first half and took their small lead into the locker room.
It took Edwards and the Wolves about 6 minutes to flip the script and turn the game into a blowout.
Edwards shot 6 of 8 in the third and made three 3s, turning a two-point deficit into a 20-point advantage heading into the fourth.
Minnesota’s three-time NBA All-Star guard has earned the nickname ‘Legend Killer’ after the Wolves eliminated the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic in the playoffs last season. He added to that resume in the 2025 playoffs when he and his teammates knocked LeBron James, Luka Doncic and the Lakers out of the postseason.
Edwards would love to add Curry’s name to that list, but it looks like that might not happen. Curry has missed the last three games and won’t even be re-evaluated until Wednesday, the day of Game 5. The series very well could end that night in Minneapolis.
“I would definitely love to compete against him but he got hurt unfortunately,” Edwards said. “I hope he gets better.”
“Coach (Chris Finch) came in and said we were playing like we already won the series pretty much,” Edwards explained when asked what changed. “I didn’t like how we were playing overall and I didn’t like how I was playing individually. I knew I had to pick it up.”
When it happened, the crowd at Chase Center, which had been boisterous all evening, began to simmer down and murmur to themselves.
Even Edwards’ teammates got caught up in what Edwards was doing.
“As a basketball fan, it’s fun, and then as a competitor, it’s fun because he’s on your team,” said Nickell Alexander-Walker, who scored 13 points. “He’s providing a spark, he’s playing with energy, he’s making tough shots on the road.
“You can hear the pain from the crowd when he’s making shots like that. He gets on a heater and he starts to do his thing, being the showman that he is. It’s definitely fun to be a part of, to watch, to have those stories later in the year.”
Sitting at the podium after the game, Edwards was asked what it was like to hear moans and groans from opposing fans.
“Satisfaction,” he said. “Just the best satisfaction ever.”
The basketball gods chose to bail out Nico Harrison.
The organization that inexplicably gave away Luka Doncic in a trade deadline deal entered Monday night with a 1.8% chance of winning the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery — and they got it. The Dallas Mavericks have the No. 1 pick, an ending to the lottery that will provide years of fuel for the conspiracy theorists around the league.
It's the first time the Mavericks have ever had the No. 1 pick, and they can now use it to draft Cooper Flagg as the new star and face of the franchise. With Flagg, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks are positioned to make some noise in the West (once Irving recovers from the torn ACL that will sideline him most, if not all, of next season).
The Spurs and 76ers jumped way up, while the Jazz and Wizards were unlucky and slid back.
Here is how the NBA Draft Lottery shook out:
1. Dallas Mavericks 2. San Antonio Spurs 3. Philadelphia 76ers 4. Charlotte Hornets 5. Utah Jazz 6. Washington Wizards 7. New Orleans Pelicans 8. Brooklyn Nets 9. Toronto Raptors 10. Houston Rockets (via Phoenix) 11. Portland Trail Blazers 12. Chicago Bulls 13. Atlanta Hawks (via Sacramento) 14. San Antonio (via Atlanta)
Some other notes from how the NBA Draft lottery broke down.
• With San Antonio landing the No. 2 pick, expect to hear a ton of Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Spurs rumors. San Antonio can now offer this year's No. 2 pick (which will almost certainly be Dylan Harper), the reigning Rookie of the Year in Stephon Castle, plus more picks and players. That's the foundation of a quick rebuild for the Bucks, and imagine the Spurs defense with Antetokounmpo and Victor Wembanyama.
• The Philadelphia 76ers needed to stay in the top six to keep their pick, not only did they do that but they jumped up to the No. 3 pick, meaning they can add Ace Bailey or VJ Edgecomb to a young core of Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain, a bridge to the future no matter what happens with Joel Embiid and Paul George's health.
• The Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards had the two worst records in the league but the lottery gods did not favor them and they slid down the board as far as they could go, with Utah fifth and Washington sixth. This is the third year in a row the team with the worst record in the league slid down to fifth (the previous two years it was Detroit).
• Chicago lost the tiebreaker to Dallas, which decided which numbers they get in the ping-pong ball lottery, then the Mavericks jumped up to No. 1. That's a rough one for the Bulls.
