New athletic director J Batt plans to take a broad overview of Michigan State's sports program when he arrives, but football will be his top priority.
Maple Leafs Invite Knights Goaltender Austin Elliott To Training Camp After Memorial Cup Title
London Knights goaltender Austin Elliott has a ticket to an NHL training camp this fall.
Following his 31-save performance in the Memorial Cup Final to help the Knights win their third championship, the OHL announced that Elliott, who just finished his fifth season of junior hockey, earned a spot at Toronto Maple Leafs training camp in September.
"London Knights goaltender Austin Elliott has been a key difference maker this season," the OHL posted to X on Sunday night, "and he earned a free-agent invite to the Maple Leafs training camp this off-season!"
Maple Leafs Prospect Easton Cowan Dominates Memorial Cup, Validates Return To Junior DecisionToronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan is a Memorial Cup champion with the OHL's London Knights.
Elliott finished his junior career with the best season to date after joining OHL London after four seasons with the WHL's Saskatoon Blades. The 21-year-old netminder has a record of 52-3-0 with the Knights.
His three losses came at different points this year: one in the regular season, one in the OHL playoffs, and one in the Memorial Cup.
Elliott was the top goaltender in the OHL this season, with a .924 save percentage in 33 games. Although he went 16-1 in the league's playoffs, his save percentage dipped to .906 through 17 games. However, the Strathmore, Alberta, native returned to form in the Memorial Cup, allowing eight goals in five games and finishing the tournament with a .943 save percentage.
'If I Can Win The Masters, Leafs Can Win The Stanley Cup': Rory McIlroy Gifted Toronto Jersey By MLSE CEO Keith PelleyProfessional golfer Rory McIlroy still believes the Toronto Maple Leafs can win the Stanley Cup.
The University of Massachusetts Lowell commit was named an all-star at the tournament and was awarded the top goaltender honor after stopping 31 of 32 shots in London's Memorial Cup win over the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers.
Three players from London's championship-winning team are set to participate in Toronto's training camp. Joining Elliott is Toronto's 2023 first-round (28th overall) pick, Easton Cowan, who led all OHL players in playoff points, and forward Landon Sim, who signed a one-year AHL contract with the Toronto Marlies in May.
Elliott participated in Maple Leafs development camp in the summer of 2023.
Cowan will push for a spot on Toronto's NHL roster following a standout season. Sim, who scored 12 goals and three assists for 15 points in 17 OHL playoff games, will look to stand out and earn an AHL roster spot. Elliott will look to impress Toronto's management before beginning his college hockey career in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Tanev, Gourde Contracts And Deferred Money Provide A Blueprint For Maple Leafs To Re-Sign John TavaresJohn Tavares wants to stay in Toronto. The former Maple Leafs captain made that clear when speaking to reporters shortly after his team was eliminated in the second round at the hands of the three-time defending Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers. This desire, coupled with the Maple Leafs' cap constraints, begs the question: How can both sides find common ground? Reportedly, the Maple Leafs would welcome him back, but not at the hefty $11 million per season salary cap hit that came with his first contract in Toronto. Recent contracts signed by other players offer a compelling glimpse into potential solutions.
Cowan can join the Marlies if he doesn't make the Maple Leafs out of camp. After losing former Toronto prospects Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin at the NHL's trade deadline in March, the Marlies will be looking for scoring in the offseason.
You have to wonder if Cowan and Sim, teammates of nearly four seasons, can put together a strong debut season in pro hockey.
Photo credit: @LondonKnights / X
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NBA Finals Ad Inventory Sells Fast Despite Ratings Worries
Squish them together into one sprawling 12,338 square-mile mass, and the 77 counties that make up the blended Indianapolis and Oklahoma City markets would yield a grand total of 1.99 million TV homes, or 1.6% of the national base. Given the relatively undersized reach of this hypothetical conjoined entity—by way of comparison, the top-ranked New York City market crams 7.49 million TV households into an area that’s one-third the size of our Indy-OKC hybrid—it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the TV audience for the 2025 NBA Finals is likely to be one of the smallest on record.
Naturally, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has done what he can to downplay the Designated Market Area chatter, arguing that the participation of clubs repping smaller media markets is very much by design. “I’m happy whatever team ends up in the Finals,” Silver said Wednesday during an appearance on FS1’s Breakfast Ball. “It’s been intentional, from our standpoint, to create a system, a collective bargaining agreement, that allows more teams to compete.”
As far as the league’s media partners are concerned, Silver’s system seems to be working. Through the conference finals, Disney and TNT Sports have generated $344.8 million in sales revenue, per EDO Ad EnGage estimates, flat versus the analogous period in 2024. Overall in-game deliveries are up 3.3% year-over-year, with an average draw of 4.49 million viewers per window.
