US president praises 36-year-old’s victory under pressure
McIlroy held nerve to beat world No 1 Scheffler by a shot
Donald Trump called Rory McIlroy a “legend” as the United States president congratulated the Northern Irishman on his second Masters title.
McIlroy held on for a one-shot victory over America’s world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, becoming only the fourth player in the tournament’s 90-year history to win successive titles at Augusta.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins iced most of their regulars but generated little offense, falling 3-0 to the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Washington pulled away late with two third-period goals (including an empty-netter), in a game that may have marked one of Alex Ovechkin’s final appearances in Washington, D.C. [Recap]
ICYMI: The Penguins signed undrafted North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage to a two-year entry-level deal on Friday, adding a mobile, puck-moving blueliner to a thin prospect pool on the left side. [PensBurgh]
Forward Bryan Rust was selected as the Penguins’ nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which recognizes “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” [Trib Live]
After the Penguins-Capitals game on Sunday, Ovechkin was named the first star and was greeted with not only admiration from the fan base for what could be his final NHL home game, but also chants of “One more year!” from those same fans who don’t want to see the Great 8 hang up the skates just yet. [NHL]
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar will not travel with his team on their upcoming western Canada road trip after taking a puck to the face during their game Saturday night. [Sportsnet]
Nick Suzuki is the first Montreal Canadiens player in 40 years to reach 100 points in a season. [TSN]
The 2025-26 New York Islanders have run into their ceiling, falling short of a goal that didn’t seem realistic before Matthew Schaefer put up a historic rookie season and Ilya Sorokin bounced back with a Vezina year in the face of a steady stream of high-danger chances. (And we shouldn’t forget the secondary assist from their never-to-be-repeated 10-0 overtime record. They didn’t fix the power play but they did fix that.)
By running out of steam in the final weeks, the Islanders deprived the franchise of two or three games of playoff revenue, robbed us of some postseason fun (and heartache, always heartache), and kept Schaefer from getting an early taste of postseason intensity. But they also probably spared us the traditional first-round humbling by the Hurricanes or, worse, a tough first-round loss to an in-form Penguins team whose greatest 2025-26 contribution will be driving more people in Toronto mad over the Shanahan-Dubas-yada-yada turning point.
Standings points in the no-tie, 3-on-3, shootout-and-hotdog-eating-contest era of deciding regular season “winners” are always a little bit smoke and mirrors. But last night when I switched my standings view from “Wild Card” to “League” to resume assessing where the Islanders are likely to pick in the draft, I was struck by the fact their 91 points — even amid a 3-7 slump — was still ahead of the Western playoff-bound Oilers, Mammoth and Ducks. No no no, my conference doesn’t suck, your conference sucks.
That’s small comfort that will soon be moot and forgotten, but each of those teams has 9 or 10 OT wins, too. The Islanders: Flawed like some other interesting teams!
And what’s better, this season Schaefer has shown they have something incredible to build off of, hopefully while Ilya Sorokin (who, don’t look now, turns 31 next year) can still be a game changer. Dear Mathieu Darche, please don’t Chiarelli, Holland or Bowman this up, and maybe introduce young Schaef-daddy to Connor McDavid this summer, okay?
Last night’s NHL scores included the Penguins continuing to roll over for the Capitals, almost like they’d prefer a first round vs. D.C. instead of vs. the Flyers.
The good vibes that were emanating from the Yankees clubhouse have quickly dissipated. A sterling start has turned sour, a five-game losing streak bringing the Yankees to 8-7 after running an 8-2 record in their first ten games. We certainly shouldn’t be panicking, not so early in the season, and not considering literally every single one of the Yankees’ seven losses has come in a close game. But still, it’s disheartening to see the team fall into midseason malaise form so suddenly.
The culprits of this slump are not hard to find. The pitching certainly isn’t to blame, with the staff pacing the league. No, it’s a lineup that has struggled to find consistent production from many players not named Ben Rice, Aaron Judge included. So after a couple weeks of offensive struggles, let’s ask: which slumping hitter are you most worried about?
