Missouri State safety Todric McGee, 21, died from injuries sustained in what police said was a "possible accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound."
ICYMI in Mets Land: Pete Alonso, Kodai Senga star in series-clinching win over Cardinals; Jeff McNeil update
Here's what happened Saturday in Mets Land, in case you missed it...
- The Mets shut the Cardinals out, 3-0, securing the series victory and winning New York's third straight game.
- Pete Alonso and Kodai Senga were among the Mets' key contributors. Alonso is "locked in" and helping New York play "great ball" while Senga, whose scoreless streak extended, continues to shine.
- Here is more from Carlos Mendozaon Alonso and Senga, and Alonso and Senga on their performances.
- Mark Vientos left the game with groin discomfort but was "not concerned."
- Speaking of injuries, Jeff McNeil and Paul Blackburn worked their way back as they played in rehab games. McNeil homered for Double-A Binghamton while Blackburn started for High-A Brooklyn.
- Before New York blanked St. Louis, Mendoza updated Francisco Alvarez's status and explained how Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña are proving themselves.
"I think he is one of the most under appreciated defensemen in the league," Golden Knights Head Coach Hands Out High Praise For Defensive Defenseman
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb finished the season with a +/- rating of +42, the second-best in the NHL, earning high praise from HC Bruce Cassidy.
"I think Brayden McNabb is one of the most under appreciated defensemen in the league," Cassidy said.
The 34-year-old is known for his defensive acumen, throwing 131 hits this season and blocking 167 shots. His 167 blocked shots ranked first on the Golden Knights and 14th in the NHL. His defensive work is more than enough for Cassidy to feel this way about McNabb, but he's become more than that.
His penalty killing work is highlighted by his improved play with the puck. He's cleaner with his breakouts and moves the puck efficiently, and it's why he's worked so well next to Shea Theodore or Kaedan Korczak.
In addition to his puck-moving, the 2024-25 campaign saw McNabb equal his career-high in goals (5) and record the third-highest point total of his career (20). He also averaged the second-most ice time of his career, 20:07, and recorded over 20 minutes for the third time in his career.
Earlier this season, the Davidson, SK, native signed a three-year contract extension, which will keep him with the Golden Knights until he is 37 years old. His 6'4 frame and hockey IQ should help him stay in top form despite being considered one of the slowest skaters in the NHL. Since he arrived in Vegas, McNabb has been a safety blanket for each coach, and he'll continue to be vital to the team's defensive success.
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Golden Knights Sticking With Lines That Have WorkedThe Vegas Golden Knights flamed out in the first round of the playoffs last year to the Dallas Stars in large part due to HC Bruce Cassidy’s inability to find the best lines. The blame can’t all be put on him as the Golden Knights were ravaged with injuries and did not have enough time to build chemistry among linemates.
Storylines Abound When In Opening Round Series Between Golden Knights And Wild, Including Several Head-To-Head MatchupsLAS VEGAS -- There are storylines aplenty across every NHL Playoff series, and will be as we get closer to the Stanley Cup Final.
Florian Xhekaj Is Now Part Of An Exclusive Club
The Laval Rocket ended its season with a 5-4 win over the Belleville Senators. Since the Montreal Canadiens had already clinched the league’s championship, coach Pascal Vincent opted to rest some of his regulars and iced his “B” lineup.
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Spencer Carbery Is Tricky
Those who didn’t benefit from a night off were Florian Xhekaj, Owen Beck, and recently signed goaltender Jacob Fowler. The young netminder gave up four goals on 31 shots, finishing his night with a .871 save percentage. Not a brilliant result, to say the least, but Laval’s defense was not as strong as it usually is.
Beck, Tuch, and Noel Hoefenmayer each picked up a goal while Xhekaj scored a pair, including the overtime winner. Now that the season is over, we can say just how impressive the youngest Xhekaj’s first professional season has been.
He finishes the year with 24 goals and 11 assists for 35 points, but he also put up 175 penalty minutes, meaning he entered a very select club. Only three other players in AHL history have scored at least 20 goals while putting up at least 150 penalty minutes.