While Silver insisted that real hoops fans will tune in to the Pacers-Thunders series regardless of demography, he acknowledged there may be some slippage among more casual observers on either coast. “We’re going to have to go through a process … where people are accustomed to tuning into the Finals because the two teams deserve to be there, and [because] it’s the best basketball,” Silver said before noting that the Super Bowl matchup has almost no material impact on the Big Game’s deliveries.
(Fair point, although invoking the NFL in a conversation about audience size is sort of like comparing a Sumerian deity to the guy who sold you your life insurance policy.)
If the NBA’s Final Boss is justifiably vexed about how seemingly secondary concerns tend to dictate the size of the league’s audiences, ABC’s advertisers aren’t nearly as bothered by the DMA issue. According to Jim Minnich, who serves as senior VP, revenue and yield management at Disney’s ad sales team, only a “couple of avails” remain in Games 1-4 of the Finals, while “a handful” of Game 5 units are still up for grabs. Speaking on the eve of the Pacers-Thunder opener, Minnich said the Finals sell-through is at 80%, with scatter demand coming in hot on the heels of a 7% year-over-year ratings boost for the 27 playoff games on ESPN and ABC.
All told, 85 advertisers have staked out territory in the Finals, a roster that includes 17 first-time buyers. Of the returning clients, 62% have increased their spend compared to last year’s Mavericks-Celtics series.
“We’re very well sold coming into this,” Minnich said during a Wednesday afternoon video call. “We’re seeing double-digit scatter price increases over [the 2024-25] upfront, and we’re seeing double-digit scatter volume growth. There’s been high demand across the board.”
As marketers increasingly look to the NBA Finals as a vehicle for fresh creative, a host of in-game integrations will be deployed as a means to shake up the break structure. Among the brands that will be rolling out custom integrations include Google, Domino’s, Ford, Coors Light and Burger King, the latter of which is bowing a new musical highlight package during Sunday’s broadcast of Game 2.
Many of these integrations will riff on the myriad ways in which the NBA overlaps with American pop culture, a theme that served as a throughline during the paparazzi fever dream that was the Eastern Conference Finals on TNT Sports.
“Looking back at the Knicks-Pacers series, there was so much conversation swirling around Celebrity Row,” Minnich said. “Advertisers, especially those looking to reach younger, more affluent viewers, recognized this and wanted to get involved in the conversation.” While Timothée Chalamet reinvented himself as the Taylor Swift of Madison Square Garden, marketers that aren’t necessarily endemic to in-game NBA buys began scooping up units in a bid to insert themselves in the national chit chat around the actor and his equally fired-up celebrity pals.
As it happens, the Hell’s Kitchen native effectively has helped Minnich’s crew shift units ever since he popped up on ESPN’s College GameDay to flex his football cred and promote the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. (Chalamet was an easy get, as Disney’s Searchlight Pictures produced the film.) “That GameDay appearance was a great example of how pop culture and sports intersect, while underscoring all the different entry points that exist across our platforms,” Minnich said. “Moments like that are why more advertisers seem to be coming around to the idea that sports is for everyone.”
Of course, outside of Pat McAfee and maybe Lon Chaney Jr.’s ghost, you’re probably not going to see a whole lot of famous Hoosiers/Sooners taking in the action from the pricey seats at Gainbridge Field House and Paycom Center. But the NBA’s core audience of upscale consumers will have plenty of star power to feast on nonetheless, as this year’s Finals features the youngest cast of players in nearly half a century.
“We are ecstatic to see two new teams in the Finals,” Minnich said. “I wouldn’t even call them up and comers, because Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] is the MVP and Halliburton may have just made himself a household name after that show he put on against the Knicks.” As the NBA embraces the end of the superteam era and legends like LeBron James and Steph Curry near quitting time, this new crop of stars will be tasked with the not-inconsiderable task of growing the game from markets that lie far from the bright lights of New York, L.A. and Chicago.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s just about the big markets anymore,” Minnich said. “There’s a lot to be said for the sheer number of stars in the league and the new competitive environment.” (Second-apron parity promises to continue to keep things fresh at the top; no NBA team has won back-to-back titles since Golden State in 2017 and 2018.)
Ultimately, Minnich is projecting a longer series for the Finals (“this is not going to be, you know, four-none”), and while he isn’t making any predictions as to which team will walk away with Larry O’Brien’s gold-plated hardware, he’s not counting out the prospect of a Game 7.
“I think the Pacers have the depth to compete,” Minnich said. “All they have to do is pick one off in OKC and one at home and we have an even series.”
Should the Finals grind on for the full seven, the subsequent deliveries will largely offset any unspectacular early TV numbers. In this century, only four series have required a seventh frame, with the average audiences ranging from 19 million for the Spurs-Pistons decider in 2005 to 31 million for the second Cavaliers-Warriors series in 2016. ABC will have to get there without the built-in boost of the NYC DMA, but outside the megalopolis lift, nothing guarantees a crowd quite like duration.
