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Beyond the runs: Virat Kohli’s obsessive intensity left indelible mark on Test cricket | Jonathan Liew

The retiree’s final innings may have been unremarkable but his entire career was a testament to his relentless pursuit of excellence which helped redefine Indian cricket

At dawn on a pale pastel morning in late January, thousands of fans started queueing outside the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Before long the queues turned chaotic. Scuffles broke out. Three people were injured and a police motorcycle was damaged. Armed security personnel were deployed inside and outside the venue, occasionally stepping in front of the sightscreen and causing play to be stopped.

But the consequences of Virat Kohli playing his first domestic red-ball game for Delhi in 12 years are less interesting than why he was there in the first place. Kohli rolled up in his Porsche two days before the game, arriving early to beat the crowds and so he could fit in a full gym session before team fitness drills and net practice. Desperately short of form, and yet a desperate romantic, Kohli had come to worship at the altar. One last crack at Test cricket. One last attempt at rekindling the skill that had long deserted him.

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AFL boss defends handling of Willie Rioli case amid call for industry to fight racism

  • Andrew Dillon says ‘we don’t react to media criticism’ after forward’s ban
  • League CEO wants united front of players and clubs in ongoing battle

The AFL is appealing for the entire industry to unite and use the fresh Indigenous round as a landmark in the code’s fight against racism.

But AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon says headquarters can’t fix the problem itself as fallout continues from the Willie Rioli case.

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Celtics on brink of exit as Brunson shines for Knicks

Jalen Brunson reacts to a shot in Monday's game against the Boston Celticss
Brunson registered 12 assists and five rebounds in the game-four victory [Getty Images]

Jalen Brunson scored 39 points as the New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics 121-113 to leave the reigning NBA champions on the brink of elimination from the play-offs.

The Knicks stormed back from 14 points down in the third quarter to go 3-1 up in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final and are in sight of the finals for the first time since 2000.

The Celtics also lost forward Jayson Tatum, who scored 42 points before being carried off in the fourth quarter with what coach Joe Mazzulla described as a "lower body injury".

The six-time All Star, who was later seen being taken to the Madison Square Garden locker room in a wheelchair, will have a scan on Tuesday to assess the damage.

"He'll get the MRI and we'll see what it is," said Mazzulla.

"Obviously you're always concerned about someone's health. It's two-fold, we're concerned about his health and where's he's at. And then we're concerned what we've got to do better in game five."

The Knicks can clinch the series with a win in Boston on Thursday (00:00 BST).

Boston, who won game three on Saturday, started strongly with Tatum and Payton Pritchard leading the charge.

A Derrick White three-pointer gave the Celtics their biggest lead of the night early in the third quarter (72-58) but from then on the Knicks took over, taking an 88-85 lead into the final quarter.

Brunson controlled matters and when OG Anunoby grabbed a steal off Tatum in the incident that left the Celtics star writhing in pain before making a dunk, the Knicks were 118-106 ahead.

"I was just in a flow and doing whatever. I wasn't really trying to take over. It was just 'whatever we've gotta do'," Brunson said.

"We didn't quit, kept fighting. And that's what's most important. Whenever you get in a hole you can't quit."

Timberwolves edge closer to Western Conference final

The Minnesota Timberwolves went 3-1 up in their Western Conference semi-final series against Golden State Warriors thanks to a 117-110 win on the road.

Anthony Edwards finished with a 30-point tally in the win over the Warriors, who are missing injured star player Stephen Curry.

The Timberwolves hit 17 unanswered points in the the third quarter which helped them build an 85-68 advantage which they never looked like losing.

A win on their home court in game five on Thursday (02:30 BST) will see them advance to the finals.

Edwards revealed a half-time dressing down by Minnesota coach Chris Finch had sparked the second-half revival.

"We came out like we had won the series already, and when we went in at half-time coach said we were playing like losers," he said.