It probably shouldn’t be Judge, who, even if he doesn’t quite match his 2024-2025 form this year, should still be expected to crush from here on out. Perhaps it shouldn’t be Trent Grisham either, whose paltry power numbers are belied by better underlying stats and a robust on-base percentage.
The focus, as it’s been for the whole year so far, is probably towards the back half of the lineup. There’s Jazz Chisholm Jr., who came into the year talking about 50/50 seasons only to faceplant, swinging and missing at an alarming rate while making mind-numbing defensive mistakes. There’s Jose Caballero, who showed signs of life on Saturday but is still running a slash line so poor it’s somehow making fans pine for the relative offensive prowess of Anthony Volpe.
The list goes on, with Ryan McMahon combining to form a harrowing offensive duo with Caballero on the left side of the Yankee infield, his .114 batting average the worst mark on the whole squad. And there’s Austin Wells, who hit his first homer yesterday, and in doing so barely dragged his OPS above .500.
For my money, the most concerning signs have come from that left-side infield duo. Wells’ quality defensive work at catcher give him more runway to play with at the plate, and Chisholm just has too much offensive skill to be this bad for long. But neither Caballero nor McMahon has ever produced a full-season of offense better than league average per wRC+, and nothing they’ve done this year signals that they’re ready to come anywhere close to that standard. If I’m the Yankees, I’m feeling worried that half of the infield is going to need full-on renovations come the trade deadline.
What do you think? Which hitter has you the most worried after two weeks of floundering?
Today on the site, Nick looks ahead to a four-game series with the Angels that starts tonight, and offers the Yankees to right the ship against an opponent that they should beat. Later, Andrew recaps a busy Sunday of AL action, while Peter profiles one of the more flammable personalities in Yankee history, that of Kid Elberfeld. Also, Josh opines on the latest examples of the Yankees finding ways to step on rakes, and Madison puts out the call for this week’s mailbag.
New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels
Time: 7:05 p.m. EST
Video: YES Network, FanDuel Sports Network West
Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
Rory McIlroy has warned the rest of elite golf he will set further, lofty goals in his sport after a successful defence of the Masters.
McIlroy prevailed at Augusta National by a shot over Scottie Scheffler, making the Northern Irishman just the fourth golfer in history to win the tournament back-to-back. While McIlroy will cherish his win, he has no plans to rest on his laurels.
'I’ve waited so long to win the Masters and all of a sudden I win two in a row. So I still want to enjoy it. I’ve got a couple of weeks off before I go back to playing competitive golf but I don’t think I’ll go through that lull of motivation or the sort of things that I was feeling last year post winning this tournament.'
Rory McIlroy targets even loftier goals after winning back-to-back Masters titles
Rory McIlroy holds nerve to be the Master again as rivals succumb to tension
It was fitting, in a sense, that no one gave the Celtics a chance entering Sunday’s regular-season finale.
That’s how it was as soon as Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles. That’s how it was to start the season. That’s how it was after their 8-8 start. But each time, the Celtics simply shrugged their shoulders, ignored the critics and kept on hooping.
When they trotted out a starting five of Ron Harper Jr., Max Shulga, Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh and Luka Garza, some naively assumed the Magic would cruise to a stress-free victory. But those who have watched this team exceed expectations all season had a hunch that it would be anything from a cakewalk for Orlando.
The Celtics showed promise early, fell behind at halftime, surged ahead with a marvelous third quarter, then withstood a late Magic run to earn a 113-108 victory that encapsulated what has made this regular season so remarkable.
Here are 10 takeaways:
Let’s start with the end. Garza hit arguably the most preposterous shot of the season, drilling a gutsy go-ahead 3 with a hand in his face and 31.7 seconds remaining.
With 21 seconds on the shot clock, Garza didn’t have to shoot it. Given the two-for-one opportunity, and the fact that he was feeling it, he decided to let it fly. The shot was a no-doubter, as it descended through the net with ease and vaulted the Celtics ahead.