Shaun Van Allen scored 25 goals and 182 penalty minutes with the Cape Breton Oilers in 1990-91, but he was 24 years old and in his fourth pro season. He went on to play 794 games in the NHL.
Zenon Konopka scored 24 goals and racked up 194 penalty minutes in 2007-08 with the Syracuse Crunch, but he was 27 years old and in his sixth professional season. He went on to play 346 games in the NHL.
Former Hab Cédric Paquette was the last to accomplish the feat in 2013-14 with the Crunch. He’s the only one, aside from Xhekaj, who can do it in his first professional season. He played 448 games in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20. He played his last 24 NHL games with the Canadiens.
There’s no guarantee that Xhekaj will be able to have that kind of career, but his first season certainly is an encouraging sign, and he looks like a good candidate for an energy line in Montreal down the line. This season, he also pulverised the rookie goal scoring record in Laval which stood at 17. When he scored the game-winning goal in overtime on Saturday night, he celebrated in a particular fashion, not taking the time to celebrate with his teammates and heading straight to the dressing room, as if to say, “Time to get on with the real business!”
Florian Xhekaj marque le but de la victoire et ne perd pas de temps pour se rendre aux douches ! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/uy4QVlI7jm
— RDS (@RDSca) April 20, 2025
Thanks to winning the league championship, the Rocket has a bye for the first round of the playoffs and will face the winner of the Cleveland Monsters—Toronto Marlies duel. A team only needs to win three games to move on to the division semifinal. The Monsters have won seven of the eight duels between the two sides this season and look to be the favorites in that series.
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Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
SWPL: Watch Hibs v Rangers after Hearts & Glasgow City draw & Queen's Park relegated
- Watch Hibs v Rangers (16:10 BST) and follow updates from Motherwell v Celtic (16:00)
- Rangers one clear of Hibs and Glasgow City; Hearts six off summit
- Queen's Park relegated after defeat
SWPL: Watch Hibs v Rangers after Hearts & Glasgow City draw & Queen's Park relegated
Saints draft target has a lot of college teammates in New Orleans… from 2018
A lot of buzz has linked Tyler Shough to the Saints in the 2025 NFL draft. And the rookie QB has some old teammates on the roster... from 2018.
Kane Suggests Mutual Interest in Red Wings Return
In April a year ago, Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane—then an expiring free agent—raised eyebrows at his locker clean-out day press availability when he spoke about his time in the Red Wings in the past tense: "It was fun to be a Wing and in this organization. I'll definitely have some memories to last me a life time," Kane said then.
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That sounded like a farewell, but instead, on the cusp of free agencies opening, Kane agreed to a one-year, bonus-laden deal to remain in Detroit for another season, remaining with the franchise where he revitalized his career after hip resurfacing surgery.
Now, Kane is again an expiring free agent, but during Saturday's locker clean out interview, his message about the future was one Red Wings fans will be eager to here. Regarding free agency, Kane said he would "definitely take some time to think, but overall, I've really enjoyed my time here, and I think it's been a great place for me to continue my career and play and there's a lot of great things about the organization." Kane then proclaimed, there is "definitely some mutual interest in coming back and continuing on here."
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In 72 games this season, Kane scored 21 goals and added 38 assists. He started the season slow, but his game picked up with the arrival of new coach Todd McLellan and his creative touch proved an essential ingredient in Detroit's lethal power play.
On Saturday, Kane pointed out that free agency can be unpredictable but said another contract similar (in term and bonus structure, something players over the age of 35 are able to include in their contracts) to his present one sounds appealing.
"Last year I felt like I sat up here and said one thing I was thinking at the time—talking about security and maybe multi-year contracts—and then a month, a couple weeks later, you think completely different," Kane said. "So I think those are conversations that still need to be had with myself, my family, the people closest with me, my agent, obviously with the organization too and figure all that out, but I thought this year with my age and the one-year bonuses and kinda working that contract, I thought it worked well for both sides."
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'I Can't Say Enough': Jared Bednar Praises Avalanche GM For New Additions
“All the pieces, including depth pieces, serve a purpose.”
