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Sunday! What a day
It is hard for me to remember a non-football Sunday that felt so momentous. We saw a champion crowned, two flabbergasting upsets and two decisive Game 7 routs. We’ll talk about all of them.
We’re going reverse chronologically, starting with last night’s late game:
1. Not like this, Leafs.
There may be no NHL blueblood that knows more playoff pain than the Toronto Maple Leafs, a reality that was true entering last night’s Game 7 matchup against the defending champion Panthers. And yet this one, a 6-1 home loss, may go down as the most painful chapter in an almanac full of them. Three Florida goals in the second period put it on the edge. Three more in the third, including two late, made it embarrassing. This Leafs core has now lost six straight Game 7s.
The Panthers get the Hurricanes next, while Toronto has to deal with franchise-altering decisions this offseason. Woof.
2. Scottie Scheffler is pretty good.
The PGA Championship was plagued by a strange first two rounds, in which no-names were in contention and the game’s elite were complaining about mudballs. And then Scheffler, the world’s best golfer, hit the gas Saturday and (mostly) cruised yesterday to a five-shot victory. This stat, from Brendan Quinn’s excellent story, illustrates it all:
Scheffler’s 15 total individual PGA Tour wins since his first (2022 WM Phoenix Open) are as many as those of Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas — the official world golf ranking’s Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 players — combined.
His celebration with his son, Bennett, showed us a new side of the man. And his only true competition yesterday? Jon Rahm, who charged back to tie with Scheffler on the back nine, only to collapse — 5 over par in the final three holes. Rahm admitted the lights got too bright.
Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images
3. The young Thunder are here.
People around basketball might tell you this Nuggets-Thunder series was the actual NBA Finals. A little hyperbolic for my taste, but it speaks to the talent present (the top two MVP candidates) and the quality of this matchup. If the claim is true, Oklahoma City, winner of 68 regular-season games, is your exit-poll NBA champion after blasting the Nuggets in Game 7 yesterday, 125-93.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was brilliant (35 points), and the Thunder defense was nasty. They’ll face Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves with a chance to go to the finals. Extremely, extremely fun stuff ahead.
Let’s take a quick news break before finishing up:
News to Know
Yanks take Subway Series
It’s hard to compete with the Knicks right now in New York, but a Subway Series when the Mets and Yankees are both good is a stirring second-place finisher. The Yankees’ 8-2 win last night clinched the series for the Bronx Bombers, and Cody Bellinger — who’s helping the Yanks move on from Juan Soto — had six RBIs. A true winner is all of us, who get to watch a rivalry reignited.
WNBA probing comments toward Reese
The WNBA is investigating alleged hateful comments from the stands at Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse over the weekend directed at Sky center Angel Reese. Fever star Caitlin Clark and Reese got into a skirmish during the game, which sparked boos from the home crowd. The WNBA, Fever and Sky all released statements condemning the comments. More details here.
More news
Lionel Messi is not having a good time after Inter Miami’s second straight loss.
One last golf item: Testing found that both the drivers for Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler were nonconforming. Both had to swap clubs before the tournament.
The Dodgers released franchise mainstay Chris Taylor yesterday. It’s the end of an era, though expected.
Kansas City promoted top prospect Jac Caglianone to Triple A. He could be in the big leagues this year.
Astros starter Hayden Wesneski will have Tommy John surgery, a tough blow for an already beleaguered Houston rotation.
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Sunday, Cont.: The first time ever?
Now, about those upsets:
4. Down go the Aggies
Texas A&M’s softball team entered the NCAA Tournament as its No. 1 overall seed after winning 48 games in the vaunted SEC. After a 6-5 loss to Liberty last night, the Aggies became the first No. 1 overall seed ever to lose in the regional round. And it’s not like this is an NCAA Tournament basketball game, either — this happened on home turf for A&M. Just brutal. Read our full recap.
5. Maybe he doesn’t know any better?
One of my favorite bits in professional sports is when a rookie, or a team of youngsters, pulls off something incredible due to sheer talent and inexperience. The whole “they don’t know how hard this actually is” bit. We saw the ingredients for it yesterday at Indy 500 qualifying, where first-timer Robert Shwartzman, a former F1 prospect, took pole position in one of the biggest upsets in the event’s history. The 25-year-old is the first rookie to win the pole in 42 years.
It wasn’t the only surprise of the day, either. Jeff Gluck has more here.
What to Watch
📺 WNBA: Storm at Wings
8 p.m. ET on NBA TV
No NBA or NHL games tonight, so why not get a glimpse at Paige Bueckers in her new home?
📺 MLB: Royals at Giants
9:45 p.m. ET on MLB Network
Two really good teams mired in two great divisions. Kansas City has star power but sits just four games above .500. San Francisco is one game back in the fearsome NL West. Good early season matchup.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
It’s very funny to realize Bill Belichick’s love life derailed an actual interesting football story: Belichick coaching a college football team. David Ubben and Justin Williams spoke to players and coaches to figure out how the NFL’s GOAT is actually prepping for college success.
Our NFL staff also picked a must-watch game for every team this upcoming season. Click.
Alec Lewis has a fun story this morning on Vikings rookie Tyler Batty, who is an actual cowboy.
Juicy: “No Dunks” picked the best landing spots for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Max Verstappen does not have the fastest car in F1 right now. But he remains the sport’s most electrifying talent, which was on display yesterday.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on Journalism’s big win at The Preakness.
Most-read on the website yesterday: The Thunder-Nuggets live blog.
Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Top photo: John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)