Jalen Brunson, Nikola Jokic power Knicks, Nuggets; Caitlin Clark struggles in WNBA debut

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🏀Good morning everyone, but especially…

New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets

nix They were supposed to be too tired, supposed to be too injured, supposed to be… whatever.

The problem is, Jalen Brunson, Isaiah Hartenstein And apparently the rest of the orange and blue crew didn’t get that memo. New York responded to its blowout loss in Game 4 with a strong performance in Game 5, fast bowlers121–91, to take a 3–2 series lead.

• After two average games at Indiana, Brunson was spectacular with 44 points. It was his fifth 40-point game this postseason, his most in a single playoff appearance since Lebron James There were eight in 2018.
• Hartenstein set a Knicks playoff record with 12 offensive rebounds. Overall, the Knicks had 20 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 27 second-chance points. There were 101 shot attempts in New York; Indiana had 72.
• New York is the first team in the league to lose a playoff game by at least 30 points and then respond with a win by at least 30 points since the 2016 NBA Finals, when James led the way. Cavaliers Do it.

I like Brunson’s game. He is far from the biggest, strongest or fastest. But he continues to beat bigger (Aaron Nesmith), Strong (Andrew Nembhard) and faster (TJ McConnell) Defenders He plays at his pace, rotates, dribbles, plays and creates. He didn’t win MVP, but he deserves every “MVP” chant echoing inside Madison Square Garden.

The Pacers have no excuse.

• Tyrese Haliburton Scored a modest 13 points and attempted only nine shots.
• Their 17 turnovers were a combination of miscommunication, miscommunication and lack of focus.
• Indiana showed an inability/unwillingness to box out, often making no attempts as the Knicks parachuted in without any interference.
• The bench which was supposed to provide clear benefits was clearly tyrannical. Indiana outscored by 25 on the 21st. obi toppin Minutes and 19 to 19 McConnell minutes.
• after the game, donte divincenzo He said that pacers are not strong, Guess what? he is right.

In the darkness of night, Nikola Jokic Received his third MVP trophy… and then showed why he is not only the MVP, but one of the game’s all-time great offensive forces. Jokic scored 40 points (on 15-22 shooting) and grabbed 13 assists and seven rebounds – all with zero turnovers – Nuggets‘Win 112-97 timberwolves, Denver has won three in a row to completely upset this series and is one win away from going to back-to-back conference finals for the first time in franchise history.

• jokic joins chris paul As the only player with 40+ points, 10+ assists and no turnovers in a playoff game.
• This is Jokic’s “only” fifth career 40-point playoff game, but his ninth career playoff game with 30+ points, 10+ assists, and 7+ rebounds. Only James has more.
• He’s doing it against the league’s best defense and often against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, But no, it doesn’t invalidate Gobert’s award, Brad Botkin writes, We are simply watching a legend.

Also credit Denver’s defense. Anthony Edwards And jamal mare Got into things after game 4And Edwards responded with just 18 points on 5-for-15 shooting.

Teams that win Game 5 in a best-of-seven series that is tied 2–2 advance 82% of the time. New York and Denver are in the driver’s seat.

😁 Honorable Mention

😩And not such a good morning…

Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever

Caitlin Clark Rewrote the college record book. In one game of her WNBA career, she made foul history: Clark committed 10 turnovers – the most ever in a WNBA debut and just the 13th double-digit turnover game in league history – as Fever blown away by Sun92-71.

An experienced Connecticut squad was well prepared for Clark’s tendencies, using length and physicality to make Clark uncomfortable all night. Clarke ultimately finished with 20 points but made only 5 out of 15.

the passes that were open iowa Throw-forwards, lobs over the top, pick-and-roll pocket passes – were often disrupted. When Clark headed off to college, he often found jobs easily. On Tuesday, she ran to help defenders and was forced to make awkward shot attempts or errant passes.

Listen, Clark is going to be fine. The previous “record” holder for turnovers in debut was Cynthia Cooper With eight. And she won her first four WNBA championships, multiple MVP awards, and became a Hall of Famer. But it’s clear that Clark will face a big adjustment — perhaps even bigger than we expected given his storied college career. Erica Ayala has more Clark’s “Welcome to the W” moment,

For Connecticut, alyssa thomas (13 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists) recorded her ninth career triple-double, tying her WNBA record, and crazy boner Scored 20 to move into fifth place on the league’s all-time leaderboard. dijonai carrington Led the defensive effort against Clark.

Here’s more:

😓 Not so honorable mention

🏌 PGA Championship picks, field rankings, sleepers, and more

By the time you read tomorrow’s newspaper, the PGA Championship will be underway. so Here’s how to watchAnd here’s t’s timeHighlighted by…

• 7:53am – Ludwig Aberg, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas
• 8:04 am – Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley
• 8:15 am – Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose
• 8:26 am – Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland
• 8:37 am – Brooks Koepka, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth
• 1:51 pm – Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Fitzpatrick
• 2:02 pm – Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young
• 2:13 pm – Windham Clark, Brian Harman, Scotty Scheffler

But who is lifting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday? are here Our experts select, Kyle Porter likes…

• Porter: ,Winner: Scotty Scheffler (4-1): I’m going to keep picking Scotty unless he loses, which he hasn’t done a lot of in the last few months. Since March 1, Scheffler has lost to a golfer: stephan jaeger At the Houston Open. That’s it. It probably hurts him a little bit that it’s less of a strategy golf course and more of an execution golf course, but he’s been firing on all cylinders in both of those areas for a long time.”

Kyle and Patrick McDonald also chose who are the stars Will not done Win, Scotty vs. Rory vs. Brooks, Tiger vs. Phil and more,

Patrick has it too Five sleepers who may surprise, I like this selection:

• McDonald’s: ,Sahith Thigala: A case could be made that Theegala is playing like a top-10 golfer in the world, but the price doesn’t reflect that. The Californian has yet to compete in a major competition, but Theegala has yet to hit the form he currently has. Thegala ranks sixth in total strokes gained, 20th in driving distance and 12th in strokes gained in the last three months. …Odds: 75-1″

⚾ MLB first-quarter grades: 10 ‘A’s, seven ‘F’s’

The MLB season is fast approaching, and RJ Anderson has First-quarter grades for all 30 teams, Fair warning: He doesn’t hold back, whether good or bad. Nine teams received an “A” and seven received an “F”.

For all the worries entering the season, Yankees “A” is moving towards the beginning.

• Anderson: “The Yankees should be pleased that they are right in the mix for the American League East despite not getting a start yet gerrit cole, juan soto has been wonderful and close as desired Clay Homes Started his walk year with 17 consecutive scoreless innings. The Yankees still have to address some areas of concern – it would be nice if Gleyber Torres Mind you, he was a free agent this winter too – but given the overall circumstances, it’s hard to find fault.”

Soto, coincidentally, made some history tomorrow night.

Here are all the grades.

📺 What we’re watching on Wednesday

Game 5: Cavaliers at Celtics7pm on TNT
nfl schedule release8 p.m. on ESPN2 and NFL Network
Game 5: Avalanche on the Stars8pm on ESPN
Game 5: Mavericks at Thunder9:30 pm on TNT