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🚨 Headlines
🏒 Sullivan out in Pittsburgh: The Penguins fired head coach Mike Sullivan after his first sub-.500 season with the team. He’s the franchise’s winningest coach (409 wins) and led them to two Stanley Cups (2016-17).
🏈 NFL in DC: The Eagles visited the White House on Monday, and the Commanders unveiled plans for a new $4 billion stadium in the nation’s capital.
⚾️ Nimmo explodes: Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo busted out of his slump with two home runs and a franchise record-tying 9 RBIs in a 19-5 win over the Nationals.
🏀 Basketball’s best teammate: Another year, another award for Stephen Curry, who was named the NBA’s Teammate of the Year.
🎾 Blackout in Madrid:Play was suspended at the Madrid Open on Monday after a sweeping outage left millions in Spain, Portugal and France without power.
⚾️ The Rockies are on pace for 23 wins
The 2024 White Sox were the worst team in MLB history. A year later, the 2025 Rockies are coming for their crown.
Where it stands: The Rockies (4-24) are off to the worst start in modern NL history and are currently on pace to win just 23 games and lose 139. The record for losses, set by Chicago last year, is 121.
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2024 White Sox: 41-121
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2025 Rockies: 23-139 (pace)
Consider this: If the Rockies maintain their current .143 winning percentage, they’ll reach 20 wins around mid-September. The Mets have 20 wins right now.
Dark days in Denver: No one could have predicted a 4-24 start, but the Rockies struggling to win baseball games is nothing new. Barring a miracle turnaround, this will be their seventh straight losing season, fourth straight season with 90+ losses and third straight with 100+ losses.
Looking ahead: What if I told you that March and April were the easy part of Colorado’s schedule? And that no team faces a more difficult road the rest of the way? It almost seems cruel, but it’s true.
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To date, the Rockies rank 20th in strength of schedule as measured by opponent winning percentage (.490).
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But their future opponents have a winning percentage of .536, giving them the toughest remaining slate in all of MLB.
Bottom line: The Rockies are off to one of the worst 28-game starts in baseball history, and only 45 of their 134 remaining contests (34%) are against teams that currently have losing records. This could get ugly, folks.
📊 By the numbers: Playoffs
🏒 11 seconds
The Lightning scored two goals in 11 seconds to take the lead against the Panthers in Game 4 of the “Battle of Florida.” Then the Panthers did the same exact thing (!!), scoring twice in 11 seconds to take the lead for good.
Final score:Panthers 4, Lightning 2(FLA leads 3-1)
🏀 +122
The Cavaliers outscored the Heat by 122 points during their Round 1 sweep, making it the most lopsided playoff series in history. Miami saved its worst for last, bowing out on Monday with an embarrassing 55-point loss.*
Final score:Cavaliers 138, Heat 83(CLE wins 4-0)
🏀 3-1 lead
The Warriors took a commanding 3-1 lead against the Rockets behind a standout performance from Jimmy Butler, who scored 27 points and “got his joy back” on the same night his former team got humiliated.
Final score:Warriors 109, Rockets 106(GS leads 3-1)
🏒 1.22 points per playoff game
Speaking of former teams, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists in Dallas’ Game 5 win over Colorado. That pushed his career playoff points per game average to 1.22, good for sixth-best all-time (minimum 80 games).
Final score:Stars 6, Avalanche 2(DAL leads 3-2)
🎙️ *Halftime analysis: “This might be the worst game I’ve ever watched,” said Ernie Johnson to open TNT’s halftime show. The Cavs were up 72-33 at the time. “Turn it off now,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “This is quitting at its finest right here,” added Charles Barkley.
🏀 Bucks spotlight: Lillard out, Giannis trade?
The fears, it turns out, were founded: Damian Lillard ruptured his left Achilles tendon on Sunday night — an injury that dramatically alters his career and the direction of the Bucks franchise, writes Yahoo Sports’ Dan Devine.
The outlook: A ruptured Achilles is among the most devastating injuries in basketball. Kevin Durant didn’t seem to think so when he made a full recovery earlier this decade, but that’s the exception. Most players who experience this injury are never really the same.
