---

Bar Chat

05/20/2024

We LOVE Xander Schauffele!!!

Add-on posted early Tues. a.m.

NBA Playoffs

--Denver fans were psyched last night.  The Nuggets were up 53-38 at the half of the Timberwolves, Game 7, Jamal Murray with 24 points, Nikola Jokic already with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

For Minnesota, Anthony Edwards and Mike Conley were a combined 1 for 14 from the field at the half. 

Game over.  Early in the third period the lead got up to 20.

But then the Wolves totally turned it around, making adjustments, playing stifling defense, and they dominated the second half, 60-37 for a stunning 98-90 win in Denver, thus ensuring the NBA will have a new champion for the sixth consecutive season.

Minnesota hosts Denver in the Western Conference final for Game 1 on Wednesday.

Indiana opens up against Boston Tuesday.

--As I alluded to Sunday, Knicks fans aren’t real upset at what happened in Game 7.  It was just inevitable that the injuries would catch up to us.  We were naïve to think that the loss of All-Star forward Julius Randle since Jan. 27 wouldn’t hurt us eventually. The guy was averaging 24 points and 9 rebounds, as well as 5 assists, and the Knicks were playing great when he went down.  We needed a second option behind Jalen Brunson in the Indiana series. And obviously the loss of OG Anunoby was huge, the Knicks, prior to Sunday, 26-5 when he was in the lineup.

That said, the Knicks did cut it to six in the second half, 73-67, before some costly turnovers and then Brunson fractured his hand.

[For the archives, I didn’t have time as I was posting Sunday to note the exact NBA playoff-record shooting stats of the Pacers...67.1% for the game, 76.3% in the first half.]

“It was a battle all year,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.  “There was nothing left to give at the end.”

It’s just disappointing that forever after, when Knicks fans look at the 2023-24 edition, they’ll wonder what could have been had everyone been healthy come playoff time.

“I’m disappointed that we aren’t going to play anymore together,” Thibodeau said.  “It’s a great group to be around and they gave everything they had.”

Said Brunson: “We didn’t use excuses and we kept finding ways. That was our mindset.  I’m so glad we had that mindset. The outcome isn’t what we wanted but the way we fought...it was awesome.”

Brunson added: “I love this group of guys that we have.”

It was a very fun season for us fans.  But now the Knicks have some big contract decisions on the likes of Anunoby (who is always hurt) and Isaiah Hartenstein (who had a disappointing finale Sunday, but otherwise was an integral piece, especially after Randle and Mitchell Robinson went down).

And they need to extend Thibodeau, who otherwise would be a lame duck on the last year of his contract next season.

--In the WNBA last night, Caitlin Clark recovered from a turned ankle to score 17 points, but earned her first technical at a key moment in the fourth quarter as she appeared to yell “it’s a f---ing foul” after turning the ball over and committing a transition take foul.

What was a 76-75 Indiana Fever lead with 3:37 left in the game turned into an 88-84 loss to the Connecticut Sun, Clark’s Fever now 0-4.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

--Edmonton won Game 7 in Vancouver last night, 3-2, the Oilers traveling to Dallas for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, Thursday.

The Canucks were without leading goal scorer Brock Boeser because of a reported blood clot.

MLB

--After Sunday’s play, it’s staggering the Yankees have the best team ERA in baseball at 2.81.  During their seven-game winning streak, the rotation is 7-0 with a 0.80 ERA.  The Yankees’ bullpen is tied for best in baseball with Cleveland at 2.49.

And all this without Gerrit Cole, who could be back late June, early July.

But last night the Yankee pen, specifically Clay Holmes, imploded in the top of the ninth, Holmes yielding 4 runs as Seattle came back for a 5-4 win, the Yanks wasting 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball from Marcus Stroman.

--San Diego veteran starter Yu Darvish has 25 consecutive scoreless innings after going seven innings Sunday in a 9-1 win over the Braves.  The 37-year-old is 4-1, 2.08.

--Boston’s Rafael Devers homered in his fifth straight game Sunday in an 11-3 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis, tying a franchise record held by Jimmie Foxx (1940), Ted Williams (1957), Dick Stuart (1963), George Scott (1977), Jose Canseco (1995), and Bobby Dalbec (2020).

The all-time record is eight consecutive games by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987), and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993).

Bazooka Joe says of Stuart: “Dick once hit 66 home runs in the Western League!”

And you can look it up.  1956.

Well...Devers homered Monday night in Boston’s 5-0 win over Tampa Bay, so he has the record all by himself.

--Yoshinobu Yamamoto improved to 5-1, 3.17, as the Dodgers exploded for six runs in the third inning, keyed by a grand slam from Freddie Freeman in a 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks last night; Yamamoto yielding 2 runs in 6 1/3.

--Atlanta beat the Padres 3-0 on Monday, Chris Sale now 7-1, 2.22, after throwing seven scoreless. Pretty impressive.

--College Baseball

Baseball America Top Ten a/o Sunday’s action....

1. Tennessee
2. Kentucky
3. North Carolina
4. Texas A&M
5. Arkansas
6. Oregon State
7. NC State
8. Georgia
9. Wake Forest
10. Clemson
11. Florida State
13. Virginia
16. Duke

This week we have conference tournament action, and then next Monday the field for the NCAA Championship is set.