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The unsinkable Pacers don’t need the lead. They just need the last word
This is why you play the games, as the old adage goes. In recent years, the later rounds of the NBA playoffs – and the finals in particular – have felt rote. They’ve gone chalk. The drama was minimal, even under the brightest lights of the league’s biggest stage. This year has been different: a playoffs filled with suspense, tension and plot twists galore. But at the start of the finals, the scene was set for a regression to the intrigue-less mean. Every roundtable pundit, basketball expert, and barbershop patron outside of Indiana state lines had Oklahoma City – basketball’s best team from wire to wire – winning the series easily.
But Tyrese Haliburton, the instigator of several of this postseason’s most jaw-dropping twists, knows a thing or two about drama. It oozes out of his pores. And he and his Indiana Pacers had other plans.
Schedule
Best-of-seven-games series. All times US eastern time (EDT).
Thu 5 Jun Game 1: Pacers 111, Thunder 110
Sun 8 Jun Game 2: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm
Wed 11 Jun Game 3: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm
Fri 13 Jun Game 4: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm
Mon 16 Jun Game 5: Pacers at Thunder, 8.30pm*
Thu 19 Jun Game 6: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm*
Sun 22 Jun Game 7: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm*
*-if necessary
How to watch
In the US, all games will air on ABC. Streaming options include ABC.com or the ABC app (with a participating TV provider login), as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, fuboTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and Sling TV (via ESPN3 for ABC games). NBA League Pass offers replays, but live finals games are subject to blackout restrictions in the US.
In the UK, the games will be available on TNT Sports and Discovery+. As for streaming, NBA League Pass will provide live and on-demand access to all Finals games without blackout restrictions.
In Australia, the games will broadcast live on ESPN Australia. Kayo Sports and Foxtel Now will stream the games live, while NBA League Pass will offer live and on-demand access without blackout restrictions.
The Pacers did not lead for 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of Game 1 on Thursday in Oklahoma City. On a night when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the regular-season MVP, scored 38 points and no Indiana player topped 19, it should have been a wrap. The Thunder’s suffocating defense, among the league’s best, forced a famously ball-conscious Indiana team – one that averages just 12 turnovers a game – into coughing it up 19 times in the first half alone. That’s hardly a recipe for success. Yet somehow, the Pacers came out victorious, against the odds, against the physics, against conventional basketball logic. Because that’s what they do. You can’t beat the Pacers by playing 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of winning basketball. They demand all 48.
Related: NBA finals: Indiana Pacers stun Oklahoma City Thunder in final second to win Game 1 thriller
This was the fifth comeback victory of 15 or more points for the Pacers this postseason alone, the most by any NBA team in the play-by-play era. Haliburton has hit a game-winning shot in all four rounds of these playoffs, each feeling more improbable than the last: his Pacers have been underdogs in each of those series and never more so than they were when they entered the Paycom Center on Thursday. For all the talk heading into the series about how Indiana had never seen a defense like the Oklahoma City’s, we seem to have forgotten, as a general basketball viewing populace, about another key factor: Oklahoma City have never seen a team like Indiana in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter.
“They have a lot of belief,” Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daignault said, after his team’s dispiriting loss, of his ballsy Indiana opponent. “They never think they’re out of it. So they play with great belief, even when their backs are against the wall.” That belief – unwavering, unshakable – is Indiana’s secret sauce. And with every impossible comeback, it compounds on itself. The more they pull off, the less impossible it all feels.
After Thursday’s win, Haliburton reflected on where that belief started: last year’s humiliating sweep in the Eastern Conference finals. “After you have a run like last year but end up getting swept – and all the conversation is about how you didn’t belong there, how you lucked out, how it was a fluke – guys are gonna spend the summer pissed off,” he said. “Then you come into this year, and after an unsuccessful first couple of months, it’s easy for everybody to clown you. I think, as a group, we take everything personal.”
On the character of his team, which has left opposing crowds stunned at every turn this postseason, he sums it up simply: “We don’t give up until it’s zero on the clock.”
Haliburton says being the underdog, proving people wrong, has become part of the team’s identity. “It’s fun,” he says, to win when you’re not supposed to. And this win, like all of Indiana’s wins have been , was a true team effort – even if Haliburton’s flair for the dramatic grabs most of the headlines. It was a true win by committee, whether it was Aaron Nesmith muscling his way to a critical rebound on a bad ankle, Andrew Nembhard coming up with late-game heroics on both ends (including a huge stop on Gilgeous-Alexander), or Obi Toppin scoring 11 of his 17 points in the second half off the bench. All five Pacers starters scored in double figures – so did Toppin – but none cracked 20.
