Find something you love as much as the Boston Celtics love shooting 3-pointers.
The Celtics’ affinity for the long ball under Joe Mazzulla is well-documented; they ranked second in the NBA in made 3-pointers (behind the Golden State Warriors) during the 2022-23 season, then led the league in threes made in 2023-24 en route to an NBA title.
But Boston’s beyond-the-arc barrage reached new heights this season.
Exhibit A: Isaiah Thomas had held the Celtics’ single-season 3-point record (245 made) since 2016-17, but this season, three different C’s players — Derrick White, Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard — surpassed that mark, with White breaking Thomas’ record with seven games to spare.
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That’s just the tip of the 3-point iceberg for Boston, which just wrapped up the best 3-point shooting season in NBA history en route to a 61-21 record and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Here’s the very long list of NBA records the C’s set or tied during the 2024-25 regular season, courtesy of Celtics stats guru Dick Lipe:
Team Records (Season)
Most 3-Pointers Made, Season: 1,457
Most 3-Point Attempts, Season: 3,955
Most 3-Pointers Made Per Game: 17.8
Most 3-Point Attempts Per Game: 48.2
Most 3-Pointers Made at Home: 741
Most 3-Pointers Made on Road: 716
Highest 3-Point Rate, Season: 53.8 percent
Pct. of Points from 3, Season: 45.8 percent
Most Games with 20+ 3-Pointers, Season: 26
Most 3-Pointers Made, 1st Quarter: 422
Most 3-Pointers/Game, 1st Quarter: 5.1
Team Records (Single Game)
Most 3-Pointers Made, Game: 29 (Oct. 22 vs. Knicks; tied with 2020-21 Bucks)
Most 3-Point Attempts, Game (non-OT): 63 (March 12 vs. Thunder; tied with 2023-24 Thunder)
Most 3-Pointers Made by Starters, Game: 26 (Oct. 22 vs. Knicks)
Player Records
Most 3-Pointers Off Bench, Player: 246 (Payton Pritchard)
Will the Celtics’ avalanche of 3-pointers result in more postseason success? We’ll start finding out next weekend when they begin their first-round playoff series against either the Orlando Magic or Atlanta Hawks.
Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
Tyler Toffoli will need one more stop to match an NHL record.
Toffoli scored his 30th goal of the season on Sunday night, in the Sharks’ 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames.
It was the fourth different team where the veteran sniper has reached that milestone: The Los Angeles Kings in 2015-16, the Flames in 2022-23, the Winnipeg Jets last year, and now, the Sharks.
Toffoli's 3rd-straight 30-goal season!
What's remarkable about that, the 32-year-old has had 4 30-goal seasons, the first one at 23 years old, the last three in his 30's
When we sing Toffoli’s praises, of course, it’s not just about the scoring.
“He’s been outstanding for our group. The goal-scoring is one thing, but what he does for our dressing room as a leader, helping these young players,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Toffoli. “As much as Toff wants to score, he wants to win, and that’s what we need around here. We need guys that want to win and love to win more than they hate to lose. And that’s what Toff is all about.”
An alternate captain and a 2014 Stanley Cup champion, Toffoli has been a big brother to teen Sharks Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, a guy who connects everybody in the locker room, and a good example of winning.
The Phoenix Suns are once again looking for a new head coach.
Mike Budenholzer was fired on Monday following a 36-46 season in which the Suns finished 11th in the Western Conference, missing the Play-In Tournament by three games.
“Competing at the highest level remains our goal, and we failed to meet expectations this season,” the Suns’ statement read. “Our fans deserve better. Change is needed.”
This is the third straight year that the Suns have fired their head coach, with Monty Williams canned in 2023 and Frank Vogel let go in 2024. Phoenix won 45 games in 2022-23, then 49 games in 2023-24 before regressing this season to 36.
Budenholzer’s team was third-worst on defense in the NBA and went just 10-18 after the All-Star break as the squad plummeted out of contention.
The Suns have one of the most expensive rosters in the NBA, led by a trio of stars in Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal. The experiment of adding Durant and Beal hasn’t worked out for new owner Mat Ishbia, as the team has gone downhill since losing in the 2021 NBA Finals — ironically to Budenholzer’s Milwaukee Bucks.
Booker, Durant and Beal — who make more than $50 million each annually — are all under contract for next season. Other players on the books include Cody Martin, Nick Richards, Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro.
Fabian Lysell has played much better of late for the Boston Bruins, and his hard work was finally rewarded Sunday afternoon when he scored his first career NHL goal in a 4-1 road win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Bruins right wing found himself all alone in front of the net during a second-period power play when he took a pass from Pavel Zacha and beat Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry to give Boston a 2-0 lead.
Lysell made his NHL debut back on Dec. 28 but didn’t play another game for the Bruins until he was called up in March. He’s now played 11 games for the Bruins this season and has two points in his last three games, in addition to seven shots on net over the last two matchups.