• Here is what the rest of the first round looks like
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Miami) 16. Orlando Magic 17. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Detroit) 18. Washington Wizards (via Memphis) 19. Brooklyn Nets (via Milwaukee) 20. Miami Heat (via Golden State) 21. Utah Jazz (via Minnesota) 22. Atlanta Hawks (via Los Angeles Lakers) 23. Indiana Pacers 24. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Los Angeles Clippers) 25. Orlando Magic (via Denver) 26. Brooklyn Nets (via New York) 27. Brooklyn Nets (via Houston) 28. Boston Celtics 29. Phoenix Suns (via Cleveland) 30. Los Angeles Clippers (via Oklahoma City)
• The NBA Draft occurs on June 25-26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
SAN FRANCISCO – The last few seconds of the first half Monday night were illustrative in understanding why the Warriors are one loss from skidding into the offseason.
After Jonathan Kuminga dropped in two free throws to punctuate a 14-3 run and give the Warriors a 60-55 lead with eight seconds on the clock, the Minnesota Timberwolves inbounded and put the ball in the hands of Anthony Edwards.
The Warriors responded appropriately. Draymond Green and Gary Payton II, their best defenders, converged on Edwards in hopes of preventing one of those buzzer-beating 3-pointers that inspires one team and deflates the other.
Edwards took note of Green and Payton, dribbled into a rhythm and launched a 30-footer that swished, inspiring the Timberwolves and signaling the beginning of the end for the Warriors in Game 4 and, perhaps, these Western Conference semifinals.
Minnesota’s scorching third quarter – a 39-17 advantage – muted the sellout crowd (18,064) at Chase Center and laid a 117-110 smashing on the Warriors that leaves them one game from elimination.
“It was a big shot,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought the way we defended it was great. I mean, Gary was all over him. Draymond came out to double. Then he hit a step-back 30-footer. There’s not much you can do about that.”
Recognizing the significance of Edwards’ shot, Green expressed a measure of regret over the way that and several other shots were defended.
“It was huge,” Green said. “One thing we talked about at halftime is like, ‘Yeah, he hit a tough shot. What could we have done differently? Could we have not let him walk up to the spot?’
“But it’s like every time we’re on a run, we’re letting Ant break the run up. Somebody can break the run up, but it can’t be their best player. Our defense should be so keyed at that point during a run that it can’t be their best player just getting to a spot and raising up.”
With Stephen Curry sidelined with a strained left hamstring, the Warriors have been consistent in their messaging, saying their defense would be the primary dictator of their fortunes. And through three games, it had its moments.
Not so much in Game 4, largely thanks to Edwards.
“It was huge,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of Edwards’ halftime buzzer-beater, “because it felt like one of those games where we were going to struggle to find a rhythm.”
Instead, Minnesota left Golden State’s defense in ruins during the relevant first three quarters, shooting 53.0 percent from the field, including 51.6 percent from distance, before finishing at 49.4 and 47.1. Edwards scored 30 points, 16 in the decisive third quarter. Julius Randle finished with a game-high 31. Their combined 61 points came on 22-of-42 shooting, including 10 of 19 from deep.
The third-quarter blast gave Minnesota a 97-77 lead entering the fourth quarter, effectively shoving the Warriors a giant step closer to going home for the summer.
“It felt like there were some [shots] in the third quarter where we got disconnected defensively and they got they got wide open looks,” Kerr said. “I also thought they hit some really tough shots as well. They played a great game and obviously took it to us.”
Golden State’s offense couldn’t do much to help its cause. There was another energetic performance by Kuminga – 23 points, 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including 11 of 12 from the line – and not much else.
Jimmy Butler III, so prolific in Game 3 but “under the weather” on Monday, walked off the court with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field. Buddy Hield totaled 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting, including 2 of 6 from deep. Brandin Podziemski continued to struggle for buckets, finishing with 11 points while shooting 3 of 14, including 0 of 4 from distance.
“Everybody has to shoot,” Green said. “If you get the opening, you’ve got to let it go. Sometimes, we’re passing some up. Without Steph, at times the first good look oftentimes will be the best look.”
Since winning Game 1 on the road, the Warriors have lost three in a row, the last two on their home floor. The last time Golden State lost three consecutive postseason games were, gulp, the 2016 NBA Finals, when the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit by winning Games 5, 6 and 7.
Golden State’s task now is to win three straight games over the Wolves, including two at Target Center in Minneapolis.
