Posted Sunday PM after Pistons-Magic….
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.
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Buffalo Sabres Quiz: In honor of their playoff success thus far, name the three players on Buffalo’s famed “French Connection Line” from the 1970s. Answer below.
NBA Playoffs
—Knicks fans are still buzzing…going back to last Tuesday, the Knicks, who had been down 2-1 to the Hawks and then won Game 4 in Atlanta, took Game 5 126-97, a contest that was in hand from the start, Jalen Brunson with 39 points and 8 assists.
On to Game 6, back in Atlanta Thursday night, and in a totally stunning effort, the Knicks blew away the Hawks 140-89, one of the biggest playoff margins in history.
But consider this. It was 40-15 after the first quarter, the largest playoff lead after one, as the Knicks shot 18 of 26 (69%), while the Hawks had nine turnovers!
And before you could go to the fridge for another beer it was 68-15! A 39-4 run. And it was 83-36 at the half, the largest-ever NBA playoff halftime lead. The Knicks had shot 65% from the field.
Us fans could only watch in amazement, Atlanta fans having started heading for the exits before the half, which was equally stunning (and totally understandable) given the importance of the game.
The 39-4 run had turned into 63-11 at one point.
At 117-64, it was the largest-ever lead after three quarters.
OG Anunoby, who has been phenomenal in the postseason thus far, had 29 points on 11 of 14 shooting, while Mikal Bridges broke out of his slump in a big way, 24 points on 10 of 12. Karl-Anthony Towns, who has been a different player the last three games, had a triple-double, 12-11-10, his second of the series, taking only four shots from the field, but dominating in all other facets.
So, the Knicks, and their fans, awaited the winner of the Boston-Philadelphia series.
–And in that one, Tuesday, the 76ers shocked the Celtics again, 113-97 in Boston, to stay alive at 3-2.
And Philadelphia forced a Game 7, winning Game 6 at home Thursday, 106-93.
On to Saturday in Boston and 90 minutes before the deciding contest, the Celtics announced Jayson Tatum was out with left knee stiffness, which is kind of strange*.
The Sixers then took advantage of a weakened Boston team and pulled away late, 109-100, as a healthy Joel Embiid had 34, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. Guards Tyrese Maxey (30 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) and VJ Edgecombe (23 points on 5 of 11 from three) carried the rest of the load.
Embiid and Maxey became only the third duo in playoff history to go 25-10-5 in a Game 7.
Boston was 13 of 49 from beyond the arc.
*Tatum on Sunday said his injury was “unfortunate timing.”
“My recovery and comeback [from last year’s Achilles injury] were going so well that how it ended, I didn’t think it was going to end that way. It was just unfortunate.
“I worked really, really, really hard to come back in the fashion that I did and play at the level I was playing at. So for it to end the way it did was a tough pill to swallow.”
Game 1 Monday night at the Garden.
The Knicks will have their hands full with Embiid and a backcourt duo that can go off for 60 points. What New York needs is a primo defensive effort, including from Jalen Brunson. I’m not that confident.
—San Antonio wrapped up its series against the Trail Blazers on Tuesday, 114-95, taking it 4-1.
—Wednesday, the Pistons, on life support, won Game 5 in their series vs. the Magic, 116-109, as Cade Cunningham had 45 points for Detroit.
Back to Orlando for Game 6, the Magic up 3-2, and on Friday, the Magic took a 60-38 halftime lead…the fans were psyched.
But after increasing the lead to 62-38 at the beginning of the third quarter, Orlando went cold…very, very cold. The Magic missed 23 consecutive field goals, and the Pistons went on a 35-5 run on their way to a startling comeback, 93-79, Orlando scoring just 19 points in the second half! Cunningham had 32 points and 10 rebounds.
Game 7 Sunday afternoon in Detroit, and the Pistons took a 60-49 halftime lead despite Paulo Banchero’s 23 points, the Magic star receiving zero real support.
And the Pistons cruised to the finish, 116-94.
—Wednesday, the Cavaliers held court at home, 125-120 over the Raptors to take a 3-2 series lead.
