Armando Reséndiz pulled off a massive upset on Saturday night, defeating former world champion Caleb Plant by split decision to capture the interim WBA super middleweight title at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Reséndiz (16-2, 11 KOs) won on two judges’ scorecards by identical 116-112 scores, overruling one card that had Plant ahead 115-113. The 25-year-old Mexican outworked and outlanded Plant over 12 rounds, handing the American his second straight loss and third in his last five fights.
Pascal Siakam was named MVP of the Eastern Conference finals after another starring role for the Indiana Pacers [Getty Images]
The Indiana Pacers reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000 as they beat the New York Knicks 125-108 in game six of the Eastern Conference finals.
Pascal Siakam maintained his impressive form to be named MVP of the series after recording 31 points and three blocked shots on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Siakam scored over 30 points in three of four victories for the Pacers, who won the series 4-2.
The Pacers will face Western Conference winners the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, which begin on Thursday.
Siakam, a nine-year veteran who won the title in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors, said: "After a bad game five, we wanted to bounce back and I have 100% belief in my team-mates. Whenever we're down, we find a way, and we did that tonight."
Looking back to when he was an NBA champion, Siakam said: "That year was my third year, I was this young kid. I thought it was going to be easy [to get back].
"I appreciate it even more now because I know how hard it is to get here."
Speaking about Siakam, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle added: "So deserving. The guy has been a rock of consistency all year."
Tyrese Haliburton also starred for the hosts, adding 21 points, 13 assists and three steals, while Obi Toppin scored 18 points off the bench.
"It's a special feeling to do it with this group," Haliburton said. "We got to the same spot last year and we fell short. We worked our tails off to get back here."
For the Knicks, OG Anunoby top-scored with 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points as the visitors fell short after conceding 18 turnovers.
The first quarter was a tight affair as the Pacers led 25-24 before stretching their lead to four points by the end of the first half.
Pacers took control in the third quarter, which began with a 9-0 run, to end the Knicks' resistance and claim the series win.
When the dust finally settles from the Knicks' season-ending loss to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, a considerable chunk of the summer chatter will center around the job security of head coach Tom Thibodeau.
The debates among fans and pundits haven't cooled down. Some believe the veteran coach deserves another season to guide the Knicks' current core, while others contend a fresh face sharing a new philosophy is needed for the franchise to finally reach championship heights.
Thibodeau's seat isn't as hot as it used to be -- there were rumblings about his future back in April, before the Knicks faced the underdog Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. A disappointing finish to the 2024-25 season can't erase their overachievements, and captain Jalen Brunson emphatically believes his coach is fit to continue leading the group.
"Is that a real question right now?" Brunson said after the Game 6 loss to the Pacers on Saturday night. "You just asked me if I believe he's the right guy? Yes."
The Knicks didn't play a disciplined brand of basketball with a long-coveted trip to the NBA Finals up for grabs. They comitted a whopping 93 turnovers across six games against the Pacers, and conceded 23.3 points on average from those blunders alone. Throughout the series, Indiana was tougher and more resilient.
Of course, not all fingers can be pointed toward Thibodeau for the Knicks' shortcomings. His job is restricted to the bench and sideline. But there isn't a single Knicks fan who could seriously argue Thibodeau coached a better series than Pacers veteran Rick Carlisle. In a battle of wits and scheme, it was practically no contest.
But the Knicks still earned their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals with mental fortitude and timely starpower, and even Carlisle recognizes how Thibodeau has helped reshape the franchise's image since assuming the head coaching job in 2020.
"The Knicks were an unreal opponent," Carlisle said. "Tough-minded, always coming at you. After the game, they showed great class with all the interactions I had with those guys. I mentioned the job that Thibs has done there. He's turned the culture completely flipped from where it was."
Thibodeau, who turned 67 in January, signed a three-year contract extension with the Knicks last summer that keeps him with the team through the 2027-28 season. Only time will tell if he sticks around for the handful of seasons remaining on his deal.