It’s probably not the platonic ideal for a basketball team to rely on procuring its biggest wins in such white-knuckle fashion, but the Pacers sure are good at it, and it makes for a hell of an entertainment product. And in the highly competitive and intense NBA postseason, where wins become harder and harder to come by, teams will take them however they can, messy and chaotic as they may be. After Thursday’s instant classic, Haliburton summed up the Indiana ethos succinctly: “Come May and June, it doesn’t matter how you get ‘em. Just get ‘em.”
Stars part ways with former Sharks coach Pete DeBoer after conference final loss
Stars part ways with former Sharks coach Pete DeBoer after conference final loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
After three consecutive trips to the Western Conference Final, the Dallas Stars are parting ways with head coach Pete DeBoer.
General manager Jim Nill made the announcement Friday, saying DeBoer had been “relieved of his head coaching duties” and that the team would immediately begin its search for its next head coach.
“After careful consideration, we believe that a new voice is needed in our locker room to push us closer to our goal of winning the Stanley Cup,” Nill said. “We’d like to thank Pete for everything that he has helped our organization achieve over the past three seasons and wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”
DeBoer was questioned for days after he decided to bench goalie Jake Oettinger in Game 5 of the recently completed conference final against the Edmonton Oilers, which turned out to be DeBoer’s final game in charge.
“No one’s a bigger fan of Jake Oettinger than me, as a person or a goalie,” DeBoer said. “There’s one motive, and that’s how do we survive this and get it to a Game 6. And I have to live with those consequences. If it works, great, we’re in Edmonton tonight and you guys are telling me how awesome a move it was. And when it doesn’t, I’ve got to stand up here and do this, and I understand.”
DeBoer finishes his three-year tenure with the Stars with a 149-68-29 record in 246 regular-season games. DeBoer had a 29-27 record in 56 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Though the Stars advanced to the conference final in three consecutive seasons, the team never advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
DeBoer has been an NHL head coach since 2008 with previous stops including the Florida Panthers (2008-11), New Jersey Devils (2011-15), San Jose Sharks (2015-2019) and Vegas Golden Knights (2019-2022).
New Giant Andrew Knizner shares connections to Buster Posey, Patrick Bailey
New Giant Andrew Knizner shares connections to Buster Posey, Patrick Bailey originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — Andrew Knizner has only been a Giant for two games, but he arrived with previous ties to their starting catcher and the former catcher who now runs the organization. Knizner admits, though, that Patrick Bailey and Buster Posey might not be fully aware of those prior experiences.
Knizner went into North Carolina State as a shortstop and played third base as a freshman because Trea Turner was locked in at short, but after that season, he transitioned to catching. He eventually was represented by CAA agents Andrew Nacario and Jeff Berry, the latter of whom also represented Posey and now serves as an advisor to the president of baseball operations. As a young Knizner tried to figure out how to move from infielder to catcher, he was given drills and advice from Berry, who picked Posey’s mind on the subject.
Knizner now finds himself backing up Bailey, a fellow NC State alum. While they never played together, Knizner — who is four years older — was well aware of Bailey’s collegiate career. One of his former coaches once teased him by saying, “We finally have a great defensive catcher coming into the program. Patrick Bailey is the best defensive player in the country.”
“I laid all the groundwork for him,” a smiling Knizner said Thursday morning. “I showed him what not to do at NC State.”
Knizner was one of three newcomers during Wednesday’s roster shakeup and started behind the plate a day later. As he walked around the clubhouse in the morning and chatted with teammates, team employees and reporters, it was easy to see why he was added to the mix. In a lot of ways, he is reminiscent of former Giants backup catcher Nick Hundley, who still is close with Posey.
Knizner considers communication one of his strengths, and it stood out to manager Bob Melvin that he caught bullpen sessions on his first day and then went out to warm up all of Wednesday night’s relievers so he could get an early look at how the ball came out of their hands. The job, though, requires more than that, and the Giants are hopeful Knizner can bring a spark at the plate, too.
Knizner was released by the Washington Nationals earlier this season because he had an opt-out date approaching in his minor league contract. The Giants were one of the first teams to call, and he posted a .500 on-base percentage and six doubles in eight games with Triple-A Sacramento. The veteran also has a solid reputation as a defender and game-caller.
“He’s very invested in what he’s doing behind the plate, and that’s important here,” Melvin said. “It’s important to Buster, it’s important to us, that the catcher, first and foremost, is engaged with the pitching staff and all about winning a game.”
Knizner came to the Giants with 290 games of big league experience, nearly all of them with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he learned from Yadi Molina. He has a .210 average and .596 OPS in the big leagues, but he’s just two years removed from hitting 10 homers in 70 appearances. On Thursday, he was 0-for-3 but looked comfortable with Robbie Ray, who threw seven strong innings.