Adding new players is a delicate process.
The Colorado Avalanche knows a thing or two about that this year. While the calendars were still reading the year 2024, they had swapped out their entire goalie tandem. Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen were out, and Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood came in.
Bookmark The Hockey News Colorado Avalanche team site so you never miss the latest news, game day coverage, and information on the Avalanche players.
Further into the season, the Avalanche made many more additions. Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, Ryan Lindgren, and Jack Drury were a few of the other players acquired during the season.
With that many new faces on the team, concern arises about upsetting the team chemistry. To the players’ credit, that was not the case.
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NHL Releases Information On Game One Between Colorado and Dallas
A Round One Schedule for the Stanley Cup Playoffs is HereNHL Public Relations announced the full schedule for games 1-4 of round one for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday morning. Dates for games 5-7 were also announced with times listed as TBD, meaning they will be announced once or if they become necessary.
“We came back with a lot of the same guys,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said to the media in a scrum after his team’s Game 1 victory over the Dallas Stars. “We were banged up early in the season. We got a look at our guys going into the season, what we liked and didn’t like.”
“I feel like as a coach we were really lucky,” Bednar revealed. “We re-vamped the most major parts of our lineup.”
“The two goalies right away, strength down the middle of the ice when you get Drury, Coyle, and Nelson, added some grit and determination on the backend in Lindgren.”
🗣️Jared Bednar
— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports_) April 20, 2025
"I can't say enough about the moves that he [Chris MacFarland] made to re-vamp our team."#GoAvsGo | @gs_off_icepic.twitter.com/86IP0NhZxQ
Blackwood performed admirably in the first playoff game of his career. The 28-year-old stopped 23 of 24 shots to backstop the Avalanche to a 5-1 victory in Game 1.
Not bad for his first playoff game.
“It’s never easy winning (in the) regular season, playoffs it gets harder every single round,” Bednar said. “We feel like we have a good team and it’s up to us to go play our best hockey for two weeks at a time, as far as you can possibly go and try to reward the organization for giving us those players.”
“I can’t say enough about the moves that he made to revamp our team.”
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Barry Hoban, British cycling legend and Tour de France icon, dies aged 85
- Yorkshire-born cyclist won eight stages of Tour de France
- Famously beat Eddy Merckx at Gent-Wevelgem in 1974
The pioneering British road sprinter and Classics rider Barry Hoban has died at the age of 85. Hoban was for many years the UK record holder for stage wins in the Tour de France with a tally of eight during his 17-year professional racing career, a total bettered only by the greatest sprinter of them all, Mark Cavendish, in 2009.
Hoban’s first stage victory in the Tour, in 1967, was not one he cared to remember – or that he felt was really a win – as it came the day after the sudden death of his friend and rival Tom Simpson on Mont Ventoux; he was “permitted” to escape and cross the line first by the grieving peloton.
Continue reading...Paul Skenes bobblehead giveaway causes frenzy at Pirates game
Paul Skenes bobblehead giveaway causes frenzy at Pirates game originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Paul Skenes grew used to the buzz that surrounds him a while ago.
Still, Saturday was different. Throughout an unseasonably warm spring afternoon, the mania that seems to follow the 22-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates ace whenever he takes the mound collided with the reality of the current state of his underperforming team.
A day that began with fans queueing up outside the gates of PNC Park more than five hours before Skenes delivered his first pitch — all in the in hopes of securing one of the 20,000 bobbleheads inspired by the National League Rookie of the Year — ended with a 3-0 loss and the increasingly familiar chants urging owner Bob Nutting to sell the team.
The line for Paul Skenes' bobblehead goes past the Clemente Bridge and into Downtown Pittsburgh 🤯
(via @ThePoniExpress)pic.twitter.com/E7odApJj8o
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 19, 2025
The irony this time is that the club’s executives avoided the kind of public-relations missteps that have become all too frequent over the season’s opening month.
Due to what Pirates president Travis Williams called unprecedented demand, the team pledged to make sure that every one of the 37,113 who waited in lines that stretched for blocks in every direction — including across the Roberto Clemente Bridge into the city’s downtown — would be able to obtain one of the popular collectibles.