Jalen Brunson was asked if he has confidence that Tom Thibodeau is the right coach for the Knicks moving forward:
"Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe if he's the right guy. Yes." pic.twitter.com/FRjCO8genL
A 115th-minute winner from Denis Bouanga sealed it
LAFC opens the Club World Cup v Chelsea on 16 June
Denis Bouanga scored an extra-time winner to lift Los Angeles FC to a 2-1 victory over Club América in a Club World Cup qualifying playoff match at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The winger, who had orchestrated much of LAFC’s attacking output in the match, scored the winner in the 115th minute after unleashing a shot that took a wicked deflection on its way into the net.
While it's hard to look on the bright side after a disappointing end to the campaign -- one that was two wins away from New York being in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 -- Jalen Brunson was asked what positives could be taken from an otherwise successful year.
"I think the way this team progressed this year, for me, it was fun," Brunson said after the loss. "A lot of people saying we couldn’t do a lot of things, a lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish and the way we kind of put blinders on and went to work, that’s what I’m most proud of with this team."
After finishing with their best record since the 2012-13 season, the Knicks showed a lot of grit and were able to play through tons of adversity.
Whether it was Brunson's injury toward the end of the season, losing every regular season game against the top teams in the NBA in the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, or going further in the playoffs than most thought they would, the Knicks proved a lot of doubters wrong.
Not to mention, the onslaught of critics of head coach Tom Thibodeau, and how the addition of new players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges would fit in his system.
"You make the moves to win so it hurts. It hurts not to be able to bring an opportunity to the city for a championship," Towns said. "We got a bunch of great guys in that locker room and the plan now is to just put ourselves in this position again and succeed next time."
And while it's hard to think about in this moment, the Knicks, indeed, are set up for success in the future.
Not only have they improved their regular season record over the last four years, they've played deeper into the postseason in each season too.
And if you ask Brunson if he thinks this team has the mettle to take that final leap, it isn't even a question.
"The most confidence. Over-confident, seriously," he said. "There’s not an ounce of any type of doubt that I’m not confident in this group."
"You’re always gonna hear me say run it back," Josh Hart added. "I think I said the same thing last year of the guys that we had. I’d like to do it, I feel like this team is good enough to make the next step."
Hart continued: "I think we handled adversity well. I think we grew as a team. There were good moments and bad moments, just like every season. We’ll continue to make strides, continue to improve."
While looking toward the future can be a mini escape of what just transpired, nobody on the Knicks is pleased with the result of the season. Not yet, at least.
"Sucks man. Simple as that. It sucks," Brunson said.
The Knicks knew they needed to fix their alarming turnover issue in order to survive a do-or-die road Game 6 against the Pacers and push the Eastern Conference Finals to a pivotal Game 7 at home. But no plan was put into action once they stepped onto the court with the season on the line. The glaring trend ultimately caused their demise.
Careless possessions and poor communication burned the Knicks again on Saturday night, as a whopping 18 turnovers that produced 34 points sealed their fate in a season-ending 125-108 loss to the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Their hopes of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in over a quarter-century were swiftly dashed.
There wasn't a turnover conundrum for the Knicks during the regular season. They averaged the fifth-fewest across that 82-game slate (13.3), and during the first two rounds of the playoffs, their mark was slightly lower (12.9). But an average of 15.5 turnovers in six East Finals contests fueled the Pacers in transition and shaped several outcomes.
"They played well, they played fast. Turnovers were tough for us," Knicks guard Josh Hart said after the loss. "We had some lapses in communication. In the postseason, you can't do that. You can't give away possesions, you can't give away games. You've got to tip your cap to them... You can't give away games in the playoffs. It's tough. We're all disappointed and frustrated."
The stunning swings the Knicks endured throughout the series were triggered by mediocre ball control, and the Pacers took full advantage of those blunders. New York's average turnover mark resulted in Indiana posting 23.3 points per game on those mistakes and 17.6 points per game on the fast break.
No surprise, the Knicks' biggest catalyst was also their biggest culprit. Of the 93 total turnovers committed against the Pacers, de facto captain Jalen Brunson was responsible for one-quarter of them (24). Karl-Anthony Towns also gave the ball up 16 total times in the series, and the team's All-Star tandem combined for only 41 points in Game 6. Each Knicks starter finished Saturday with a plus-minus mark in the negative teens.
