Tyrese Haliburton Proves He is Overrated in Loss to Thunder

Oh boy, what a great day it is to not be a fan of the Indiana Pacers. Not only did they lose 120-109 at Oklahoma City to suffer consecutive defeats for the first time in these NBA Playoffs, but Tyrese Haliburton proved the haters right by missing all six of his field goal attempts! Is this the same guy with the chip on his shoulder who was proving everyone who said he was overrated wrong? There’s no way that guy would have more fouls plus turnovers (six) than points (four) in a pivotal NBA Finals game. What a treat this is.

Meanwhile, the real MVP of the Pacers Pascal Siakam scored 28 points with five assists and three steals to try to keep his team in the game. Indiana trailed for almost the entire game, but it got within two points of Oklahoma City when Siakam hit a three-point shot with 8:30 to go in the fourth quarter. The Thunder weren’t rattled, though. Jalen Williams hit a three of his own and then Andrew Nimrod threw the ball away to get Cason Wallace a breakaway dunk. Suddenly, Oklahoma City was back up by seven and it would not be  one-possession game again. Williams had himself a night with 40 points on 14-for-25 shooting while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to settle for 31 points and 10 assists. Just like in Game 1, the Thunder forced over 20 turnovers, but this time they didn’t let Indiana of the hook. With one more win, Oklahoma City will claim its first NBA title since the franchise moved from Seattle.

There was also big news at the College World Series as Murray State’s Cinderella story came to an end. The poor Racers were no-hit by Arkansas pitcher Gage Wood, who might have had a perfect game if he didn’t hit a batter with a pitch to start the eighth inning. Wood not only threw the first no-hitter at the CWS since 1960, but he may have had one of the best games ever for a pitcher in a big spot. He struck out 19 batters with no walks while going the distance on 119 pitches. Thank goodness no-hitters still mean something to someone. If this was a big league game, Wood would have been pulled due to a high pitch count while he still had a chance at perfection. The Razorbacks’ 3-0 victory means they’ll face UCLA tonight in another elimination game. The winner of that one will have to defeat LSU twice in a row to get to the championship series.

You know who didn’t throw a no-hitter on Monday? Shohei Ohtani, who pitched in an MLB game for the first time since 2023. He allowed a run on two singles and a sac fly, but then he stepped in the batter’s box and racked up a couple of RBI hits to lead the Dodgers to a 6-3 win over San Diego.

Also in baseball, MLB unveiled the All-Star uniforms and we are finally returning to the players wearing home white and road greys during the Midsummer Classic. There are still special All-Star Game jerseys, but they will be worn during the Home Run Derby instead of the main event. The bad news is that Seattle and Tampa Bay don’t have grey road uniforms, so their players are going to stand out a lot. Even when Rob Manfred gets something right, it’s not totally right.

Finally, Joey Chestnut has decided to stop being a veggie dog wuss and return to the National’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest this year. What a win for America.

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