The roster of Big 12 football coaches includes youth and veterans. So how do they stack up against each other? We ranked all 16 from best to worst.
Mosley's reaction to Banchero foul highlights difference between C's, Magic
Mosley's reaction to Banchero foul highlights difference between C's, Magic originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jamahl Mosley and Paolo Banchero both knew the stakes.
When Banchero was called for his fifth foul just three minutes into the second half of the Orlando Magic’s Game 5 first-round playoff matchup with the Boston Celtics, it meant Mosley would have to send his star player to the bench for an extended period during a crucial stretch, or keep him on the floor and risk him fouling out of an elimination game.
So, Banchero and Mosley both shared choice words for referee Tony Brothers, while Mosley disgustedly signaled for a challenge to try to get the call overturned. But Banchero’s foul on Jaylen Brown stood, and what happened next was inevitable.
The Celtics ripped off a 30-9 run with Banchero on the bench, turning a 53-53 tie into a 21-point lead and transforming a close game into a series-ending, 120-89 blowout.
Mosley didn’t mince words when asked about Banchero’s fifth foul, in which Banchero got into Brown’s airspace and took an inadvertent elbow to the face as Brown went up for a layup.
“It definitely swung the series. It definitely swung the game. I have no idea what the explanation was,” Mosley told reporters. “He came into his path. All I saw is Paolo getting an elbow to the face or back into the face – and he got the foul.
“That was a game-changer right there. Your best player picks up his fifth foul in the third quarter. It’s tough to come back from that moment, but our guys continued to fight.”
Mosley is right, of course. It’s tough to come back from losing your star player — especially when he’s your entire offense.
Banchero averaged 29.4 points per game over the five-game series, accounting for nearly one-third (31.4 percent) of Orlando’s total points. Banchero (147 total points) and sidekick Franz Wagner (129 points) scored 276 of the Magic’s 468 points over five games, generating nearly 60 percent of their offense.
No other Orlando player scored more than 51 total points in the series.
Banchero is the engine that drives the Magic offense. But he and Wagner are essentially the entire car, as Orlando’s supporting cast was essentially non-existent in this series. Magic players not named Banchero or Wagner shot just 39.9 percent collectively in the series and a putrid 23.9 percent from 3-point range (22 for 92).
The Celtics have their own star duo in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who also did a bulk of Boston’s scoring in this series (31.3 points per game for Tatum; 23 per game for Brown). But they have the luxury of a much deeper supporting cast, from Derrick White (30 points in Game 1; 17.2 points per game in the series), to Kristaps Porzingis (20 points in Game 2; 19 points in Game 4), to Jrue Holiday (20 points and 11 assists combined in Games 1 and 2), to Payton Pritchard (33 combined points in Games 1 and 2).
And that’s not to mention Al Horford’s five blocks in Game 4 or Sam Hauser’s 10 points off the bench in Game 5.
Depth was a difference-maker for the Celtics during their 2024 championship run, and it helped them overcome a feisty Magic team in the first round. The path gets more challenging going forward — the C’s await the winner of the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons in the second round — but the more contributions they can get outside Tatum and Brown, the better chances they’ll have at repeating.
Rory McIlroy moves into ‘new chapter’ and targets more big prizes
Masters triumph was unique but Northern Irishman knows more silverware will follow if he maintains his fine form
When you have spent so long labouring under a burden associated with the reaching of targets, it would seem ridiculous to set more. At Augusta National this month Rory McIlroy didn’t just win the Masters. He didn’t just complete his career Grand Slam. He didn’t just end a wait for a fifth major that had stretched back to his halcyon summer of 2014. McIlroy did all of this at once; his emotion on the 18th green was partly because of the almighty weight that had been prised from his shoulders.
McIlroy’s subsequent celebration was endearing, but also thought-provoking. He spent time with his parents, his wider family, his lifetime coach and childhood friends. There was no open-top bus parade through the streets of his native Holywood or wild party at the golf club bearing the same name. No public lap of honour. All of that can wait.