I am shocked Wake fell only two slots.  To beat a dead horse, we can’t win a regional without a second starter...end of story.

Golf Balls...final thoughts on the PGA Championship

--Chuck Culpepper / Washington Post

“The smile that lit up Valhalla Golf Club just before 7 p.m. Sunday gleamed with such wattage and depth that it seemed to register all the seven years of its construction. It most certainly could not help itself. When it poured from a face previously clenched and shone across the storied 18th green at another PGA Championship here while gallery noise swirled all around it, anyone who begrudged it had to be a prude.

“The smile belonged to 30-year-old San Diegan Xander Schauffele, sprang from a six-foot birdie putt you wouldn’t wish on an enemy and owed its might to a bushel of factors.  It stemmed from the remorseless donnybrook that preceded it as Schauffele managed the steepest pressure of his outstanding career, a scenario that forced him to go up-and-down on both No. 17 (for par) and No. 18 (for birdie) to nudge ahead after Bryson DeChambeau had tied him with a loud closing birdie about half an hour earlier.  It stemmed from his habitual contention across his first 27 majors ever since he turned up at the 2017 U.S. Open as an understated but chipper kid, shot a 66 off the bat and finished tied for fifth. It owed to his 20 top-25 finishes, which included 12 top-10s and six top-fives but zero real cases of squandering....

“ ‘When it lipped in,’ the popular winner said, ‘I don’t really remember it lipping in. I just heard everyone roaring, and I just looked up to the sky in relief.’

“At the end of a labyrinthine path to the smile, never again would anyone ask this Californian man of the world, this son of a French-German American father and a Taiwanese American mother raised in Japan. Hey, when are you going to win a major?

“ ‘Proud of Xander for finally getting the job done,’ said DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champion who was bidding to become the second straight PGA Championship winner from the Saudi-funded LIV Golf circuit.  ‘He’s an amazing golfer and well-deserved major champion now.  He’s played well for a long, long time.’

“ ‘I’m so happy for him,’ said Collin Morikawa, his friend, his fellow Las Vegas resident and his playing partner Sunday....

“ ‘I don’t think I’d ever look at it as lacking,’ Schauffele said of his prior major record.  ‘I looked at it as someone that is trying really hard and needs more experience. All those close calls for me, even last week [at the Wells Fargo], that sort of feeling, it gets to you at some point. It just makes this even sweeter.’

“Yeah, you could tell by the smile.”

You know how I feel about LIV and those who chose that path, but DeChambeau was classy.

As for Viktor Hovland, who finished third and suddenly got his game back after returning to his old coach just last Sunday, I’m waiting for him and Hideki Matsuyama to jump to LIV. This would be far from shocking.  But as I wrote Sunday, watch Rory, his body language, his statements the rest of the year (through the FedEx Cup Playoffs).

--Scottie Scheffler’s court appearance in Louisville has been postponed nearly two weeks as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding his shocking arrest last Friday at Valhalla.

--Nelly Korda was back in the winner’s circle Sunday, earning her sixth victory of the season (in seven starts) at the Mizuho Americas Open, Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, N.J.  Korda, who now has 14 LPGA Tour wins, defeated Hannah Green by a stroke.

Korda is also only the fourth player in LPGA history to win at least six times before June, joining legends Babe Zaharias (1951), Louise Suggs (1953), and Lorena Ochoa (2008).

--In the women’s NCAA Golf Championship, defending champion Wake Forest staged a furious rally but fell two strokes shy, Monday, of qualifying for match play.  A team champ will be decided Wednesday.

Adela Cernousek of Texas A&M picked a good time to get her first win, the individual title.

NFL

The great Jim Otto died.  He was 86.

The Hall of Famer, who wore the distinctive “00,” was the center for the first 15 seasons of the Raiders franchise from 1960-74, never missing a game, starting in 210 consecutive games.

“I’ve often looked at being a football player as being a gladiator,” Otto told Bleacher Report in 2009.

“There’s something inside of you that says, ‘I want to go out there and prove my worth.’  Most of the time you’re going to get injuries. That’s the life you choose. Some people need a challenge in life and they play hockey or rugby. Football was the way I could prove myself.”

“His skills as a center were just perfect,” Raiders Hall of Fame coach, the late John Madden, once said.  “He was one of those guys who never wanted to come out of practice. That’s the opposite of most starters, who will say, ‘Send in the second guy.’”

Otto was 10X All-Pro, nine times first team, and then a three-time Pro Bowl center after the AFL and NFL merged.

But after football, Jim Otto suffered immeasurably, with more than 70 surgeries and he had to have his right leg amputated in 2007.

“I’m not the type of guy that wants somebody to feel sorry for me. I’ll do whatever. I’ll go to war if I have to to live,” Otto said in 2013, adding, “I’ve done a lot since I’ve had my leg amputated. I’ve been to the Arctic Circle.  I’ve been in all types of venues...I like to hunt.”

This story from Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano in a 2022 interview sums up Otto: “I watched him bleed. I mean, every f---ing game. Whatever helmet he had on certainly didn’t work, because it would come down and smash on top of his nose. He’d be bleeding every single game. And players on the other team would be like, ‘What the f--- is with this guy?!”