But on Friday, back in Toronto, the Raptors got a game-winning 3-point shot from RJ Barrett with 1.2 seconds left, a shot that clanged off the back rim, popped up in the air and dropped through, setting up Game 7 in Cleveland Sunday night.
But Toronto has lost its last 10 playoff games in Cleveland.
—Wednesday, the Rockets stayed alive in their series with the Lakers in L.A., 99-93, so they headed back to Houston for Game 6, down 3-2.
And the Lakers wrapped up the series Friday night, 98-78, LeBron with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, while Deandre Ayton chipped in with 16 rebounds.
Austin Reaves has returned for the Lakers and it’s a big lift, Reaves with 15 points. But still no Luka Doncic.
—Thursday in Minneapolis, the T’Wolves, without Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, and, in Game 6 Ayo Dosunmu, took the series against the Nuggets, 110-98, as Jaden McDaniels had 32 points and 10 rebounds. What a startling effort by Minnesota.
MLB
–The Mets, losers of 17 of 20, headed out West yet again to face the Angels in Anaheim Friday night. Earlier in the day, president of baseball operations David Stearns gave his support to embattled manager Carlos Mendoza.
“We know our record is not what we want, and we know we are capable of more. We don’t view this as a manager problem, and we don’t intend to make a change.”
But they finished April an MLB-worst 10-21.
Questions about Mendoza’s job have grown frequent and louder after the early firings of Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Phillies manager Rob Thomson. [Philadelphia fired Thomson, the owner of the highest managerial winning percentage in franchise history, who also guided them to four postseason appearances in four years, on Tuesday. Bench coach Don Mattingly was promoted to interim manager. The Phillies were 9-19 to start the season.]
So the Mets went out and beat the Angels (who are equally as bad, 12-21) Friday, 4-3 on a Ronny Mauricio homer in the seventh and four hitless innings from the bullpen.
But they lost Saturday 4-3 in 10 innings, with Mauricio breaking his thumb while sliding into first to beat out a hit. Oh brother.
New York is avoiding Jose Soriano this weekend, Soriano 5-1, 0.84 ERA. Shades of Steve Carlton, sort of.
In 1972, Carlton was the NL Cy Young Award winner, 27-10, 1.97, but the Phillies were 59-97 that season. [There was a brief work stoppage beginning of the season, thus not 162 games.]
—The Yankees improved to 21-11 following a 7-2 win over the Orioles (15-17) at the Stadium Friday night as Will Warren threw 6 1/3 of one-run ball to improve to 4-0, 2.39. Ben Rice hit his 11th home run for New York. Former Met Pete Alonso, in his return to New York, hit homer No. 5 but it has been an awful start for Pete.
Saturday it was more of the same, Yanks 9-4, Cody Bellinger 4-for-4, 2 home runs, a double and 4 RBIs. Pete Alonso with a solo shot.
Ditto Sunday, 11-3, Aaron Judge (No. 13), Ben Rice (No. 12) going yard as the Yanks scored 7 in the bottom of the eighth. New York is 23-11.
–It’s bad in St. Louis in terms of fan apathy, this despite the fact their young team is off to a surprisingly strong start. Witness the fact the crowd Friday night at Busch Stadium was only 28,000 for the Dodgers. And the Cards won it, 7-2 to improve to 19-13, while L.A. falls to 20-12.
The Dodgers haven’t looked that great. Even Shohei Ohtani lost last Tuesday to the Marlins 2-1, though his ERA is till 0.60.
And the Cards won again on Saturday, 3-2, Jordan Walker with a 2-run homer, giving him 10 homers and 27 RBIs in a breakout season for the soon-to-be 24-year-old. Thirty-four thousands in the stands for this one.
St. Louis on Thursday in Pittsburgh beat Paul Skenes (5 innings, 4 earned) 10-5. Skenes is 0-5 lifetime vs. the Cardinals, though his ERA sits at 2.95 against them, even after Thursday’s rocky start.
–The Braves are an MLB-best 24-10 after Saturday’s 9-1 win over the Rockies in Colorado, Chris Sale with seven strong, 11 Ks, as he’s now 6-1, 2.14. Goodness gracious. Forget Ohtani and Paul Skenes…here’s your Cy Young Award recipient come season end.