Continue reading...Djokovic pulls out of Italian Open on back of three-match losing streak
- World No 5 to skip ATP Tour event before French Open
- Serb will arrive at Roland Garros with lone win on clay
Novak Djokovic has reacted to his run of poor form by pulling out of the Italian Open in Rome next week. The 24-times grand slam champion is on a three-match losing streak, having crashed out of the Madrid Open after defeat by Matteo Arnaldi.
Tournament organisers announced on social media that Djokovic would not be playing in the Italian capital, with the Serbian writing on Instagram: “Rome, I will miss you. I hope we meet next year.”
Continue reading...Raphinha goes from missing man to Barcelona’s Ballon d’Or contender
The former Leeds forward was on the periphery but is now key to Hansi Flick’s team thanks to his hunger for goals
To score, first you have to learn how to miss. Raphinha, to be fair, misses a lot. Most common of all, perhaps, is the low screamer, dragged across goal with the left foot, disappearing into the advertising hoardings with an unseen thud as the goalkeeper calmly strolls off in search of a fresh ball. If you close your eyes and try to picture Raphinha missing, this is almost certainly the miss you are imagining.
But Raphinha can miss in a plethora of other ways, too. The wild slice at the back post is another favourite. The free-kick into the wall. The mistimed header sailing harmlessly over the bar and Raphinha has never been the greatest header of a ball, but he is going to keep making the run nonetheless, again and again, all night if he has to. If it feels weird to begin a discussion of one of Europe’s most prolific forwards by listing all the ways he can miss then one helps to explain the other. Raphinha is a winger rather than a pure striker, but the trait he has in common with all the world’s great goalscorers is the ability to prize volume over grace, to put the last miss out of his mind, to keep coming and keep shooting with a ruthless, relentless hunger.
Continue reading...Jamal Murray drops 43, sparks Nuggets to comfortable 131-115 win over Clippers, 3-2 series lead
Apr 29, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) reacts after a steal and basket in the fourth quarter against the LA Clippers during game five of the first round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
This is the Jamal Murray Nuggets fans have been waiting for this postseason. With this version of Murray, playing off Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets resemble their 2023 championship team. The issue this season has been that version of Murray has not been around consistently.
That Murray showed up on Tuesday night, dropped 43 on the Clippers, sparked a comfortable 131-115 win, and now the Nuggets are one game away from advancing to the second round.
JAMAL MURRAY PUT ON SHOW IN A PIVOTAL GAME 5!
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2025
43 PTS
8 3PM
7 AST
3 STL
17-26 FGM (65.4%)
His 6th-career 40+ point postseason game leaves the @nuggets 1 win away from advancing! pic.twitter.com/NSDYhnyku4
Denver’s offense had its best game of the series and now leads 3-2, heading back to Southern California for Game 6 on Thursday night.
For the first three games of this series, the Clippers looked like the better team, but Denver escaped Game 1 with a win because vintage Russell Westbrook showed up in the clutch.
However, for the last two games, the Nuggets have been the better team for seven of the eight quarters. They were in charge after three quarters of Game 4, then almost had an epic meltdown, one salvaged by Aaron Gordon’s tip-in. That makes two games the Clippers let slip through their hands.
Game 5 Tuesday night was all Denver from the opening tip. The longer this series has gone, the more it has felt like Jokic and Murray have figured the Clippers out, while the opposite feels true for Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.
Jokic finished with a relatively quiet triple-double of 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. Aaron Gordon had 23 points, while Westbrook had a good game off the bench with 19 points, shooting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
The best Clipper on the floor Tuesday night was Ivica Zubac, who scored 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Leonard added 20 points and 11 assists, while Harden had another quiet game with 11 points and eight rebounds.
Expect a desperate Clippers team in Game 6, one at home and trying to save its season. A big night from Harden or Norman Powell, could help the Clippers extend their season, but what Los Angeles needs more than their offense is for the team to rediscover the defense that had stood out in the first three games of this series.
Knicks Notes: What went wrong for NY in Game 5 loss; Pistons growing confidence going into Game 6
Jalen Duren was probably one of the happiest people in Manhattan on Tuesday night.