"He told me I wasn't defending at a high level, and needed to do better offensively, so in the second half I tried to do that."

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Mikal Bridges deserves his 'credit and flowers' after delivering again late in Knicks' Game 4 win

Six months ago, Josh Hart was sitting at his locker after a brutal loss to the Celtics, pushing back against criticism of his friend Mikal Bridges. 

“We don’t care about all that background noise about Mikal, his shot, all that other — we don’t care about it. He puts the work in every day. He’s going to be good. The talk around it is stupid,” Hart said then. 

So what Bridges did on Monday -- scoring 23 points in the Knicks’ Game 4 win over Boston -- meant something to Hart. 

“I’m so proud of him as a teammate, as a friend, going through all the adversity that he’s gone through this season,” Hart said late Monday night. “He’s never complained. He always comes to work happy, smiling. He deserves his credit and his flowers.”

After an uneven regular season, Bridges has come up big night after night in the playoffs for the Knicks. Monday night was just the latest example; Bridges had 10 key points in the fourth quarter to help New York build and maintain a lead against Boston. 

He also had three steals, seven rebounds and three assists in the game while defending Boston’s tough wings/perimeter players. He started the game slowly (5-for-14) but hit seven of his final 10 shots, including five in a row at the beginning of the fourth. 

“That's what I love about him,” Tom Thibodeau said afterward. “He played hard the whole game. I thought he had some good looks that didn't go in, but that didn't sway him at all.”

Bridges wasn’t the only offseason acquisition to deliver on Monday. OG Anunoby defended well for much of the night and hit several big shots on the way to 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. 

Mitchell Robinson -- whom the Knicks elected not to trade at the deadline -- had five offensive rebounds (eight overall) in 25 minutes. 

Of course, there’s Jalen Brunson -- the most important acquisition of the Leon Rose era. 

Brunson had another masterclass (39 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds). His 18-point third quarter turned the game. 

Add it all up and the Knicks are one win away from their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years -- they got here with a Game 4 win on the night of the NBA Lottery. 

For a long time, the lottery was the most exciting night of the season for Knicks fans. That still holds true today, but for a much different reason.  

New York took a commanding 3-1 lead against a Celtics team that dominated them in the regular season. 

How is that possible?

“I think just getting better throughout the year…Just takes some time,” Bridges said. “I know everybody wants success early on. But just kept getting better (all season), all of us.”
No one epitomizes that more than Bridges himself. All anyone wanted to talk about this year was the five first-round picks New York used to acquire him.

Now, thanks to Bridges, the Knicks are five wins away from the NBA Finals. 

PRAYERS FOR TATUM

Jayson Tatum was in severe pain on the court late in the fourth quarter with what looked like a lower leg injury. The ESPN telecast showed Tatum in the back of the arena on a wheelchair. 

Obviously, the Celtics are a much different team without Tatum. But no one wanted to talk about that in the immediate aftermath of the injury. The players’ focus was on Tatum’s health and well-being. 

“I just wanted to send prayers out to JT man. First and foremost,” Brunson said at the beginning of his post-game press conference. “Praying for the best.”

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Edwards, Randle lead the way again as Timberwolves beat Warriors 117-110 for 3-1 playoff series lead

NBA: Playoffs-Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors

May 12, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) reacts after making a three point basket against the Golden State Warriors in the third quarter during game four of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 30 points for his second straight 30-point performance, Julius Randle had 31 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 117-110 on Monday night for a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

Now, it's back home to Minneapolis for the Wolves with a chance to clinch the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

The Warriors will still be without Stephen Curry, who sat out his third game in a row and is scheduled to have his strained left hamstring re-evaluated that day.

Edwards made consecutive 3-pointers and scored 11 total points in a decisive 17-0 Minnesota run that put the Timberwolves ahead 85-68 late in the third. They led 97-77 going into the fourth and the Warriors couldn't catch up.