–The A’s Nick Kurtz walked for a 20th straight game Friday night against the Guardians, tying him with Barry Bonds for second-longest such streak in baseball history. Alas, he was 0-for-4 in an 8-5 loss.
Even though Kurtz is off to a slow start, batting .236 with five home runs, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year still entered Saturday’s play with a .417 on-base percentage.
But the walk streak ended Saturday, Kurtz 2-for-5 with an RBI in a 14-6 to Cleveland.
–Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas, 34, who has had a mediocre career and never been a full-time starter at first base, extended his hitting streak to 24 to start the season (27 going back to last season) in a 6-5 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field Friday.
The record for a hitting streak to start the season is 34, set by George Sisler in 1925.
Vargas went 4-for-4 Friday and his average is up to .404.
Was .404…Vargas going 0-for-4 on Saturday in Arizona’s 2-0 loss to the Cubs.
BaseballReference had an interesting list of players who started the season with a hot streak, and Joe Torre in 1971 started the season with a 22-game hitting streak. Yes, that was the year he was NL MVP, batting .363, 230 hits, 137 RBIs.
And Ron LeFlore had a 30-game hitting streak to start 1976, finishing the year with a .316 BA.
If you’re younger and don’t know the story of Ron LeFlore, he didn’t come up to the big leagues until 1974 at the age of 26. The reason was he had been in prison for armed robbery in Detroit.
Billy Martin was the manager of the Tigers at the time and went to the prison to watch the baseball team there and he promised LeFlore a minor league tryout when he was released. LeFlore just had a year and change in the minors before he was called up, mainly because he had blinding speed.
From 1976 to 1979, he had an outstanding four-year run, and then in 1980, playing with the Expos in Montreal, he stole 97 bases in 139 games…becoming the first player at the time to lead both leagues in steals.
–The Reds have been starting former Wake Forest Demon Deacon hurlers Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns back-to-back, which is kind of neat, but Lowder had a historically bad outing on Saturday in a 17-7 loss to the Pirates.
After entering the game 3-1, 3.18 ERA, and having given up 24 walks in his first 64 innings in the majors, Lowder walked four, including three straight (after giving up five hits), and he was followed by reliever Connor Phillips, who walked four in a row with the bases loaded.
So seven walks in a row, tying an MLB record. Lowder’s ERA soared to 5.09, after yielding 8 runs in 1 1/3.
But today was a little different. Chase Burns threw seven scoreless innings only to have the Pirates eke out a run in the bottom of the eighth off a reliever for a 1-0 win…Burns’ ERA down to 2.20. [Go Deacs!]
Golf Balls
–The PGA Tour returned to Doral for the first time since 2016 and we had a strong field for the Signature event…the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral (Blue Course)…and after 36 holes, there is he is again….
Cameron Young -13…64-67
Nick Taylor -8
Jordan Spieth -8
Alex Smalley -8
Scottie Scheffler -6
Alex Fitzpatrick -6…momentum carrying over from last week.
But with the crowded schedule of Signature events leading up to the PGA Championship in two weeks, only 10 of the top 15 in the world were here when normally for such a tournament you’d get virtually everyone.
Rory McIlroy, for example, took another week off. They’ll work out the schedule better next season.
Meanwhile, it was still largely about LIV Golf this week. LIV officially postponed its June tournament scheduled for the New Orleans area.
LIV then officially told its staff and players that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the primary backer of the tour, has pulled its funding at the conclusion of the 2026 season.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF who was behind the creation of LIV, resigned as the tour’s chairman.
LIV has reportedly lost more than $5 billion since its debut in 2022 and failed to achieve a significant television audience, especially in the U.S. Ratings have been abysmal.
If the league is to survive, it has to come up with new, major sponsors with deep pockets, and no one of substance is going to respond to the calls without a big television contract, and that ain’t happenin’.
Of course, the LIV players are now scrambling, contacting the PGA Tour to see how they can return.
But the PGA Tour can just sit back, let things develop, and pick and choose who they might allow to return, albeit with penalties. The PGA Tour is in good shape.
As CEO Brian Rolapp told the Wall Street Journal in an interview: “I don’t necessarily have scar tissue, but there are plenty of people around our Tour who do. It has to be accounted for in some shape or form.”