We know how unique today’s Paul Skenes Rookie of the Year bobblehead giveaway is and how popular it is for our fans. We don’t want any fan who attended today’s game to not receive one.
Any fan who scanned into today’s game after the first 20,000 bobbleheads were given away… pic.twitter.com/e1lZNIEJBL
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 19, 2025
It didn’t take long for some of them to pop up on eBay, though for far less than a one-of-a-kind Skenes rookie card that fetched more than $1 million at a public auction last month.
Asked if he thought the bobblehead bore more than a passing resemblance to him, the bearded Skenes — who is about 6 feet taller than the figurine — shrugged.
“It’s a bobblehead,” he said. “It’s not my thing.”
He didn’t notice the growing crush of people outside the ballpark when he arrived for work, though he called seeing a sellout for just the second time this season “cool.”
“Wish we would’ve gotten the win,” Skenes added inside a postgame clubhouse so quiet the most notable noise was coming from the air conditioning unit in the middle of the room.
Those moments have been far too infrequent during an opening month in which the Pirates’ play has offered a reminder that for all of Skenes’ brilliance, it takes more than a phenom pitcher to compete against some of baseball’s best teams.
Skenes did his part, limiting the Guardians to two runs and six hits across seven efficient if not quite overpowering innings. Making the first start of his big league career on four days’ rest, Skenes struck out a season-low four batters, which he chalked up to Cleveland’s approach more than the quality of his stuff.
There was just one true mistake, a 93 mph splitter on the first pitch of the seventh that dipped down and in to Kyle Manzardo. The left-handed designated hitter turned on it and sent it bouncing into the Allegheny River to put the Guardians up 2-0.
“I’m not going to lose any sleep over this outing,” he said. “Just got to score runs.”
Something the Pirates have not done with any sort of consistency. Five days after putting up a season-high 10 runs to back Skenes in a win over Washington, Pittsburgh managed just six hits while being shut out for the third time in a week.
The Pirates went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the most damning a two-batter sequence in the sixth in which first-and-third with no outs ended with Ke’Bryan Hayes taking a ball that looked outside for strike three, immediately followed by Tommy Pham grounding into a double play.
The unease that bubbled up during the home opener — when a plane flew overhead dragging a banner urging owner Bob Nutting to put the team up for sale — is starting to become a constant.
While there were boos after Pham’s dribbler to second ended the scoring threat, a brief but noticeable “sell the team” chant curiously popped up after Skenes gave up the homer to Manzardo. It quickly died out, and Skenes was given a generous ovation when he walked off the mound after the top of the seventh following a performance that gave his team a chance to win.
Only the Pirates didn’t. Just as they haven’t in three of his five starts this season, or in 14 of their first 22 overall.
Skenes brushed aside the idea that frustration is starting to creep in, even with the Pirates dealing with the same issues — namely offense and spotty work from the bullpen — that plagued them during a late-summer swoon that dropped them out of contention in 2024.
Everyone from Nutting to Williams to general manager Ben Cherington to Shelton to Skenes has said it’s time for Pittsburgh to win. Those wins aren’t coming with any regularity.
The window to contend that the club expected to open in 2025 remains shut. And no amount of giveaways can distract the fanbase, even as their bright young hope continues to look every bit the budding superstar that he is.
Skenes brushed aside the idea that frustration is starting to mount internally, even as it ratchets up externally, even on days that begin with the giddy frenzy that seems to follow Skenes wherever he goes in full bloom.
“We’re just not executing at a high enough level and as consistently as we need to, to win these games,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a clubhouse thing. Everybody likes each other. But positive feelings, friendships and all that don’t win championships. We’ve got to figure it out.”
Canadiens: Preparing For The Capitals’ Terrorizing Power Play
After holding an optional skate on Friday morning, Martin St-Louis held a regular practice on Saturday. While it was scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m., at 10:30, most of the players were already on the ice, ready to get going.
