💥 First-Round Fireworks!

Rise and Shine! Buckle up, folks, because we have a doozy of a letter coming your way this morning! Sometimes, the weekend is so good that the script writes itself: The NBA and NHL playoffs got underway with some tantalizing slates of first-round action, and we’ll recap every game. (Spoiler alert: If your team played at home, they won.) El Classico lived up to its name with a thrilling finish in Madrid. Scottie Scheffler is the best golfer on the planet, but Nelly Korda would like a word. Michael Jordan proved, “If you ain’t first, you’re last” at Talladega. Plus, there ain’t no stoppin’ Max Verstappen in F1. Finally, Shohei Ohtani made history with the boomstick, and Casper Ruud is the Prince of Clay. Let’s go!

WTF Stat: Four years ago, Dartmouth eliminated its women’s golf program. Three years ago, the school reinstated the program to comply with Title IX. On Sunday, the program won its first-ever Ivy League championship.

🏀 Playoffs!

NBA Playoffs - First Round, Game 1s

Saturday

• West | #3 Minnesota Timberwolves 120, #6 Phoenix Suns 95: In a loaded Saturday slate, Anthony Edwards stole the show with a scintillating performance. Although Devin Booker (18 PTS, 5-16 FG, 5 AST) struggled, Kevin Durant (31 PTS, 11-17 FG, 7 REB) and the Suns managed to hang around for the first 30 minutes — until Edwards (33 PTS, 14-24 FG, 9 REB, 6 AST) completely took over, dropping 18 points in the 3rd quarter with an array of ridiculous buckets to lead Minnesota to a tone-setting victory on their home floor - Ant had some words for KD after hitting a three in his eye, making for an awesome moment between a young superstar and his favorite childhood player

• East | #2 New York Knicks 111, #7 Philadelphia 76ers 104: Bing Bong! The Garden was rocking on Saturday as Jalen Brunson (22 PTS, 8-26 FG, 7 AST) combatted double-teams by finding Josh Hart (22 PTS, 4-8 3PT, 13 AST) and Miles “Deuce” McBride (21 PTS, 5-7 3PT) for some timely triples, and the Knicks outrebounded Joel Embiid (29 PTS, 8-22 FG, 8 REB, 6 AST) and the Sixers 55-33 to outmuscle Philly for Game 1 at the Mecca - Embiid appeared to tweak his meniscus injury on a highlight dunk in the 2nd quarter but luckily returned after halftime

• West | #2 Denver Nuggets 114, #7 Los Angeles Lakers 103: In a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals, Anthony Davis (32 PTS, 14 REB, 5 AST, 4 BLK) and LeBron James (27 PTS, 10-16 FG, 6 REB, 8 AST) did everything they could for the Lakers, who were up 60-57 at the break but got outscored 32-18 in the 3rd quarter, as Nikola Jokic (32 PTS, 15-23 FG, 12 REB, 7 AST) and Jamal Murray (22 PTS, 6 REB, 10 AST) sparked a vigorous run to give Denver a controlling lead that they never relinquished - D’Angelo Russell (13 PTS, 1-9 3PT, 3 AST) had a rough night and Los Angeles’ other role players were quiet

• East | #4 Cleveland Cavaliers 97, #5 Orlando Magic 83: Paolo Banchero (24 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST) was the only Magic player who could get anything going, while Donovan Mitchell (30 PTS, 11-21 FG, 3 AST) was feeling it to lead the Cavs to a wire-to-wire win in Cleveland

Sunday

• West | #2 Oklahoma City Thunder 94, #7 New Orleans Pelicans 92: The final game of the weekend proved to be the most dramatic as the Thunder and Pels went back and forth for a full 48 minutes, but it was OKC who pulled out the win in crunch time as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST) gave them the lead with a tough, tiebreaking and-1 with 32 seconds to play before CJ McCollum’s (20 PTS, 9-22 FG, 6 AST) three failed to fall at the buzzer, giving the Thunder a gritty W in their home building - Zion Williamson missed his second straight game after suffering a hamstring strain in Tuesday’s play-in game against the Lakers