And Rolapp didn’t sound as if the path back would be smooth for all.
“There were rules, and they were broken,” he said. “With rules comes accountability.”
But Rolapp has said he’s interested in doing what’s best for the PGA Tour.
“Seems like they’re treating them all as a case-by-case basis,” said PGA Tour veteran Brian Harman this week at Doral. “I would think that the fans want everyone to be playing together and time heals all wounds. There’s still some sentiment out here, especially with all the lawsuit stuff, that stuff’s going to be tough to get past. We play with all those guys in the majors, so, yeah, I think there should be a path back.”
LIV is slated to play at another Trump course next week in northern Virginia. LIV isn’t dead yet. But it’s in the critical care wing.
Back to play at Doral…after 54 holes, Cameron Young remained comfortably in the lead.
Young -15
Scheffler -9
Si Woo Kim -9
Kristoffer Reitan (Norway) -9
Weather, however, forced officials to move up the tee times rather drastically as downpours were forecast for the afternoon. And then the downpours came early so the leaders teed off around 11:30 AM.
But they then got it in, and while I watched it all, with Cam Young’s lead, there was no need for a hole-by-hole account. Young cruised to his third PGA Tour victory, continuing an awesome stretch going back to last summer, including winning The Players Championship.
And I love that all of this has come with his Wake Forest teammate on the bag. Young, by the way, endowed a scholarship at his alma mater. Even better. Go Deacs!
Young -19…wire to wire!
Scheffler -13…three straight runner-up finishes.
Ben Griffin -12
Adam Scott -11
Si Woo Kim -11…sixth top ten in 12 starts this season.
Sepp Straka -11
The one story on the round was Young calling a penalty on himself on hole No. 2, when he caused the ball to move before hitting his approach shot. Playing with preferred lies, Young had lifted, cleaned and placed his ball in the fairway, and as his club was behind the ball before the swing, the ball moved and Young stopped to call an official.
Young said his ball moved slightly forward when he addressed it, and he told the rules official he was unsure whether his actions caused the ball to move. After describing the situation, the rules official determined his actions did cause the ball to move, and Young was assessed a one-stroke penalty.
But TV cameras didn’t pick up the ball moving, and yet Young still called a penalty on himself. What a guy…the very best of golf.
Kentucky Derby
Saturday morning, here were the story lines. Renegade, the morning line favorite at 4-1 drew the dreaded first post position and no horse had won the Derby from the rail since 1986…the kiss of death. He dropped to 6-1.
Also at 6-1 were the Brad Cox trained Commandment and So Happy, ridden by 59-year-old ‘Magic’ Mike Smith, who was seeking to become the oldest jockey to win the Derby.
Bob Baffert’s two horses, Litmus Test and Potente, weren’t slated to be contenders.
Back to Renegade, he is co-owned by Mike Repole, the big St. John’s basketball donor. As Rick Pitino readily admits, any success he has is in part due to Repole’s funds.
On to the race, and there’s a good reason why no horse has won from the rail in 40 years. Renegade was immediately pushed to the rail and had to drop back, only to rally back in the backstretch and as the horses raced to the finish, out of nowhere, 23-1 longshot Golden Tempo, coming literally from last place early, won it by a neck over a charging Renegade in a super-exciting race.
Golden Tempo, ridden by first-time Derby winner Jose Ortiz, was well off the lead at the top of the stretch, but on his urging, the horse thundered past the rest of the field.
Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer to win the race that was being held a 152nd time.
“He was so far out of it,” DeVaux said in a post-race interview.
Ocelli, an also-eligible horse that squeezed into the field with all the scratches during the week, took third at 70-1. He had the lead midway down the final straight before Golden Tempo’s charge, but that shows you Ocelli has some game by hanging in for third.
Jose Ortiz, who was also aboard the Kentucky Oaks winner Friday, outdueled his brother Irad Ortiz Jr., who was riding Renegade.
DeVaux is just the second female trainer to win a Triple Crown race, following Jena Antonucci’s victory with Arcangelo at the 2023 Belmont Stakes.