“I feel like we had a really good game plan going in today and I felt like he stuck with it really well,” Ray said. “We had some moments where he called a pitch and it was exactly what I wanted to throw. It was almost like he had been here the whole time. I felt, overall, it was a great performance by him behind the plate.”
Ray essentially had Sam Huff as his personal catcher the last two months, but the first day with the new guy was smooth, which was no surprise to Knizner. He said before the game that he doesn’t anticipate needing much time to learn a new staff. Since the start of 2024, he has played for Triple-A teams in four different organizations, along with big league time with the Texas Rangers and a stint in the Dominican Winter League.
“I’ve gotten used to it over the last 12 months or so,” Knizner said.
Warrington’s Paul Vaughan: ‘We didn’t deliver last year so have to take this opportunity’
Vaughan left the NRL in disgrace but he has been a guiding light on Warrington’s road to two Challenge Cup finals
Paul Vaughan arrived in England two years ago as damaged goods, an NRL cartoon baddie after he had been sacked by the Dragons for breaking Covid rules and fallen out with Canterbury. If he wins the Challenge Cup at Wembley on Saturday, he will be a Warrington superhero.
The sight of the giant prop – who looks as if he squeezes into a jersey two sizes too small and shorts borrowed from Kylie Minogue – running in from the back fence to get Warrington out of trouble, or smashing his way through a defensive line before delicately offloading with delightful subtlety, is hard to forget.
Continue reading...Last-second winner puts Pacers ahead in NBA Finals
Tyrese Haliburton scored in the final second as the Indiana Pacers snatched victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in game one of the NBA Finals.
His 21-foot shot put the Pacers in front for the first time in the match, with 0.3 seconds remaining as they secured a 111-110 win.
The Thunder, with home court advantage for the first two games, had led by 15 points during the fourth quarter, and in the closing seconds the ball was in the hands of NBA most valuable player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
However, he missed a two-point attempt with 12 seconds remaining and the Pacers grabbed the rebound, passed the ball to Haliburton and he drove down the court before hitting the winning points.
It's the fourth time in the 2025 play-offs that the 25-year-old has recorded a big-time score - three times to win a match and once to force overtime.
Indiana won despite turning the ball over 25 times, with 20 of those coming in the first half.
"It's not the recipe to win," Haliburton said.
"We can't turn the ball over that much. (But) come May and June, it doesn't matter how you get them, just get them."
Team-mate Myles Turner said of Haliburton: "Some players will say they have it, but there are other players that show it. He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn't shy away from that moment."
Gilgeous-Alexander was the game's leading scorer with 38 points, while Pascal Siakam top scored for the Pacers with 19 points, followed by Obi Toppin with 17.
"We played like we were trying to keep the lead instead of trying to extend it or be aggressive," said the Thunder's Jalen Williams.
Game two of the best-of-seven series is also in Oklahoma and will start at 19:00 local time on Sunday, 8 June (01:00 BST on Monday).
Caitlin Clark, Tyrese Maxey, the basketball and sports worlds react to Tyrese Haliburton's game-winner
In the first half of Game 1, the Pacers were trying to adjust to — and were a little overwhelmed by — the speed, intensity, and physicality of the Oklahoma City defense, which is why Indiana turned it over 19 times. In the second half the Pacers looked more comfortable, found their rhythm, then came from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to do this:
HALIBURTON WINS GAME 1 FOR THE PACERS.
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025
THEY TRAILED BY 15.
ANOTHER CRAZY INDIANA COMEBACK https://t.co/heI0ELIivWpic.twitter.com/1Qr6XlDbA7
Around the NBA and the sports world, people were stunned. Except in Indiana, where it was a celebration, starting with Caitlin Clark.
YOU CANT MAKE IT UP
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) June 6, 2025
Gainbridge Fieldhouse WENT CRAZY for Tyrese Haliburton's game-winner pic.twitter.com/CvQs3V3kJ9
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 6, 2025
Here is just a sampling of the reaction to that shot.
Wow
— Tyrese Maxey (@TyreseMaxey) June 6, 2025
Big time shot
— PJ Washington (@PJWashington) June 6, 2025
Wow wow wow
— Tristan Thompson (@RealTristan13) June 6, 2025
……oh my goodness
— Immanuel Jaylen Quickley (@IQ_GodSon) June 6, 2025
WOW
— Georges Niang (@GeorgesNiang20) June 6, 2025
haliburton is on the craziest run I’ve ever seen omg
— Arike Ogunbowale (@Arike_O) June 6, 2025
It wasn't just the basketball world reacting.
I don’t think anyone plays better than the pacers in the 4th qt!
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) June 6, 2025
Helly!?!?
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) June 6, 2025
For his part, Haliburton credited his new signature shoes.