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Former assistant coach Alex Burrows was also present and had a long conversation with Montreal Canadiens’ center Jake Evans. Samuel Montembeault revealed the nature of the conversation in the post-practice media availability. The netminder told us that Burrows had been scouting the Washington Capitals for a few weeks already, paying particular attention to their lethal power play.
Once practice started, St-Louis got everyone’s legs going with three vs. three mini-games on a reduced ice surface. Then there were some passing and shooting drills, but not as complete lines. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield always worked together, while Ivan Demidov was always with Patrik Laine.
Then, the focus was squarely on the power play. There was no change to the first unit, with Suzuki, Laine, Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Lane Hutson skating together, but much of the focus was on getting Caufield to unleash shots from the bumper position. Asked how he felt about being deployed there, the diminutive sniper answered that it was a work in progress and that it would depend on how Washington deployed its penalty kill.
On Caufield, the coach said:
He’s progressed tremendously from goal line to goal line on both sides; he’s had to score goals differently a little bit this year; you see him more on the inside. I think it’s important for him not to be a perimeter player, having all those touches in space all the time, the game isn’t going to give you that space all the time. I think especially in the playoffs, you must be willing to play inside regardless of whether you're big-bodied or not.- Martin St-Louis on Cole Caufield.
On the second until, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, Demidov, and Mike Matheson participated in all the drills while Suzuki and Joel Armia alternated. Time will tell if St-Louis has finally decided not to overwork his captain and give him a bit of downtime. It wouldn’t be a bad idea, and it would allow him to be fresher and play better minutes.
After practice, the members of the penalty killing units were whisked away for a meeting to dissect the Capitals’ power play and its weapon of mass destruction, Alexander Ovechkin. Speaking of the Great Eight, Ivan Demidov explained that he watched him play growing up, but he was more of an Evgeni Malkin fan. The youngster is preparing to play in his second professional playoff tournament in the same season. When he was asked what he thought was different between the postseason and the regular season, he said:
The playoffs are a different game than the regular season, you need like more energy.- Ivan Demidov on the difference between the regular season and the playoffs.
When asked about his feelings about playing the newly minted best goal scorer in league history, Patrik Laine simply replied, “I couldn’t care less.” Clearly, the Finnish sniper doesn’t feel like too much emphasis should be put on Washington’s captain.
Meanwhile, goaltender Samuel Montembeault is ready to finally make his playoffs debut and is excited about the challenge of facing the Caps.
It was about time, after eight years, to finally get to play some playoff hockey. I’m really excited to do it with this team and am looking forward to Monday.-
As for how he stayed cool and collected down the stretch while under much pressure, he explained:
I had some meetings with our sports psychologist here. We spoke about staying in the moment and just focusing on your breathing. When you focus on your breathing, you’re not thinking about what’s going to happen in the future or what happened in the past.- Samuel Montembeault on how he stays calm.
You can expect some very physical hockey when the puck drops on the series on Monday night in Washington. Josh Anderson mentioned how hard someone like Tom Wilson would play and added that he would do the same for the Canadiens. Caufield was asked how important it was that Slafkovsky played a physical game, and he said:
That’s how he should play every game. He knows it, it’s just about him making that decision himself and leading the way physically, I’d say.- Cole Caufield on Juraj Slafkovsky
This is an assessment that most fans will agree with. There was a bit of excitement in the air in Brossard. The players were visibly happy to have reached the postseason, as they should be. The bench boss was also in good spirits, even teasing The Athletic’s Arpon Basu when he had to be called on twice to ask his question. St-Louis smiled and asked if he was in Ferris Bueller, giving everyone a good chuckle.
Heineman and Demidov have good releases #GoHsbsGopic.twitter.com/6t2vxi0Vk4
— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) April 19, 2025
The Canadiens will hold another practice in Brossard on Sunday morning before taking off for Washington to prepare for game one the following day. Game two is scheduled for Wednesday, and the series will move to Montreal on Friday, when the Bell Center should be filled to the brim with overexcited fans.
