NBA Update

As Eric reminds us, tonight is Game Three of the NBA Finals.  These have been the best NBA playoffs since at least 2019, and could end up being the best since 2016.  Here's what ended up happening in the Western Conference Finals (home teams listed first):

05/18:  Oklahoma City 115 - 122 San Antonio (2 OT)

05/20:  Oklahoma City 122 - 113 San Antonio

05/22:  San Antonio 108 - 123 Oklahoma City

05/24:  San Antonio 103 - 82 Oklahoma City

05/26:  Oklahoma City 127 - 114 San Antonio

05/28:  San Antonio 118 - 91 Oklahoma City

05/30:  Oklahoma City 103 - 111 San Antonio

Games Two through Six had a somewhat stately pattern, with the team leading at halftime winning every time, and Games Four through Six each being a fairly easy blowout.  But Game Seven, like Game One, was a death struggle -- and once again, the Thunder had no answer for Victor Wembanyama.  He finished with 22 points and 7 rebounds -- and even though SGA had 35 points of his own, the San Antonio defense prevented the rest of SGA's teammates from giving him the support he needed.

And so, San Antonio beat the defending Champs on the road, and headed home to play a red-hot Knicks team in the finals.  And then this happened:

06/03:  San Antonio 95 - 105 New York

06/05:  San Antonio 104 - 105 New York

The Knicks ran their winning streak to 13 with back-to-back thrillers in San Antonio.  Game Two was certainly the best NBA game I've seen in the final since the Cavs upset Golden State in 2016.  Wemby had 29 points and 9 rebounds, and led a late charge that put San Antonio in a good position to win.  But in the last minute, he had a huge turnover, committed the foul that allowed the Knicks to take a one-point lead, and then missed the shot at the buzzer that could have won the game.

So the Knicks are coming home to an absolute madhouse with a 2-0 lead.  If New York can win tonight, they should sweep the Spurs and win their first title since 1973.  And that may happen.  But the Spurs know how to win on the road, and in the fourth quarter of Game Two they started to figure out the Knicks.  I expect a spectacular game tonight that could go either way.

Vegas has New York as a 2 1/2 point favorite with an over/under of 216.5.  That would mean a score of something like 109-107.  I don't think they'll score that many points, but I do think it will be very close.

UFL Update

The (Washington) D.C. Defenders and Louisville (Kentucky) Kings have advanced to the United Football League championship, scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern Saturday at Audi Field in Washington. I will be rooting for the Kings, which started their debut season with three straight losses, each of which I watched parts of (I think). I don't think I've seen a live second of the UFL season since, but I do hope to check in on United Bowl 2026 and see if Louisville can punctuate "one of the most remarkable turnarounds in UFL history."

I added the italics in that quote, by the way.

College Baseball Update

There was no late drama last night.  USC pasted A & M 7-1, while Auburn buried Richie Cunningham's old school 8-3.  So the Super Regionals look like this (home team listed first):

BRACKET ONE:

(16) W. Virginia v. Cal Poly

Troy v. Ark-Little Rock

(5) N. Carolina v. So. California

(4) Auburn v. Mississippi

BRACKET TWO:

(15) Kansas v. Oklahoma

(7) Alabama v. St. John's

(6) Texas v. (11) Oregon

(3) Georgia v. (14) Mississippi St.

We have two all-SEC matchups and an all-Big 8 matchup.  We also get to watch at least two games in Troy, Alabama and two more in Morgantown, West Virginia.  I'm really looking forward to this.

College Baseball Update

Here's where the regionals stand:

BRACKET ONE

Los Angeles:  Won by Cal Poly.  (1) UCLA was eliminated by St. Mary's.

Morgantown:  (16) W. Virginia v. Kentucky for the title at 5 PM Central

Hattiesburg:  Won by Ark-Little Rock

Gainesville:  (8) Florida v. Troy for the title at 5 PM Central

Chapel Hill:  Won by (5) N. Carolina

College Station:  (12) Texas A & M v. USC for the title at 8 PM Central

Lincoln:  Won by Mississippi

Auburn:  (4) Auburn v. Milwaukee for the title at 4 PM Central

BRACKET TWO

Atlanta:  (2) Georgia Tech v. Oklahoma for the title at 2 PM Central

Lawrence:  Won by (15) Kansas

Tallahassee:  (10) Florida St. will play St. John's at 11 AM Central.  If the Johnnies win, they take the region.  If FSU wins, there will be a final elimination game to decide the title

Tuscaloosa:  Won by (7) Alabama

Austin:  Won by (6) Texas

Eugene:  Won by (11) Oregon

Starkville:  Won by (14) Mississippi St.

Athens:  Won by (3) Georgia

This will give us the following Super Regionals:

BRACKET ONE

(16) W. Virginia or Kentucky v. Cal Poly

(8) Florida or Troy v. Ark-Little Rock

(5) N. Carolina v. (12) Texas A & M or USC

(4) Auburn or Milwaukee v. Mississippi

BRACKET TWO

(2) Georgia Tech or Oklahoma v. Kansas

(7) Alabama v. (10) Florida St. or St. John's

(6) Texas v. (11) Oregon

(3) Georgia v. (14) Mississippi St.

College Baseball Update

UK just barely made it into the NCAA Baseball Tournament as the Number 3 seed in the Morgantown Region.  The Cats then beat Wake Forest 6-5, and beat West Virginia 11-9 to reach the regional final.  The Mountaineers took out Wake 10-5 in the losers' bracket to create a rematch with UK.  Going into the ninth inning, the Cats were up 9-6 and were three outs away from hosting a Super Regional.  Then the roof collapsed.  I don't know everything that happened, because I've just been watching the meltdown on Twitter.  I know there was an error by the third baseman to start the inning, and then two walks to load the bases.  At some point there was a sacrifice to make the score 9-8, and then a balk to make the score 9-9, and then WVU hit a two-run homer to take an 11-9 lead.

At that point, one of the Twitter accounts that usually follows college basketball tweeted out "FIRE MARK POPE!"  Which is fair.