“This is amazing. Being here, in this atmosphere, playing against this team, there’s nothing like it,” Duren said late Tuesday in the visitor’s locker room at MSG. “This is what you dream of as a basketball player.”
Duren’s dream was obviously a nightmare for the Knicks. New York let a chance to close out this series slip through their fingers on Tuesday night.
What went wrong? New York’s top two options on offense didn’t shoot the ball well. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns missed a combined 21 shots on 30 attempts. The other Knick starters shot a combined 22-for-42 from the field.
The Knicks also seemed to botch a late-game situation.
Brunson (leg) and Josh Hart (wrist) both had left the game late in the fourth quarter due to injury. The Knicks traded water with Hart and Brunson. But both were ready to return, standing at the scorer’s table with under a minute to play and the Knicks down four. New York could have called timeout to get Hart and Brunson in the game (they had one timeout to use). The club also could have stopped the clock with a foul. But Tom Thibodeau decided against both options. He let play continue with Hart and Brunson standing at the scorer’s table. Cade Cunningham found Ausar Thompson for a layup on the ensuing possession, expanding the Pistons’ lead to six with 27 seconds to play.
“Just coach’s decision,” Thibodeau said after the game when asked about the sequence.
What factors go into the decision?
“You look at the time, score, penalty, timeouts, all of the above,” Thibodeau said. “What’s happening in the game. The next possession, we’re weighing — there’s a lot that goes into it.”
Hindsight is 20/20 but the coach’s decision late in Game 5 turned out to be the wrong one.
Detroit finished the Knicks off with two Cade Cunningham free throws.
Now, New York faces a Pistons team that’s loose and brimming with confidence entering Game 6 on Thursday. This is a Pistons team that doesn’t shrink in tough moments.
“When you’re back is against the wall, you might be stuck in the corner, the only way to get out is to keep swinging,” Duren said. “That’s what we did, just kept swinging. Got out that corner.”
The Knicks aren’t quite on the ropes entering Game 6 on Thursday. But a loss would put all of the pressure on the Knicks in Game 7. The Pistons are playing with house money; New York needs to win the series.
Will the Knicks be able to close it out on Thursday?
Cade Cunningham doesn’t think so. He plans to return to the Garden for Game 7.
“We’ll be back,” he said.
Golden Knights Beat Minnesota, 3-2, In Wild Overtime Finish To Take 3-2 Series Lead
LAS VEGAS -- Brett Howden scored his third goal of the playoffs 4:05 into overtime to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild, and a 3-2 series lead in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs.L
Howden beat former Golden Knight and current Wild backup goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who replaced starter Filip Gustavsson to start the third period.
Howden recorded his second game-winning goal of the series and matched the most in a single series by a Golden Knights skater.
"Pearson centered — they score! Brett Howden! A hero again!"
— Golden Knights Radio (@VGKRadioNetwork) April 30, 2025
"3-2 in overtime! Brett Howden gives the Knights a 3-2 series lead!"
🎙 @Dan_DUva
Howden makes it back to back overtime goals for Vegas as the Knights move within one game of advancing. pic.twitter.com/q1bsRI3o7H
Vegas kept Minnesota from earning a third win in the series, as the Wild held a 2-1 series lead after winning Game 3 in Saint Paul.
Game 6 is scheduled for Thursday in Minnesota, at 6:30 pm Central Time.
Adin Hill made 20 saves for the Golden Knights.
Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for Minnesota, while Fluery made six saves in relief.
The Golden Knights opened the scoring when William Karlsson scored a short-handed goal just before the midway point of the first period. Jack Eichel intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and took the puck to the other end before sending it to new linemate Karlsson, who was there for the one-time tap to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.
It wouldn't take long for Minnesota to respond, though, as Kirill Kaprizov notched his fifth goal of the series 13 seconds later when he one-timed Mats Zuccarello's pass to knot the game at 1-all.
Mark Stone scored his first goal of the postseason later in the period when Eichel once again picked off a pass to create a turnover and carry it into Vegas' zone. Eichel sent the puck to the top of the slot, where Stone blasted a shot past Gustavsson, giving the Knights a one-goal lead once again.
