🏀 Finals Fever: Celtics vs. Mavericks Tip-Off Tonight!

Good Morning Blitzers 👋 

It’s time; our break from late-night chaos is over, and we are rested and ready for the busy next 10-14 days as champions will be crowned! The Celtics and Mavericks tip off tonight, and today’s letter will provide some Finals hype. The Stanley Cup finals will start this weekend, and a pair of French Open winners will be crowned. Let’s get it.

WTF Stat of the Day: Al Horford is 15 for 24 from 3 in his career in the NBA Finals for a 62.5% shooting percentage, the best three-point percentage in Finals History among all players with at least 20 3-point attempts. The Celtics elder statesman turned 38 this past Monday, making him two years older than his head coach, Joe Mazzulla. We shall see if the big fella can improve on that tonight in Game One of this year's NBA Finals.

🏒 Hockey is gearing up for the finals this weekend as well with the Panthers looking for redemption and the Oilers carrying the weight of all of Canada. We’ll take a closer look in tomorrow’s letter.

⛳️ U.S. Open tees off one week from Today in Pinehurst, NC at iconic Pinehurst No. 2. Tiger accepted the invite and it should be a doozy! Picks, predictions, and more are coming ahead of golf’s next Major.

🎾 Novak Djokoic to have knee surgery after he was forced to withdraw from the French Open and is doubtful for Wimbledon.

🏈 Cleveland Browns give multi-year extensions to coach Kevin Stefanski and GM Andrew Barry.

⚾️ MLB -

• White Sox Lose Franchise-Record 13th Straight Game Via Heartbreaking Cubs’ Walk-Off (7-6) The Southside slide continued as the White Sox dropped their 13th straight game, tying a franchise record. Despite holding a 5-1 lead, Paul DeJong's game-tying HR and Mike Tauchman's walk-off won the Cubs a 7-6 victory. The Sox, with the worst record in baseball at 15-47, last won on May 21. Futility Record Watch: The worst record in a 162-game season belongs to the 2003 Tigers (43-119). The White Sox are on pace for 39 wins.

• Skenes vs. Ohtani: The highly anticipated first matchup between Pirates’ rookie pitcher Paul Skenes and Dodgers’ star Shohei Ohtani delivered excitement. Skenes struck out Ohtani with three pitches over 100 mph, but Ohtani hit a two-run home run in their second faceoff. The Pirates emerged victorious, 10-6.

• Yanks Take 7th Straight: The Yankees continued their hot streak, securing their seventh consecutive win with a 9-5 victory over the Twins at Yankee Stadium. Carlos Rodon struck out nine and carried a shutout into the 8th inning, helping the Yankees win 12 of their last 15 home games.

• 1st Hit, 1st HR?: Tigers’ rookie Justyn-Henry Malloy hit his first MLB home run on his first-ever hit, breaking up a perfect game bid by the Rangers in the 6th inning. Despite this highlight, Detroit fell to Texas, 9-1.

🥎 Softball World Series (Finals)

• Oklahoma wrecks Texas in game 1, hitting three home runs with pitcher Kelly Maxwell throwing an 8-strike-out complete game. They will be back at it for game two this evening in this best-of-three series.

🏀 WNBA

• Lynx def. Sparks (86-82), LA shoots an abysmal 14% from 3

• Aces def. Wings (95-81) A’ja Wilson (36 pts, 12 rebs, 7 stl)

NBA FINALS - The 2024 NBA Finals Primer 🏆️ 

Matchups, Stats & Storylines Before the Mavericks & Celtics Tip Off Tonight (Game 1: 8:30 pm ET, ABC)

It’s time for the big one. Two months of non-stop nightly playoff action has brought us to this. It’s the Celtics vs. Mavericks for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Game 1 tips tonight (8:30 pm ET, ABC). Let’s get ready for the Finals.

The Matchup & Favorites

The Celtics (-220) are clear-cut heavy favorites with a much deeper lineup, but the Mavericks have star power. That’ll be the story to watch. Boston can throw a handful of great defenders at Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White will shoulder the load. If Kristaps Porzingis is healthy (he’s expected to play in Game 1), the Mavs’ big men will have their hands full. All the high-scoring guards will get their buckets, but it could come down to whether or not Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II can wrangle Porzingis.