“I think it means a lot for a guy like him,” interim head coach Joe Sacco told reporters in Pittsburgh on Sunday. “He sees himself as a little bit more of an offensive player, and when you’re in that position, you want to produce offensively.
“Especially getting your first one in the National Hockey League, it’s always a weight lifted off your shoulders. I think it’s been 11 games. Good on him. He’s doing some good things with the puck at times offensively. He’s attacking through the neutral zone, he’s attacking in the offensive zone. There are some things to like in his game, that’s for sure.”
Sometimes it takes time for young players to acclimate to the speed and physicality of the NHL game. Lysell failed to make much of an impact early in this recent call up, but he has looked much more comfortable of late and has really been using his speed to put pressure on opposing defensemen, draw penalties and create good looks at the net for himself and teammates.
Since making his return to the Bruins lineup on March 22 against the San Jose Sharks, Lysell ranks second on the Bruins at 5-on-5 in shots (20), third in shot attempts (35) and fifth in scoring chances (16), per Natural Stat Trick. He has been credited with just two turnovers during that span at 5-on-5, too, a sign that he’s improved his puck protection and is consistently making the right reads.
Even though the Bruins’ season ends Tuesday with a matchup versus the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden, Lysell will get more reps with the Providence Bruins in the AHL playoffs later this month. It’s a great opportunity for him to play in some high-pressure situations.
Lysell is arguably the Bruins’ top prospect right now. He was a 2021 first-round pick, and he has an impressive offensive skill set including an excellent shot, great speed and above-average playmaking ability. It hasn’t been easy for Lysell to crack the lineup since he was drafted, but more opportunity was created for him as a result of the Bruins dismantling their roster at the trade deadline in early March.
The Bruins are about to embark on a summer retool, and they need young players such as Lysell, Fraser Minten, Casey Mittelstadt, Matt Poitras and Mason Lohrei, among others, to play a meaningful role in that process. It’s time for the B’s to start building the next generation.
Lysell still needs to be a little more consistent, but the last few games have no doubt been encouraging. It’s something to build on for the 22-year-old forward as he enters an important offseason. One of the best-case scenarios for the Bruins going into 2025-26 would be Lysell showing he belongs in Boston on a permanent basis.
Programming Note: Tune into “Warriors Pregame Live” at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday on NBC Sports Bay Area before the Warriors and Grizzlies tip-off. Immediately after the final buzzer, tune back in for “Warriors Postgame Live.”
The Warriors lost three of their final five games to fall out of the NBA playoffs at the end of the regular season. All three were home at Chase Center. Golden State fell to the play-in tournament as the No. 7 seed, a place the Warriors have found themselves in three times and lost each time.
For a team who houses the greatest 3-point shooter ever, three isn’t always their friend. They have to hope four brings a new fate.
When the Warriors face the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night they already will have played them four times this season, and are 3-1. See, three isn’t all that bad. But for the Warriors to get to a fourth win against the Grizzlies this season, and their first in four play-in tournament games, these four aspects will be key.
Play-In Stars
The stats don’t count. They don’t exist. The games still happened, and history can’t be fully ignored.
Steph Curry is 0-3 in the play-in tournament, to almost no fault of his own. In his first crack at the new format in 2021, Curry scored 76 points and made 12 threes combined between the Warriors’ two losses. He dropped 37 points in a three-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and then 39 while losing to the Grizzlies in overtime by five points.
In his third try, Curry scored a team-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting last season and made three of his seven 3-point attempts as the Warriors were embarrassed by their Northern California counterparts, the Sacramento Kings.
Jimmy Butler’s history with the play-in tournament is a bit different. Like Curry, Butler lost his first play-in game. He scored 21 points in an 11-point loss as the No. 7 seed against the No. 8 seed Atlanta Hawks in 2023 with nine assists, four rebounds and two steals. Butler went a lowly 6 of 19 from the field in that loss, going 9 of 11 on free throws. He then put up 31 points against the Chicago Bulls the next game to advance, and averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists in the next three series of the playoffs to lead the eighth-seeded Heat to the NBA Finals.
This past season, Butler played 40 minutes in the Heat’s one-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in the play-in tournament, scoring 19 points, with four rebounds, five assists and five steals. But he sustained a sprained right MCL in the first quarter, playing through the pain, but then missing the rest of the postseason for Miami.
Just go back 14 days when Curry scored 52 points on the Grizzlies and made 12 threes. Curry had his co-star. Butler scored 27 points in the Warriors’ win on 7-of-11 shooting and was a perfect 12 of 12 on free throws, adding six rebounds, four assists and three steals for fun. It’s true that Curry scored a team-high 36 points against the LA Clippers on Sunday, but Butler (30 points, nine assists, 12-of-20 shooting, plus-five) was the Warriors’ best player.