• West | #4 LA Clippers 109, #5 Dallas Mavericks 97: James Harden (28 PTS, 6-11 3PT, 8 AST) and the Clippers seemingly couldn’t miss from downtown, as they shot a robust 18-of-36 (50%) from beyond the arc, and although Luka Doncic (33 PTS, 13 REB, 6 REB) and Kyrie Irving (31 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST) made things respectable in the second half, an eight-point 2nd quarter from the Mavs ultimately led to their demise, as LA took Game 1 at home despite being without Kawhi Leonard due to knee inflammation - Leonard hasn’t played since March 31 but hopes to return sometime this week

• East | #1 Boston Celtics 114, #8 Miami Heat 94: The Heat stunned the C’s in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, but with Jimmy Butler in street clothes for the next few weeks, Bam Adebayo (24 PTS, 6 REB) and Miami may be no match for Jayson Tatum (23 PTS, 10 REB, 10 AST) and the top-seeded Celtics this time around, as Boston never trailed for a statement win at TD Garden - Butler suffered an MCL sprain during Wednesday’s play-in game against the 76ers

• East | #3 Milwaukee Bucks 109, #6 Indiana Pacers 94: With Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined due to calf strain, Damian Lillard (35 PTS, 6-11 3PT, 6 REB, 3 AST) took matters into his own hands and hung all 35 of his points in the first half to give the Bucks a 69-42 lead at recess, and that was all the “Dame Time” Milwaukee needed, as the Deer cruised the rest of the way in a rout of Pascal Siakam (36 PTS, 15-25 FG, 13 REB) and the Pacers - Lillard only took five shots in the second half, and Giannis is expected to return later in the series

See the full box scores here and the entire playoff bracket here.

Tonight’s Schedule - Game 2s

• East | #5 Orlando Magic @ #4 Cleveland Cavaliers 7:00pm ET, NBA TV - CLE leads series 1-0

• East | #7 Philadelphia 76ers @ #2 New York Knicks 7:30pm ET, TNT - NYK leads series 1-0

• West | #7 Los Angeles Lakers @ #2 Denver Nuggets 10:00pm ET, TNT - DEN leads series 1-0

Fun fact: It’s the first time since 2019 that all eight home teams won Game 1 of the first round!

🏒 More Playoffs!

Stanley Cup Playoffs - First Round, Game 1s

Saturday

• East | (A2) Boston Bruins 5, (A3) Toronto Maple Leafs 1: Same old Leafs? Johnny Beecher (1 G) broke the ice just 2:26 into the game, Jake DeBrusk (2 G, 1 A) buried two back-to-back powerplay goals in the 2nd period, and Jeremy Swayman (35 SV) was a wall between the pipes, as the B’s dominated David Kampf (1 G) and Toronto in Beantown - the Leafs have a history of falling short in the postseason as they won their first playoff series since 2004 last year (0-7 series record in that span)

• East | (M2) Carolina Hurricanes 3, (M3) New York Islanders 1: The Hurricanes’ Evgeny Kuznetsov (1 G, 1 A) and the Islanders’ Kyle MacLean (1 G) traded goals in the 1st period, but Stefan Noesen (1 G) gave Carolina the lead early in the 3rd, and Frederik Anderson (33 SV) made some incredible saves down the stretch before Martin Necas (1 G) put the icing on the cake with an empty-netter, giving the Canes a hard-fought home victory

Sunday

• West | (C3) Winnipeg Jets 7, (C2) Colorado Avalanche 6: If you like offense, you came to the right place! After just one period, the score was tied 3-3 (yes, six goals in the 1st period!), but then Adam Lowry (2 G) and the Jets scored three straight to take a 6-3 lead in the 3rd, and although Cale Makar (1 G, 2 A) and the Avs cut the deficit to one with 30 seconds to play, Winnipeg held on to win a wild shootout above the border

• East | (M1) New York Rangers 4, (WC2) Washington Capitals 1: After a scoreless 24 minutes, the MSG crowd was yearning for a reason to erupt, and they got it in excess in the 2nd period as rookie enforcer Matt Rempe (1 G) slotted home the opening goal before Artemi Panarin (1 G) doubled the lead just 27 seconds later and Jimmy Vesey (1 G, 1 A) joined the party 93 seconds after that, as the Blue Shirts went up 3-0 in a matter of moments and didn’t look back for a commanding victory