"It's definitely tough to look ahead, but even when you win, it's always about what's next," Brunson said. "Regardless, we're going to go into the summer and going to work. We're going to get better and figure out a way how we can change this outcome. It's going to start with us and our mentality, making sure we've got to take it one game at a time. We can't jump right back to the Conference Finals."
The renewed playoff rivalry was centered around discipline. In the first five games of the series, the Knicks conceded 106 points on 75 turnovers, while only logging 46 points off of the Pacers' giveaways. The Knicks also turned the ball over 15-plus times in five of their six meetings.
If there was a consistent talking point out of the Knicks from the start of the series through the end it was this: No stupid turnovers. The Pacers thrive on turning those into easy buckets the other way.
In Game 6, with their season on the line Indiana cranked up their defensive press and the Knicks, well…
Indiana scored 34 points on 17 Knicks turnovers (15 of those through three quarters when the game was in doubt) and that combined with 31 points from Pascal Siakam, and 21 points with 13 assists from Tyrese Haliburton, is sending the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals for the first time in a quarter century.
Indiana wins Game 6 125-108 and takes the series 4-2.
Indiana will travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night (8:30 PM Eastern on ABC).
Pascal Siakam — who scored 30+ points in three of the four Pacers wins— was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
“After a bad Game 5 we wanted to bounce back and I have 100% belief in my teammates. Whenever we’re down we find a way and we did that tonight,” Siakam said, holding the trophy at center court.
It was a bounce-back game. It was also the kind of game where everything seemed to go right for the Pacers — even Obi Toppin and Thomas Bryant were draining multiple 3-pointers.
While everything was going right for Indy, it was a rough night for the Knicks’ stars. Jalen Brunson had 19 points but needed 18 shots to get there, plus he had five turnovers in the face of ramped-up Pacers pressure. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 (on 19 shots) with 14 boards, but he had a number of ugly defensive plays, like going under the screen on Haliburton and watching him drain 3s.
With a lot on the line, both teams were tight in the first quarter, as evidenced by the 10 total turnovers and Towns' 1-of-6 shooting. Still, the game was tight, 25-24 Indy after one quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same. The Knicks got a great stretch of play from Landry Shamet and Delon Wright off the bench. OG Anunoby had 14 first-half points, but the Knicks' 10 turnovers, which led to transition opportunities for the Pacers, had them up 58-54. Siakam was the only Pacer in double figures in the first half with 16.
In the third quarter, the Pacers broke the game open and took control. It started with a 9-0 run to open the frame, capped off by a Siakam and-1 on a leak out. Indiana wasn’t done, their run stretched out to 20-9 behind Bryant’s 3s. From that point on the rest of the game, any time the Knicks would make a run — they had a 7-0 one out of a timeout in the third — the Pacers would answer with a bigger run, 9-0 to answer the Knicks with that one. Indiana led by 15 after three quarters, and this was the key stat: 15 Knicks turnovers became 30 Pacers points (New York had six points off Pacers turnovers at that point).
That was the ballgame. That was the series. And the deeper team that trusted that depth from the start of the series is moving on to the NBA Finals.
King announces final US race at nationals in Indiana
Olympic champ says she feels ‘fulfilled’ by her career
Breaststroke star to retire after 2025 season ends
American three-time Olympic swimming star and world record holder Lilly King has announced the upcoming Toyota National Championships in Indianapolis will be her final meet on US soil as she prepares to call it a career at the conclusion of the 2025 season.
The meet will run Tuesday through Saturday. A longtime breaststroke stalwart, King announced her plans Saturday on Instagram and said swimming her final race in the US in her home state and a pool she’s known since her youth “has always been important to me”.
The Knicks lost Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers, 125-108, ending their season on Saturday night.
Here are the takeaways...
-Things started off well for New York, who jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in the early minutes, but it went downhill from there. The Pacers took the lead on a Pascal Siakam two-pointer with 7:34 left in the first and never looked back.
The Knicks did take the lead once more in the first quarter, following Mitchell Robinson's alley-oop dunk with 2:31 left, but Indiana had control of the game throughout the night.
-Turnovers dictated the game in this onem as New York gave it up 17 times compared to the Pacers' 12. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges each had five turnovers.