Golden State’s outcome starts and ends with them.
JJJ Foul Trouble
Draymond Green couldn’t have expected a fifth game against the Grizzlies. In a moment where Green let his guard down, he played big brother for his fellow Michigan State Spartan when, after the Warriors’ win in Memphis on April 1, the 35-year-old, who doesn’t mince his words, said “he’s too good to still be getting foul trouble.” Green was talking about Jaren Jackson Jr.
The 2022-23 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The Warriors have a history baiting Jackson into foul trouble and out of games. Green is a big part of that history. Butler added to the storyline in his first game against the Grizzlies in a Warriors jersey.
With the Warriors up 123-122 after two free throws from Butler, and only two minutes on the clock, he baited Jackson into a shooting foul the next time down. Jackson’s day was done with 22 points and seven rebounds, but also six fouls. Butler made both free throws and from that point on, the Warriors outscored the Grizzlies 11-3 to close out their win.
Jackson is a game-changer, including how his fouls affect his team. He fouled out in five games and the Grizzlies lost four. The win was a score of 151-148 in overtime against the Phoenix Suns, and Jackson scored 28 points on a night he shot 13 times and missed just twice. He also accumulated five fouls in 19 games.
The Grizzlies won six and lost 13. Jackson’s availability is his best ability against the Warriors.
The Glass
Ivica Zubac grabbed 17 rebounds in the Warriors’ wild overtime loss to end the regular season, giving him three games with at least 17 rebounds in his four this season against Golden State. He had 11 in the other one. Grizzlies rookie center Zach Edey, who stands four inches taller than the 7-foot Zubac, came away with 16 rebounds against the Warriors two weeks ago.
But the Warriors still won the rebound battle that day by six, 49-43. On Sunday in their loss to LA, Zubac and the rest of the Clippers finished with 17 more rebounds than them. The Warriors only had 25 rebounds in total, their lowest of the season. Prior to the regular-season finale, their season-low was 29, which actually came in an eight-point win against the Grizzlies on Jan. 4.
That also was a game where the Warriors were without Curry and still made 23 threes. The Grizzlies made nine. The Warriors have only averaged 15 threes per game since Butler’s arrival, and never have made 23 in a game with him. In their five games against the Grizzlies, the Warriors have shot 42 percent from deep, and rebounds only will give them more opportunities.
The Grizzlies are the No. 2 rebounding team in the NBA, averaging 47.3 per game. They’ve averaged 50 in their four games with the Warriors. The Warriors have averaged 42.5 in those four games, and are the No. 7 rebounding team in the league with 45.4 per game.
They’re now 14-18 when their opponent out-rebounds them, and the Warriors are 32-17 in games they out-rebound the other team. The Warriors have averaged 51.8 rebounds in 31 games after adding Butler, and in those games allowed an average of 50.1 rebounds. The glass is an area the Warriors have to win, or at least keep a close contest.
Bench Battle
Going into the last day of the regular season, the Warriors and Grizzlies were tied for the league lead in bench points per game, averaging 44 from their reserves. The San Antonio Spurs wound up leaping them as the NBA’s leaders at 44.1 points per game from the bench. The Grizzlies ended in second place (43.9), and the Warriors were third (43.6).
Below is how each Warriors-Grizzlies game ended this season in regard to bench points.
April 1: Grizzlies 33, Warriors 24; Warriors win 134-125
Now for some context to paint a clearer picture.
Jake LaRavia was traded from Memphis to the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 6. He scored 43 points off the bench against the Warriors with the Grizzlies, including 19 in their second contest and 17 in their third. Marcus Smart played just 19 games for the Grizzlies, but one of them was their first game against Golden State when he scored nine bench points.
Desmond Bane (18 points) and Edey (14 points) both came off the bench for the Grizzlies on Nov. 15. Moses Moody (14 points) and Brandin Podziemski (11 points) did for the Warriors. Podziemski was a bench player on Dec. 19, and scored 21 points. Kyle Anderson, now on the Miami Heat, scored 11 for the Warriors. Lindy Waters III, traded from the Warriors to the Detroit Pistons, had 16 points in the Warriors’ Jan. 4 win. And the Grizzlies were without Santi Aldama in that game.
Jonathan Kuminga was hurt in the Warriors’ last game against the Grizzlies, but if Sunday was any indication, he’ll be a non-factor after being a DNP-CD (Did Not Play, Coach’s Decision).
The Warriors and Grizzlies both went with a nine-man rotation in their most recent matchup. Stars like Curry, Butler and Ja Morant hold the most power in the final outcome. A better performance out of Aldama or Buddy Hield could be the nudge that puts their team over the edge.
Rory McIlroy reflected on having freed himself of a 'hard load to carry' after winning the Masters in dramatic fashion at Augusta. McIlroy’s defeat of Justin Rose on the first playoff hole means he is the sixth player to win a career grand slam. 'You've had Jack [Nicklaus], Gary [Player], Tom [Watson], Tiger [Woods] - you name it - come through here and all say I'll win the Masters one day,' McIlroy said. 'That's a hard load to carry, it really is.'