• East | (A1) Florida Panthers 3, (WC1) Tampa Bay Lightning 2: Tampa Bay ousted Florida in both the 2021 and 2022 playoffs, but the Cats took the first step toward revenge yesterday in Sunrise, FL, as Carter Verhaeghe (1 G) capitalized on a 3rd-period power play to break a 1-1 tie before Matthew Tkachuk (1 G, 1 A) submitted the dagger with an empty-netter - Steven Stamkos (1 G, 1 A) scored with 10 seconds remaining but it was too little, too late for the Bolts

• West | (P1) Vancouver Canucks 4, (WC1) Nashville Predators 2: In a chippy battle, Jason Zucker (1 G), Ryan O’Reilly (1 G), and the Preds held a 2-1 lead entering the 3rd period, but in the blink of an eye, Vancouver flipped a one-goal deficit into a one-goal advantage, as Pius Suter (1 G) and Dakota Joshua (2 G, 1 A) scored back-to-back bingos in just 12 seconds before Joshua added an empty-netter to seal the Canucks’ first home playoff win since 2015

See the full box scores here and the entire playoff bracket here.

Tonight’s Schedule

• East, Game 2 | (A3) Toronto Maple Leafs @ (A2) Boston Bruins 7:00pm ET, ESPN - BOS leads series 1-0

• East, Game 2 | (M3) New York Islanders @ (M2) Carolina Hurricanes 7:30pm ET, ESPN2 - CAR leads series 1-0

• West, Game 1 | (WC2) Vegas Golden Knights @ (C1) Dallas Stars 9:30pm ET, ESPN

• West, Game 1 | (P3) Los Angeles Kings @ (P2) Edmonton Oilers 10:00pm ET, ESPN2

International Soccer - Top Matches

• LaLiga | Real Madrid 3, Barcelona 2: ¡Hala Madrid y nada mas! El Classico lived up to its name on Sunday at the Bernabeu as Madrid used two equalizers to erase a pair of one-goal deficits, the second of which came from Lucas Vazquez (73’) shortly after Fermin Lopez (69’) reclaimed the lead for Barcelona, and with the score knotted up at 2-2 in injury time, Jude Bellingham (90’+1’) sent the crowd into ecstasy by roofing the game-winner to give Los Blancos a thrilling victory - Madrid (25-6-1) now holds an 11-point lead over Barca (21-7-4) atop the LaLiga table

• FA Cup Semifinals | Manchester United 3, Coventry City 3 (MAN advances 4-2 via PKs): In another stirring Sunday rollercoaster, Coventry City nearly pulled off one of the most astonishing comebacks in recent English history as the second-tier club erased a 3-0 deficit in the second half capped by Haji Wright’s (90’+5’ PEN) game-tying PK late in regulation. But after a scoreless extra time, United survived 4-2 in a decisive penalty shootout to advance to the FA Cup final where they will face rival and current holders Manchester City - City defeated Chelsea, 1-0, on Saturday in the other semifinal

See the full international scoreboard here.

PGA Tour - RBC Heritage (Harbour Town Golf Links, SC)

• Current Leader: Scottie Scheffler (-20). If this story sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Three of the Masters’ top five-placed finishers — Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, and Ludvig Aberg — were atop the leaderboard entering Sunday, but similar to last week, Scheffler is a head above the competition as the current World No. 1 finished the 15th hole with a five-stroke lead before play was suspended due to darkness, putting him on the cusp of his fourth PGA victory this season in just five events - Scheffler carded a round-low 63 on Saturday, and will resume play today at 1:55pm ET

Current Leaderboard (Round 4 Suspended)

• 1. Scottie Scheffler (-20) - Thru 15

• T2. Sahith Theegala (-15) - Thru 15

• T2. Patrick Cantlay (-15) - Thru 17

• T2. JT Poston (-15) - Thru 17

• T2. Wyndham Clark (-15) - Finished

• T6. Patrick Rodgers (-14) - Thru 16

• T6. Ludvig Aberg (-14) - Thru 17

• T6. Justin Thomas (-14) - Finished

• T9. Sepp Straka (-13) - Thru 14

• T9. Collin Morikawa (-13) - Thru 15

See the entire leaderboard here and today’s tee times here.

