The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.
Good morning! Maybe I’m too online, but I think all April Fools’ Day content should be banned. Sorry. Real news coming up:
Standings Check, Pt. 1: Hockey’s center now lives in Buffalo
Two of our major sports share the same calendar schedule and number of games. Today, we are table-setting each of their stretch runs as the playoffs near. I had a hard time choosing between metaphorical children to cover first, so I did what any millennial would do: find a random picker tool on the internet to decide for me:
NHL it is. And for that, we must start in … Buffalo. Yes:
The Sabres are undeniably the NHL’s best story this year, a contender no one saw coming. As of this morning, Buffalo (100 points) holds a two-point lead in the Atlantic Division over Tampa Bay and sits tied with Carolina atop the whole conference.
This is a franchise that has not made the playoffs since 2011. The Sabres now have four 100-point seasons this century. They had a losing record last year, and they’ve never won a Stanley Cup. You’ll find little love for them in our season preview from October, where the only real appearance they make is a prediction that coach Lindy Ruff might be the first fired.
Instead, what looked like a meh season in early December turned special, and quickly. Buffalo posted a 10-game win streak in the final days of 2025 and followed it with an eight-game streak in late February/early March. The goaltending has been shockingly good, with both Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon in the top 10 of save percentage in the NHL. The defense has been special. Tage Thompson has scored 38 goals. It’s just a great team.
It’s why Sean McIndoe called the Sabres the greatest bandwagon team of all time. If you’re teamless, climb aboard. Here’s how the rest of the seeding is shaking out:
The wild-card race is tight in both conferences: The Bruins and Blue Jackets hold the top two spots in the East, while the Mammoth and Kings lead in the West. But a cluster of other teams remains within range.
Two resources before we switch to our other sport/child:
An in-depth look at these projected playoff matchups with notes on the remaining games that could change them.
Dom Luszczyszyn’s data-driven projections for all facets of the season, including each team’s chances to win the Stanley Cup. The Sabres’ odds aren’t great, despite our praise.
Basketball time:
Standings Check, Pt. 2: Your turn, Detroit
Greg Fiume / Getty Images
We move on to our other playoff family, the NBA, which we love quite equally. Stop grumbling. Blame the generator.
Anyway, we also have a surprise contender here: the Detroit Pistons. Two fresh points to make:
The Pistons, like the Sabres, are the league’s best story this season. The playoff drought isn’t as long — first-round exits in 2025, 2019 and 2016 — but true relevance? You have to go back to 2008, when Flip Saunders was the coach and Chauncey Billups was the point guard. That team won 59 games and made the Eastern Conference finals. This year’s team has 55 wins with six games to play.
A huge reason: Cade Cunningham, who emerged as an MVP candidate this season until his lung collapsed last month. It might be more impressive that the team is 6-2 without Cunningham during this absence. Both losses came in overtime, against Atlanta and Oklahoma City, two of the hottest teams in the NBA.
Cunningham is a superstar, yes, but this team is deep — and plays elite defense, much like its forebears in the early aughts. Center Jalen Duren might be the league’s biggest surprise this year.
As of this morning, Detroit holds a four-game lead over Boston for the East’s top seed. Barring a collapse, that’s probably settled. Here’s how the bracket would look if the playoffs started today:
Two more notes before we move on:
For a season in which most of the chatter has been over off-court matters or tanking, we may have our deepest set of true contenders in years. Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Los Angeles (Lakers) and Denver have a real shot at a ring. Atlanta is 17-2 since Feb. 22. Houston has a great roster. Like I said: deep.
With all that aside, there is little actual drama down the stretch, as we see a clear line in the standings between tankers, Play-In teams, and real-deal playoff groups. No one would be surprised if Charlotte ends up as the No. 6 seed instead of the No. 8 in the Play-In, but that’s about it.
Read our full breakdown of all the first-round matchups. Onward:
News to Know
David Jensen / Getty Images
Nacua in rehab
Rams star wide receiver Puka Nacua has checked into a private rehab facility, per his attorney, to work on his “overall development” after a string of worrisome events near the end of last season and through this offseason. He entered the facility before a lawsuit was filed against him, alleging he bit two women at a New Year’s Eve party. More details inside.
Clarke arrested in Arkansas
Veteran Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke was detained by police last night in Cross County, Ark. — about an hour west of Memphis — on four charges, including trafficking a controlled substance. Clarke has played in Memphis since 2019. Read our full report.
More news:
Another new ABS milestone achieved last night: a walk-off challenge call.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said the Suns offered him their head-coaching job last year. What?
Kansas coach Bill Self will return to the school after hinting he could step away.
FIFA raised World Cup ticket prices again for its final phase sale. See the details.
Spanish soccer superstar Lamine Yamal criticized his country’s fans for anti-Muslim chants heard in a friendly against Egypt. Read more.
The bids are in to join the NBA’s new league in Europe. Some top $1 billion.
Watch Guide
📺 NBA: Timberwolves at Pistons
7 p.m. ET on Prime Video
Detroit is everywhere in today’s newsletter. Also, Lakers-Thunder follows at 9:30 p.m.
📺 NHL: Sabres at Senators
7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
We talked plenty about Buffalo earlier, but Ottawa sits just two points back of a wild-card spot. This game matters on both ends.
📺 MLB: Mets at Giants
9:45 p.m. ET on MLB Network
Nothing feels real this early in the MLB season, but the Giants’ initial malaise has rebounded a bit. Still, it’s one of the stories we’re following most closely.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
Patrick Smith / Getty Images
Greenfield, Ind., as Joe Rexrode found, is built on poetry and basketball. After Braylon Mullins’ iconic shot, it now has a Final Four in its lore.
Parity is nonexistent in women’s college basketball, at least this year. That’s a good thing, as Sabreena Merchant argues.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur has been invaded … by Stanford.
The NFL Draft picks proposal from the Cleveland Browns, which would allow teams to trade picks five years into the future, was radical. It’s dead on arrival, as Jourdan Rodrigue reports, and moreover, it might be dead forever.
I love stories like this one from Jason Quick, who wrote about Sheel Tyle, whom Damian Lillard thought was just a gym buddy. Then Tyle helped buy the Blazers.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Bruce Feldman’s mock draft.
Most-read on the website yesterday: ☝️
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.