Edwards - coming off a 36-point performance in a Game 3 - hit a 30-foot 3 to beat the halftime buzzer and pull Minnesota within 60-58 at the break. And the Wolves delivered in the second half again after also trailing by two points at halftime in a 102-97 victory in Game 3.

Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench to score 23 points and convert 11 of 12 free throws for the Warriors, following up his 30-point performance in Game 3 with another gem.

Jaden McDaniels added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota.

Buddy Hield went down briefly 4:17 before halftime after McDaniels grabbed at the guard's neck and pulled the back of his jersey. The play went to replay review as fans chanted “You can't do that!” but was deemed a common foul rather than a flagrant.

Golden State has now dropped three in a row since Curry hurt his leg early in Game 1 last Tuesday night. If all is healing well, the soonest he might play would be in a possible Game 6 back at Chase Center on Sunday.

The Warriors were slow getting their offense and 3-point shooting going in a 102-97 loss Saturday and it was much of the same this game.

Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green scored 14 points apiece and Hield 13. Kerr stuck with Kuminga coming off the bench and Trayce Jackson-Davis in the starting lineup for his size.

Even without Curry, Minnesota coach Chris Finch's defensive game plan focused on keeping the Warriors from their dangerous 3-point flurries - and Golden State wound up 8 of 27 from deep.

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Yankees homer four times, open series with 11-5 win over Mariners

The Yankees defeated the Seattle Mariners 11-5 for their second straight win on Monday night.

Here are some takeaways...

- New York's offense was tremendous during their three-game series in Sacramento, and they carried that momentum over into this one. They accumulated 15 hits and scored 11 times on the night -- giving them a total 40 runs over their last four games.

- Outfielder Trent Grisham continues to be tremendous out of the leadoff spot, launching two of those home runs to give him 12 on the season. He finished the night 3-for-6 with two RBI and two runs scored -- bringing him to a .288 average and a stellar 1.036 OPS.

- Austin Wells had one of the other two homers for the Yanks, lifting a three-run shot to help put this one away in the fifth. The young backstop has been struggling a bit of late, but he's now driven in 10 runs and has a .346 on-base percentage over his last seven games.

- Anthony Volpe had himself a two-hit day, including the fourth and final homer. He gave New York some breathing room in the top of the ninth with a two-run shot to dead-center -- the youngster is now hitting .321 with a .936 OPS over his last 15 games.

- Aaron Judge, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger all enjoyed two-hit days as well.

- On the pitching side of things, Clarke Schmidt threw relatively well as he picked up his third win of the season. The right-hander allowed just three runs on three hits (two homers) while walking three and striking out six across six efficient innings of work.

- Tim Hill allowed a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, before Devin Williams came on and got the last out of the inning, picking up his third hold of the season with a much-needed easy outing.

- The lone negative for the Yanks was that third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera left the game in an ambulance during the top of the ninth after suffering a gruesome leg injury scoring on Judge's sacrifice fly.

Game MVP: Trent Grisham

The veteran outfielder continues providing power at the top of New York's lineup.

Highlights

Whats next

Max Fried looks to continue his tremendous start to the season against Bryan Woo on Tuesday at 9:40 p.m.

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Yankees’ Oswaldo Cabrera taken to hospital after suffering gruesome injury vs. Mariners

Yankees third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera left Monday night’s win over the Mariners in an ambulance after suffering a gruesome left injury. 

Cabrera scored New York’s 11th run of the night on an Aaron Judge sacrifice fly in the ninth -- but he had to sidestep the catcher to avoid a tag as he was trying to score, and he appeared to injure himself as he did so.  

He went down in a heap of pain as he reached back to touch home plate, and trainer Tim Lentych immediately raced out of the dugout. 

The T-Mobile Park crowd fell silent as Cabrera remained down for several moments at home plate and an ambulance made it’s way in from center field. 

After being loaded onto a gurney, he was taken in the ambulance to a local hospital. 