-Offensively, the Knicks couldn't get enough going to outmatch the Pacers, who leaned on Siakam (31 points), Tyrese Haliburton (21 points) and Obi Toppin (18 points) off the bench. In fact, all five starters for Indiana ended the night in double-digits and its bench outscored New York's 38-20.
-Needing a big game from its stars, New York got disappointing results from Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Brunson finished with 19 points and seven assists, while Towns finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds. They combined to go 2-for-11 from deep as the Knicks as a whole didn't shoot well from beyond the arc (9-for-32).
-On the other side, the Pacers were lights-out, especially from three, shooting 52 percent. Seven players made at least two threes.
-Surprisingly, Josh Hart only logged 22 minutes off the bench and finished with four points, six rebounds, three steals and one assist.
-Down just four points at halftime after OG Anunoby hit a two-pointer at the buzzer, the Knicks came out of the locker room and were outscored 34-23 in the third quarter, which spelled the beginning of the end.
-Indiana's scoring onslaught didn't stop in the fourth quarter and New York's defense wasn't nearly good enough, either.
-Despite outrebounding the Pacers, the Knicks couldn't get the extra looks to go down. Meanwhile, Indiana took advantage of New York's turnovers at every turn.
Game MVP: Pascal Siakam
He had a game-high 31 points in 36 minutes and shot well from the field and the free-throw line. He also added three blocks and one steal on the defensive end. After the game, he was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
Stark shoots 70 to take solo lead at 7-under overall
López Ramirez surges with 68 after recent surgery
Tricky greens trigger triple bogeys across the field
Maja Stark could tell pretty early Saturday that Erin Hills would provide much more of a challenge than it had in the first two days of the US Women’s Open.
Yet she found a way to avoid the mistakes that befell so many other competitors during a brutal third round. Now the 25-year-old from Sweden is in position to earn the $2.4m prize in the biggest event of the women’s golf season.
Max Muncy, right, celebrates with Shohei Ohtani, center, and Freddie Freeman after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning of the Dodgers' 18-2 win over the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
It was a statement, a reminder and a warning all wrapped into one.
The Dodgers might not have been playing their best baseball entering this weekend’s World Series rematch against the New York Yankees.
But in a ceaseless offensive onslaught in the opening two innings on Saturday, things seemed to suddenly, profoundly and perhaps permanently change.
The Dodgers didn’t just beat the Yankees in a nationally televised late-afternoon contest to clinch a weekend series win at Dodger Stadium. They executed a slaughter in broad daylight. Four runs scored in the first inning. Six more came around in the second. And by the end, their 18-2 victory did more than set up the chance for a sweep in Sunday’s series finale.
It sent a shot across the bow to the rest of the baseball world, signifying that for all of the Dodgers’ shortcomings of late, they might finally be clicking into top gear.
“We've sort of been playing middling baseball for a while now,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So maybe it took a club like the Yankees to get us to, you know, reset and step our game up. And we've done that for these last couple nights.”
Granted, the Dodgers hadn't exactly been struggling to hit. Entering Saturday, they were second in the majors in runs scored, second in OPS and first in batting average. They had been getting monster production from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith. And, largely on the strength of their lineup, they were leading the National League West, still on a near 100-win pace in their pursuit of a second consecutive World Series title.
Still, over much of the last month, it had felt as if something was missing.
The team’s injury-ravaged pitching staff had put a strain on their recent play, leading to an 11-12 slide entering this weekend’s marquee Yankees matchup.
And their offense was picking up only so much of the slack, weighed down by early slumps from Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Michael Conforto, as well as inconsistent performances from other bottom-half hitters.
Michael Conforto, left, celebrates with Hyeseong Kim after scoring on an RBI double by Tommy Edman in the second inning Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“The last couple weeks have certainly been a grind, with all the stuff we've been going through,” Roberts said.
It led to a malaise epitomized by a lack of signature moments. Not since knocking off the Detroit Tigers at the start of the regular season had the Dodgers won a series against a legitimate title contender. They were just 10-9 overall against opponents with winning records.
Roberts downplayed that notion Friday.
“We know that we have a good ballclub, and I don't think that us not winning series against X amount of teams with winning records is an indictment on our ballclub,” he said. “I don't think we're thinking too much about that.”