Garza finished with 27 points and 12 boards in perhaps the best game of his career to this point. Against a team with limitless size, Garza helped the Celtics hold their own on the boards.
Scheierman was also electric, racking up 30 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in a true masterpiece of a performance. Surprisingly, he never even scored 30 in college, so this one gets two major thumbs-up.
It’s a great reminder that NBA players are more than capable of producing at a high level when given a total green light and ample playing time. But not everyone can do it like Scheierman, who hit some wild contested 3’s and also found his teammates for easy 2’s.
He’s gained confidence throughout the season, and this could take it to another level in the postseason.
Harper Jr. has been a pleasant surprise this season, and he, too, turned in his best game yet Sunday night. He set the tone early and gave the Celtics even more belief that they could really win it.
He isn’t good for a young guy, good for a reserve or good for an undrafted player. He’s just straight up good and should be in the rotation for years to come.
The Celtics went 17 of 17 from the free-throw line in the first half to stay within striking distance, down 61-52. It was their most makes in a first half since 2023, and they finished 22 of 22 for the game.
Don’t sleep on Walsh’s free throws in the final seconds to seal it. That’s a pressure-packed moment for a player who used to be very in his own head and is no only somewhat in his own head. Walsh looked calm and knocked them down with ease.
It would have been easy for the Celtics to lose this game because they lost the rebounding battle. While they ultimately did lose it, 50-46, a four-board differential is a win for Boston in this case.
Orlando’s size is its best asset, and the Celtics didn’t let the Magic bully or intimidate them. Garza was a catalyst in that realm, as usual, but Walsh, Scheierman and Harper Jr. also contributed.
Remember Banton? Well, he’s back, and he’s the same long, rangy athlete who made his mark in Boston before. Banton is a fun player because he naturally pushes the pace just because of how he’s built and wired.
He doesn’t corral the rebound, think about what he’s having for dinner, glance up at the Jumbotron and go. He just gets it and goes. That sort of pace is contagious, and for a team that ranks last in pace (it’s a good thing; don’t get me wrong), this was a refreshing change of pace, so to speak.
He also had four blocks and remains a crazy leaper.
John Tonje also made his presence felt with 13 points and four rebounds in 30 minutes. Tonje had some impressive hustle plays, has a nose for the ball and is a capable shooter and playmaker.
He won’t crack the playoff rotation, but this was a promising audition to boost his long-term chances of remaining on the roster.
The Magic are a good basketball team, but in order to take the next step, they need to address their 3-point shooting. Desmond Bane helps, and Jalen Suggs was a bright spot Sunday, but they shot 28 percent as a team from distance on the night.
Whenever the Celtics and Magic play, regardless of who’s on the floor, the gap in shooting is obvious. The Celtics did the right thing by daring Orlando players not named Suggs or Bane to shoot. The Magic can wear you down with their physicality and toughness, but the Celtics can match that physicality and toughness and also burn you from deep.
With the loss, the Magic fell to No. 8 in the East and could very well see the Celtics again in the first round. All they have to do is beat the 76ers, but even without Joel Embiid, that’s no easy task.
Professional athletes have a knack for putting their shortcomings behind them, but the Magic may second-guess themselves heading into a potential rematch. If they can’t beat the Scheierman-Harper Jr.-Garza Celtics (no disrespect to three Boston icons), how can they beat the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown-Derrick White and more Celtics? Time will tell, but it’s advantage Boston until further notice.
Jim Edmonds, the Director of Celtics Basketball for 45 years, is retiring.
NBC Sports Boston honored Edmonds – a TV professional for 67 years who chronicled five NBA championships and won 16 Emmy Awards – throughout Sunday’s broadcast. Edmonds downplayed his role and tried to deflect the attention, even while Drew Carter and Brian Scalabrine sung his praises.
“I try to put them in a position to succeed,” Edmonds said.
He’s done exactly that for almost half a century, shining as behind-the-scenes glue for a powerhouse crew.