“Everyone understands it’s a pretty serious situation,” Aaron Boone said postgame. “We’re just praying for our guy Cabby tonight and hoping for the best and trust that he’s in good hands as he goes through the night here.”

The Yanks went on to close out the victory, beating the Mariners 11-5 for their second straight win.

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Why a Lottery Decides the Fate of Cooper Flagg and the Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks won the NBA lottery Monday night by securing the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft and the chance to draft Cooper Flagg, the NBA’s most heralded prospect since LeBron James was selected first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft.

Once again, an NBA team’s fortunes for the next decade or so turned on the sequence of ping pong balls generated by a lottery machine. The San Antonio Spurs came close to landing Flagg, securing the second overall pick based on the lottery balls, but will instead have to identify the best of the rest.

It can be rightfully asked why such a franchise-altering event is determined by a lottery. There is no league more fixated on data, analytics and algorithms than the NBA. Teams invest massive resources in hiring talented and data-driven basketball operations staff in hopes of outsmarting each other. Yet the player thought to be “the next great one” is going to a team because it won a lottery, by definition a random process.

There are other ways Flagg could enter the NBA. 

Like in the NFL, the first pick could be awarded to the team with the worst regular season record (the Utah Jazz). From 1966 to 1984, the NBA used a variant of that approach by having the team with the worst record in each conference flip a coin. The league moved away from the use of records because of concerns it incentivized teams to tank. To that point, in 1982, then-Clippers owner Donald Sterling was recorded as saying, “Maybe I have to lose the battle to win the war, we must end last to draw first to get a franchise-maker.”

Although the current lottery is weighted to favor the team with the worst-record and is limited only to the 14 teams that failed to make the playoffs, the lottery’s outcome remains a mystery until it is revealed. In other words, an NBA team losing this past season didn’t guarantee it the chance to draft Flagg. San Antonio and Philadelphia, meanwhile, now hold the numer two and three picks in the upcoming draft, while teams accused of tanking to lower their position fared far worse in the lottery.

A more radical approach would be to eliminate the draft altogether. Flagg could sign with the team with whom he most wishes to sign. He’s from Maine, so maybe he’d want to sign with the Boston Celtics. Or maybe Flagg wants to team up with James and Luka Dončić in Los Angeles. Or if he’s liked living in North Carolina over the last year, the Charlotte Hornets are right there.

That sounds radical from a sports perspective, yet it captures 99.9% of employment in the United States. Employers in other industries don’t “draft” college students, nor are bad employers rewarded with the best college prospects. The valedictorians of MIT, Princeton, Stanford and similarly prestigious schools–including Duke, where Flagg’s freshman classmates will enter the job market in a few years–aren’t assigned to the worst companies in America. That idea sounds nonsensical because it is. If a company is struggling, it goes out of business. It’s not rewarded.

Yet major sports leagues use drafts because they help to ensure that every team has a legitimate chance to succeed. That, in turn, retains and grows fan bases, boosts TV ratings and ultimately generates more revenue for the league. It might not be “fair” to Flagg that he’s denied the chance to pick his employer, but the logic is that the league is healthier if a weaker team’s fortunes are boosted with Flagg and other top prospects. Even when a fan’s team is bad, there is hope that everything will change with the draft. That hope might keep that person a fan of a team and not turn their attention and dollars to some other form of entertainment.

Drafts in the major pro leagues are also legal, even if they’re unabashedly anti-competitive. A draft overtly restrains the labor market by preventing both a player from signing with a preferred employer and getting multiple employers (teams) to bid for him or her. If subject to antitrust scrutiny, a draft would be deeply problematic because it impedes choice and price fixes.

Except it’s not subject to antitrust scrutiny. A league and a players’ association negotiate the draft as a term of employment in a collective bargaining agreement. A draft is thus insulated by the non-statutory labor exemption, which embodies a series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that instruct when management and labor collectively bargain pay, wages and other employment conditions, those conditions are exempt from antitrust scrutiny. Federal courts have blessed drafts as a result.