It’s gotta be the shoooeeesss
— Tyrese Haliburton (@TyHaliburton22) June 6, 2025
Panthers enter Game 2 in Edmonton looking to earn series split before returning to South Florida
The opening game of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final was a fun and exciting affair that saw the hometown Edmonton Oilers pick up a comeback victory over the Florida Panthers.
Florida held a brief, two-goal lead early in the second period before allowing the Oilers to score once in the second, once in the third and then again in overtime to pick up the Game 1 victory and take an early lead in the best-of-seven series.
Now the Cats will look to achieve what they set out to do before the series began, and that’s head back to South Florida with a series split.
While they didn’t play their best game in Edmonton, Florida can still take solace in that they were leading for a decent amount of Game 1 and was one shot away from earning the opening victory for themselves.
The Panthers will certainly be looking for ways to sustain more offensive pressure and get more pucks on net.
They may have finished with 32 shots on goal during Game 1, but only eight of them came during the third period and overtime.
Once Florida began playing with a lead during the second period, their offense became much less consistent.
How they respond will be key.
In terms of the Panthers lineup, forward A.J. Greer remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
On a positive note for Florida, Greer skated on Thursday and remains a possibility to rejoin the lineup in Game 2.
We’ll have to wait and see if Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice has any updates on Greer’s status following Florida’s morning skate on Friday at Rogers Place.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 2 in Edmonton:
Evan Rodrigues – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis, Jesper Boqvist, Nico Sturm, Jaycob Megna
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Photo caption: Jun 4, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers right wing Corey Perry (90) blocks Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) in the third period in game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)
Yankees vs. Red Sox: 5 things to watch and series predictions | June 6-8
Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Yankees and Boston Red Sox play a three-game series at Yankee Stadium starting on Friday night...
Preview
Rivalry renewed?
Although the Red Sox were not a playoff team and the Yankees went on to secure the No. 1 seed in the American League, New York had a 7-6 record against Boston a year ago. That included the Red Sox taking three of four from the Yankees at Fenway Park in mid-September. With the youth movement and high-profile free agents the Red Sox brought in, it was expected that these two teams would fight for the AL East crown.
As June has begun, the Red Sox are a mess. They're four games under .500 and are 3-7 in their last 10 games.
However, this is the first time these two rivals will meet this year. Could Boston give the Yankees a tough series?
Can Will Warren put LA behind him?
Warren was having the best stretch of his young career before he stumbled during the West Coast road trip, especially in Los Angeles. Warren didn't make it out of the second inning, allowing seven runs in the Dodgers' shellacking of the Yankees last Saturday. He'll be the starter in the series opener on Friday, and he'll be tasked with setting the tone for the weekend. Can he return to form and help the Yankees get to an early lead in the series?
Carlos Rodon pitching like an ace
Rodon has been amazing. Over his last seven starts, he's pitched to a 5-0 record and a 1.65 ERA. He'll take the mound in the series finale on Sunday and could be the difference between a series win or loss.
The Yankees need him to be great because Warren may not bounce back,, and although Ryan Yarbrough has been great, how long can New York depend on him? That's especially the case when Yarbrough will go up against Garrett Crochet.
Turnaround for Jazz Chisholm Jr.
In the three games since his return from the IL, Chisholm has been great at the plate. He's 5-for-11 with a home run and two RBI while also playing solid third base. Yes, that's a small sample size, but Chisholm has returned with the mentality that this is a new season for him and he's taking advantage of it. Can he do so again this weekend?
Aaron Judge's pursuit of .400
Judge is having an MVP season already, but what everyone is watching is his batting average. Heading into the weekend, Judge is hitting .392 and will hope to get back up to .400 this weekend. He'll be going up against some tough pitchers in Walker Buehler and Crochet, who he doesn't have much experience against (1-for-4, K combined against both pitchers) and has not faced Sunday starter Hunter Dobbins, a rookie, yet.
While it's difficult for any player to maintain such a high batting mark, Judge could conceivably keep this pace up.
Predictions
Who will be the MVP of the series?
Aaron Judge
With the Red Sox struggling, this series may not be as firey as years past, but Judge always seems to rise to the occasion.
Which Yankees pitcher will have the best start?
Carlos Rodon
Rodon has been the second-best pitcher for the Yankees, but has been THE best over the last couple of weeks.
Which Red Sox player will be a thorn in Yankees' side?
Rafael Devers
Even if Gerrit Cole isn't pitching, Devers gives the Yankees fits, especially at Yankee Stadium.
Pacers steal Game 1 of the NBA Finals with another Tyrese Haliburton clutch game-winner
OKLAHOMA CITY — Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers have done it again.
Tyrese Haliburton for the lead with .3 remaining.
