🏁 Memorial Day Sports Extravaganza: Recaps, Highlights & Farewells 🏀

What. A. Weekend. With three full days of recaps and more than a dozen different sports leagues, today is a rapid-fire rundown. We’ll recap the Memorial Day races, update the playoffs, and check in on the French Open’s first round. We'll also remember some sports figures lost this weekend (at the bottom of today's edition). Lots to rewind. Not enough time…

🏒 Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Stars beat the Oilers last night in game three behind a hat trick from Jason Robertson to take a (2-1) series lead in the Western Conference Finals on the ice, while the Rangers beat the Panthers (5-4) in Overtime Saturday when Alex Wennberg scored in OT to give the NYR a (2-1) series lead in the East.

⛳️ Golf Davis Riley (-14) Captures Charles Schwab Challenge - Defeats Field by 5 Strokes, Scottie Scheffler T-2nd (-9).

🥍 Lacrosse: M: Notre Dame Wins Men’s Lacrosse Title - Fighting Irish Crush Maryland (15-5). W: Boston College Wins Women’s Lacrosse Title - Eagles Rally From Down 6-0 to Beat Northwestern (14-13).

⚾️ Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. Suffers Season-Ending ACL Tear.

Memorial Day Weekend also brought some sad news to sports fans. The golf community mourned the loss of Grayson Murray (Friday) before the basketball world paid tribute to Bill Walton (Monday)

Remembering Bill Walton

Remembering Grayson Murray

RACING - The Winner's Circle - 3 Stars of Race Weekend: Josef Newgarden Repeats (Indy 500), Christopher Bell Dominates (Coke 600) & Charles Leclerc Makes History (Monaco GP)

 We dubbed it the "Race Weekend Trifecta." And although rain delayed and shortened much of the Indy 500 and Coke 600 on Sunday, three champs found themselves basking in the glory of the winner’s circle. All three achieved some semblance of history and meaningful victory on a Sunday full of race drama. Let's recap all three with speed:

 Indianapolis 500: Josef Newgarden

Newgarden Repeats With Last-Lap Magic

The main event on Sunday was rain-delayed for hours before The Greatest Spectacle in Racing finally fired up the engines. Despite the rain, Indianapolis Motor Speedway looked full, with nearly 400,000 people in attendance for the largest one-day sporting event on planet Earth. The race featured 49 lead changes — the fourth-highest in the Indy 500’s 108-year history — and 18 race leaders (the most ever). It needed one final lead swap for a dramatic finish on the last lap. The 2023 winner, Josef Newgarden, made a last-lap pass to the top of Pato O’Ward to steal the repeat win. It was a heartbreaker for O’Ward, who finished runner-up for the second time in three years. Newgarden went to victory lane for the second straight year and joined a list of only 11 two-time Indy 500 champs.

 Coca-Cola 600: Christopher Bell

Bell Rings Early in Rain-Shortened Charlotte

The rain delay in Indy meant no Indy-Charlotte double for Kyle Larson. That left the door open for Christopher Bell. Bell led the most laps (90) in a dominant performance before the Coke 600 was called after 249 laps (of 400). He out-raced Brad Keselowski on a late restart that turned out to be the last sprint before lightning called it. It was Bell’s second win of the season. 

 Monaco GP: Charles Leclerc

Leclerc 'Finally' Gets Homecoming Victory

You couldn’t write it any better. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc earned a start-to-finish victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. He grew up on the streets of Monaco and failed to win at home throughout his career until Sunday. The usual suspect, Max Verstappen, had a rough weekend from qualifiers to race day, finishing sixth in a rare non-top-5 outing. Oscar Piastri (2nd) and Carlos Sainz (3rd) rounded out the top-3, but it was a special “homecoming” moment for Leclerc. It was the first time in 93 years that the Monaco Grand Prix was won by a Monegasque driver. Remarkable.

NBA PLAYOFFS - Closers United in Conference Finals

Celtics Sweep Pacers With Another Late Run in Game 4 (105-102); Mavericks on the Doorstep of NBA Finals (Lead 3-0) After Late Luka/Kyrie Magic

 The stage is almost set for a Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals after both teams showed their incredible close-out ability this weekend. Boston completed the sweep over Indiana with a 7-0 run to end Game 4 last night. Jaylen Brown earned the ECF MVP Award. The Pacers held the lead in the fourth quarter in Games 1, 3, and 4 and folded down the stretch in all of them. Out West, the Mavericks won two over the T-Wolves thanks to Luka Doncic’s game-winner in Game 2 and a fourth-quarter spurt in Game 3. Doncic and Kyrie Irving have been clutch closers in late-game moments (like Boston). Barring Minnesota's never-before-seen 3-0 comeback, we’ll be treated to a Boston-Dallas series for all the marbles.