Among several excellent individual performances, it was Newcastle’s collective endeavour that was most impressive against Manchester United, the home side’s press rarely giving their opponents a chance to settle on the ball. As a result the visitors kept coughing it up in dangerous positions, and this was where the game was won. None of the home side’s goals involved them crossing the halfway line, and the amount of time they spent in possession in the buildup to each of them was, in order of them being scored, eight seconds (with four players touching the ball), nine seconds (also four players), five seconds (one player) and three seconds (two players). More than a fifth of their total ball recoveries, 12 of them in all, took place in their attacking third, four of which led to goals; the equivalent figures for the visitors were two, and 4.3%. Simon Burnton
This was the Avs’ season finale, and as they were locked into the third spot in the Central Division standings, they rested several of their impact players, including Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews.
The Ducks signed defenseman Ian Moore to an ELC on Saturday, and he made his NHL debut in this game. He was paired alongside Jacob Trouba, and Olen Zellweger served as a healthy scratch.
Ducks head coach Greg Cronin shuffled the lineup for this game, switching Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras on their respective lines.
Lukas Dostal got the start in this game for the Ducks and saved 20 of 23 shots.
Scott Wedgewood was in the Colorado crease and stopped 18 of 20.
“We started out poorly and we ended poorly,” Cronin said after the game. “To me, it’s extremely disappointing. I’ll leave it at that.”
Here are my notes from this game:
Rush Defense-Typically, when the Ducks have given up rush opportunities this season, it’s been a failure to pick up assignments despite getting back on the backcheck and beating trailers up ice.
That wasn’t the case in this game. They allowed two goals off rush chances and were beaten back up ice both times.
“Everything went off of turnovers,” Cronin said of what went wrong in the last ten minutes of the game. “It wasn’t like they stripped us. We had full possession of pucks.
“I don’t care what game it is during the season; you either play the right way, or you play the wrong way. We played the wrong way, and they took advantage of the turnovers and put them in the back of the net.”
On Colorado’s first, Pavel Mintyukov tried to make a backhand pass from the top of the zone to a low forward in the corner and was picked off, igniting a 4-on-3 that turned into a 4-on-2 the other way.
On Colorado’s third, Troy Terry and Mason McTavish were caught below the offensive goal line without possession. McTavish was the weak side forward who should have tracked back when the puck was sent up the opposite wall.
Ian Moore-Moore was able to showcase what could potentially evolve him into a quality modern defensive defenseman, specifically his skating. He has an explosive stride and elite four-way mobility that allow him to eliminate time and space as well as recover from broken plays.
His willingness to take control of the play in the offensive zone and walk the blueline confidently in search of a shooting or passing lane was on display and has been something missing from that aspect of the Ducks’ attack this season.
“I can’t really put it into words this quick,” Moore said after his first career NHL game. “It hasn’t sunk in. I was just trying to play simple out there, just trying to stick to the basics. It would have been nice to get the win, but it’s still a dream come true for me to play tonight.”
Trevor Zegras-For as long as Zegras is a member of the Ducks’ organization, it would appear he’s destined to be a winger. He is most effective when leading rushes and with the entire ice in front of him, so it’s imperative to manufacture ways to put himself in those positions.
Mitch Marner, Artemi Panarin, and Kirill Kaprizov have no issue getting to the middle of the ice in the defensive or neutral zones to build speed and drive play into the offensive zone. As an outlet, Zegras is too stationary and could stand to start his movements to open ice before outlet passes are made so he can make the next play with speed.
The Ducks will hit the road for their final two games of the season on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets, respectively.
The Colorado Avalanche found a way to end their regular season in style as they come back from a 2-0 deficit to win 4-2 against the Anaheim Ducks. They ended the second period without getting on the board until Wyatt Aamodt, Jack Drury, Charlie Coyle, and Erik Johnson put up a four-goal third period to complete the comeback.
Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves on 20 total shots.
A Showing for the Rookie
Wyatt Aamodt received the call-up to join the Avalanche on the road on Friday morning, along with Colorado Eagles' teammates Jack Ahcan and Jere Innala. Of those three players, Aamodt is the only one who hadn't played a single NHL game. He made his NHL debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Sunday's game against the Ducks was his second NHL game, and if it isn't one to remember...
Aamodt joined in on the rush with Martin Necas, receiving a drop pass and snapping it at the net. The puck ricochets off of Ducks' defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and past goaltender Lukas Dostal to get the Avalanche on the board. His first NHL point, and it comes in the form of a kickstarting goal for his team.
In 66 games with the Colorado Eagles this season, the 27-year-old undrafted defenseman has 3 goals and 13 assists.