That is true for the NBA, which saw its draft challenged in the early 1980s. Leon Wood, a Philadelphia 76ers first round pick out of Cal-State Fullerton who later became an NBA referee, made the case against the draft. But Wood lost because the NBA and players’ association had negotiated the draft. The same legal point applies to rookie wage scales. Even though those scales adversely impact new players, new players are still subject to the conditions negotiated by their union with the league.

Even players who, by virtue of an eligibility rule, are barred from being part of the union have been held subject to unions’ negotiations with leagues. I know this personally, having served as an attorney for Ohio State star running back Maurice Clarett in his antitrust challenge against the NFL and its eligibility rule requiring that players be three years out of high school. 

So Flagg doesn’t have a say on where he’s picked, and that is legal. It might not be a great system,  but it’s arguably the best for the league as a whole.

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Winners, Losers from 2025 NBA Draft Lottery: Nico Harrison and Dallas win big, the West just gets deeper

"Deserve's got nothing to do with it."

Clint Eastwood’s classic line from “Unforgiven” resonates with the many hoops fans angered by what they saw as a karmically unjust 2025 NBA Draft Lottery (that's without even getting to the conspiracy theorists). It wasn't just fans shocked by the way the ping-pong balls bounced, players were caught off guard as well.

Dallas made arguably the worst trade in NBA history, sending out Luka Doncic for pennies on the dollar, fell into the lottery because of it, and were rewarded with the No. 1 pick. The Spurs have the last two Rookies of the Year and were handed the No. 2 pick. Philadelphia had a disaster of a season, decided to tank to try and keep their pick, and was rewarded with No. 3.

Whatever you feel about the outcomes, there are winners and losers from the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery. Let's break it down.

Winner: Nico Harrison

"When we win, I believe the frustration will go away."

Mavericks GM Nico Harrison uttered those words after the Doncic trade, when he was forced to meet with the media and explain the deal. Landing Cooper Flagg and plugging him into the lineup will bring wins, could bring a bright future, and that should help the mood of Mavericks fans.

It felt too obvious just to say "Winner: Dallas Mavericks," although they are — Flagg provides a boost to Anthony Davis/Kyrie Irving era and a bridge to whatever is next — but in the short term Harrison is the big winner.

Winner: Philadelphia 76ers

As losses mounted and injuries piled up (plus throw in disappointing seasons from some players), Philadelphia pivoted their season and decided to tank and try to hold on to its first-round pick. The 76ers needed to stay in the top six to keep their pick (or the rich got richer and it went to the Thunder).

Not only did they keep it, but Philly also jumped up to the No. 3 pick, meaning they can add VJ Edgecomb or Ace Bailey 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.

Losers: Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards

The team that has had the worst record in the NBA for each of the last three seasons has fallen as far as it possibly could, to fifth. For the previous two seasons it was Detroit.

This season, it was Utah. Washington had the second-worst NBA record, and they fell to sixth.

Two teams that needed a little luck to jumpstart their rebuilds were as unlucky as they could be and now need to try and find a diamond in the rough. And be patient, which is not so easy to do.

Winner: San Antonio Spurs (and their trade prospects)

Two years ago, San Antonio won THE lottery and drafted Victor Wembanyama. Last season, the Spurs drafted fourth and took Stephon Castle out of UConn, who went on to win Rookie of the Year.

This year, the Spurs had a 26.2% chance of landing a top-four pick, and lottery luck smiled on them once again, landing the No. 2 pick. They also have the No. 14 pick in this draft.

San Antonio could use that second pick to draft Dylan Harper, the Rutgers guard who has become a clear No. 2 on draft boards, and play him in a rotation with Castle and De'Aaron Fox. That would be a dynamic backcourt.