Stuff

--Kyle Larson will start in the fifth spot at next Sunday’s Indy 500.  This is a terrific story.

But in terms of Larson being able to complete the Indy/Charlotte 600 double that day, he needs the weather to cooperate at Indy and the early forecast is for scattered thunderstorms...not good.

Team Penske swept the front row for the first time since 1988 when it did so with Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr. and Danny Sullivan.

This year it’s Will Power and Josef Newgarden alongside polesitter Scott McLaughlin, McLaughlin’s four-lap average of 234.220 mph breaking the mark set by reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou last year.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

-----

[Posted Sunday p.m. after Knicks and PGA]

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.

Baseball Quiz: 1) Who are the last five pitchers to strike out 300 batters in a season (five different names).  2) Who is the only pitcher with five consecutive seasons with 300 strikeouts.  Answers below.

PGA Championship

--After a first round at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, Xander Schauffele had a 3-shot lead with a record-tying 62 for a major.  The course was very soft with all the rain in the area.  How low would the field go?

Friday dawned rainy, rain in the forecast for most of the day, but officials were determined to get the round in.

Before it started, however, hours before, there was a human tragedy.  A local retiree, working for a vendor this championship week, was hit at 5:00 a.m., walking across a street near the club, by a shuttle bus and died at the scene.

This caused a massive traffic backup, as players, spectators (coming via buses) and workers all converged on the course, as police shut down lanes to conduct their investigation.  Amidst the chaos, and it was truly chaos, golfers Cameron Young and Will Zalatoris walking over a mile with their clothes before they commandeered a golf cart to go the rest of the way, Scottie Scheffler got caught up in it.

Scheffler was handcuffed and arrested by Louisville police, given an orange jumpsuit, had his mugshot taken, and as we learned later, he did his stretching in his jail cell in the hope he could still make his tee time.

Scheffler’s new attorney, Steve Romines, said Scheffler did not disobey police and “did exactly what was instructed to do to enter the premises.”

“We’ll just litigate the case as it comes,” he said.  “Scottie will cooperate fully and we’ll just deal with it as it progresses.”

Arraignment is slated for Tuesday.

Scottie then went out and shot a 5-under 66.

At the end of the second round, we had....

Schauffele -12
Collin Morikawa -11
Sahith Theegala -10
Scheffler -9
Thomas Detry -9
Mark Hubbard -9
Bryson DeChambeau -9

But it was all about Scheffler and at the end of his round, after one of the most stressful days of his life, he went before the press when he didn’t have to and was pitch perfect.  Golf fans also got to see a side of the man they didn’t know.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY

“In this cynical world, everything about (Scheffler) seemed too good to be true.  Did he really marry his high school sweetheart? Would he really have walked off the back nine at Augusta if his wife, Meredith, had gone into labor a few weeks back as he claimed he would have? Does he really live his life according to the principles of his Christian faith, or is it all an act? Is he truly as pleasant and down-to-earth as he comes across on television?

“Based on everything he’s said and done in the public eye, it would be hard to dislike Scheffler.  But there’s lots of evidence – including the disastrous television ratings on Sunday for his Masters romp – that he just doesn’t get the juices flowing the way Tiger or Rory does.

“If you were brainstorming ideas about what might humanize Scheffler, getting arrested would be too far-fetched to even say out loud.  You’d get immediately laughed out of the room.

“Scheffler handled this thing so well, though, that Friday probably could be one of the biggest turning points of his time in the public eye.

“No, spending a couple of hours with the cops is not going to impact how many majors he ends up with when his career is done.  But there are a few things that we’re all going to remember about Friday.

“We’re going to remember that the No. 1 golfer in the world found himself in such a bizarre situation and, according to his own account, didn’t pull the ‘Do you know who I am?’ card to try and wriggle his way out of trouble. We’re going to remember that he repeatedly acknowledged that the death of a man needed to be the main story, not his inconvenience.  And we’re going to remember that after a wild ordeal he never could have prepared for, Scheffler came into the media tent and conducted about as transparent a press conference as possible in that moment.

“Though he didn’t discuss details of the incident for obvious legal reasons, he talked about his emotions and his heart rate and the small kindnesses of officers who helped calm him down. He talked about seeing himself on a television from the holding cell and trying to calculate based on the time stamp in the corner whether he might be able to still make his tee time.

“He seemed, for once, like a real person. A vulnerable person.  But also a person that you can now understand and contextualize as the best golfer in the world.  Whether or not he deserved to be arrested, handling something so stressful and unnerving with such ease kind of explains why he’s such a stone-cold killer on the course.

“Maybe Scheffler made a mistake, or maybe he was the victim of one, but his unflappability and class in the aftermath is no longer a myth.  We saw it play out in real time, Friday, from handcuffs to signing his scorecard.  And along the way, we learned something about Scottie Scheffler that only has a little bit to do with hitting a golf ball: At the end of the day, he’s the real deal.”

Back to the action on the course. Rain was no longer in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday, and it was setting up to be a super weekend.

It started out as a birdie fest in round three, with Shane Lowry and Justin Rose making big moves up the leaderboard.