Mike Gorman even returned to the Garden to give Edmonds a proper farewell.
“I enjoyed every second of the 45 years I worked with Jim,” Gorman said.
Legendary NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle once floated his dream of an uber-balanced league where every team finished 8-8, a combination not totally outlandish given the abbreviated nature of the schedule.
In Major League Baseball, 30 teams finishing 81-81 is, of course, a near-mathematical impossibility, although the 2026 season is already trending that way.
Save for one team. Guess who?
The Los Angeles Dodgers may already be lapping the field just 15 games into the season.
At 11-4, they're every bit the super team folks envisioned once the two-time champions added $60 million outfielder Kyle Tucker to the mix, winning at a .786 clip while leading the big leagues in home runs and OPS.
Yet it's the performance of everyone else that truly makes the Dodgers seem a cut above.
Twenty-six of 30 teams are within 3 ½ games of each other, a massive logjam of teams between 9-6 and 6-10, with only the Dodgers and 10-6 San Diego Padres and the Chicago White Sox (5-10) resembling outliers of any sort.
Will the glut of so-so teams break up eventually, and the standings gain greater definition? Perhaps. For now, though, there's little surprise at the top of USA TODAY Sports' power rankings.
A look at our updated rankings:
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB power rankings: Dodgers top NL West standings with hot start
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rockets fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
This week’s question asked about the teams in Houston’s playoff tier — the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers — and which one Rockets fans would least like to play. Here are your results:
As you can see, two-thirds of Rockets fans picked the Denver Nuggets, and I agree that they are the worst first-round matchup for Houston. The Rockets instead drew the Los Angeles Lakers in round one, but they could still meet one of the other teams in later rounds.
According to our friends at FanDuel, the Rockets are the favorites versus L.A., opening up at a -220 in odds against the Lakers in Game 1, meaning you have to wager $220 to win 100. The Rockets are -900 to advance to the Western Conference Semis and a +6000 to make the NBA Finals.
Thanks for voting, we’ll be back soon with more Reacts!
MLB.com | Nathan Maciborski: With young starter Cam Schlittler taking the mound on Sunday for the Yankees, MLB.com posted an article from this month’s Yankees Magazine featuring the right-hander, who has emerged as one of the game’s best young starters since making his debut last summer. While Schlittler’s Massachusetts upbringing and larger-than-life personality have been the subject of much discussion since last October’s Game 3 victory over the Red Sox in the Wild Card series, Maciborski’s profile focuses on the story of the offseason and Schlittler’s reaction to being thrust into the limelight.
New York Post | Greg Joyce: Shortstop Anthony Volpe, who has been on the injured list to start the season after undergoing elbow surgery last fall, will be meeting with team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad later today. If all goes well, he may begin a rehab assignment as soon as tomorrow, in which he will test out changes to his swing designed to “keep…it on plane for a lot longer,” all in the hopes of recovering some of the offensive pop that made him one of the league’s top prospects before he made his Major League debut in 2023.
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Speaking to reporters after yesterday’s game, Yankees captain/superman Aaron Judge reiterated a belief that the lineup is currently pressing, with Bryan Hoch summarizing his comments by saying that “[Judge] sees each spot occupied by someone trying to be a hero.” It’s a cliche, of course, but it’s hard to disagree with the sentiment when the Yankees struggled to generate traffic on the basepaths all weekend, as they suffered their first three-game sweep at the hands of the Rays since 2021.
FOX Sports: The big story in the Yankees Universe the last few days has, of course, been the team’s five-game losing streak that erased most of the good will of the team’s 8-2 start to the season. One person who isn’t overly concerned, however, is former Marlins left-hander Dontrelle Willis. Ranking his top five teams in baseball right now, he places the Yankees second behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers, remains high on a rotation that has looked like the league’s best and believes that the offense will come around in time.