 Eastern Conference Finals

Gm 3: Celtics def. Pacers (114-111)

Gm 4: Celtics def. Pacers (105-102)

BOS Wins Series (4-0)

Western Conference Finals

Gm 2: Mavericks def. T-Wolves (109-108)

Gm 3: Mavericks def. T-Wolves (116-107)

DAL Leads Series (3-0)

TENNIS - Au Revoir, Rafa? - Rafael Nadal, 14-time French Open Champion, Exits via 1st-Round Sweep to Alexander Zverev in Likely Paris Send-Off

 It’s impossible to capture Rafael Nadal’s greatness in a short blurb. He hasn’t officially retired, but the 37-year-old (soon-to-be 38) has been plagued with injuries for the past few seasons and appears to be running on fumes. His tennis legacy is more than solidified as one of the best ever. On clay? It’s unmatched. The 14-time French Open champ appeared in (likely) his last match at Roland-Garros this weekend. His unfavorable draw landed 4-seed Alexander Zverev in the opening round. Cheers of “Vamos, Rafa!” started before the match, but they quickly turned to sadness in an undeniable sweep (6-3, 7-6, 6-3). Zverev, a decade younger and in his prime, was just too much. It was Nadal’s first career loss in the first round at Roland-Garros.

 Watch: #4 A. Zverev def. R. Nadal (Straight Sets)

 King of Clay: 14x French Open Champ

They’re known as the ‘Big 3’ in men’s singles — Novak Djokovic (24 Slams), Rafael Nadal (22 Slams), and Roger Federer (20 Slams) — but Nadal’s legacy in this legendary list begins and ends in Paris. He won the 2005 French Open and captured almost every title at Roland-Garros, when healthy, over the past two decades. Nadal won four straight (2005-2008), five straight (2010-2014), and another four straight (2017-2020) French Open crowns before adding another in 2022.

 “If this is the last time that I played here, I am at peace with myself.” — Rafael Nadal

🎾 French Open (First Round)

W: #1 I. Swiatek def. L. Jeanjean (6-1, 6-2)

W: #3 C. Gauff def. J. Avdeeva (6-1, 6-1)

W: N. Osaka def. L. Bronzetti (6-1, 4-6, 7-5)

M: #2 J. Sinner def. C. Eubanks (6-3, 6-3, 6-4)

M: #3 C. Alcaraz def. J. Wolf (6-1, 6-2, 6-1)

M: S. Wawrinka def. A. Murray (6-4, 6-4, 6-2)

On May 28th, 2006, Barry Bonds hit his 715th career home run, passing Babe Ruth on the MLB all-time list.

NBA Playoffs

Gm 4: T-Wolves at Mavericks (8:30 pm ET, TNT)

DAL Leads Series (3-0)

 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Gm 4: Rangers at Panthers (8:00 pm ET, ESPN)

NYR Leads Series (2-1)

 French Open

W: #14 M. Keys vs. R. Zarazua (9:00 am ET)

W: #2 A. Sabalenka vs. E. Andreeva (9:15 am ET)

M: #1 N. Djokovic vs. P. Herbert (2:15 pm ET)

*French Open Coverage on NBC Sports

 MLB

Dodgers—Mets DH (4:10/7:10 pm ET, TBS)

D-Backs at Rangers (8:05 pm ET, MLBTV)

Phillies at Giants (9:45 pm ET, MLBTV)

 WNBA

Mercury at Sun (7:00 pm ET, CBS)

Sparks at Fever (7:00 pm ET, NBATV)

Trivia Time Answer

C.  Rafael Nadal. Rafael Nadal holds the record for the most French Open titles in men's tennis, having won the tournament an unprecedented 14 times (as of 2024). Nadal's dominance on the clay courts of Roland Garros is unmatched, earning him the nickname "The King of Clay." Rafael, who ruled red clay as no one ever imagined someone could, exited the French Open for what is likely his final time early Monday evening, showered with an outpouring of love and admiration he earned during his two-decade reign of dominance.