After a scoreless second period, the Wild got their equalizer when Matt Boldy scored with 3:31 left in the game.
Minnesota winger Ryan Hartman scored what appeared to be the go-ahead goal with 1:15 left, but a coach's challenge overturned the goal when it was determined the Wild were offside.
"I think once they got that goal and tied it 2-2, I thought we reset pretty well and played well third," Stone said. "It was a great challenge by (assistant coach) Dave (Rogowski), a critical point of the game. We either got a minute and 15 seconds left to try and tie the game, but he saw it right away and gets a challenge.
"Once you get into the locker room, we feel comfortable again. We got a great start to overtime, started forechecking, started making plays, get pucks to the net, (Tanner Pearson) makes an incredible play, draws two guys to him and (Howden) finds the soft spot to end it."
Photos you can hear 🔊 #ExpressiveMarkStonepic.twitter.com/nGwIofuFn7
— y-Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 30, 2025
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QPR manager Martí Cifuentes placed on gardening leave amid West Brom links
- One game remaining in current Championship season
- Club ‘appreciate supporters’ frustrations at this time’
QPR have announced that their manager, Martí Cifuentes, has been placed on gardening leave, with one game of the season to go.
The news comes amid speculation about Cifuentes’s future, with the Spaniard being linked with West Brom, who sacked Tony Mowbray last week. Kevin Betsy and Xavi Calm, Cifuentes’s assistants, are to take interim charge before the final game of the Rs’ Championship campaign, Saturday’s trip to Sunderland.
Continue reading...NHL Public Relations Releases Start Time for Game 6
The NHL has officially announced the start times for postseason games set to take place on May 1st.
This includes Game 6 between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, which the Avalanche forced with their 4-0 win on Saturday, April 26th.
Per NHL Public Relations:
"The start time for Game 6 of the First Round series between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche has been set for 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 1, in Denver. The game will be televised on TBS in the U.S. In Canada, the game will be on SNE, SN360, and TVA Sports."-
For Colorado and Dallas residents, the start time is 7:30 p.m. MT/8:30 p.m. CT. The games will also be televised on the usual local broadcasts: Altitude for Colorado and Victory+ for Dallas.
The Stars currently lead the series 3-2, following a 6-2 win in Dallas.
Find all of the most up-to-date information on each series across the league here:
2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs 1st round schedule | NHL.comDates, times, broadcast info, results from all 8 best-of-7 series Matt Sauer saves the Dodgers' bullpen in rout of Marlins
The Dodgers' bullpen got an unexpected, and badly needed, reprieve Tuesday night.
Entering the day, no team had relied upon its relievers more heavily. Thanks to injuries and ineffectiveness from the starting rotation, the bullpen’s 126 innings were far and away the most in the majors.
Now, they were staring down a second designated bullpen game already in this opening month.
Only this time, they were able to stay away from their most important arms.
Instead, in a 15-2 win over the Miami Marlins, the Dodgers’ planned bullpen game transformed into a bulk effort — with minor-league call-up Matt Sauer providing an all-important five-inning effort that saved the bullpen in a way the Dodgers’ rotation has too often failed to so far this year.
As early-season pitching injuries have piled up for the Dodgers, the bullpen has been strained in order to compensate.
Entering Tuesday, only 10 teams had even topped 110 innings from relievers this year. The Dodgers had six relievers with more than 13 innings pitched individually. No other club had more than four.
“I think the thing that’s probably most disconcerting is the bullpen leading Major League Baseball in bullpen innings,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday, after Tyler Glasnow became the latest member of the starting staff to land on the injured list.
“That’s where my head is at,” Roberts added, “as far as making sure we don’t red-line these guys.”
Read more:Dave Roberts adopts Palisades High baseball team coping with fire's destruction
That will be no easy task over the next couple of weeks. Starting Friday, the Dodgers will play 19 games in a 20-day stretch. And with Glasnow and Blake Snell currently on the IL, they will begin it with just four healthy starters on their active roster.
