💥 Super Nova

Good morning beautiful Blitzers! The conference semifinals have tipped off in both the NBA and NHL playoffs making Monday nights great again. Jalen Brunson is that dude and has turned MSG into a jungle as of late with his clutch play. Are the Timberwolves the team to beat out West? The Bruins ride the high of their Game 7 win as they look to avenge last year’s series collapse to the Panthers. Bryce Harper is still really good at hitting baseballs. Let’s go have a day!

WTF Stat: Knicks G Jalen Brunson has now scored 40+ points in four straight playoff games joining Hall of Famers Jerry West, Bernard King and Michael Jordan as the only players to accomplish this feat.

🏀 Spurs 7’4” center Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous Rookie of the Year receiving all 99 first place votes - just the sixth player to win the ROY unanimously

🏀 Pat Riley gave an interesting press conference yesterday stating that a contract extension for Jimmy Butler with the Heat will depend on his “availability” - this clip of him saying “If you're not on the court playing, you should keep your mouth shut” referring to Jimmy’s comments about the Celtics was wild

 🏀 Jason Kidd has signed a contract extension with the Dallas Mavericks following their first-round playoff win despite rumors being linked to the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job

NBA Playoffs

Eastern Conference - Semifinals

• New York Knicks 121, Indiana Pacers 117 (NYK leads series 1-0): Jalen Brunson (43 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST) scored 21 points in the 4th quarter to erase a nine-point deficit that included a dish to his college teammate Donte DiVincenzo (25 PTS) for the go-ahead three ball with 40 seconds left. The third Villanova guy, Josh Hart (25 PTS, 13 REB), was an animal on both ends of the floor all night - the “Villanova Three” (Brunson, Hart, DiVincenzo) scored 33 of their 39 4th quarter points

Western Conference - Semifinals

• Minnesota Timberwolves 106, Denver Nuggets 80 (MIN leads series 2-0): Minnesota jumped out to a 26-point halftime lead with Anthony Edwards (27 PTS, 7 AST) owning both ends of the floor winning the first two games of the series on the road - T-Wolves star Rudy Gobert sat out due to the birth of his first child yesterday, which is crazy because he is likely the DPOY again this year and the T-Wolves played the best team defense for any NBA team in recent memory last night

Tonight’s Games

• East Semis - Game 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics 7:00pm ET, TNT

• West Semis - Game 1 | Dallas Mavericks @ Oklahoma City Thunder 9:30pm ET, TNT

See the full playoff bracket here.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference - Semifinals

• Boston Bruins 5, Florida Panthers 1 (BOS leads series 1-0): In a rematch of last year’s historic first round matchup where the Bruins blew a 3-1 series lead, the Panthers struck first but the Bruins responded with five unanswered goals. The real hero was Bruins’ goalie Jeremy Swayman (38 saves) making several all-world saves like this one - Brandon Carlo scored a goal just hours after his second child was born, and he arrived late in Florida getting to the arena at 6pm before the 8pm puck drop

Tonight’s Games

• East Semis - Game 2 | Carolina Hurricanes @ New York Rangers (NYR lead series 1-0) 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• West Semis - Game 1 | Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars 9:30pm ET, ESPN

See the full playoff bracket here.

MLB - Top Games

• Philadelphia Phillies 6, San Francisco Giants 1: Bryce Harper spoiled the major league debut for Giants starting pitcher Mason Black hitting a three-run homer off the young fella as Philly moves to 25-11 with the best record in the MLB - Phillies have won 17 of their last 20

• Cleveland Guardians 2, Detroit Tigers 1: José Ramírez hit his 87th career go-ahead bomb, a new franchise record, to give Cleveland a tie for the most wins in the AL (23 w/ Yankees & Orioles)

• Kansas City Royals 3, Milwaukee Brewers 2: Two surprising 20+ win squads and it was the Royals who scored three runs in the 7th inning to erase the 2-0 deficit and take the W

See the full scoreboard here.

On May 7, 2022, Rich Strike became the second biggest long shot (80-1) to ever win the Kentucky Derby with Venezuelan jockey Sonny Leon leading the way. Rich Strike was the longest shot in that 2022 race as well. Let’s re-live Rich Strike making the final turn at Churchill Downs with an epic call from the TV announcers.

NBA Playoffs

• East Semis - Game 1 | Cleveland Cavaliers @ Boston Celtics 7:00pm ET, TNT

• West Semis - Game 1 | Dallas Mavericks @ Oklahoma City Thunder 9:30pm ET, TNT

NHL Playoffs

• East Semis - Game 2 | Carolina Hurricanes @ New York Rangers (NYR lead series 1-0) 7:00pm ET, ESPN

• West Semis - Game 1 | Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars 9:30pm ET, ESPN

MLB

• Houston Astros @ New York Yankees 7:05pm ET, TBS

• Full Schedule

Trivia Time Answer

A. Michael Jordan. The GOAT dropped 63 points in a playoff game vs. the Celtics back in 1986. Elgin Baylor is the only other player to break 60 and he did it in 1962.

Prime Lock of the Day

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Love you all and see you tomorrow! Happy playoffs.