And then Scheffler suddenly went double bogey, bogey, bogey, holes 2-4.  It was shocking.  But he birdied No. 5.  Scheffler is playing without his regular caddie, Ted Scott, who took Saturday off to attend his son’s high school graduation.  Scheffler had the tour chaplain on his bag (a guy who also has game), which he was comfortable with, but as all the commentators remarked, was this the difference, Scott perhaps getting Scheffler to change his club selection once or twice?

As the round developed, a very exciting one, lots of action, on No. 15, Schauffele double-bogeyed it and Morikawa and Theegala birdied and we had this.

Morikawa -14 thru 15
Schauffele -13...15
Theegala -13...15
Lowry -13...after a 62!  He had a makeable putt for 61 on 18 that would have given him the record for lowest round in a major.

And here’s how we finished round three....

Schauffele -15
Morikawa -15
Theegala -14
Lowry -13
DeChambeau -13
Viktor Hovland -13
Rose -12
Robert McIntyre -12
Dean Burmester -11...LIV golfer from South Africa

Justin Thomas and Tony Finau were in a big group at -10 and very much in it.

Rory -8.

Scheffler -7...after a 73, his first round over par in forever.  Simply, as he admitted afterwards, after Friday’s adrenaline rush that carried him on the course, he hit a wall Saturday.

We were setting up for a fantastic finish.  Valhalla is not a ‘great’ course in the truest sense, but it never fails to provide drama...and this week produced low scores, with the soft greens, and zero wind.

As Justin Thomas observed: “It just doesn’t matter what golf course you put us on on planet Earth, if the greens are soft, we’re going to tear it up.  It just doesn’t have anything to defend itself.”

Consider that Schauffele and Lowry have now had two of the five 62s, ever, in any major championship.

Lowry said: “Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62,” as he smiled ear-to-ear, “...and I enjoyed every minute of it, obviously.”

The winner takes home a record PGA Championship share of $3,150,000.

So...in the fourth round, Schauffele made an immense par putt on No. 6, but then had an awful bogey on No. 10 and we were....

Schauffele -18 thru 10
Hovland -18...12
DeChambeau -17...12

If Bryson wins, it’s an absolute nightmare.

Hovland, making the decision to go back to his old coach just last Sunday, birdied 13 to take the lead. But Bryson also birdied.  I need the sword in reserve.

Schauffele then birdied No. 11 to tie Hovland at -19.  Bryson also birdied 13 to go to -18.

Schauffele birdies 12, but Bryson, wearing his stupid LIV gear, birdies 16. 

And then it was this....

Schauffele -20 thru 15
Hovland -19...17
DeChambeau -19...17

No. 18 a big birdie hole.

And DeChambeau birdies it!  -20. [Hovland bogeys it...-18] Schauffele in bunker on par-4 17th.  Needs up and down to stay -20.  Oh boy.

Xander gets the par....he needs birdie to avoid a playoff.

But Xander hits the drive on 18 feet from a bunker, a compromised stance, he can lay up...it’s a par-5...and he hits a great approach...seemingly straight-forward third into the green....

Xander hits his third 5 feet from the hole....Five feet for the title....

Jim Nantz’ commentary terrific...

And Xander makes it!!!!  Thank God!!!

His first major and so huge for the PGA Tour not to have DeChambeau win.  [By the way, Bryson was the only LIV golfer in the top ten.]

--Scottie Scheffler, with Ted Scott back on his bag, played great Sunday...6-under to finish -13...T8.

--Saturday, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed that there is no body camera footage of the hectic scene that led to Scheffler’s arrest.

Greenberg said Det. Bryan Gillis either didn’t have a body camera on him or it wasn’t activated. The mayor added that there is footage available from a fixed camera across the street from the incident that should be released soon.

--Before the tournament started, for those of us praying for a finalized deal between the Saudis, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, we had the distressing news from Jimmy Dunne, the investment banker/golf biggee who became a key figure when Commissioner Jay Monahan tabbed Dunne and tour policy board chair Ed Herlihy to negotiate in secret with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.  The two sides then announced the framework agreement that would allow the PGA Tour to maintain control of a Saudi-funded new entity called PGA Tour Enterprises on June 6, 2023.

But nearly one year later, Dunne wrote in a resignation letter from the PGA Tour policy board Monday that unification is not closer to coming and his vote has become “superfluous” because the players gained control of the policy board last year.

Dunne’s resignation came one week after his good friend, Rory McIlroy, had a potential return to the policy board blocked by what he called “a subset of people on the board [Ed. read Tiger Woods and Patrick Cantlay, for starters] that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason.”

Rory, as I wrote last week, was then added to a newly created seven-person “transaction subcommittee” for negotiation with PIF that includes Woods, Monahan and others.

But Dunne in his letter said he has not been asked to help in any negotiations since June 2023 and that he’d vote alongside the player directors when the time came.

“Since the players now outnumber the independent Directors on the Board, and no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with the PIF, I feel like my vote and my role is utterly superfluous,” Dunne wrote.

“It is crucial for the Board to avoid letting yesterday’s differences interfere with today’s decisions, especially when they influence future opportunities for the Tour. Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game.  I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction.”

This is just depressing. 