“We thought our starters would be a position of strength for us from a workload standpoint, and unfortunately we lead all of baseball in innings for relievers,” pitching coach Mark Prior said Tuesday afternoon. “Sometimes that’s a good thing. But this early in the year, it’s probably not.”
Especially not after what the relievers did last October, combining for 82 innings in a grueling World Series run.
“Guys did some really heavy lifting,” Prior said.
And a short offseason only gave them so much time to recover.
Evan Phillips and Michael Kopech both started the season on the injured list, nursing injuries they sustained in the playoffs. While Phillips has since returned, another key member of last year’s team, Blake Treinen, has since gone down with a forearm strain.
It made Tuesday a seemingly daunting task, with the Dodgers opting for the type of bullpen-game strategy they used too often last October.
The good news: It played out far differently than expected.
Rookie left-hander Jack Dreyer took down the first two innings, giving up a lone run after Teoscar Hernández misplayed a ball in right field.
Then Sauer, a 26-year-old right-hander signed to a minor-league contract this offseason, took over for the next five, giving up just one run on five hits while collecting four strikeouts.
Read more:Dodgers Dugout: What should the Dodgers do about Max Muncy?
That allowed the Dodgers (20-10) to go to work at the plate.
Shohei Ohtani led the game off with a home run, his seventh of the season and first since returning from the paternity list last week.
Hernández atoned for his defensive miscue with two run-scoring doubles, tying him with Aaron Judge for the most RBIs in the majors with 29.
Mookie Betts had a two-run single as part of a two-hit performance, raising his batting average to .240 as he continues to try and snap his opening-month slump.
And former Cy Young-winning Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara never found his footing, exiting in the third inning with the Dodgers ahead 7-1.
The lead continued to grow from there, so much so that, after low-leverage right-hander Luis García pitched the eighth, utilityman Kiké Hernández took the mound for the ninth, a plastic “pitching helmet” covering his cap.
Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Edmonton Oilers rally to win Game 5, put Kings on the brink of elimination again
Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark pushed the Kings to the brink of playoff elimination, scoring off a rebound early in the third period to give the Oilers a 3-1 win in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff at Crypto.com Arena. The Oilers, who lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, can end the Kings’ season for a fourth straight season with another victory.
“It's hard right now. Obviously everybody's frustrated,” captain Anze Kopitar said. “But we’ve got to put it behind us. We’ve got to go win a game on the road, and that's what we're going to focus on.”
Janmark’s goal marked the fourth time in five games the Kings have given up a game-tying or go-ahead score in the final 13 minutes of regulation. It was also the third consecutive come-from-behind win for the Oilers, the first time they’ve done that in the franchise’s playoff history.
Evander Kane had Edmonton’s first goal while the lone Kings’ score came from Andrei Kuzmenko, both in the second period. The Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal in final minute.
The final score wasn’t a true reflection of the game, which the Oilers dominated.
“They were stronger,” said Kings coach Jim Hiller, whose teams lost in regulation for just the seventh time in 44 home games this season, including the playoffs. “They beat us in every area except for the specialty teams. They were just better in every way ... we can't look to one part of our game and think that was acceptable.”
Well, except for goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was brilliant, and deserved a far better fate after turning back 43 shots. He’s faced 93 in the last two games but the Kings have scored just four times behind him.
“Darcy was stellar tonight, as he's been the whole season,” Kopitar said. “He gave us a chance.”
The Oilers were stronger during the opening 20 minutes during which they took the first 11 shots, building a 19-4 advantage for the period. But Kuemper, who on Monday was named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, proved why, leaving Edmonton with nothing to show for all that effort.
That allowed Kuzmenko to put the Kings in front 3:33 into the second period. The winger parked himself in front of the net and was shielding Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard when he reached out to redirect a pass from Kopitar near the blue line. The goal, the Kings’ eighth power-play score of the series, came eight seconds after Darnell Nurse went off for tripping. It also marked the fourth time in five games that the Kings scored first.
Kopitar's assist was his seventh in five games while Adrian Kempe, who also assisted on the goal, has six.