“We’ve got to bounce back,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a flight to Minneapolis tomorrow and a chance to extend the series. And that’s the plan.”
From the looks of Games 3 and 4 at Chase, a Golden State comeback seems a feat beyond the grasp of the roster without Curry, with Butler now ill and so many shortcomings elsewhere.
The Western Conference semifinals series between the Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves was set up to be a potentially legendary showdown between Steph Curry and Anthony Edwards.
But after suffering a hamstring strain early in Game 1, Curry mostly has been constrained to watch from the sidelines.
Nevertheless, Curry has made his voice heard all series — both by teammates and opponents — which continued in the Warriors’ 117-110 loss in Game 4 on Monday at Chase Center.
In his postgame presser following his 30-point performance, Edwards revealed some in-game trash talk with Curry after Edwards was asked about playing against Golden State without their two-time NBA MVP.
“Just from working out with him over the summer, that’s what I told him after I hit a three,” Edwards told reporters. “Because he told me — I had missed one — he was like, ‘You weren’t going to make that. You were too open.’
“And I was like, ‘I ain’t gonna never stop shooting them. I learned that from you this summer.'”
"I ain't gonna never stop shooting 'em. I learned that from you this summer."
It’s not often you see trash talk mixed with a compliment, but the two players clearly have a good relationship. Curry and Edwards spent plenty of time together last offseason when they helped Team USA win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In other words, one might argue Curry played a pivotal role in creating the juggernaut that could be responsible for his team’s playoff demise, now that the Timberwolves own a 3-1 lead with the series heading back to Minnesota.
Unfortunately for the Warriors — and potentially NBA fans as a whole — Curry might not have the chance for a rebuttal against Edwards in their friendly feud this season.
The Buffalo Sabres had problems with their defense this season -- and part of the blame for that is the play of their goalies. We've wrote recently about the need for the netminding to improve, but one question that hasn't been addressed yet is the future of veteran goalie James Reimer. The 37-year-old was Buffalo's best goalie late in the season, but he's a UFA this summer and could choose to retire.
If he doesn't, though, Reimer could get some interest from a team seeking goaltending depth -- and that team could be the Sabres. Reimer's 10-8-2 record, .899 save percentage and 2.90 Goals-Against Average this season weren't bad at all when you consider how poor Buffalo's defensive efforts were in front of him.
If he does return to the NHL next year, Reimer isn't going to break the bank with his salary. He earned an even $1-million this season, and he may come back on the veteran's minimum salary -- if he thought he was joining a team that gave him a good chance to make the playoffs. Is that team the Sabres? It's obviously good that Reimer knows Buffalo's organization and coaching staff, but the Sabres might be competing for Reimer's services, and that means they'd need to give Reimer an honest chance to earn playing time.
Reimer is renowned as a great teammate and calming influence, and on a Sabres team that will have all sorts of pressure to improve next year, having Reimer around might make as much sense for the dressing room as it does for the ice.
Reimer's experience -- he's played 525 regular-season games -- is valuable for any team that wants a low-cost veteran voice on the roster. He may choose to finish his career with the Sabres, but if he doesn't, don't be surprHiised to see him sign on with another NHL team. His pedigree makes him a viable choice for a team seeking depth and veteran knowhow, and in a thin UFA goalie market, Reimer could move on from Buffalo and land in a different NHL city.
A tumultuous NBA season in Dallas took an upward swing Monday evening when the Mavericks, with just a 1.8% change of winning the NBA Draft Lottery, landed a shot at redemption.
San Antonio and Philadelphia round out the top three picks, with each having had a 6% and 10.5% chance at number one, respectively. They’ll likely have no shot at consensus number one, Cooper Flagg.
Unless the Mavericks defy expectations and pick someone else, Flagg will come to the team with a level of hype few players have ever matched, including his fellow Duke alum and 2019 top pick Zion Williamson – who was the New Orleans Pelicans’ representative for this year’s lottery – and French phenom Victor Wembanyama, who went to the San Antonio Spurs in 2023. Free agent Giannis Antetokounmpo looms on the market and San Antonio now has ample capital.
While his high school classmates may have relaxed in their last summer before college, Flagg was working out with the U.S. men’s basketball team in its preparation for the Paris Games, becoming the first college player (and first teenager) added to the Select Team since 2013.