Meanwhile, I was listening to Boomer Esiason, the former quarterback who has a morning sports talk show here in New York, and he said he believed Rory was going to LIV at the end of the year for up to $700 million, despite all of Rory’s denials.  Boomer said Dunne’s departure was a sign something was up.  Of course, this would be a killer.

Rory said of his friend’s departure: “Honestly, I think it’s a huge loss for the PGA Tour, if they are trying to get this deal done with the PIF and trying to unify the game.  Jimmy was basically ‘the’ relationship, the sort of conduit between the PGA Tour and PIF.  It’s been really unfortunate that he has not been involved for the last few months, and I think part of the reason that everything is stalling at the minute is because of that.

“So it is, it’s really, really disappointing, and you know, I think the tour is in a worse place because of it. We’ll see.  We’ll see where it goes from here and we’ll see what happens.  But you know, I would say my confidence level on something getting done before last week was, you know, as low as it has been and then with this news of Jimmy resigning and knowing the relationship he has with the other side, and how much warmth there is from the other side, it’s concerning.”

Again, if Rory goes...ugh.

And there was Jon Rahm, who earlier in the week during a press conference incredibly said that he still sees himself as a PGA Tour member despite his jump to LIV.

“You guys keep saying ‘the other side,’ but I’m still a PGA Tour member, whether suspended or not,” Rahm said.  “I still want to support the PGA Tour. And I think that’s an important distinction to make.

“I don’t feel like I’m on the other side. I’m just not playing there. That’s at least personally.”

You’re an idiot, Rahm.  Golf Channel host George Savaricas said after his brain was “in a pretzel” over Rahm’s belief that he’s still a member of the PGA Tour.  Former tour player Arron Oberholser said Rahm’s comments made him “incensed.”

“He doesn’t get it,” Oberholser said.  “To this day, he doesn’t get it. This is a guy who wanted a position, or wanted to be heard, from what I understand, either a board position, policy board.  He wanted to be heard on this whole thing before he went to LIV. And I feel like he wasn’t as heard as much as he probably should have been. And now, I’m glad he wasn’t in that position, because he doesn’t get it.”

Oberholser said he was “incensed by the level of naivete... You took 500 large and then you’re going to sit there and tell me, oh, you still feel like a PGA Tour member... I mean, I wanted to wring his neck through the television. I’m that mad right now... And every player [on the PGA Tour] in that locker room, if they watched that, should be absolutely incensed with him.”

Jon Rahm lost me when he joined LIV, but now I really, really want him to suck.  [And he did, missing the cut this weekend.]

Speaking of missing the cut...among the others were Tiger (72-77), Ludvig Aberg, Sam Burns, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, and Wyndham Clark.

--The NCAA Women’s Golf Championship is being played out at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, with stroke play wrapping up Monday, at which point the individual champion is determined, while the top eight teams move on to the match play format to determine the team champion.   I love this format, which is the same for the men, who have their championship next week at the same venue.

Wake Forest is defending women’s champion but has its work cut out for it to get into the top eight as of today.

NBA Playoffs

--After the Knicks’ stirring 121-91 win at the Garden last Tuesday gave them a 3-2 series lead over the Pacers, a lot of us fans thought they’d prevail in Game 6 Friday night in Indianapolis, but it wasn’t to be, the Pacers dominating inside, Jalen Brunson with a horrendous first half (2 of 13 shooting), and Indiana forcing a Game 7 Sunday back in New York with a 116-103 win that was more of a rout than the final score indicates.

Brunson recovered in the second half to finish with 31 points, but he received zero support and then there was the massive issue of Josh Hart having to take himself out of the game due to pain in his abdomen.

What would Hart’s status be?  They cannot possibly win without him, the Knicks already without Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanovic, and OG Anunoby, who was ruled out of Game 7 with his strained hamstring.

At least it’s home. As Donte DiVincenzo said after Friday’s debacle, “This is the exact reason we played (the final games of the regular season) to win, to get the 2 seed.”

And kind of out of nowhere, both OG and Hart were in the starting lineup, but OG, despite hitting his first two shots, played just five minutes and was taken out. He couldn’t go.

The Knicks then incredibly played zero defense, and at the half, it was 70-55 Pacers, who hit a staggering 29 of 38 from the field, 8 of 12 from 3...Jalen Brunson, like in the last game, with an awful first half, 4 of 13.

Drat!

And then to add insult to (further) injury, Jalen Brunson exited in the second half with a fractured hand.

Oh brother.  Knicks lose 130-109. 

I can’t be that upset...the injuries were obviously too much to overcome and as Tony Soprano would have said, ‘Whaddya gonna do?’

I spent an entire season watching these guys...so many great moments...but we move on to what will be an interesting offseason.  Major contract decisions.

Indiana takes on Boston, which eliminated Cleveland in Game 5 Wednesday, 113-98, as Al Horford became the oldest player in NBA history to post at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, at least five 3-pointers and at least five assists in a playoff game. [Specifically, 22 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, 6 of 13 from 3.]

--Last night, the Mavericks fell behind 64-48 at the half to the Thunder in Big D, but came back in the second, Kyrie Irving with 18 of his 22 points after the intermission, Luka Doncic with his third straight triple-double, 29-10-10, as the Mavs wrapped up the series, 4-2, with a scintillating 117-116 win.