Just a very cool moment for a great sport. Before each Triple Crown race, I say a prayer there isn’t anything bad that gets folks in an uproar over whether horse racing should be allowed to survive. It’s kind of been touch-and-go for years since a few high-profile disasters.
And before the Derby even started, we almost had one as Great White, the massive horse all the commentators had been focusing on because of his size, reared up and flipped his jockey, Alex Achard, heading to the starting gate. Both Great White and Achard were OK. It was a scary moment.
Jose Ortiz had some advice for his fellow Puerto Ricans looking to become jockeys. “Learn English.” So true. You have to be able to communicate with the trainers and owners to get rides.
So now we wait for Golden Tempo’s owners and Cherie DeVaux’s decision on whether to race the horse at the Preakness or wait for the Belmont.
It’s such a simple solution. Add one more week before running the Preakness.
But purists say the Triple Crown is the ultimate test…3 races in 5 weeks…for a reason. It’s supposed to be hard. It’s just the sport has changed, not just the economics of it, but with more of a focus on the health and care of the animal.
Premier League
Saturday, in a huge one for Tottenham, Brentford beat West Ham 3-0. And Arsenal, in an equally big one, whipped Fulham 3-0. [All about goal differential at this point.]
Sunday, Tottenham, on the road, pulled off a huge upset, defeating 5 Aston Villa 2-1!
The Table flipped on the relegation spot.
Played (of 38)…Points
1 Arsenal 35 – 76…41 goal differential
2 Manchester City 33 – 70…37…City playing Everton Monday.
17 Tottenham 35 – 37…go Spurs!
18 West Ham 35 – 36
Stuff
–Good for Buffalo. The Sabres won Game 6 in Boston 4-1 on Friday night to take the series 4-2.
Buffalo, which saw the end of its 14-year playoff drought by capturing its first Atlantic Division title, advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2007. They awaited the winner of the Montreal-Tampa Bay series.
–In a startling continuing story, 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli won his third consecutive Formula One race, the Miami Grand Prix, fighting off Lando Norris.
Antonelli, after wining in China and Japan, had an enforced five-week break after the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races due to the war in the Middle East. No problemo.
—The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams, ESPN reported Tuesday. It could be formalized in the coming weeks and would take effect next season.
The mechanics of the expansion would include eight additional at-large bids. What’s known now as the First Four – eight teams playing four games in Dayton, Ohio – would expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two sites, one of which was expected to remain in Dayton.
You would still have a traditional 64-team bracket that would begin Thursday and look much the same. The major difference would be more teams that qualify as traditional at-larges would have to play earlier than the 64-team bracket.
–Lastly, when I’m doing my errands on the weekends, I normally have SiriusXM’s “The Highway” on to hear the latest Country hits and I heard for the first time Zach John King’s “Get to Drinkin’.” I immediately thought, how can Country keep coming up with original song titles with ‘drinking’ in it after 70 years.
Well, they do…God bless ‘em.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/2/70: #1 “ABC” (The Jackson 5) #2 “Let It Be” (The Beatles) #3 “Spirit In The Sky” (Norman Greenbaum)…and…#4 “American Woman” (The Guess Who) #5 “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” (John Ono Lennon) #6 “Love Or Let Me Be Lonely” (The Friends of Distinction) #7 “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” (Edison Lighthouse) #8 “Come And Get It” (Badfinger) #9 “Vehicle” (The Ides of March) #10 “Turn Back The Hands Of Time” (Tyrone Davis…B+ week…)
Buffalo Sabres Quiz Answer: The French Connection Line was Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault (center), Rick Martin (left wing), and Rene Robert (right wing).
Perreault had 512 goals and 814 assists, 1326 points in 1191 games in his career, all with the Sabres, 1971-87. Martin (1971-80 with Buffalo) had 382 of his 384 career goals with the Sabres, including two, 50-goal seasons. And Robert (1972-79 Buffalo) had 222 goals with the Sabres.
Buffalo made the playoffs 11 straight seasons during this time, including the 1974-75 Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Flyers.
That season, the French Connection Line went…
Robert…100 points (40 goals)
Perreault…96 (39)
Martin…95 (52).
All three were born in Quebec, thus the name.
The coach was Floyd Smith.
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.