Flagg also signed an NIL deal with New Balance, which has a factory 25 miles from his hometown of Newport, Maine. Flagg will presumably become the first top overall NBA Draft pick ever for the brand, which boasts established stars such as Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray and Tyrese Maxey as endorsers.
The 6’9” forward proceeded to have a stellar season at Duke, leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four before the team lost to Houston. Flagg averaged 19.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals over 37 games. He elevated his draft stock even higher during the NCAA Tournament, averaging 21 points, 7.6 rebounds, five assists and two blocks through five games.
Flagg was the just the fourth freshman to win the Wooden Award as the nation’s top player in men’s college basketball, alongside Williamson, Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant. He also took home the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year honors, becoming the fourth player (and fourth Duke Blue Devil) to win both conference honors in the same season.
Prior to the stunning trade of Luka Doncic at the February trade deadline, the Mavs were set for 30 national TV appearances in the just completed regular season. The presumptive selection of Flagg may keep the team at the top of the pack when it comes to national TV games, especially as the NBA’s new media deal kicks in with ESPN/ABC, NBC, Peacock and Amazon’s Prime Video.
When the Spurs won the lottery and drafted Wembanyama in 2023, their national TV appearances leaped from a single game in 2022-23 to 11 games the following season.
The Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets each had the best odds of winning the top pick at 14.1%. Right outside of the top three teams were the New Orleans Pelicans at 12.5%, the Philadelphia 76ers at 10.5% and the Brooklyn Nets at 9%.
The chance that a team with lower odds than the top three favorites would land the top pick was not a small one. Last year, the Atlanta Hawks, who had the 10th-worst record in 2023-24, had just a 3% chance at the lottery when ping-pong balls bounced their way last spring.
Dallas’ win marks the sixth time since the lottery began in 1985 that a team with less than a 4% chance won the rights to the top pick.
While Flagg is the unquestioned prize of the upcoming draft, the 2025 draft class does not lack for tantalizing prospects. Rutgers guard Dylan Harper has often come up in mock drafts as the consensus second-overall pick, and his teammate Ace Bailey and Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe have garnered plenty of attention themselves.
Although NIL has changed the draft pools for the NBA for a few years, this may be the first draft class where those changes are truly evident. Outside of the expected one-and-done freshman prospects and upperclassmen who took advantage of the NCAA’s expanded eligibility since the COVID-19 pandemic, there are few sophomore and junior players on the radar of scouts and executives.
The league recently announced that there were 106 early entry candidates for the June draft, the lowest number since 91 players declared early in 2015. Since 2021 when the NCAA allowed players to make money from NIL deals, the early entry pool has dropped each year from an all-time high of 353 players to less than one-third of that total in 2025.
After the Warriors dropped Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, Draymond Green still had his mind on his actions from Saturday.
Golden State’s veteran forward fouled out of his team’s Game 3 loss and apologized to reporters Monday for failing to speak to them in the aftermath.
“Before I start, I want to apologize to y’all,” Green told the media before starting his press conference after the Warriors’ 117-110 loss in Game 4 at Chase Center. “I didn’t talk the other day. I was quite a bit frustrated and very careful of — didn’t want to get myself fined, but more so say something and make it sound like an excuse.
“We struggle and lose, and I didn’t come up here and talk, and I felt like a coward when I got home. So I wanted to apologize to y’all for that.”
Draymond Green opens his postgame presser with an apology for not talking at the podium after Game 3 pic.twitter.com/wQ8BNpwcbH
With four minutes and 38 seconds left in the Warriors’ eventual 102-97 loss on Saturday, Green collected his sixth and final personal foul with Golden State trailing by two points.
The 2024-25 NBA Defensive Player of the Year finalist had tallied just two points, two rebounds and four assists up to that point, and his foul trouble kept him from making much of an impact as the Timberwolves attacked the rim.
While some of the calls on Green were questionable according to his Warriors teammates and coach Steve Kerr, it’s evident the 35-year-old didn’t want to blame the referees for his struggles in Game 3.
Green’s less-than-stellar night on Saturday came one game after he faced racially charged comments from Timberwolves fans in Minnesota — an incident that caused the team to open up an investigation when one fan was ejected from Target Center for violating the NBA Fan Code of Conduct, per the Timberwolves, and another left the arena on his own accord.