PJ Washington stepped up to the line, down 116-115 with two seconds to play, and calmly sank two free throws for the win, having been fouled on a 3-point attempt.  [PJ purposely missed the third.]

Mark Cuban and Dallas are headed to their second conference finals in three years, a major accomplishment in the West.

Tonight, we have a terrific Game 7 in Denver.  The defending champion Nuggets and Nikola Jokic going up against the Timberwolves and Anthony Edwards.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

--As we entered the third period Thursday night in Raleigh, the Rangers, who at one time had a 3-0 lead in their series with the Hurricanes, only to lose the next two, including a dismal 4-1 loss at the Garden Monday in Game 5, found themselves trailing Carolina 3-1.

Game 7 seemed a certainty.  Rangers fans were despondent.

And then the greatest playoff goal scorer in franchise history, Chris Kreider, almost singlehandedly took over.  In a span of 8:58, from the 6:43 mark to 15:41, Kreider got a hat trick.  The guy flipped a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead, and the Rangers picked up an empty netter, won it 5-3, and took the series 4-2.

It was absolutely stunning to watch.  Kreider joined Mark Messier* and Wayne Gretzky as the only Rangers to score a hat trick in one playoff period.   His natural hat trick was just the eighth in Stanley Cup Playoff history and the second in Rangers’ history.

*Messier’s three third period goals in the famous Game 6 “guarantee” against the Devils.

The Rangers also became the first Presidents’ Trophy winner to reach the conference finals since the 2014-15 Rangers. That squad went on to be beaten by the Kings in the Stanley Cup Final.

One more on Kreider.  This is a guy who has spent his entire career with New York.  But for years, he was just an ordinary, decent goal scorer...almost always finishing the season in the 20s, never hit 30. Each offseason there would be the question whether the Rangers should keep him.

And then the guy turned 30, and his last three seasons he has 52, 36 and 39 goals in the regular season, 304 for his career, trailing only Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle in franchise history.  And now he’s up to 47 playoff goals.

So, the Rangers take on the Florida Panthers, who eliminated Boston Friday night, 2-1 in Game 6.

The Panthers were regular-season Atlantic Division winners, just four points behind the Rangers overall.  It will be another stern test.  Game 1 Wednesday night at the Garden.

In the West, Dallas wrapped up its series with Colorado on Friday night, 4-2, with a 2-1 double overtime win on Matt Duchesne’s goal.

Saturday, Edmonton continued the pattern in its series with Vancouver, the two alternating victories, as the Oilers prevailed in Game 6, 5-1, Connor McDavid with three assists.  Game 7 on Monday in Vancouver.

MLB

--Paul Skenes is already much-watch TV for baseball fans, a pretty powerful statement to make concerning the 21-year-old Pirates pitcher.  In his second outing Friday night at Wrigley Field, all Skenes did was no-hit the Cubs over six innings, one walk, 11 strikeouts.  He was removed after six because he had thrown exactly 100 pitches.  Totally understandable.  Pittsburgh won the game, 9-3, Skenes’ first major-league win.

I mean this is just great.  And fantastic for the city of Pittsburgh.

It’s also fun to see Livvy Dunne, Skenes’ girlfriend, rocking a “Yinz” t-shirt, a Pittsburgh thing.

[“Yinz” stands for “you all” or “you guys.”]

Saturday, we had another ace take the mound, this one for the Cubs...Shota Imanaga, and the rookie from Japan threw seven scoreless as Chicago beat the Pirates 1-0. 

Imanaga now has an ERA of 0.84!  We’ll see where he is at midseason before we start talking history.

--Juan Soto said this week he is not shutting the door on in-season contract talks.  Hal Steinbrenner had said on the Yankees’ network that he would like to see Soto finish his career as a Yankee and that there would be talks with the pending free agent’s camp this season.

Soto said Thursday, “Whenever he wants to start talking with Scott [Boras] and all those people, they’re always open to hear whatever he has.”

Soto is clearly happy in the Bronx, and it helps that not only is the team playing well, but that Aaron Judge has caught fire, the two a rather dynamic duo at the top of the lineup.

Speaking of Judge, after Friday night’s 4-2 win over the White Sox at the Stadium, he is in the midst of a major hot streak. Since May 2 when he was batting .197, the guy is 20-for-43, six home runs, and has his average up to .267, .981 OBP, 12 home runs, 15 doubles, 30 RBIs.

As in there’s nothing wrong with Aaron Judge.

Soto has nine homers, 34 RBIs, .301 BA, .917 OPS, thru Friday.

But time to adjust Soto’s numbers...he went 4-for-4 with a walk, two home runs, 3 RBIs in New York’s 6-1 win over the ChiSox, Saturday. So, 11 HR, 37 RBI, .317 BA, .975 OPS.  Judge went 1-for-4 with a walk.

Soto, however, had to share the spotlight with pitcher Luis Gil, who threw six innings of one-run ball, while striking out 14, a new single-game rookie record in Yankees franchise history, which is rather astounding.  Gil is now 5-1, 2.39.  The Yanks improved to 32-15.