However the lead lasted less than three minutes before Kane tied it on a wrist shot from the high slot. That goal came seven seconds after the Kings killed off a tripping penalty to Drew Doughty.
Read more:Kings fall to Oilers in a Game 4 shutout, moving to the brink of elimination
Edmonton then went in front to stay 7:12 into the final period when Janmark scored off the rebound of a shot by former King Viktor Arvidsson that Kuemper had pushed out to his stick side, not knowing that Janmark was perched just inside the circle.
Now the Kings fly to Edmonton on Wednesday knowing that a season in which they tied franchise regular-season records for wins (48) and points (105) may not have more than 60 minutes left. A win, though, would bring them back home for a winner-take-all seventh game on home ice, where the Kings had the best regular-season record in the NHL.
“We've proven we're a pretty good hockey team,” Hiller said. “So you're a pretty good hockey team, go there and take it back. Because they just took it away from us.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Panthers can punch ticket to second round with Game 5 win in Tampa
The Florida Panthers will play their first elimination game of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night.
Fortunately for the Cats, they're on the potential giving end of the elimination, as the host Tampa Bay Lightning need to pull out a win in order to keep their season alive.
It wasn't until Monday's Game 4 that a home team finally picked up a victory, and now Florida will look to start their postseason a perfect 3-0 on the road and knock out their cross-state rivals in the process.
So far during the four games in the series, Florida has scored 13 goals. Five have come off the sticks of defensemen.
Nate Schmidt is tied for the team lead with three goals while Seth Jones and Aaron Ekblad each added tallies of their own during Monday's Game 4 win.
Between Schmidt in Games 1 and 2 and Jones in Game 4, those defensemen have also accounted for all of Florida's game-winning goals in the series.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, they will have to play without one of those defenseman for the next couple games.
The NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Tuesday that Ekblad had been suspended two games for an elbow to the head of Tampa forward Brandon Hagel.
A likely reason for the suspension length being two games instead of one is that Hagel had already been ruled out of Game 5 by Tampa Head Coach Jon Cooper.
Considering how the intensity has been building with each game this series, Wednesday night should be quite a barn burner.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 5 in Tampa:
Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Jesper Boqvist
Gus Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis – Nate Schmidt
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, Jaycob Megna
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Clippers falter against Nuggets and are one loss away from end of season
For the Clippers, Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets meant being one more win away from advancing in the playoffs or one more loss away from going home.
From the start, the Clippers walked a tightrope that had them teetering all game, falling behind from the very beginning, putting stress on their defense. They were unable to contain Jamal Murray in falling behind by 22 points in the fourth quarter and unable to muster enough energy in losing 131-115 on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.
“I don’t think [it’s] sense of urgency. I think they kicked our butt,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “They played well. Game 4, like I said, I didn’t think we came out with a sense of urgency. But tonight I thought we had the right intent and they just took it to us.”
With Murray cooking the Clippers for a series-high 43 points, they trail the best-of-seven series 3-2 and are on the brink of being eliminated in the first round for the third straight season.
“The tough start was Jamal Murray,” Lue said. “I thought he came out being aggressive, which we knew he would. That’s why we started off with a blitz against him, just to try to slow him down. We knew in Game 5 he would come out aggressive. He made every shot.”
Win Game 6 on Thursday night at the Intuit Dome or the season is over for the Clippers. If they win, then the winner-take-all Game 7 is Saturday in Denver.
But history does not favor the Clippers. The team that wins Game 5 of a tied series has gone on to win the series 81.3% of the time.
Read more:Kawhi Leonard isn't surprised Clippers and Nuggets are locked in playoff showdown
Ivica Zubac was solid with a playoff career-high 27 points. Kawhi Leonard was one rebound shy of a triple-double with 20 points, a playoff career-high 11 assists and nine rebounds.
But the Clippers had no answer for Murray, who was efficient with his shooting, going 17 for 26 from the field and eight for 14 from three-point range. He also had seven assists and five rebounds. The Nuggets also got a triple-double of 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds from Nikola Jokic.