What an End to the Regular Season
After Sunday's win, Colorado heads into the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 102 points. They are securely cemented into the 3rd place spot in the Central Division. On Saturday night, the playoff matchup for the first round was announced. The Avalanche will play the Dallas Stars.
Per a member of the Avalanche staff, the schedule for round one of the playoffs is set to be announced following the conclusion of the NHL regular season on Thursday, April 17th.
The Stars delivered a devastating exit to the Avalanche in the second round of the 2023-24 playoffs last year, with forward Matt Duchene scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime.
The rivalry seems to be an even bigger deal this year given that long-time forward for the Avalanche, Mikko Rantanen, now wears green on the other side of the ice. The Finland native spent 10 years with the Avalanche organization before he was dealt in a blockbuster trade to the Carolina Hurricanes, who flipped him again at the trade deadline to Dallas.
The Stars still have two games remaining but are firmly in the Central's second-place spot with the Winnipeg Jets having secured the President's Trophy on Sunday. They currently sit at 106 points on the season.
What's Next for the Avalanche?
Per Avalanche Media Relations, the Avalanche will not practice on Monday, April 14th. A schedule has not been released for the remaining week, but seeing as Colorado is the first NHL team to finish their regular season, this week will likely be one for the group to fine-tune skills in practice, but mostly to get the rest they need before playoffs officially begin on April 19th.
The Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2, winning
another do-or-die game and live to fight another day.
Here are my three takeaways from the game:
1) Sharks’ energy just fizzled out
You remember the last Sharks-Flames post-game takeaway where we talked about how San Jose came alive in the third period after a low-oomph
opening two periods?
Well, the opposite happened on Sunday: the Sharks came bursting
out of the gate with an Expected Goal value of 1.5, which was even more than
Calgary’s 0.7. That doesn’t matter though because the Flames led 2-1 at first
intermission.
However, going back to San Jose, the Sharks never reached
that level of passion of energy in the game again. They had an Expected Goal value of 1.32 combined for both second and third periods.
2)
Offense has been good in some ways, not in
others
The Flames scored five goals on an Expected Goal value of
3.78. That is 1.22 goals above expected.
Third-line wing Yegor Sharangovich’s two goals at an
Expected Goal value of 0.88 made him deserving of the First-Star award.
The power play situation has been the same, unfortunately. The
Flames went 0-for-2, and could’ve used the second power play opportunity to get
the go-ahead goal in the second period.
3)
Dustin Wolf
Wolf had a great game this time. With an Expected Goal
Against value of 2.81, he gave up only two. A save percentage of 93.3 looks
good on the stat sheet as well.
With the Flames getting two valuable points in regulation,
all eyes will be on Minnesota's (95 pts) and St. Louis' (94 pts) final regular season games against Anaheim and Utah respectively on Tuesday.
St. Louis CANNOT get a regulation win. If they do,
Calgary is out.
If the Blues lose, get an overtime loss (95 pts), or
overtime victory (96 pts), then Calgary has to beat or equal St. Louis in
whatever points they’ve put up. If they are equal in points, Calgary has to
make sure they have more than 31 regulation wins (most regulation wins is the
tie-breaker)
For Minnesota, it’s simple: win and you’re in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
If the Wild don't win, Calgary can try and catch up to overtake them in points.
Calgary’s next win-or-go-home contest will be against the
Vegas Golden Knights, also on Tuesday at 7 MT/9 ET from Calgary.
It took a few innings, but after a late start by the offense the Mets wound up pushing across eight runs on 11 hits to shut out the Athletics on Sunday and take the series in Sacramento.
Kodai Senga was superb over seven scoreless innings while New York got contributions up and down the lineup after managing just one run and five hits the day before.
Surprisingly, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso combined to go 0-for-7 while the biggest bat turned out to be Luis Torrens. Pegged to be the backup catcher this season after joining the Mets last year and used in a similar role, Torrens has been inserted to the starting job to begin the season with Francisco Alvarez on the IL.
Not known as the biggest offensive threat -- although he does have some pop -- Torrens has made the most out of his opportunity so far and had a 3-for-4 day with a double and two RBI to raise his batting average to .333 in 30 at-bats. The 28-year-old got off to a similarly hot start when New York called his number last season, too.
"His ability to use the whole field, especially with runners in scoring position," manager Carlos Mendoza said about what he likes the most out of Torrens' offense. "He’s not afraid to go the other way. He can impact the baseball and pull it when he wants to, but I think he’s just gonna give you a good at-bat overall.
"Knowing the situation, having the ability to slow the game down, but I think it’s just coming down to getting good pitches and thinking small and using the whole field."
Facing Luis Severino, who pitched for the Mets last season and who Torrens knew even before from their time in the Yankees organization, the veteran catcher had two hits and a walk against the right-hander, including an RBI single in the sixth inning that broke a scoreless tie.