How good has the Yankee rotation been recently?  Over their last six games, all wins, the starters had allowed just two earned runs over their last 39 innings, an ERA of 0.46.

And the first-place Yankees completed the sweep today, Sunday, 7-2, Carlos Rodon, six innings, 2 runs, as he moves to 5-2, 3.27. Aaron Judge hits home run No. 13.

--The less said about my Metsies the better. After getting shut out by the lowly Marlins Friday night in Miami, New York is 20-24, boring, and every single Mets fan wants Uncle Stevie and David Stearns to blow the team up...totally.  A big problem is that while we suddenly seem to have some outstanding pitching prospects at A and AA, our hitters aren’t developing down on the farm.

Uncle Stevie is not going to like to see empty stands this summer, let alone in September. It’s getting late early in Flushing.

But wait...it got worse!  Manager Carlos Mendoza, who I like and who I believe could be with the team for a long time, shook up the batting order and the Mets responded with nine runs Saturday.  Only they blew 7-2 and 9-5 leads and suffered another “devastating” loss, 10-9 in 10 innings, as Edwin Diaz, again, for a third straight game, could not have sucked more, giving up four runs in the bottom of the ninth, his ERA up to 5.50. 

Diaz has yielded five home runs in 18 innings, after giving up just 3 in 62 in his otherworldly season of 2022.  [Reminder, he missed all of 2023 due to a serious knee injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic while celebrating.]

The Mets then won today, 7-3, as Mendoza let Reid Garrett (0.72 ERA) get a 2-inning save, 4 Ks.

--How about Detroit’s Tarik Skubal?  The guy has been a solid starter for Detroit the last few seasons but he’s had injury issues.  Well, after going six innings of one-hit ball on Friday in the Tigers’ 13-0 win over the Diamondbacks, he’s now 6-0, 1.80 ERA, and in 55 innings has 66 strikeouts and just 8 walks.

--The Dodgers (31-17) got six innings of shutout ball from Walker Buehler in a 4-0 win over Cincinnati Saturday night at Chavez Ravine, a great sign for L.A. fans, this being just his third start in his return from a second Tommy John surgery.

--In College Baseball, Wake Forest was swept at North Carolina State, 14-3, 2-1, 9-6.  This really, really sucks.  On to the ACC Tournament, where we need to do well.

Wake held star pitcher Chase Burns out of the opener, which was Thursday, to keep him on his regular schedule, and in the second game, Burns responded...seven innings, zero earned, 13 Ks, no walks, but three Wolfpack pitchers limited the Deacs to just 3 hits.  We needed that one win.

Then in the finale on Saturday, Josh Hartle, after his big effort the week before against Clemson, was atrocious... 5 innings, 5 earned, his ERA up to 5.81, and this is our No. 2 starter, an All-American last year. The mystery continues.

[Burns now has 169 strikeouts in 89 innings.  The Athletic has him going No. 6 in the upcoming draft.  First baseman Nick Kurtz fourth.]

WNBA

--Caitlin Clark was mediocre, at best, in her first two games with the Indiana Fever. She committed 10 turnovers – the most ever in a WNBA debut as the Fever got blown out by the Connecticut Sun, 92-71, in their opener.  Clark shot just 5 of 15 from the field.

And then in her second game Thursday against the New York Liberty, Clark had only nine points as the Fever were crushed at home, 102-66, Breanna Stewart with 31 points for New York.

But the ratings for Clark’s games have been strong. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Here’s the thing. Clark is now facing the best in women’s basketball, not college.  USA TODAY had the following: “Of the 139 WNBA players listed on opening day rosters, a staggering 95 of them were college All-Americans.  And of that group, nearly half – 47 – were first team All-Americans.”

Breanna Stewart, for example, is arguably the greatest college player of all time after winning four consecutive titles at UConn.  She’s been WNBA MVP twice.

Well, the Liberty beat the Fever again Saturday afternoon in sold-out Barclays Center in Brooklyn, 90-81, the Fever 0-3.  Clark had her best shooting effort, 9 of 17, 22 points, but eight more turnovers.

Preakness Stakes

--We had a depressing development during the week when favorite Muth was scratched after spiking a fever.  This was Bob Baffert’s big hope, but he still had Imagination.

Baffert said: “We are sick about this. The horse had been doing really well. But we have to do what’s right by the horse.”

But this cleared a path for Derby winner Mystik Dan to win a second leg.  Saturday morning, Mystik Dan had become the 8-5 favorite, Imagination at 3-1.

And they’re off!

Even without Muth, the race was exciting, as 88-year-old legendary trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, won his seventh Preakness with Seize the Grey going wire-to-wire, beating out Mystik Dan, who nobly finished a strong second.  [Catching Freedom third...Imagination seventh.]

Seize the Grey had romped in a race on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs, but went off at 9-1.

Mystik Dan is not expected to race in the Belmont, which this year is being held at Saratoga Race Course.  We’ll see how Seize the Grey comes out of this.

“My colt’s a fantastic colt and proud of him,” trainer Kenny McPeek said.  “It just wasn’t his day, but he’ll live to race again.”

Not to be overlooked was winning jockey Jaime Torres, who incredibly was making his debut in a Triple Crown race.  Very cool.  Last year, Torres was an apprentice on the New York circuit.