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Former Devils Goalie Has Big Game For New Team
Earlier this season, former New Jersey Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was traded to the Colorado Avalanche by the San Jose Sharks. The move was understandable, as the Avalanche desperately needed help between the pipes, while the Sharks were willing to move Blackwood because of his then-pending unrestricted free agent status.
The decision to acquire Blackwood certainly has benefited the Avalanche. In 37 regular-season appearances with Colorado after the move this campaign, he had a 22-12-3 record, a 2.33 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage, and three shutouts. Due to this impressive play, Blackwood earned a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension with the Avalanche, which kicks in next season.
Now, Blackwood has gotten the playoffs started on the right foot for the Avalanche. In Game 1 against the Dallas Stars, Blackwood stepped up big time, saving 23 out of 24 shots he faced. That equates to an impressive .958 save percentage on the night.
Blackwood made multiple incredible saves in the process and undoubtedly played a significant role in the Avalanche's 5-1 win over Dallas. Now, Blackwood and the Avalanche will look to keep this kind of play up when they face the Stars next for Game 2 on April 21.
Blackwood was selected by the Devils with the 42nd overall pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In 152 games as a Devil over five seasons, he had a 65-57-18 record, a .906 save percentage, and a 2.97 goals-against average. His time in New Jersey came to an end during the 2023 NHL off-season when he was traded to the Sharks for a sixth-round pick.
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New Jersey Devils Star Entering Playoffs Red-HotWhile Timo Meier's numbers were a bit lower than expected for his standards this campaign, he was still one of the New Jersey Devils' top offensive contributors. In 80 regular-season games, the 6-foot-1 winger finished third on the Devils with 26 goals and fourth on the team with 53 points.
Former Devils Goalie Has Thrived With New TeamDuring this past off-season, former New Jersey Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Nashville Predators. This was after the 32-year-old netminder posted a 16-7-5 record, a .899 save percentage, and a 2.85 goals-against average in 32 games with the Dallas Stars in 2023-24.
Devils Superstar Has Hit New Level This SeasonAfter missing the playoffs during the 2023-24 season, the New Jersey Devils certainly bounced back this campaign. The Devils finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 42-33-7 record and secured the third-place spot in the Metropolitan Division. Now, they are set to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the post-season, with the series kicking off on April 20. County cricket: Pope and Lawrence hit centuries for Surrey against Sussex – as it happened
Attacking hundreds from Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence helped Surrey to 390 for three on the third day against Sussex, who made 435 in their first innings
A first missive: and a very happy Easter to you Tim Maitland:
“Salutations Tanya!
“I’m struggling to concentrate on the cricket at the moment. It doesn’t help that my beloved Western Bulldogs (Long story short: some disreputable caddies on the LPGA decided I needed an AFL team and I didn’t have the sense to ignore them) are playing St. Kilda right now.
“But it’s not just that.
“I’m finding it hard to get a sense of who is in form, especially with the bat. Maybe it’s because we were distracted by Tom Banton’s 371, which he’s followed with scores of 6, 0 and 5. How long a lead does a triple centurion get before his chain is yanked?
“If Surrey’s Dom Sibley adds significantly to his 40 overnight, does he hold the crown after a 66 at Essex and then 100 not out and 1055 against Hampshire? Incidentally he made 3 in his one game for Khulna Tigers in Chittagong, which is officially called Chattogram, which would be a great name for a social media platform wouldn’t it?
“Or is it Tom Haines? His 174 against Surrey in this round of matches is, weather permitting, potentially match winning and his second innings 141 set up the victory against Somerset last week.
“As for bowlers... have you got anything? [Ed – My immediate thought is Fergus O’Neill?]
“The Bulldogs, incidentally, have living legend Marcus Bontempelli aka The Bont back for the first time this season, but as I speak our 6 ft 10 in young superstar-to-be ruckman Sam Darcy has just hobbled off with an injured knee, which would be a disaster for the Doggies.”
Hernández: After a Game 1 meltdown, the Lakers should still win their series but must adapt fast
Lights, camera … freeze?
What was that?
Seriously, what was that?