So, did catching Severino help Torrens at the plate? After all, the rest of the Mets went 2-for-19 against him.
"Probably a little bit, but not much," Torrens said. "I know the type of competitor he is and that’s why in the box I just want to be ready for his fastball since that’s what he uses the most."
Regardless, Torrens is proving to be a valuable asset for New York, both at the plate and behind it.
It has not been a good start to the season for Baty who is now getting his fourth shot at sticking in the majors. However, making his first start at his natural position of third base on Sunday, the 25-year-old made two sparkling plays to start a double play in consecutive innings to help Senga maneuver out of early trouble.
While Baty's defense has never been a problem (he's even begun to look more comfortable at second base), his offense has left plenty to be desired. And after going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his first four at-bats, it appeared the youngster was on his way to yet another disappointing performance at the plate.
However, he managed to salvage his day with an RBI triple in the ninth inning -- his first career triple. The hit also gave Baty his first RBI of the season before coming around to score the game's final run and his first run scored in 2025.
"That’s what you want to see," Mendoza said. "You want him to have fun, to continue to play the game and continue to contribute to help us win games. That [double] play was huge… For him to get the triple, it’s just good to see him having some good results here. He’s a good player."
The San Jose Sharks lost their ninth straight game as the Calgary Flames won 5-2 on Sunday.
Thomas Bordeleau made his season debut for the Sharks and played on the third line in Cam Lund's spot, who was out with an illness.
The Flames got goals from MacKenzie Weegar, Adam Klapka, Matt Coronato, and Yegor Sharangovich, who scored twice. Dustin Wolf made 28 saves. Calgary needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Tyler Toffoli scored his 30th goal of the season, giving him 30 goals for the third consecutive season. Jan Rutta also scored for the Sharks, and Georgi Romanov made 25 saves.
Toffoli scored his 30th goal of the season by following up a rebound at 3:09 of the first period.
Miguel Rojas expresses frustration after flying out with runners on base to end a sixth-inning rally. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
It’s too early, the Dodgers say, to sound any alarm bells. Their lineup is too talented, they believe, for the narrative not to eventually turn.
But right now, the team’s biggest problem is not difficult to diagnose.
Their $400-million roster is not hitting, plain and simple.
And in a 4-2 defeat to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, it cost them a third straight series loss in the wake of their roaring 8-0 start to the season.
“I’m not overly concerned right now, given where we’re at on the calendar,” manager Dave Roberts said, reflecting the frustrated — but not panicked — mood of his team.
“I think we just haven’t gotten synced up offensively,” he added. “It’s gonna happen. It’s just in this last nine-, 10-game stretch, it just hasn’t.”
During the Dodgers’ unbeaten barrage to begin this year’s World Series title defense, their star-studded lineup was performing as expected — even if the team felt then it wasn’t quite clicking on all cylinders.
Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts set the tone at the top. Teoscar Hernández, Tommy Edman and Will Smith cashed in with runners on base. And despite struggles from the bottom of the batting order,, the Dodgers were still averaging more than 5 ½ runs per game, hardly seeming to notice Freddie Freeman’s early absence.
Over the last nine games, however, the offense has come to a screeching halt; averaging barely three runs per contest during their current 3-6 rut.
Ohtani and Betts have been solid, but far from superhuman. Everyone else is trudging along, if not toiling through a flat-out slump.
“I just feel like we have more guys scuffling than guys that are feeling really good at the plate,” said Kiké Hernández, one of five regulars in the Dodgers’ lineup batting .225 or worse.
“It's a matter of time. We're going to snap out of it and we're just going to start steamrolling people. We're just going through a little bit of a rough patch.”
In Roberts’ view, the root of such scuffles has been a lack of quality “team at-bats,” with the manager bemoaning his hitters’ tendency to chase pitches out of the zone and make life easy on opposing pitchers.
“Our DNA as an offense, we do a really good job of beating the starter and getting the pitch count up and getting to the ‘pen,” Roberts said. “It’s not like guys are not trying to hit the ball hard. But I do think that if you look at the last 10 days, there hasn’t been a lot of loud contact. Just kind of building innings, creating stress, we just haven’t done that.”
That sobering reality became all the more apparent Sunday, when the Dodgers (11-6) did little against Cubs starting pitcher Colin Rea; a swingman from the bullpen with a career 4.52 ERA.
Rea gave the Dodgers plenty of good pitches to hit early in the "Sunday Night Baseball" showdown. Roughly a dozen times, Rea offered up mid-90s mph fastball near the heart of the plate.
Cubs pitcher Ryan Pressly reacts after Shohei Ohtani grounds out to end the game. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
But of the 16 total heaters the Dodgers swung at against Rea, — a lanky 6-foot-5 right-hander with a deceptively low release point — they whiffed six times, put only three in play and recorded just one hit on a Michael Conforto single in the second.