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) June 6, 2025
pic.twitter.com/bsYPIHo4tH
Indiana now has five 15+ point comebacks these playoffs, it has won every Game 1 this postseason, and when it needed a clutch shot Haliburton has stepped up all playoffs long.
That didn’t change in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on a night the Thunder were the better team for 45 minutes — leading by nine with 2:30 remaining — but when it came to executing in the clutch, it was once again the Pacers. Haliburton silenced Loud City and sent Pacers fans into a frenzy.
YOU CANT MAKE IT UP
— Caitlin Clark (@CaitlinClark22) June 6, 2025
Indiana stole Game 1 of the NBA Finals on the road, 111-110. The Pacers hold a 1-0 series lead, with Game 2 set for Sunday in Oklahoma City.
That gives the Thunder a couple of days to stew on the one they feel they let get away — the Thunder had 17 more scoring opportunities (and took 16 more shots) but couldn’t knock enough of them down.
For the Pacers — who embraced their underdog status — this was just more of what they do.
Obi Toppin may have best summed up the night for Indiana: He had a brutal first half, turning the ball over three times, missing some defensive rotations, but he settled down in the second half and ended up leading the team with 17 points. It was a balanced Pacers’ attack with six players in double figures, three of them also racking up double-digit rebounds.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like an MVP for most of the night, scoring 38 points, but the Pacers generally did a good job of staying home on other players and letting him cook. Those other players shot 36.8% on the night.
For much of the night, it felt like the Thunder were going to blow this game open, but they never did — and Indiana never quit.
In the first half, Oklahoma City’s defense was the embodiment of the famous Mike Tyson quote, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The Thunder’s swarming defense forced 19 first-half Pacers turnovers, 11 of them live-ball, and were lucky only to be down a dozen, 57-46 at the half.
LU DORT PICKPOCKET.
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025
LU DORT TRIPLE.
Making things happen on both ends ⛈️#NBAFinals presented by @YouTubeTV on ABC pic.twitter.com/29BVDqnK4g
However, the Thunder turned those 19 turnovers into just nine points — too often looking for a knockout 3-pointer rather than simply getting to the rim — and that, combined with OKC shooting 5-of-20 from the midrange in the first 24 minutes, kept the Pacers within striking distance.
The Pacers lost the possession game in the first half. Add in the six offensive rebounds the Thunder had in the first 24 minutes and Oklahoma City had 18 more scoring opportunities. They just didn’t take advantage of them.
Oklahoma City opened the game with the first twist of the series, going small and starting defensive guard Cason Wallace instead of big man Isaiah Hartenstein. It didn’t take long before the Pacers started to attack that with off-ball screens forcing Wallace to switch onto the bigger Pascal Siakam. That sparked a 10-3 run, and in what would be a theme of the night, the Thunder pulled away and the Pacers roared back.
NBA finals: Indiana Pacers stun Oklahoma City Thunder in final second to win Game 1 thriller
Nearly every analyst coming into this year’s NBA finals had the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Indiana Pacers comfortably. The first three quarters of Game 1 did very little to contradict those predictions until the final minutes, when all hell broke loose.
The reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, looked like, well, the NBA MVP for much of the game as he led the scoring with 38 points. His Thunder team went out to an early 7-0 lead and were 57-45 up by half-time. The second half seemed to be going the same way with the Thunder 15 points up at one point in the fourth quarter.
Schedule
Best-of-seven-games series. All times US eastern time (EDT).
Thu 5 Jun Game 1: Pacers 111, Thunder 110
Sun 8 Jun Game 2: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm
Wed 11 Jun Game 3: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm
Fri 13 Jun Game 4: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm
Mon 16 Jun Game 5: Pacers at Thunder, 8.30pm*
Thu 19 Jun Game 6: Thunder at Pacers, 8.30pm*
Sun 22 Jun Game 7: Pacers at Thunder, 8pm*
*-if necessary
How to watch
In the US, all games will air on ABC. Streaming options include ABC.com or the ABC app (with a participating TV provider login), as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, fuboTV, DIRECTV STREAM, and Sling TV (via ESPN3 for ABC games). NBA League Pass offers replays, but live finals games are subject to blackout restrictions in the US.
In the UK, the games will be available on TNT Sports and Discovery+. As for streaming, NBA League Pass will provide live and on-demand access to all Finals games without blackout restrictions.
In Australia, the games will broadcast live on ESPN Australia. Kayo Sports and Foxtel Now will stream the games live, while NBA League Pass will offer live and on-demand access without blackout restrictions.
And then the Pacers, as they so often have in these playoffs, started to fight back. With a minute remaining they had made it a one-point game at 110-109. With a second to go it was still 110-109 and Tyrese Haliburton had a chance to steal the game for the Pacers in outrageous fashion. Just as he had against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, he did not miss when it mattered. His basket put the Pacers up 111-110 and won them the game. Remarkably, the Pacers led for just 0.3 seconds – the blink between Haliburton’s shot and the buzzer.