Team Superlatives & NBA Ratings

• BOS: Offense (2nd) | Defense (3rd) | Rebounds (3rd) | 3-Pt % (6th)

• DAL: Offense (6th) | Defense (6th) | Rebounds (4th) | 3-Pt % (5th)

The Star Players ⭐️ 

Dallas Mavericks

• Luka Doncic: 33.9 pts, 9.2 rebs, 9.8 asts

• Kyrie Irving: 25.6 pts, 5.0 rebs, 5.2 asts

• P.J. Washington: 12.9 pts, 5.6 rebs, 1.9 asts

Boston Celtics 

• Jayson Tatum: 26.9 pts, 8.1 rebs, 4.9 asts

• Jaylen Brown: 23.0 pts, 5.5 rebs, 3.6 asts

• Kristaps Porzingis: 20.1 pts, 7.2 rebs, 2.0 asts

Players Facing Former Teams

Two stars in the series will be playing against their former teams, which always makes for some extra drama. Kyrie Irving and Kristaps Porzingis used to play for the opponent, and both players exited New York for failed stints before swapping in Boston and Dallas. Celtics fans surely remember when Irving flipped them the middle finger in 2022.

The Coaches

Jason Kidd (Mavs) and Joe Mazzula (Celtics) will make history as the first two black head coaches to square off in the NBA Finals since 1975 (Al Attles and K.C. Jones). That’s a great storyline in itself. Kidd was a player on the 2011 Mavericks championship roster with Dirk Nowitzki, so he’s had a hand in any-and-all Dallas basketball success this century. Joe Mazzula (35 years old) is the youngest head coach in the Finals since another Celtic — Bill Russell (35) in 1969.

X-Factors to Watch

You know the big names (those stars we listed above), but if there’s one x-factor for each team in this Finals series, my money is on Derrick White (Celtics) and Dereck Lively II (Mavs). White can catch fire and disrupt the flow of any game if Tatum and Brown go cold. He’s had five 20-point games and hit 48 threes in the postseason — second only to Doncic (57). On the other hand, Lively II is critical to Dallas’ defense. The Mavs are 12-5 in the playoffs, but they’re 10-1 when Lively II plays more than 20 minutes.

Seven months of basketball brings us to one last series. Game 1 tips tonight.

NBA Finals

Gm 1: Mavericks at Celtics (8:30 pm ET, ABC)

🎾 TENNIS - Another Teen Tennis Takedown

17-Year-Old Mirra Andreeva Upsets #2 Aryna Sabalenka; Gauff-Swiatek Coming, Plus Djokovic’s Surgery

 The final eight participants in the French Open are ready for the weekend, but another teenage sports star is stealing the show this week. Two upsets occurred yesterday when 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva shocked #2 Aryna Sabalenka and #12 Jasmine Paolini stumped #4 Elena Rybakina. Paolini has been a force in this year’s French Open, but we might be witnessing Andreeva's official arrival. The Russian teenager has yet to win a tour-level title. This semifinal run in her fifth slam has been special. For context on the upset, Sabalenka hadn't dropped a set in a major in 2024, and Andreeva swept her in straight sets. She was reportedly playing sick, though.

It’s a big morning for the women’s semifinals, with Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek taking the court shortly. Set your clocks for 9:00 am ET.

 Women’s Singles (Quarterfinals)

M. Andreeva def. #2 A. Sabalenka (6-7, 6-4, 6-4)

#12 J. Paolini def. #4 E. Rybakina (62, 4-6, 6-4)

Men’s Singles (Quarterfinals)

#4 A. Zverev def. #11 A. de Minaur (6-4, 7-6, 6-4)

#7 C. Ruud Advances / #1 N. Djokovic Withdraws

Today’s Schedule (Women’s Semifinals)

#1 I. Swiatek vs. #3 C. Gauff (9:00 am ET)

#12 J. Paolini vs. M. Andreeva (10:15 am ET)

On June 6th, 1944, All Major League Baseball games were canceled in honor of the D-Day landings in northern France for the Allied invasion of the beaches of Normandy during World War II. on this it’s 80th anniversary - it serves as a a powerful reminder to appreciate the freedoms we enjoy today!

NBA Finals

Gm 1: Mavericks at Celtics (8:30 pm ET, ABC)

French Open (Semifinals)

W: #1 I. Swiatek vs. #3 C. Gauff (9:00 am ET)

W: #12 J. Paolini vs. M. Andreeva (10:15 am ET)

*Stream on NBC Sports

Softball World Series (Final)

Gm 2: #1 Texas vs. #2 Oklahoma (8:00 pm ET, ESPN)

Oklahoma Leads Series (1-0)

MLB

Royals at Guardians (1:10 pm ET, ESPN+)

Twins at Yankees (7:05 pm ET, MLBTV)

 WNBA

Sky at Mystics (7:00 pm ET, PRIME)
Liberty at Dream (7:30 pm ET, WNBALP)

Trivia Time Answer

C.  Stephen Curry. Stephen Curry was the back-to-back league MVP in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons. He played in the NBA Finals for five straight years, from 2015 to 2019, winning three championships. In 2016, the year he last won MVP, the Golden State Warriors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals. Curry and the Warriors then went on to win the next two championships in 2017 and 2018, during which James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo won the league MVP awards, respectively.

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