“I’m just glad we got a win, man, to be honest with you,” Murray said. “Shots are going to miss, they are going to make. I’m still going to play my game. I’m still going to be aggressive. I’m going to shoot the shots that I shoot. But like I said, it was a team win.”
After Murray drilled a three-pointer and assisted Aaron Gordon on a three-pointer for a 17-point Nuggets lead, Lue called a timeout with 2:35 left in the game and removed his starters.
“I just thought Jamal Murray was excellent tonight,” Lue said.
Lue had implored his group to get off to a better start, to not have to play catchup in this road game, to not get “bored with the process.”
But the Clippers struggled in the first quarter, putting themselves in a hole from the start. They fell behind 35-23 at the end of the first. They shot just 39.1% from the field and just 14.3% (one for seven) from three-point range.
“We’re trying to figure it out,” Zubac said about the Clippers’ slow starts. “They are more physical to start. I don’t think it’s a tactical thing, or strategies. It’s just we got to play harder.”
Russell Westbrook, the former Clipper, hurt his former team with his energy and effort.
Westbrook missed Game 4 because of left foot inflammation and was sharp in his return, scoring 11 of his 16 first-half points in the second quarter and finishing with 21.
And when Westbrook scored, he frequently glared at the Clippers’ bench.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hurricanes Exorcise Devils In Double Overtime, Advance To Second Round
The Carolina Hurricanes became the first team to advance to the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, thanks to a Sebastian Aho double overtime winner.
The Canes eliminated the New Jersey Devils in five games, completing the deed in a 5-4 double overtime thriller Tuesday night at Lenovo Center.
It wasn't the easiest win in the world, as Carolina had to overcome a 3-0 deficit to force overtime in the first place, but once they got there, they weren't going to be denied.
I can't overstate how bad the Hurricanes were in that opening frame. I 100% figured the game was over after giving up three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game and even had the title written: 'Horrendous Start Keeps Series Alive.'
The team was just listless through the first 20 minutes, unable to clear pucks, skate through the neutral zone or set up in the offensive zone at all.
It was especially tough as the former Hurricanes kept being the ones to make the Hurricanes pay.
Brett Pesce continued to plague the Hurricanes with a pair of primary assists, banking one in off of Dawson Mercer's butt and then setting up Timo Meier in the slot off of a failed clear, and then Stefan Noesen grabbed the third goal with a redirection right in front of the crease.
The game looked well over at that point, so there's a lot of credit to be handed out to the Hurricanes for their maturity and composure in battling back and finishing off New Jersey.
And funny enough, speaking of maturity and composure, it was actually two rookies that got the ball rolling for Carolina.
At the tail end of the power play to start the second period, Logan Stankoven one-timed a Taylor Hall pass that squeaked through Jacob Markstrom (although Hall helped it the final way across the line).
Then it was Jackson Blake with a short-side shot on a curl around from behind the net.
And not too long after that, Andrei Svechnikov rifled one past Markstrom with a clear lane to tie it back up.
Three goals in 3:54 of game time.
The Hurricanes were back into it.
And then they weren't, as Nico Hischier put the Devils back ahead less than two minutes after Lenovo Center got rocking with an unimpeded look from the low circle.
But the wacky game kept getting wackier with the Hurricanes getting a 5v3 power play opportunity not too long after that and Aho scored his first of the night, putting home a great feed by Seth Jarvis.
It looked from that point it was going to be whoever could stop a puck would be the winning team, but actually both teams' goalies really stepped up their play from there, with Pytor Kochetkov shaking off a bad start and coming through with some clutch third period, shorthanded saves.
But Markstrom was the real show down the stretch as he kept the Devils alive through the first overtime that was all Carolina.
The Hurricanes had chance after chance after chance against a gassed Devils squad, but they just couldn't find a way to beat the Swedish netminder.
That was until the Canes got a power play early into the second overtime period as Jesperi Kotkaniemi took a high stick to the eye.
Upon review, Carolina was awarded a four-minute power play and Aho finally found a way to beat Markstrom for the final time this season.
The Canes now await the winner between the Washington Capitals (3) and Montreal Canadiens (1).
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