After a blockbuster trade that changed the trajectory of the entire league, after a 50-win regular season that restored the faith of their despondent fan base, the Lakers were outmuscled, outshot and pretty much out-everythinged in a 117-95 defeat to the underdog Timberwolves on Saturday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
Goodbye, momentum.
Goodbye, home-court advantage.
The Lakers trailed by as many as 27 points, their performance at Crypto.com Arena so shameful that even one of the worst coaches in franchise history felt emboldened enough to criticize their current sideline leader.
“Coach JJ Redick did a great job all season but he didn’t do a good job for Game 1,” Magic Johnson posted on X. “The Lakers stood around on offense, played too much one-on-one basketball, and he didn’t make any necessary adjustments.”
Johnson knows something about the inability to make necessary adjustments, as he was just 5-11 when he received his shot on the bench.
Redick looked as if he might stiffen under the postseason spotlight, the rookie coach uncharacteristically a man of few words and no smiles in his pregame news conference. And in the critical moments of the game, there was nothing Redick could do to counter the Timberwolves. The visitors opened the second quarter with a 26-6 run to take control of the game and scored the first 11 points of the second half to move the game out of the Lakers’ reach.
Read more:'We'll get better.' Lakers vow to improve after blowout Game 1 loss to Timberwolves
“We were mentally ready,” Redick said. “I thought our spirit was right. I thought even when they made runs, our huddle was great. The communication was great. I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense. And, really, when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond to meet that.”
In other words, his team wasn’t ready.
The Lakers weren’t ready even though they knew about the Timberwolves’ size and the matchup problems it could produce. They scored fewer than 100 points in only eight games in the regular season, and two of those games were against the Timberwolves, against whom they were 2-2 before Saturday.
“You know this Minnesota team, they’re gonna be physical,” forward LeBron James said. “That’s what they bring to the table.”
The Timberwolves finished with a 25-6 edge in fast-break points and a 44-32 edge in points in the paint, with forward Jaden McDaniels scoring a team-high 25 points and center Naz Reid adding 23.
“They just played a lot better than us, a lot harder than us, and they did all the things that we wanted to do,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said.
Forward Jarred Vanderbilt called the deflating loss “a wake-up call,” but shouldn’t the Lakers have known what was coming, especially in a competitive Western Conference in which only two victories separated the third seed from the eighth seed?
The 40-year-old James was predictably calm.
“Sometimes it takes a quarter, two quarters, a full game to get used to playoff basketball once again,” said James, who finished with 19 points after being shut out in the first quarter.
Read more:How do the Lakers match up against the Timberwolves entering their playoff series?
Nonetheless, James acknowledged a chance in the dynamics of the best-of-seven series.
“They took home court from us tonight, as far as the series,” he said. “But we have an opportunity to even the series on Tuesday [in Game 2]. We have to play a much better game than we did today. We have to control the controlables, and if we do that, we’re gonna give ourselves a much better chance than we did.”
The Lakers can, and should, still win this series. The Timberwolves won’t make half of their threes in every game, as they did on Saturday. Reid won’t make six of his nine shots from behind the arc in every game, as he did on Saturday.
But the road to the Western Conference finals suddenly doesn’t look as wide open as it once did, and the Lakers’ negligence in Game 1 is threatening to waste one of only a handful of remaining chances to take advantage of having James on the team.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Steph vs. Thompson matchup hints at determining Warriors-Rockets factor
Steph vs. Thompson matchup hints at determining Warriors-Rockets factor originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – The real challenge facing the Warriors and Rockets as they wade into their first-round playoff series with Game 1 on Sunday is less about the intriguing matchup between Stephen Curry and Amen Thompson than the fascinating subplot within it.
Curry is the superstar whose collection of rings, trophies and plaques is worth millions. He’s 37 years young, according to his splendid performance this season.
Thompson is the gifted tyro who two weeks ago held – sometimes physically – Curry to three points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field, including 1-of-8 from Curry’s playground beyond the arc. Thompson is 22 years young, according to the NBA calendar.
They represent two different basketball generations, and history tells us Curry’s generation faces long odds in this Western Conference playoff series, and those odds only get longer if they get deeper into the playoffs.
