For a minute there, it looked like I might have to be a Thunder in Seven guy. The Pacers led Game 4 of the NBA Finals by 10 points late in the third quarter and it looked like we might be subject to more “ACTUALLY, Tyrese Haliburton is underrated” talk. Thankfully, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City on a 12-1 run in the final three minutes that lifted the team to a 111-104 victory despite the Thunder shooting 3-for-16 from beyond the arc. When you win with those shooting numbers, you know you played with grit, gumption, and heart. OKC only had 11 assists on 37 field goals in this game, with zero coming from SGA for the first time this season. That’s another area where the Thunder can improve in Game 5, but they’re unlikely to get more from Alex Caruso, who poured in 20 points and five steals from the bench. On Indiana’s bench, T.J. McConnell was limited to eight points and zero steals after his stronger performance in Game 3 and Bennedict Mathurin scored eight points while missing some key free throws down the stretch. Maybe these games really are decided by the role players. That would be good news for Indiana since Haliburton is not going to outplay SGA very often, but it’s good to know that OKC can get some scoring help beyond its big three playmakers.
So what else happened in the sports world on Friday and Saturday?
The Panthers are one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions. They tried to repeat their bold strategy of going up three goals. It didn’t work in Game 4, but it sure did in Game 5! The big difference was Florida not adding the third goal until early in the third period, when Brad Marchand scored his second of the night by going through Calvin Pickard’s legs on a breakaway that was sparked by Eetu Luostarinen. Edmonton ended up scoring twice before the game ended, but the Panthers kept adding on with a wrist shot from Sam Reinhart and an empty-netter from Luostarinen to win 5-2.
Opening games are done at the College World Series. Coastal Carolina scored three runs in the eighth inning to defeat underdog Arizona 7-4. Also on Friday, Oregon State bounced back from a 9th inning meltdown to walk off Louisville and win 4-3 on Gavin Turley’s RBI double. On Saturday, Kade Anderson pitched seven innings of one-run ball and LSU’s three-run rally in the second inning stood up as the Tigers defeated Arkansas 4-1. Super Cinderella Murray State scored four answered runs after falling behind UCLA 6-0, but the Racers were shut down by Bruins closer Easton Hawk in the 9th.
The Mets lost twice to Tampa Bay. New York was in great shape through five innings on Friday night, but then Carlos Mendoza pulled Clay Holmes from the game even though he had only thrown 79 pitches. Paul Blackburn and Max Krannick combined to allow six runs in the 6th inning and Juan Soto’s game-tying home run bid in the 8th died on the warning track, allowing Tampa Bay to hold on for a 7-5 win. The Rays exploded for another big inning on Saturday evening, this time scoring five times in the 4th off of Tylor Megill. Three of those runs came with two outs following Megill’s botched attempted to field a bunt. The Mets fell behind 6-2 in that frame and only scored two more runs in the ballgame, losing 8-4.
Two international soccer tournaments got underway. Both the FIFA Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup are being played in the United States at the same time. The Club World Cup got off to a very boring start with Messi and Inter Miami playing to a scoreless draw with Egyptian side Al Ahly. There were some pretty gnarly saves in this game, but nobody likes a 0-0 result. The Gold Cup has been a bit more fun so far with Mexico holding a 3-2 edge over the Dominican Republic in the 80th minute.
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