After that game, during which Green received a technical foul for hitting Wolves big man Naz Reid in the face, the Warriors star gave a passionate statement declaring he’s “not an angry Black man” and that there is an “agenda” trying to paint him as such.
When asked about his post-Game 2 comments after Monday’s loss, where Green improved to score 14 points with seven rebounds and two assists, he made it clear he has turned the page.
“I’ve moved on,” Green told reporters.
Green never has been one to shy away from accountability after all the ups and downs he has experienced throughout his career. His apology on Monday was just another example of that, even if it came a couple of days later.
Steph Curry has missed the Warriors’ last three Western Conference semifinals games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and if he misses another, Golden State’s season might end Wednesday.
Which is why everyone is wondering if Curry might push to play at Target Center.
Asked after the Warriors’ Game 4 loss if Curry would be allowed to play Wednesday if he told the medical staff he’s good to go, coach Steve Kerr danced around the hypothetical question.
“When are we giving the update?” Kerr asked, looking at Warriors PR personnel. “Wednesday, we’ll have an update.”
Steve Kerr avoids a hypothetical question about Steph Curry playing Game 5 on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/jTU6T83WLb
Curry sustained a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in the first half of the Warriors’ Game 1 win over the Timberwolves. When his MRI results were announced, Golden State said the 37-year-old would be re-evaluated on May 14, the same day as Game 5.
Typically, re-evaluations lead to more time missed, so it’s unlikely Curry is ready to go Wednesday.
But longtime running mate Draymond Green shed light on the work Curry is doing to get back on the court before it’s too late.
“When you’re competing for championships, or trying to, the most important thing you can have on your side is health,” Green told reporters after Monday’s 117-110 loss. “You start getting a month, two and a half months longer into this already long season, and injuries are more likely to happen, so you try to do all that you can to prevent that. I send my love to [Jayson Tatum]. Never wish any injury on anybody; hoping that it’s not what everyone thinks it is. Such a great young talent in this league. Does everything the right way. So, hate to see him go down.
“As far as Steph, he’s working his tail off every day. You know, he’s in here eight, nine hours a day, working, doing what he can to try to get back. So, you know, his morale is great. Obviously, nobody’s excited right now, but he’s working to get back. That’s all you can do it at this point.”
Curry hasn’t spoken to the assembled media since May 8, but he talked to Andscape’s Marc J. Spears after Monday’s loss and tempered expectations that he might play Wednesday.
“Even if I wanted to be Superman, I couldn’t,” injured Warriors guard Stephen Curry told @andscape in response to Green’s words about Game 5. Curry added he doesn’t expect to be available in 5 and won’t know anything more about his hamstring until his next medical evaluation. https://t.co/1HTwpiHppn
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported last week and reiterated Monday that a possible Game 6, scheduled for Sunday, May 18, is the earliest Curry could return.
Curry is itching to return, knowing that the Warriors’ season is hanging in the balance. But all signs point to the four-time NBA champion sitting out another game.
Australia’s No 1 regains focus to beat Hugo Dellien 6-4, 6-4
De Minaur will play 12th-seeded Tommy Paul in last 16 in Rome
An overhead in tennis normally means being lobbed but it was a different aerial intervention that troubled Alex de Minaur in Rome.
The Australian No 1 was progressing well towards the last 16 despite the distraction of an unwell spectator when his match with Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien was interrupted by a flypast by the Italian Air Force’s acrobatic team, the Frecce Tricolori (Tricolour arrows).
The Nets have been awarded the eighth pick in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery.
This was their first time participating in the lottery since they landed the third overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft -- which they ultimately used on big man Derrick Favors out of Georgia Tech.
Brooklyn entered the night with just a 9.0 percent chance of winning this year's lottery and the opportunity to select Duke star Cooper Flagg after finishing with the sixth-worst record in the league.
Instead, the eighth selection will headline their four first-rounders this year. As part of the Mikal Bridges deal with the Knicks they also have the 19th, 26th and 27th picks as well as the 36th pick coming in the second round.
It'll be interesting to see if GM Sean Marks keeps all of these picks for the rebuilding club or looks to package some of them in a deal for a superstar such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is said to be "open-minded" about leaving Milwaukee.
Some of the players in recent mock drafts around Brooklyn's pick include Duke's Kon Knueppel, Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears, and Texas' Tre Johnson.
This year's draft takes place on June 25 and 26 at Barclays Center.
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