LPGA Tour - Chevron Championship (Club at Carlton Woods, TX)

• Winner: Nelly Korda (-13). Five starts. Five wins! Nelly Korda cannonballed into the pond at Carlton Woods to celebrate her second career major title, but it’s going to take more than that to cool her off. The 25-year-old American matched women’s golf history on Sunday by outlasting Sweden’s Maja Stark by two shots for her fifth LGPA victory in five consecutive tournament starts, joining Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004, 2005) as the only players to win five in a row on Tour - it’s Korda’s 13th career LPGA win

Final Leaderboard

• 1. Nelly Korda (-13)

• 2. Maja Starl (-11)

• T3. Lauren Coughlin (-10)

• T3. Brooke M. Henderson (-10)

• 5. Hae Ran Ryu (-9)

See the entire final leaderboard here.

MLB - Top Games

• Los Angeles Dodgers 10, New York Mets 0: The Mets entered Sunday looking for their seventh straight win to complete a three-game sweep of the Dodgers. It didn’t happen. Shohei Ohtani (2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBIs) broke Hideki Matsui’s MLB record for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player with a monster two-run shot, Andy Pages (2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBIs) also went yard, and newly-acquired ace Tyler Glasnow (8.0 IP, 7 H, 10 Ks) tossed a gem to shutout the Amazins in LA

• Philadelphia Phillies 8, Chicago White Sox 2: The Phillies are the hottest team in baseball as Aaron Nolan (8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 7 Ks) mowed down 24 batters, while Kyle Scwarber (1-1, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 3 BB) and Bryce Harper (1-3, 2 RBIs) led the way offensively to help Philly sweep the struggling White Sox on Sunday for their eighth win in a row - for those wondering, the White Sox are an MLB-worst 3-18

• New York Yankees 5, Tampa Bay Rays 4: After losing 2-0 on Saturday in a game where Aaron Judge was booed by the Yankees faithful following his fourth strikeout, the Pinstripes bounced back yesterday thanks to a four-run 5th inning sparked by Alex Verdugo (3-5, 2 RBIs) and Oswaldo Cabrera (2-4, 1 RBI), which put the Yanks up 5-1 and was just enough to escape with a win - New York (15-7) is 6-1 in series this season, and Judge went 1-for-4 but is still batting .183

See the full MLB scoreboard here and the current standings here.

🎾 Norway’s Casper Ruud defeated Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 6-3, to win the Barcelona Open on Sunday - Ruud, 25, now has 11 ATP titles and 10 on clay

🏎️ Tyler Reddick won the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega on Sunday for his second victory this season - Reddick was driving the Jordan Brand No. 45 car for 23XI Racing, and Michael Jordan was in attendance to see the win

🏎️ Max Verstappen won the F1 Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday in dominant fashion for his fourth victory this season in five races - Verstappen holds a comfortable 25-point lead over Sergio Perez atop the F1 standings

🤸‍♀️ LSU women’s gymnastics won their first national championship in program history on Saturday by edging out California and Utah in the finals - LSU senior Haleigh Bryant won the individual all-around title on Thursday

PGA Tour - RBC Heritage

• Round 4 Resumption 8:00am, Golf Channel

NBA Playoffs - First Round, Game 2s

• Orlando Magic @ Cleveland Cavaliers 7:00pm ET, NBA TV

• Philadelphia 76ers @ New York Knicks 7:30pm ET, TNT

• Los Angeles Lakers @ Denver Nuggets 10:00pm ET, TNT

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs - First Round

• Game 2: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Boston Bruins 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• Game 2: New York Islanders @ Carolina Hurricanes 7:30pm ET, ESPN2

• Game 1: Vegas Golden Knights @ Dallas Stars 9:30pm ET, ESPN

• Game 1: Los Angeles Kings @ Edmonton Oilers 10:00pm ET, ESPN2

MLB

• Oakland Athletics @ New York Yankees 1:05pm ET, MLBN

• Chicago White Sox @ Minnesota Twins 7:40pm ET, FS1

• New York Mets @ San Francisco Giants 9:45pm ET, ESPN+

• Full Schedule

Trivia Time Answer

C. 3. With a five-stroke lead and three holes left to play in the final round of the RBC Heritage, Scottie Scheffler is looking to become the fourth player to follow up a Masters victory with a win the next week. The last player to do so was Bernhard Langer in 1985, who coincidentally also won at Harbour Town after Augusta. Gary Player (1978) and Jimmy Demaret (1950) are the other two players to accomplish the feat.

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