MLB.com | Daniel Kramer: Over the weekend, the Seattle Mariners unveiled a statue of Hall of Fame outfielder Ichiro Suzuki outside their stadium — an honor that quickly turned into a disaster as the statue’s bat broke during its unveiling. How, then, might this be considered Yankees news, because even though Ichiro did play for the Yankees, this is a Mariners statue, not a Yankees one? Well, taking the broken bat in stride, Ichiro decided to make a joke, saying, “I didn’t think Mariano would come out here and break the bat.”
The Pittsburgh Pirates made some big moves in the offseason and one of them was signing veteran Marcell Ozuna to a one-year 12 million contract. The $deal seemed like a really good idea when it happened because of how much Pittsburgh needed a guy with power but the righty has struggled so far this season.
Through the start of the season, Ozuna has a .070 batting average and just three hits. He also has zero home runs and zero RBIs and has an on base percentage of .165 and he has struck out 12 times. The 35 year old has even gotten booed by the home crowd at PNC Park because of his slow start.
I am all for giving people time and being patient but what is making this really frustrating is that Pittsburgh had a guy in Andrew McCutchen who could’ve been their DH if they just signed him to a cheap, one-year deal.
McCutchen was a free agent and the Bucs decided not to re-sign the fan favorite player. Instead, the 39-year-old signed a Minor League contract with the Texas Rangers. Where he has played pretty well through the season’s start, certainly better than Ozuna.
The former Pirate has 9 hits, 1 home run, and 7 RBIs early in the season. He also has a .429 batting average with 3 doubles. His strong performance is bringing up the burning question. Why didn’t Pittsburgh re-sign Andrew McCutchen ?
I understand that McCutchen is nearly 40 years old nd he wouldn’t be able to play everyday but they could’ve signed him for a whole lot cheaper and they would’ve gotten someone who would actually be producing on the field. With Ozuna at DH it slows the team down and it limits how flexible manager Don Kelly can be with the lineup.
It’s frustrating watching a Pirates great play well in Texas when Pittsburgh could’ve easily just signed him. McCutchen had a .239 batting average with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs last season, which is solid. The Buccos don’t even need Cutch to be an everyday DH, with players like Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’hearn and even Spencer Horowitz being capable of filling that role.
I know it’s early in the season, but I believe the Bucs made a mistake with signing Ozuna. It would’ve been nice to see McCutchen as the DH and be able to retire as a Pirate instead of watching Ozuna struggle.
Comment if you think the Pirates made a mistake signing Ozuna over McCutchen as the DH.
BOSTON — Baylor Scheierman didn’t know what to expect entering Sunday night’s regular-season finale. The Boston Celtics, down eight players, rolled out a shorthanded rotation made up entirely of reserves against a fully healthy Orlando Magic team.
“We were even joking in the locker room coming out for layup lines, looking at each other like, ‘What do we got — six, seven people out here?’” Scheierman said after Boston’s 113-108 win.
When the starting lineups were introduced, Scheierman’s name was called last — a spot usually reserved for Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. When it came time to fight back from an 11-point deficit, Scheierman drained the equalizing 3-pointer in the third quarter to spark Boston’s turnaround rally.
The final week of the regular season was rewarding enough, as the Celtics clinched their playoff berth on Tuesday and then locked the No. 2 seed on Friday. But for Scheierman, who’s spent the entire season dealing with the uncertainty of rummaging for minutes off the bench, Sunday’s victory was especially gratifying.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Scheierman said. “Obviously, like I’ve talked about, I’ve got a lot of internal confidence in myself. And like I said in New York, I flipped the page to New Orleans. Then we played New Orleans on Friday, and when that game was done, I flipped the page to tonight, and that’s no different. You don’t really weigh too much on a single game, regardless of whether it goes good or bad.”
Scheierman tied his career high with 20 points at Madison Square Garden in Thursday night’s loss. Against the Magic, he took the driver’s seat, leading Boston’s reserve-heavy group. Scheierman set a new career high with 30 points, outplaying Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, and helped turn the tide at TD Garden. Fans went from heading for the exits early to rallying around the shorthanded eight-man crew as it fought back and delivered one of the most inspiring performances of the season.