Then again, with the Yankees coming to town as winners of 16 of their previous 20 games, this still felt like something of a litmus test — even if Betts was out with a fractured toe and the pitching staff remained far less than full strength.
“We try to win each and every game, of course,” Ohtani said in Japanese on Friday night, “but I think it’s a special atmosphere.”
Two games in, it has produced a couple of special results.
After coming from behind to steal Friday night’s opener, the Dodgers (36-22) wasted no time Saturday putting their foot firmly on the Yankees’ neck.
In the bottom of the first, Ohtani, Freeman, Smith and Muncy all singled within the first five at-bats against rookie Yankees starter Will Warren, scoring two runs. Conforto later added a sacrifice fly, before Tommy Edman hit a hard ground ball that got past third baseman (and former Dodgers farmhand) Jorbit Vivas for a run-scoring double, punctuating an inning in which the Dodgers batted around.
In the second, the Dodgers sent all nine batters to the plate again. After walks from Hernández and Freeman, Muncy hit a three-run homer to right, chasing Warren from the game with his 200th career long ball. Edman doubled home another run with two outs. Then Hyeseong Kim got the Dodgers to double digits, hitting his second home run of the season.
Max Muncy hits a three-run home run in the second inning for the Dodgers on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
By the time the Yankees (35-22) recorded their first hit on Austin Wells’ leadoff single in the third, it was already 10-0.
“You could say it was a statement,” Muncy said. “For us to do it without Mookie also, I think that’s huge for everyone trying to pick up the slack in the lineup. It’s just a really good day offensively all around. Even last night was a really good night offensively for us. So, just having several good games in a row, it’s big for the boys.”
As starting pitcher Landon Knack cruised through six strong innings with the big lead — he gave up his lone run on a fourth-inning solo blast from Aaron Judge, his first of two long balls on the day — the Dodgers kept adding on.
In the fifth, Freeman plated a run with his 525th career double, tying Willie Mays and Ted Williams for 46th most all-time.
Then, Muncy went deep again, continuing his recent surge by belting another three-run homer high off the right-field foul pole, tying a career-high with seven RBIs on the day.
Over his last 19 games, Muncy is now batting .300 with five home runs, 24 RBIs and a .991 OPS.
“Just trying to build on the positives,” he said. “The last several weeks I thought have been really good for me, and today was a very good game. Try to build on it, keep the momentum moving forward.”
Muncy isn’t the only Dodgers hitter heating up. Edman snapped a recent cold streak with three hits. Kim also had four hits, plus two stellar defensive plays: doubling off a runner at second base with a diving effort from shortstop in the third inning, then throwing out Judge at second with a perfect throw from deep center after shifting to the outfield. Andy Pages maintained his strong form with a solo home run in the seventh. Dalton Rushing hit his first career home run in the eighth.
“It's contagious,” Roberts said. “People talk about [how] hitting is contagious and winning, losing, all that stuff. And there's just guys that want to get up to bat. I'm sure they feel it. It's just that adrenaline, that emotion in the dugout.”
The Dodgers’ biggest stars, meanwhile, have continued to dominate.
Ohtani, coming off his second live batting practice as a pitcher before the game (he threw 29 pitches over two simulated innings), had two hits, moving his OPS to 1.062.
In the National League, only Freeman has a better mark in that category, finishing Saturday at 1.078 (to go along with his NL-leading .374 batting average) after his own two-hit showing.
Couple all that with the impending returns of pitchers such as Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and Blake Treinen — all of whom could be back within the next month or two, and in some cases sooner — and the Dodgers are starting to look more like the juggernaut they were supposed to be all along.
“It's certainly sweet to win any game [by an 18-2 score],” Roberts said. “But to beat those guys, it's always good. It always feels good to beat the Yankees. You know, they're the class of the American League right now. And anytime you can beat those guys, you feel good.”
Despite Aaron Judge's two home runs, the Yankees' pitching staff just didn't have it, falling to the Dodgers, 18-2, on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The Yankees had just seven hits on the day, with Judge providing three of them.
Here are the takeaways...