Or, this pick could be part of a trade to bring in a win-now star and accelerate Wembanyama's timeline. If San Antonio went to Milwaukee and offered the No. 2 pick, Castle, a couple more future picks and some players to make the salaries work (Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson), that might be hard for the Bucks to pass up. There are other ways to make that trade, and other teams the Spurs want to talk to.

However, this No. 2 pick gives the Spurs a major trade chip.

Loser: The West (and conference balance)

As if the West wasn’t deep enough — five teams had 50+ wins, and in the playoffs we watched the No. 6 and 7 seeds knock off the No. 2 and 3 seeds — now Dallas brings another franchise cornerstone talent into the conference.

With Flagg, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving (once he gets healthy, a torn ACL will sideline him most, if not all of next season), and Klay Thompson, the Mavericks are positioned to make some noise in the West in the coming years, and they have a bridge to the future with Flagg.

If the NBA is ever going to balance out the talent in the conferences, the East needs to win the lottery someday when there is a generational prospect on the board.

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Winners, Losers from 2024 NBA Draft Lottery: Nico Harrison and Dallas wins big, the West just gets deeper

"Deserve's got nothing to do with it."

Clint Eastwood’s classic line from “Unforgiven” resonates with the many hoops fans angered by what they saw as a karmically unjust 2025 NBA Draft Lottery (that's without even getting to the conspiracy theorists). It wasn't just fans, players were caught off guard as well.

Dallas made arguably the worst trade in NBA history, sending out Luka Doncic for pennies on the dollar, fell into the lottery because of it, and were rewarded with the No. 1 pick. The Spurs have the last two Rookies of the Year and were handed the No. 2 pick. Philadelphia had a disaster of a season, decided to tank to try and keep their pick, and was rewarded with No. 3.

Whatever you feel about the outcomes, there are winners and losers from the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery. Let's break it down.

Winner: Nico Harrison

"When we win, I believe the frustration will go away."

Mavericks GM Nico Harrison uttered those words after the Doncic trade, when he was forced to meet with the media and explain the deal. Landing Cooper Flagg and plugging him into the lineup will bring wins and will help the mood of Mavericks fans.

It felt too obvious just to say "Winner: Dallas Mavericks," although they are — Flagg provides a boost to Anthony Davis/Kyrie Irving era and a bridge to whatever is next — but in the short term Harrison is the big winner.

Winner: Philadelphia 76ers

As injuries — and disappointing seasons from some players — piled up, Philadelphia pivoted its season and decided to tank and try to hold on to its first-round pick. The 76ers needed to stay in the top six to keep their pick (or the rich got richer and it went to the Thunder).

Not only did they keep it, but Philly also jumped up to the No. 3 pick, meaning they can add VJ Edgecomb or Ace Bailey 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.

Losers: Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards

The team that has had the worst record in the NBA for each of the last three seasons has fallen as far as it possibly could, to fifth. For the previous two seasons it was Detroit.

This season, it was Utah. Washington had the second-worst NBA record, they fell to sixth.

Two teams that needed a little luck to jumpstart their rebuilds were as unlucky as they could be and now need to try and find a diamond in the rough.

Winner: San Antonio Spurs (and their trade prospects)

Two years ago, San Antonio won THE lottery and drafted Victor Wembanyama. Last season, the Spurs drafted fourth and took Stephon Castle out of UConn, who went on to win Rookie of the Year.

This year, the Spurs had a 26.2% chance of landing a top-four pick, and lottery luck smiled on them once again, landing the No. 2 pick. They also have the No. 14 pick in this draft.

San Antonio could use that second pick to draft Dylan Harper, the Rutgers guard who has become a clear No. 2 on draft boards, and play him in a rotation with Castle and De'Aaron Fox. That would be a dynamic backcourt.