Premier League

Only two games mattered as the 20 clubs all played their season-finale on Sunday...Everton at Arsenal, and West Ham at Manchester City.

City entered the day with a 2-point lead.

City...88
Arsenal...86

If City draws with West Ham, and Arsenal wins, then it goes to goal differential and Arsenal was one-up on City in this category.

City is also going for an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title.

City was in this position following a 2-0 win over Tottenham on Tuesday, which gave the fourth Champions League slot to Aston Villa, its first CL berth since they played in the European Cup in 1982-83.

And City won it, 3-1, while Arsenal needed a late goal to secure a 2-1 win over Everton.

A great season long race.

1.Man City 91 points
2. Arsenal 89
3. Liverpool 82...Jurgen Klopp wins his finale today, 2-0 over the Wolves, in front of an adoring crowd...helluva run for Klopp. He was great for the league.
4. Aston Villa 68
5. Tottenham 66
6. Chelsea 63...came on strong down the stretch

17. Nottingham 32
18. Luton Town 26*
19. Burnley 24*
20. Sheffield 16*

*Relegated...fans drinking heavily, though Sheffield fans have been doing so all season.

Leicester City will return to the PL next year, with Ipswich Town.  Leeds and Southampton have a playoff next Sunday for the third spot.  Great system.

Stuff

--Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk defeated Britain’s Tyson Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years, Saturday night in Riyadh.

Usyk (22-0) added Fury’s WBC title to his own WBA, IBF and IBO belts with a spectacular late rally highlighted by a ninth-round knockdown in a back-and-forth bout between two previously unbeaten champs.  Two judges favored Usyk, 115-112 and 114-113, while the third gave it to Fury, 114-113.

Fury (34-1-1) had a huge height and weight advantage on Usyk (six inches, 39 lbs.), but he struggled after getting hurt in the ninth.  Afterwards, he was all class, kissing Usyk on the head after the final bell.  The two are likely to have a rematch in Saudi Arabia in the fall.  [Oct. 12, apparently.]

Usyk, the 37-year-old Ukrainian who resides in his war-torn country, is the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis held the honor for five months in 1999 and 2000.

I wish I had seen this bout, with writers calling it “captivating,” “enthralling,” and “dramatic.”

Usyk thanked his family, his supporters, and his country...a nice morale boost for the front line troops struggling on the eastern front in the war.

--In a very cool development, NASCAR’s Kyle Larson has qualified for the Indy 500, advancing to the group of 12 drivers during Saturday qualifying that will race for the pole today.

So Larson is locked into the first four rows, very impressive given he is making his first-ever start in an IndyCar.

Larson will thus attempt a rarity...the Indy 500 / Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte double the same day.  He is just the fifth driver to attempt running all 1,100 miles – and first since Kurt Busch in 2014.

A lot of luck is involved in this...weather has to cooperate at Indy, first and foremost, and the race can’t be an exceedingly long one due to numerous crashes, but it’s just an hour flight from Indy to Charlotte.

This would be awesome for both IndyCar and NASCAR.

--Netflix will be doing the NFL’s Christmas doubleheader and will get at least one NFL game globally on Christmas Day for the next three years, after signing a contract with the NFL.  The streaming giant will be paying $75 million a game this year.

--Sean “Diddy” Combs is firmly ensconced in the December file for “Dirtball of the Year” consideration after the release of a sickening 2016 video this week where he’s shown beating up his girlfriend at the time, Cassie Ventura.  The world finally gets to see what was long talked about in hushed tones. This is a very, very bad guy.

--We note the passing of actor Dabney Coleman, 92.  He famously played the dastardly cad overseeing Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton in the movie “9 to 5.”

Coleman, who also starred in the TV series “The Guardian” and “Boardwalk Empire,” had a guest turn as John Dutton Sr. in “Yellowstone” and was nominated for six Emmy Awards.  He also starred in the films “Tootsie,” “On Golden Pond,” “War Games,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Where the Heart Is.”

He first gained a reputation as the king of TV curmudgeons in the unconventional TV comedies “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” “Buffalo Bill” and “The Slap Maxwell Story.”

Top 3 songs for the week of 5/18/85:  #1 “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” (Simple Minds)  #2 “Crazy For You” (Madonna...in her top 3)  #3 “One Night In Bangkok” (Murray Head)...and...#4 “Everything She Wants” (Wham!)  #5 “Smooth Operator” (Sade)  #6 “Some Like It Hot” (The Power Station) #7 “Rhythm Of The Night” (DeBarge)  #8 “We Are The World” (USA for Africa) #9 “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (Tears For Fears)  #10 “Axel F” (Harold Faltermeyer...#9 keeps this from being a D-...it’s a D+ week instead...)

Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Last five to strike out 300 batters in a season....2019: Gerrit Cole, HOU, 326; 2019: Justin Verlander, HOU, 300; 2018: Max Scherzer, WSN, 300; 2017: Chris Sale, CHW, 308; 2015: Clayton Kershaw, LAD, 301. 2) Randy Johnson had five consecutive 300+ seasons, 1998-2002.  In ’98 he split his season between Seattle and Houston.

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.

---