The Kobe comp: Kobe Bryant was roughly the same age as Lillard is now (~35) when he tore his Achilles in 2013. When he returned the following year, his production fell off a cliff. Is Lillard destined for a similar decline?
Bryant did have his moments in the two seasons after his return. But for the most part, the version of Kobe we saw after the tear rarely resembled its superstar predecessor — as was the case for DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall, as has been the case for Klay Thompson, and as has long been the case for most who have experienced this particular injury.
That’s the challenge facing Lillard: a greater, more harrowing hurdle than any he’s encountered over the course of a Springfield-bound career that has featured nine All-Star berths, seven All-NBA selections and five top-eight finishes in MVP voting.
The embrace of the grind carried Lillard from Oakland and Weber State to the ranks of the immortals, one of just 11 players ever with 22,000 points and 6,000 assists. Now, it’ll have to carry him even farther — on a journey that begins before he can even take a single step.
With Lillard out and the Bucks on the brink, Milwaukee must consider the unimaginable: trading their two-time MVP, writes Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach.
Where it stands: The Bucks (down 3-1 to the Pacers) are facing a third consecutive first-round exit, their roster and cap space are trending in the wrong direction, and they don’t control a single first-round pick until 2031. Time to blow it up?
The Bucks are beyond any shadow of a doubt stuck in the NBA’s dreaded middle. Which means Giannis Antetokounmpo is also stuck in the NBA’s dreaded middle, or worse, and that is no spot for an in-his-prime legend.
There were always excuses. When the Bucks lost to the Celtics in the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals, Khris Middleton was injured. Antetokounmpo missed games in their first-round exits of 2023 and 2024. And this time? Lillard’s blood clots and then his Achilles.
Their absences have masked what has become apparent in the meantime: The Bucks, even when healthy, are no longer a serious contender. If anything, Lillard’s injury laid bare: All hope is lost. No reinforcements are coming. The championship window is closed.
🌎 The world in photos
Madrid — Sports, but make it art.
Tipperary, Ireland — The 2025 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is underway, which means I’ll be watching YouTube highlights of the ancient Irish sport all week. For the uninitiated: Hurling, explained.
Mahé, Seychelles — The 2025 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup kicks off this week in Seychelles, an island nation made up of 115 islands located off the eastern coast of Africa.
📺 Watchlist: Survive or advance
Five playoff teams can advance tonight in front of their home crowds, with the Pacers, Knicks, Celtics, Maple Leafs and Hurricanes all one win away from clinching. The full eight-game slate:
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🏀 NBA: Bucks (1-3) at Pacers (6pm ET, NBA); Pistons (1-3) at Knicks (7:30pm, TNT); Magic (1-3) at Celtics (8:30pm, NBA); Clippers (2-2) at Nuggets (10pm, TNT)
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🏒 NHL: Senators (1-3) at Maple Leafs (7pm, ESPN); Devils (1-3) at Hurricanes (7:30pm, TBS); Wild (2-2) at Golden Knights (9:30pm, ESPN); Oilers (2-2) at Kings (10pm, TBS)
More to watch: Arsenal hosts PSG (3pm, CBS) in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal, with both clubs vying to win Europe’s most prestigious tournament for the first time. Barcelona and Inter Milan face off in the other semifinal starting tomorrow.
🐎 Derby trivia
The 151st Kentucky Derby is this Saturday at Churchill Downs, where Journalism is the 3-1 favorite to win “The Run for the Roses.”
Question: Which horse won last year’s race?
A) Fierceness
B) Mystik Dan
C) Rich Strike
D) Forever Young
Answer at the bottom.
⛳️ Maxfli returns to the winner’s circle
Ben Griffin and Andrew Novakwon this weekend’s Zurich Classic (team event) while playing a Maxfli golf ball — the brand’s first victory on the PGA Tour since 2003.
Return of a classic: Griffin is currently the only Tour player who uses Maxfli balls,* a far cry from the years when the brand’s roster included the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman and Fred Couples. The 115-year-old company, purchased by Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2008, also just released its first set of clubs since the 1990s.
*Novak plays Srixon balls, but played Griffin’s Maxfli Tour X during the two rounds of the Zurich Classic that featured alternate shot.
Trivia answer: Mystik Dan
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