Or, this pick could be part of a trade to bring in a win-now star and accelerate Wembanyama's timeline. If San Antonio went to Milwaukee and offered the No. 2 pick, Castle, a couple more future picks and some players to make the salaries work (Harrison Barnes and Keldon Johnson), that might be hard for the Bucks to pass up. There are other ways to make that trade, and other teams the Spurs want to talk to.

However, this No. 2 pick gives the Spurs a major trade chip.

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Mets continue to execute at high level after another come-from-behind win

Monday's win against the Pittsburgh Pirates was about as complete of a team-win as the Mets could have asked for.

It had everything -- defense, pitching, baserunning, coaching, all resulting in Pete Alonso's walk-off sacrifice fly to improve the team's home record to 16-4 this season. Four of those wins have come in walk-off fashion.

Let's start with the defense.

In the eighth inning, with New York having just taken a 3-2 lead, Brandon Nimmo made a leaping catch at the wall in left field to rob Joey Bart of a game-tying home run against Dedniel Nuñez. It was Nimmo's second home-run robbing catch of the season as the outfielder has made a habit of thievery during his Mets career, especially at Citi Field.

"I knew that if I could get a really good jump on it I would have a great shot of catching it," Nimmo said. "I think that relative comfort with your home field, it helps you to be able to go and make those plays."

For how impressive Nimmo's catch was, it wasn't the only great defensive play New York made in the field. Brett Baty made a beautiful snag to his left at third base and threw the runner out at first to keep a run from scoring in the fifth and the Mets turned a pretty double play in the top of the ninth to end the inning and keep things tied.

What about pitching?

On a night facing off against one of the game's best young pitchers in Paul Skenes, David Peterson matched him and went six terrific innings to keep New York in the game as the two starters were locked in a pitcher's duel.

"I think it’s always fun when you go up against someone’s best and you get into a pitcher’s duel," Peterson said. "It’s fun when you’re just trading blows like that and the offenses are grinding...

"In games like that it’s kind of a matter of us as the pitching staff holding it together where it is and giving the offense the opportunity to finally break through and be able to score enough runs to win the game."

Speaking of the offense, that brings us to baserunning.

Down 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mets got to work with the lower part of the lineup proving crucial. Pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor got on thanks to a hit-by-pitch and then stole second base. Luisangel Acuña followed with an infield hit, outhustling the pitcher to the first base bag on a grounder to the first baseman, to put runners on the corners.

After Taylor scored to tie the game on a groundout, Acuña also came around after the ball deflected off the Pirates' third baseman's glove on a single. Unaware at first of how far the ball had trickled away, Acuña was sent home by third base coach Mike Sarbaugh who read it all the way. Coaching? Check.

"I’m always trying to impact the game in my defense, in my baserunning and anything I can do," Acuña said through an interpreter.

"His speed is electric," added Alonso, whose single deflected off Ke'Bryan Hayes' glove. "He causes a ton of havoc on the base paths. He’s a burner and having that skillset is huge for us. Any time he’s on base he causes so much pressure on the defense."

Even when things didn't go as planned for New York, like Huascar Brazoban blowing the save opportunity in the ninth, the team still found a way to rebound almost immediately.

Francisco Lindor, after his error in the top half of the ninth led to the tying run to score, reached thanks to an error by the Pirates. But given just a little bit of leeway, the Mets have made teams pay this season which is what happened when Juan Soto singled to put runners on first and third before Alonso's sacrifice fly won it.

"We don’t give up. We’re a scrappy bunch," Alonso said. "Yeah we got guys who can drive the ball out of the yard, we got guys who can put up some good numbers offensively and hit the ball a long way and stuff like that, but at the end of the day our identity is we’re just a scrappy team. We fight til the last out and that’s just who we are."

"I think we did a lot of good things today," Mendoza added. "... As a whole, yes we’re a good team but we’re a good team not just because we’ve got good players, we’re going out there and we’re executing."

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Kings Closing in on Ken Holland as New GM per Elliotte Friedman

© Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Sportnet's Elliotte Friedman, who has built a 30-year career in hockey on getting things right, is indicating that the Los Angeles Kings are very close to naming Ken Holland as their new general manager. 