-It was a first inning to forget for Will Warren and the Yankees. The young right-hander had to throw 39 pitches in the first frame, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks. It was a death by a thousand paper cuts for Warren as the Dodgers hit single after single to keep pushing runs across. Warren struck out Shohei Ohtani with two outs and the bases loaded to get out of the inning and save his outing.
But Warren's start wouldn't last much longer. After two walks to lead off the second and a grounder, Max Muncy knocked Warren out of the game with a three-run shot to put the Dodgers up 7-0. It's Muncy's 200th career homer and the Dodgers' 13th unanswered run dating back to Friday's comeback win. Warren finished throwing 57 pitches (29 strikes) across 1.1 innings. He allowed seven runs on six hits, four walks, while striking out two. It's the most runs allowed by Warren this season, and the first time he's allowed more than three runs since April 28. The outing raised Warren's ERA from 4.09 to 5.19.
-The Yankees bullpen did not fare much better against the Dodgers. The combination of Brent Headrick, Ian Hamilton, Mark Leiter Jr., Yerry De los Santos, Devin Williams and Luke Weaver -- yes, the top relievers in the pen -- and position player Pablo Reyes were tasked with getting the final 20 outs. Headrick allowed three runs in his 0.2 innings while Leiter Jr. gave up four runs in his 0.2 innings of work. Weaver allowed a solo shot to Andy Pages in the seventh before Reyes allowed three in his inning of work.
-Tommy Edman doubled to drive in a run and then Hyeseong Kim homered to put the Dodgers up 10-0 after two. Muncy launched his second three-run shot of the day in the fifth to put LA up 14-1.
-On the offensive side, the Yankees didn't have much to hand their hats on. Judge blasted his 20th homer in the fourth, the second in as many games, to put the Yankees on the board. But other than that, the Yanks could not figure out Landon Knack who allowed just one run on five hits and three walks in six innings while striking out six. Judge would get a hold of another one in the eighth, his 21st longball of the year, this one going 425 feet.
Game MVP: Max Muncy
The utility infielder had himself a day, going 3-for-5 with his two homers and driving in seven runs.
Like the other 30 NHL general managers watching the playoffs, Sens GM Steve Staios is likely studying the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers to better understand what sets them apart from the team he runs.
How did these two teams make it back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second year in a row?
How have the Panthers made the finals three years in a row?
What is it about their rosters that the Senators lack?
This will ultimately guide Staios’ decision-making over the summer and dictate how he chooses to spend the projected $16.6 million in cap space available to him.
The Oilers and Panthers are not the same kind of teams. They aren’t built the same way, and they don’t play the same way. Yet both found their way to the finals in back-to-back years.
If the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, it will be one of McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins or Bouchard who accepts the Conn Smythe Trophy.
The Panthers are built from the crease outward, with two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky leading the charge. They don’t have a defenceman with the offensive prowess of Bouchard, but they have depth, size, and scoring-by-committee, led by Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones, and an ensemble that makes it very difficult for anyone to establish an offensive presence in their zone.
If the Panthers win the Cup, the Conn Smythe likely won’t go to McDavid again, but rather to someone like Bennett, Barkov or Bobrovsky.
Now, which of these two moulds most resemble the Ottawa Senators: the Panthers or the Oilers?
Up until this past season, the Senators’ goaltending was in turmoil, and Staios took steps to rectify that by acquiring Linus Ullmark. He also severed ties with undersized Erik Brännström to pave the way for Tyler Kleven to ascend to the NHL.
The benefits were immediate and continuous.
The Senators have elite skill and speed in Tim Stützle, but their identity is being forged through their defensive game and their captain, Brady Tkachuk, and they try to play a more defensively conscious and puck possession game.
Players like Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig, and Mike Amadio — and their 200-foot game — are more likely to propel the Senators forward than getting into track meets every night.
In his first draft as an NHL GM, Staios even used his inaugural first-round pick to choose a huge defenceman with offensive potential and grit in Carter Yakemchuk. His second-round pick was a 6’7” stay-at-home defenceman with a mean streak in Gabriel Eliasson.
On the surface, it would seem that Staios has bought more into the Florida Panthers' model and believes the way out of the Eastern Conference is a war of attrition. Though they aren’t there yet, this is the way forward that Staios appears to have chosen — and given the Panthers’ recent success, it’s hard to blame him.