Conforto eventually came around to score on a Hernández single, giving the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. But, on a day they were once again without Freeman (who got a scheduled day off after his return from the injured list at the start of the weekend), it didn’t do much to kick-start the offense.
“Each guy is trying to find their individual swing,” Roberts said. “When you get guys that are kind of searching, they’re looking more anxious than I think typically we are.”
On the mound, Tyler Glasnow bounced back from last week’s frustrating outing in Philadelphia, when he imploded during a third-inning rain shower for a disastrous five-run meltdown.
“He was frustrated at himself, rightfully so,” Roberts said pregame, having sought out Glasnow this week to ensure he’d flushed any lingering disappointment. “He’s coming into today with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.”
Over a strong six-inning, two-run start, Glasnow just did that, striking out seven batters, walking only one and surrendering just three hits despite feeling off with his mechanics.
“Generally, when I feel like that, it usually ends a lot worse,” Glasnow said, noting his inability to locate pitches precisely how he wanted. “So glad I could just get through it.”
The only problem: Two of the hits Glasnow yielded left the yard.
Outfielder Kyle Tucker and second baseman Nico Hoerner can't come up with this single by Mookie Betts. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Pete Crow-Armstrong blasted a tying solo home run off the right-field foul pole in the third. Ex-Dodgers prospect Michael Busch ended a nine-pitch at-bat in the sixth with a solo shot to the bullpen.
That gave Busch six hits in his Chavez Ravine homecoming this weekend, and the Cubs their first lead of the day at 2-1.
The Dodgers did get Glasnow off the hook for the loss in the bottom of the sixth. Conforto singled again to lead off the inning. Smith doubled down the line to set up Max Muncy for a tying sacrifice fly.
But the Dodgers — as has so often been the case over the last couple of weeks — failed to tack on.
That allowed the Cubs (11-7) to retake the lead with more long ball in the top of the seventh, with Crow-Armstrong launching on a hanging cutter from Blake Treinen to center for his second home run of the day.
The Dodgers then gift-wrapped an insurance run to the Cubs in the eighth, giving up another score after Conforto missed a fly ball near the left-field line for a leadoff double.
Given the way the Dodgers have swung the bats lately, however, Chicago didn’t need it. Over their final three trips to the plate, the Dodgers’ only baserunner came via a stranded seventh-inning walk from Betts.
“This isn't the first time we've sucked for two weeks,” Betts said. “It just happens that it's right now. If we panic, things get worse. If you don't panic, it looks like we don't care.”
Panic is certainly not what the Dodgers felt after the game, with Roberts and his players framing the last couple weeks as a temporary blip.
Sure, three straight series losses (something that only happened once last season, also in April) might have come as a surprise. Their .218 team batting average in that stretch certainly wasn’t expected, either.
But on the whole, an 11-6 record is one Roberts said he happily “would have banked” if offered back before opening day.
And while it “stings” to have come after an 8-0 start, he conceded, there’s virtually no scenario in which he sees the offense scuffling long-term.
“I know we’re going to hit. I know we’re going to score runs, things like that,” Roberts said. “We’ve just got to get back to who we are.”
The playoffs have arrived and thanks to the scriptwriters’ magic, we’ll get to witness a sure-to-be-entertaining series between the Knicks and the upstart Detroit Pistons. Cade Cunningham and his young, physical team will look to build off their 3-1 drubbing of the Knicks during the regular season, while Jalen Brunson attempts to lead New York to another first-round victory.
Let’s dive into the many angles in what’s expected to be a tough and close series.
First and foremost, the Pistons will want to continue punishing a Knicks defense that’s had no answers for them the past three games. Detroit’s recorded an offensive rating of over 120 in each of their wins over New York, despite finishing the season at 114.5, just above average in the league.
That offense starts with Cunningham, who’s averaging 30.8 points, five rebounds and 8.3 assists on 56.3 percent shooting from the field and 52 percent from three against New York this season. He displayed a mastery of the pick-and-roll against the Knicks, demolishing every coverage they threw at him.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau’s preferred coverage is for the big to drop, requiring Cunningham’s defender to stay attached over screens less the 6-foot-8 guard get into his mid-range zone with options. The problem is the Knicks largely didn’t guard him with the requisite physicality and intensity, letting him walk into whatever shot he wanted.
Cunningham was comfortable pulling up from three if the screen was strong enough to pin his defender -- which happened often between the big bodies of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. If his defender was chasing, Cunningham put him in jail navigating into the arc, where he easily found the best available option between pulling up, hitting the roll man or taking it to the cup himself.
Now most of this happened against Karl-Anthony Towns, Precious Achiuwa and Ariel Hukporti, so having Mitchell Robinson back will be crucial. Expect him to play a big role in this series, and maybe even get inserted into the starting lineup if things get desperate.