Haliburton’s shot was the latest game-winner in an NBA finals contest since Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beater to sink the Utah Jazz in 1997, also in Game 1.
“We’ve just had to figure out how to win in so many ways all year,” said Haliburton. “We’re just a really resilient group, I’m just really proud of this group. We keep believing and we stay together. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
Once again, Indiana had found a way back in these playoffs. On 29 April, they trailed Milwaukee 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime and won 119-118. On 6 May, the Pacers trailed Cleveland 119-112 with 48 seconds left and won 120-119. On 21 May, they trailed New York 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left in regulation and won 138-135 in overtime. Thursday’s comeback was the Pacers’ fifth from 15 or more points down this postseason, an NBA record.
“That’s a really good team,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “Credit them for not only tonight but their run. They’ve had so many games like that that have seemed improbable. And they just play with a great spirit and they keep coming. They keep playing.”
The Pacers had staged the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in a finals game since Dallas came from 15 down to beat Miami in 2011. The coach of those Mavericks: Rick Carlisle. The coach of these Pacers: Rick Carlisle. His decisions on Thursday certainly helped. When the Pacers were 15 points down early in the fourth, Carlisle called time and subbed out all five players, seeking a spark. It worked. The Pacers outscored the Thunder 15-4 over the next 3:26 to make it 98-94 with a little over six minutes remaining. It was a foundation that would help them stage their remarkable comeback.
Haliburton’s last-gasp heroics spoiled a brilliant outing by Gilgeous-Alexander, whose 38 points were the third-most in an NBA finals debut behind only Allen Iverson (48 in 2001) and George Mikan (42 in 1949).
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is on Sunday night in Oklahoma City. Both teams may just about have recovered by then.
“Man, basketball’s fun,” Haliburton said, reflecting on the end of the game.
It was hard to disagree.
Yankees' Max Fried regains ace form, shows resilience after primetime dud
Every ace experiences the occasional hiccups -- Max Fried proved he was no exception last weekend, when he allowed a cushioned lead to slip in a frustrating road loss to the reigning champion Dodgers.
But top-flight starters always bounce back from adversity, and Fried reaffirmed the notion by painting over his dud in Los Angeles with yet another masterpiece in the Bronx. The prized left-hander returned to dominant form on Thursday night, delivering six shutout innings of one-hit ball with seven strikeouts in the Yankees' 4-0 win over the Guardians.
Less than a week after allowing a season-high six runs in primetime, Fried once again demonstrated why he's currently the highest-paid southpaw in MLB history. While his first inning of work wasn't efficient -- he threw 28 pitches and gave up his lone hit, a broken-bat single -- he still faced the minimum through the next five innings despite navigating deep counts.
"I just want to be able to go out there and go deep into games," Fried said after the win. "Nice to get to 100 pitches, being able to kind of get through a full outing and coming out with the win. Last time, I let the lead go. So I just wanted to make it a point to keep them in it and hold the lead as long as I could... Not trying to do too much, as far as putting extra pressure. But you just want to win every game you can when you go out there."
Fried now owns a stellar 1.78 ERA, which ranks third-best in the majors. It's also the lowest mark by a Yankees pitcher in his first 13 starts of a season since Phil Neikro in 1984 (1.73), according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs. So far, so worth every penny of his record-breaking contract.
The exceptional pace Fried has pitched to is new, considering the career numbers shown on his baseball card. But the 31-year-old has long been a thorn in the side of hitters. Jazz Chisholm Jr. understands that pain -- after the game, he offered his sympathies by saying it "wasn't fun" to see Fried multiple times each season when the two were division rivals in the NL East for four-plus years.
So far, Fried has handled the big-market expectations with ease and also served as a dependable stopper. He's now 6-0 with a 0.57 ERA following a Yankees loss, and that level of reliability isn't something the team is taking for granted. Fried is calm, cool, and collected. Toss in adaptable, too.
"They made him work. I don't know how many foul balls they had on the night," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Fried. "He had to work for it pretty hard tonight, but I thought the stuff was great. He had a lot of swing-and-miss going tonight, and he featured a little bit of everything."
Of the elite American League pitchers in the mix to start this summer's All-Star Game in Atlanta -- where Fried pitched for eight seasons -- he certainly deserves to be atop the list. He ranks third in the AL in innings (81.0), seventh in strikeouts (77), seventh in WHIP (0.94), and tied for sixth in opponent average (.196). He's lined up for another challenge next week, in a road matchup with the Royals.
Guard Ryan Cornish transfers to Southern California from Dartmouth
Cornish started 23 of 27 games for the Big Green as a senior, averaging 17.1 points and 4.9 rebounds to earn All-Ivy League first-team honors.