“I’m super proud of myself,” Scheierman added.
Instead of sitting in the corner waiting for catch-and-shoot feeds, Scheierman created his own scoring opportunities at will.
During his 14-point run in the third quarter, Scheierman pulled up seven times off the dribble. He capped off his red-hot bout with a 30-foot 3-pointer over 6-foot-11 Goga Bitadze, giving the Celtics an 86-77 lead. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, too, noticed Scheierman’s confidence coming to life and taking over.
“I think in the middle of the third quarter, we went on a little bit of a run, he took a tough shot a couple of steps over half court,” Mazzulla said. “And you want him to have that confidence, but he knew right away, like, ‘OK, I’ve got to read the game now. We’re in a different position.’ Then he just learns defense, situational basketball, but at the end of the day, he’s a huge competitor. And you kind of saw that tonight.”
Before the game, Mazzulla discussed how the entire locker room — starters, bench players, returning players, and newcomers — has impacted winning. Without Tatum, the Celtics won 41 of their first 62 games. Without Brown, they went 9-2. The secret behind their success boils down to their identity and core principles, both of which are instilled in everyone from the top down. The bar doesn’t change because the team is shorthanded, even when the roster is down to its last eight going up against Orlando’s best 10.
Boston has equipped everyone to succeed, including Scheierman. Scoring aside, his energy was infectious. It was felt by his teammates, the starters watching from the bench in street clothes, and those in attendance. That’s a byproduct of the culture the Celtics have built.
“I think today is the perfect example of the locker room,” Mazzulla explained, “and the group of guys that we have, and how important it is that everybody knows that if you’re on the floor, you’re expected to play a certain way to put us in position to win.”
No matter how difficult Orlando made it for Boston’s reserves, they never gave in. In the first quarter, Mazzulla played everyone available. The Celtics shot 26.1 percent from the field (6/23) and 25 percent from three (4/16). Many of their attempts appeared rushed and forced by the pressure of Orlando’s defense. Boston struggled to attack the basket, and Mazzulla didn’t wait around to shake up the rotation.
But as the game wore on, the team’s comfort grew. Scheierman recorded five second-half assists, finding teammates cutting to the basket like his old high school quarterback self, and attacking Orlando off the dribble to create kick-out looks from three.
Joining Scheierman, Luka Garza (27), Ron Harper Jr. (27), and John Tonje (13) also set new career highs in points.
“We’re proud of the effort we put out there,” he said. “I think going into the game, we’re expected to go out there and compete and win the game. I know going into the game that was our expectation, and we’re excited that we won, and honestly, just getting ready for the playoffs now.”
It hasn’t been easy for Scheierman this season. Without a clear role, players in his position often struggle with the inconsistency of not playing each night. But the system this season’s Celtics have built makes it so everyone can contribute. Sometimes it’s Scheierman, other times it’s not. What remains constant is the team’s commitment to winning, regardless of who’s on the floor and who isn’t.
That won’t change.
“There’s no separation in the locker room, regardless of what went on in the preseason and even the rough start we got off to, the 0-3 start,” Scheierman said. “There was no separation. We stayed together, and that’s kind of how it was through the ups and downs of the whole year, and I think that’s the biggest takeaway that I have.”
Nikola Jokic scored 23 points in a first-half appearance as the Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs 128-118 to claim third seed in the Western Conference on the final day of the regular NBA season.
Denver's victory meant the Los Angeles Lakers finished as fourth seed in the Western Conference for the NBA play-offs, which begin this weekend.
The Lakers, who were missing their top scorers Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves through injury, defeated Utah Jazz 131-107.
Veteran Lakers star LeBron James, 41, impressed with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds in the first half.
Denver will host sixth seed the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the play-offs, while the Lakers welcome the Houston Rockets, who are seeded fifth.