Basketball is a young man’s game is more than a superficial phrase often uttered by NBA coaches and retirees. The reminders are frequent and typically come in the postseason.
When an NBA player hits his mid-30s, at the latest, the sun starts dropping on his career and his nights get longer. A few, like fitness fanatics LeBron James and Curry, are meticulous in finding ways to slow its descent, but that big, blinding orb stops for no one.
Draymond Green is 35, as is Jimmy Butler III. The average age of the Curry-Green-Butler trio is a few ticks under 36. Those three carry the bulk of the team’s weight. They are not supported by an established younger star, or they would be seeded higher than seventh.
The Warriors are leaning into their postseason experience and superior basketball intellect to overcome Houston’s superior length and athleticism as well as its youthful energy. The hope is that youth and energy beget recklessness and loss of composure.
Golden State also hopes the five days between its play-in tournament win over Memphis on Tuesday and tipoff at Toyota Center is long enough for its veterans to recover and prepare for what’s ahead.
“I think Draymond in particular, will be rested and ready, and he needed that,” coach Steve Kerr said. “The frustration that I saw with him the last few games as we’re fighting like crazy, and he’s playing the five, battling (Clippers center Ivica Zubac), battling (Rockets center Alperen Sengun), battling (Denver’s Nikola Jokić). The emotion and the energy Draymond has to put forth is incredibly draining. And when he’s tired, when he’s fatigued, that’s when he’s most vulnerable, and he knows that. He and I talked about it.
“The rest of the preparation that’s going into this, I think, will help all of us be composed and poised, because that’s what it takes in the playoffs.”
Every edge, no matter how tiny, is being sought because Kerr realizes the goal of the team’s core is to access its reservoir of experience and make it enough to win. It’s not always enough to pull a team through a playoff series against an energetic squad with a physical advantage.
There are reasons why no 37-year-old has ever been the primary force behind a team prevailing in three rounds of playoff basketball and a victorious NBA Final. The only 35-year-olds to manage the feat were Wilt Chamberlain of the Lakers in 1972, Michael Jordan of the Bulls in 1998 and LeBron with the Lakers in the shortened bubble season in 2020.
James had prime Anthony Davis, 27 years old and already a seven-time All-Star. In Jordan’s last title, he was accompanied by Scottie Pippen, a 32-year-old seven-time All-Star, and 37-year-old Dennis Rodman.
When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the 1985 Finals MVP at age 38, his impact was greatly inflated by the production of five-time All-Star point guard Magic Johnson (25) and perhaps the game’s best two-way wing James Worthy (24).
Tim Duncan won his last ring with the San Antonio Spurs at age in 2014 at age 38, Manu Ginobili was 36 and Tony Parker was 32. The Finals MVP award went to a 22-year-old named Kawhi Leonard.
The Warriors encountered the experience-gap dynamic in the 2022 NBA Finals against Boston, which had a younger, more athletic roster. The Celtics won two of the first three but struggled as the water got deeper – to a place where the Warriors were comfortable. When Curry silenced TD Garden in Game 4, it was the first of three consecutive double-digit losses for Boston.
The last time the Warriors confronted a younger opponent in the postseason, they lost Games 1 and 2. They found enough energy to come back and win four of the next five to take a first-round victory over Sacramento. Water got too deep for the Kings.
The Warriors, however, were pushed to the brink, outscoring Sacramento by a mere 15 points over seven games. That left Golden State with a hangover that surfaced in the conference semifinals against the Lakers. The Warriors dropped three of the first four games to Los Angeles – and lost all three at Chase Center, by an average of 18 points before losing the series in six.
Golden State’s task now goes far beyond whether Curry, aided by schematic actions, makes the adjustments required to offset Thompson’s spirited defense. Steph’s history is to diagnose and respond. Can he do it yet again?
Do the Warriors have enough to force the Rockets to play halfcourt basketball, drag them to the deep end and dunk them?
This expedition is to climb a mountain yet to be scaled by any group led by such an NBA-old core. No doubt the Warriors know how to beat Houston. They will if they still have the vitality to ensure their knowledge is effectively applied.