New York tried switching up coverages in small spurts, but lacked the execution behind the adjustments, and Cunningham feasted anyway. The Knicks tried hedging hard on his screens but were often late or lacking the requisite backline help and Cunningham easily picked them apart.
Switching everything and letting him isolate against his favored matchup makes sense to get him out of pick-and-roll, where 40 percent of his offense comes from, and into isolations, where he’s less efficient and makes up only 11 percent of his offense. However when the Knicks tried it, he just picked on Brunson with ease, getting to the rim and scoring.
None of the smaller Knick guards fared well against Cunningham’s size. Mikal Bridges spent the most matchup time on Cunningham by far, holding him to a surprising 8-for-21 shooting and two turnovers in 21 minutes, despite looking outmatched physically at times.
Next was Miles McBride who gave up 11-for-15 shooting in just nine minutes, while Brunson spent four minutes on him, giving up 9-for-14 shooting. OG Anunoby only got six minutes on Cunningham, allowing 7-for-11 shooting.
Jan 3, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby (8) defends a drive by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Matchup data is notoriously unreliable, but expect to see much more of Anunoby on Cunningham. He might struggle a bit with his quickness, but if he can be physical and get over screens, he should be able to give Cunningham the most issues.
The Knicks as a team need to be much more physical and on point defensively with Cunningham. When they were actually in his chest and bumping him, he looked far less comfortable.
Expect drop out of the gates, but New York should throw in some more aggressive coverages to throw Cunningham out of rhythm and make other (less threatening) playmakers beat them. He’ll be constantly calling for screens from Brunson’s man, so expect him to be involved and have to hold his own defensively as well.
The Knicks will have to be careful not to overplay Cunningham, and hope that Anunoby and a more concerted team effort slows him down without giving up too many good looks to others. Despite being a middling three-point shooting team, Detroit lit New York up from deep in a couple wins, largely due to a pair of 20-point, 6+ three games from Malik Beasley.
Detroit has reliable, tested vets in Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr., along with Dennis Schroder off the bench -- not the most threatening names but definitely capable of hurting you. The good news is the Knicks should be set if they can slow down Cunningham -- the Pistons score 109.7 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the bench, which would rank bottom-five in the league.
Another means of slowing the Pistons down will be negating their transition attack. Detroit ranks third in percentage of points coming off fast breaks and are nearly top 10 in forcing opponent turnovers.
In the game the Knicks won, they had 10 turnovers, and proceeded to throw away the ball 15, 18, and 17 times in their ensuing losses. They don’t have the athletes to run with the Pistons, and so will need to limit their mistakes offensively and focus on getting back on defense.
On the rebounding front, both teams are pretty evenly matched on the season. This will be a battle of who wants it more, and in this tight a series, will likely decide its key games.
The good news is, if the Knicks can dominate these areas, they should be in good shape for the series. The Pistons managed to slow down their offense a couple times, but this should be easier to figure out for the Knicks than the other side of the ball.
Dec 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Washington Wizards forward Alexandre Sarr (20) during the first quarter at Capital One Arena / Reggie Hildred - Imagn Images
One player with a clear advantage is Towns, who only averaged 24 points in the series but looked leagues above their opposing bigs. Although Duren and Stewart are more mobile than most fives, Towns is much stronger, more experienced in playoff ball, and should be able to punish them from deep.
The Pistons didn’t incorporate putting a wing on Towns and their center on Josh Hart like many other teams, and that could change in the postseason if Towns burns them too much. Still, he should be able to dominate their wings effectively.
New York as a whole should be cognizant of their superior beefiness in light of their worse speed and verticality. One player that should lean into this offensively is Anunoby, who came off a monster scoring month by bulldozing his way through the paint.
The Knicks will need to power their way into the paint and punish the Pistons by spraying to shooters for three. New York is a different threat when it takes and makes threes, and will need it to be a point of emphasis for this series and beyond.
As mentioned, limiting turnovers is a major swing factor as well. A big chunk of Detroit’s offensive efficiency comes from their transition game, and New York can’t afford to beat themselves with costly mistakes.
There’s other considerations like how the bench performs and how the Knicks spread the offense around, but no question is bigger than does Brunson go god mode again?
Brunson has spent a few postseasons climbing from fearsome to historic big-game scorer. As a reminder of those still doubtful, he averaged 31 points and closed the series on a 111-point three-game stretch against the eventual runner-up Miami Heat in 2023 and became the first player since Michael Jordan with four consecutive 40-point playoff games last year.
Simply put, Brunson is a star playoff riser and can single-handedly carry a Knicks offense deep into the postseason if necessary. So long as that remains true, Knicks fans shouldn’t have much to worry about until Boston or Cleveland.
Detroit will have more size than the average team to throw at Brunson, and can deploy aggressive coverages and zones with their speed and backline defense. But he’s seen many variations of that before, and this shouldn’t be too different.
Prediction: this series will be a war of attrition, ultimately going to the Knicks in 6.