Three-time Most Valuable Player Jokic, 31, who also registered eight rebounds, played just over 18 minutes in Texas to reach 65 games and become eligible for the league's season-ending awards.
Denver's Julian Strawther scored 25 points and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
De'Aaron Fox led the Spurs with 24 points while MVP contender Victor Wembanyama was rested following his 40-point performance in the 139-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.
Second seed San Antonio, who secured their play-off spot against the Mavericks, will host the winner of the in-play tournament game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns in the first round.
The in-play tournament is a round-robin competition which follows the regular season, where eight teams compete to establish the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference.
Oklahoma City Thunder, who are defending NBA champions and top seed in the West, plus Eastern Conference first and second seeds the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics, will find out their first-round opponents once the in-play tournament finishes on Friday.
Is it possible that the most fun game of the regular season is the finale when seven — SEVEN — rotation players are unavailable and there’s nothing to play for?
Yes. Yes, it is.
Baylor Scheierman led all scorers with 30 points with Ron Harper Jr. and Luka Garza having career games with 27 to beat the Orlando Magic 113-108. The stakes of this game could not have been more different. For Orlando, a win could have made them the #6 seed and playing at Madison Square Garden next weekend. For Boston, it was a matter of expressing how fundamentally sound the entire franchise is from the Jays to the young players trying to grind it out in Maine.
In the end, Celtics Pride prevailed.
Boston will enter the postseason as the #2 seed, but they’ll have to wait to see how the Play-In Tournament plays out next week; the 76ers will now host these Magic in the 7/8 game on Wednesday April 15th. The Celtics will host the winner on Sunday, April 19th at 1 pm EST.
Boston’s championship odds have remained steady all month with our friends at FanDuel and are +550 to raise Banner 19 and the favorite to rep the Eastern Conference in the 2026 NBA Finals.
39 minutes, 30 points (6-14 from 3, 8-8 from the free throw line, 8-20 from the field), 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, one block, +15
Mazzulla handed the keys to Scheierman and Scheierman went full Ferris Bueller in the regular season finale.
Our player grades are normally objective and based on a fuzzy formula of what’s expected of a player versus how they perform in the game. Yes, Baylor filled the box score with a near triple-double, but just on vibes alone, his impact on the game was off the charts. The kid has a flare for the dramatic and backs it up with business up front but certainly party in the back.
Grade: A+
33 minutes, 9 points (1-6 from 3, 4-4 from the free throw line, 2-9 from the field), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, one steal, one block, -14
There’s still a chance that the Celtics are going to face the Magic in Round 1 and Game #82 gave Jordan Walsh some up close intel about what it’s going to take to defend Paolo Banchero. Brown and Tatum would most likely get the bulk of minutes defending Orlando’s offensive engine, Walsh will get his reps, too.
Walsh had trouble with Banchero’s size — everybody does — and his best bet might to lean into a more irritant strategy rather than bodying him up.
Grade: B-
38 minutes, 27 points (3-6 from 3, 4-4 from the free throw line, 10-18 from the field), 12 rebounds, one assist, 2 turnovers, +13
Mazzulla used the end of the regular season to knock the rust off of Nikola Vucevic in favor of using Luka as the first big off the bench. That wasn’t a knock on Garza’s game. In fact, it could be considered a vote of confidence.
Luka’s box score numbers may fluctuate, but his effort and hustle don’t. It’s not just his stick-to-itiveness. He’s a savvy screener with his quick hip flips who can read on-ball and off-ball situations on the fly.
We just didn’t know he had fadeaway three-pointers in his repertoire:
Grade: A+
37 minutes, 27 points (5-12 from 3, 2-2 from the free throw line, 10-20 from the field), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers +7
So yeah, RHJ is going to be on the big club next season. The birthday boy doesn’t have the size and strength to be a playmaker, but he’s a natural scorer that can play next to Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Payton Pritchard, and Derrick White.