After team president Luc Robitaille announced on May 6th that he and former GM Rob Blake had mutually agreed to go in a different direction, many initially speculated that a change would come from within. Ex-Montreal GM and Kings senior advisor Marc Bergevin was thought to have an inside track but after Robitaille mentioned the success that the Detroit Red Wings had enjoyed over the years during his media availability, speculation began to turn toward Ken Holland, architect of Detroit's three Stanley Cup wins between 1998 and 2008.

Under Holland, the Red Wings put together a 25-year postseason streak, behind only Chicago (28) and Boston (29) and became a model franchise for over two decades. During his tenure at the helm in the Motor City, the Red Wings won the President's Trophy four times and were a Cup contender virtually every season. 

Holland, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020, left Detroit in 2019 to take over GM duties in Edmonton, where several number one overall picks in succession had failed to move the needle for the Oilers. Holland added key pieces like Mattias Ekholm, Zach Hyman, and Evander Kane to the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, culminating in a Western Conference Finals appearance in 2022 and a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2024. Failing into a 3-0 hole against the Florida Panthers, the Oilers picked themselves off the deck to force a Game 7, but couldn't come all the way back, losing 2-1 in the last game of the season. 

The desire for the Kings to add someone with Holland's pedigree is understandable. If Robitaille truly believes that the Kings are just a few tweaks away from winning it all, Holland could be just the guy to make the necessary moves to bring a third Cup to Los Angeles. For a franchise whose longest playoff streak is just nine seasons and has never won the President's Trophy, let alone four of them, bringing in an executive of Holland's caliber seems, at least on paper, to be a big upgrade. 

Although they have been bounced in the first round for the last four seasons, Holland will inherit a pretty solid team. The Kings set a franchise record with 31 wins on home ice last year and tied a regular season best with 105 points. They even led the Oilers 2-0 in the first round series this year and outplayed the Oilers for much of Games 3 and 4 before inexplicably falling apart. 

Could Holland's familiarity with the nemesis Edmonton Oilers be a factor in the Kings' desire to hand him the keys? Any nugget of insider information that could possibly help LA get the Edmonton monkey off their back would surely be welcome but that alone probably doesn't get Holland the job. Besides, after four straight playoff series, the Kings already know pretty much everything there is to know about the Oilers. 

Except how to beat them.

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Knicks praise ‘best fans in the world’ for rocking Game 4 environment at MSG

Homecourt advantage is huge in the playoffs. 

The Knicks weren’t able to take advantage of it during Game 3 -- the MSG crowd was quickly taken out of the equation as they fell behind early in a blowout loss in what was their first home matchup of the second round. 

But Tuesday was a different story -- the Knicks again found themselves trailing by double digits early in the second half, but this time they were able to stage another miraculous comeback sparked by the rocking MSG crowd.

“It was crazy,” big man Mitchell Robinson said. “I think it was way crazier than the other playoff games we’ve been in here before -- this one was definitely No. 1.”

New York was trailing by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter, but another late barrage from Jalen Brunson pushed them back in front for the first time since late in the first quarter. 

Brunson made clutch bucket after clutch bucket down the stretch. But he wasn’t alone in the late-game heroics as Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby were also tremendous and it took a complete team-effort to pull out the win -- including the sixth man. 

It was just the second home victory for the Knicks this postseason but it was certainly a big one, as it helped them establish a commanding series lead. 

“We always say we have the best fans in the world,” head coach Tom Thibodeau said.

“They’ve been special all year,” Karl-Anthony Towns added. “When you have the fans we have and you have the city that supports you the way our city does, anything is possible. It’s because of them we have such a joy in our hearts coming to work everyday. Shoutout to them for sticking with us through the ebbs and flows of the season.”

The Knicks will now go back on the road to TD Garden looking to close out the series.