Before he spends any money on free agency, Staios needs to figure out what to do with players whose contracts are expiring July 1.
Nicklas Matinpalo was inked to what could easily be one of the most team-friendly two-year deals in the league at $875K per. A 6’3”/210 lb right-shot mainstay defenceman seems to fit right in with what Staios is building.
Claude Giroux, Nick Cousins, Adam Gaudette, and Matthew Highmore are the UFAs up front. Travis Hamonic is the lone UFA on defence, and Anton Forsberg in goal rounds out the list. The lone RFA is Fabian Zetterlund, who's arbitration-eligible.
The Senators became harder to play against this season, enough so to make the playoffs and give a good account of themselves.
The question facing Staios about all of his potentially outgoing players and whether to retain them is:
“Do any of these guys fit with what we are trying to do here?”
That is a debate for another day. If the dealing of the popular Josh Norris to Buffalo is any indication, Staios is willing to do whatever it takes to move the Senators to the next level.
If the GM isn’t overly attached to any of the existing players, then fans should take a similar approach and expect more than a few fresh faces come training camp.
The run of “Inside the NBA” on TNT came to an end on Saturday night, after nearly four decades as a fixture of the league. The show will move to ESPN and ABC next season — and keep Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley together, still doing most shows from Atlanta — but the final TNT sign-off was an emotional one.
“I’m proud to say for the last time, ‘Thanks for watching us. It’s the NBA on TNT,'” Johnson said, before turning his back to the camera, placing his microphone on the desk and getting up from that set for the final time.
NBA games will not be airing on TNT starting next season when the league’s new television package kicks in — an 11-year media rights deal worth at least $76 billion, one that keeps games on ABC and ESPN, brings the league back to NBC and starts a new relationship with Amazon Prime Video.
ABC will broadcast the NBA Finals, meaning the end of the Eastern Conference finals between Indiana and New York was the end of TNT’s run. Turner Sports first acquired an NBA package in 1984 and games were on TNT since the network launched in 1988.
“Even though the name changes, the engine is still the same,” O’Neal said during the final broadcast. “And to that new network we’re coming to, we’re not coming to (expletive) around. … We’re taking over, OK? I love you guys and I appreciate you guys.”
The moment was not lost on Indiana coach Rick Carlisle. His team had just clinched a spot in the NBA Finals by beating New York, and when his brief interview with Johnson during the trophy ceremony was over, Carlisle grabbed the microphone out of the host’s hands.
“Congratulations to TNT on a fabulous, unbelievable run that’s coming to an end,” Carlisle said in the unprompted tribute. “We’re all very sad about that.”
The names of countless past and current broadcasters and analysts were included in the many tributes offered on-air after the game, including Doug Collins, Hubie Brown, Dick Stockton, Cheryl Miller, Danny Ainge, John Thompson, Steve Kerr, Mike Fratello, Marv Albert, Brian Anderson, Chris Webber, Candace Parker and Craig Sager.
“Our hearts are full of gratitude,” TNT’s Kevin Harlan said on-air, speaking to the viewers. “Not sadness, but gratitude and happiness for what has been. It has been an honor. It has been a privilege. And I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as we have.”
Harlan had the play-by-play call for the final game, with Reggie Miller, Stan Van Gundy and Allie LaForce on the broadcast as well.
“Think about my life. I’m very fortunate,” Miller said. “I’ve only known two things: 18 years with one franchise in this building with the Indiana Pacers, and 19 years with Turner.”
Many members of the TNT production crew have gotten jobs with NBC and Amazon, Johnson said, because of their exemplary work to this point. “Best production crew in the business, I might add,” Johnson said.
And when it turned back to the “Inside the NBA” crew for one last time on TNT, the emotions were clear.
“This has just been a magnificent ride,” Smith said.
Barkley talked about how he was going to sign with NBC when starting his broadcast career, then switched to TNT.
“I just want to say thank you to the NBA,” Barkley said. “Every coach I’ve had, every player I’ve played with, for giving me this magnificent life that I’ve had. I am so lucky and blessed. I’m lucky and blessed. And I want to thank TNT. Even though we’ll never say TNT Sports again, I want to thank TNT for giving me a magnificent life.”