Grade: A+
18 minutes, 3 points (1-3 from 3, 1-4 from the field), 3 rebounds, one steal, one turnover, +8
The point guard was a steady quarterback for Maine’s offense. He averaged 15.7 points while shooting 40% from 3 with nearly seven assists a night. That didn’t exactly translate in this one-game audition.
Grade: B-
36 minutes, 2 points (0-1 from 3, 2-2 from the free throw line, 0-3 from the field) 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 turnovers, one steal, 4 blocks, +3
Per Spotrac, Banton’s one-day regular season contract is worth around $28K, a nice paycheck for a single game’s work. He’ll now be with the Celtics throughout the postseason as their 15th man. Despite being traded in 2024 to Portland, he did earn a ring from the team and is now in-line for another.
Grade: B-
10 minutes, 2 points (1-1 from the field), one rebound, one assist, one turnover, -8
There’s a world where Williams enters next season as a project big as the third option or the Celtics bring back Garza, Queta, and Vucevic for another run. We’ve seen enough flashes from him to know that he could be a serviceable front court player in the future.
Grade: C
30 minutes, 13 points (3-8 from 3, 2-2 from the free throw line, 4-12 from the field), 4 rebounds, one assist, one steal, +1
Tonje was kind of a throw-in when Stevens salary-dumped Chris Boucher to the Jazz, but you can see what Danny Ainge saw in him and signed him to a two-way contract.
Grade: B+
Inactives: Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta, Sam Hauser, Hugo Gonzalez, Nikola Vucevic
De Zerbi looks past Simons, Arsenal fans are not helping their team and Ngumoha can give PSG something to think about
Football is such that, when you’re down, there’s a good chance the game boots you in the solar plexus, and that’s exactly what happened to Tottenham at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland’s winner coming by way of a deflection. But you can also take steps to help yourself and, though Roberto De Zerbi’s midfield setup made some sense – he picked three hard-runners in order to compete with Sunderland’s physicality – even pre-match, it wasn’t clear who would create their chances. It’s true that Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Mohammed Kudus are out injured, but in that context, it is surely even more important a place in the XI, whether in midfield or out wide, be found for Xavi Simons, left on the sidelines until the 85th minute. Simons is not perfect, but of the players De Zerbi has available he is the only one with the imagination and technique to make things happen. He may lack physicality, but what Spurs need more than anything is quality. Daniel Harris
Match report: Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham
Match report: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth
Match report: Chelsea 0-3 Manchester City
City improve in good weather, says Guardiola
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Let me preface this by saying it’s unlikely that the Golden State Warriors win both of their potential play-in games this upcoming week. They’ll be underdogs for Wednesday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, unless the NBA finishes their investigation and orders Kawhi Leonard to plant trees during the 9-10 game.
Should they get past Team Aspiration, they’ll be underdogs against the loser of the Phoenix Suns-Portland Trail Blazers 7-8 game Friday, AKA the “Cliff Robinson Bowl.” Would it be satisfying to beat Dillon Brooks in a postseason game again or make Damian Lillard watch the Warriors celebrate again? Obviously, but a Warriors team that’s gone 5-15 after Cinco De Mayo isn’t scaring anyone. Both those games (if necessary) will be broadcast on Prime Video, which we all know as the home of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
But if the Warriors pull off two road wins against their healthier, taller, younger, cooler, more talented opponents Wednesday and Friday, then their reward will be a matchup with the defending champions at 12:30 on Sunday, April 19. The tired Warriors will face 18,203 screaming fans still furious about Kevin Durant’s free agency a decade ago and that Chick-fil-A is closed.
The prime-time matchups are about the NBA’s past, and its future. Saturday’s 5:30 game on ABC features 41-year-old LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers facing 37-year-old Durant and the Houston Rockets. Sunday’s prime-time game at 6:00 on NBC will have 22-year-old Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs facing the Suns-Blazers winner.
So mark your calendars for Sunday, but maybe write it in pencil. And if you have to go a T-ball game, church service, champagne brunch, craft fair, or 4/20 pre-party, the Warriors will understand. After all, they might already be in Cancun.
