Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Wednesday, May 21.

NBA

The Pacers visited the Knicks for game one of the Eastern Conference Finals– this is one of those games where my recap cam never properly capture the drama of this memorable matchup. You’re encouraged to relive this game by watching the highlights linked below. In any case let’s get to it, jumping straight into a tightly contested fourth quarter:

• When Jalen Brunson went to the bench after his fifth foul, it looked like things would get tough for the Knicks. Instead, New York went on a 14-0 run and jumped out to a commanding lead. When their star guard re-entered the game and hit a three with 2:51 remaining, Knicks fans celebrated their team’s comfortable lead. The score was 119-105 in favor of the home team.

• But just as they’ve done all postseason, the Pacers made an astonishing comeback. Aaron Nesmith hit FIVE three-pointers and Indiana miraculously fought their way into the game. After forcing a turnover and seeing the Knicks miss a few key free throws, the stage was set for a potential game-winner…

• I let out an audible yell when the ball came down through the hoop, and Tyrese Haliburton celebrated like Reggie Miller, thinking he’d won the game. Hali’s toe was on the line, however, so we went OT. That’s when the Pacers made it official– Indiana stole game one on the road at Madison Square Garden, defeating the Knicks 138-135 in an instant classic. Seriously, they had no business winning this one. I’m not sure how the Pacers pulled it off.

NHL

If you thought that was an impressive comeback victory, guess what happened between the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers…

• Edmonton was in firm control of this game, racing out to a 3-1 lead at the end of the second period. Connor McDavid had two assists and the Oilers were buzzing all over the ice.

• The home team came out firing in the final frame. Miro Heiskanen scored on the power play just 32 seconds into the third period. Five minutes later, two other Stars scored on the power play and suddenly Dallas led 4-3. It was a shocking twist of events as the defending Western Conference champs completely lost their way.

• Tyler Seguin’s second goal of the night and an empty-netter made the final score 6-3 in favor of the Stars. I have a feeling this is the beginning of an incredibly entertaining and high-scoring matchup…

MLB

And last but not least, they played more baseball yesterday:

• The Philadelphia Phillies won their sixth game in a row, taking down Colorado 9-5. They have the longest active win streak in the game right now, tied with… the Los Angeles Angels? Really? LA beat the Athletics 10-5 to continue their surprising run of form. Shoutout to A’s rookie Nick Kurtz, who recorded his first career multi-homer game.

• On the other side of things, Baltimore had lost eight in a row before yesterday’s matchup with the Brewers. Milwaukee tied things up 3-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and it looked like the streak would reach nine. But Adley Rutschman hit a three-run homer in the 11th and the Orioles stopped the slide, taking down the Brewers 8-4.

• Jake Burger hit two homers and Jake deGrom gave up just two runs in seven dominant innings for the Texas Rangers. And yet the Yankees found themselves in a tie ballgame with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning…

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Congratulations to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 2024-25 NBA MVP. The Thunder guard beat out Nikola Jokic for the award, and got emotional during his acceptance speech: “I always thought that I could be a really good player because I had seen what putting your head down and working and controlling what you control can do for you. I made tremendous strides, but I never thought this was going to happen.” A well-deserved honor for one of the league’s brightest young talents.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay passed away yesterday at the age of 65. One of the more outgoing and public-facing front office figures in the NFL, Irsay had been a member of the Colts organization for decades, taking over as owner after first running the team as general manager. You can read the official statement from the Colts below:

Before yesterday, Tottenham Hotspur had not won a trophy in 17 years. Thanks to this incredible effort on the goal line by Mickey van de Ven, they won the Europa League 1-0 yesterday. By defeating Manchester United, Spurs earned a spot in the Champions League next season. A truly stunning result for the team that finished 17th in the Premier League.

Despite a close vote at the league meetings, the NFL will not be banning the Tush Push next season. A rule not changing shouldn’t be a news story, but the NFL has a way of sneaking into headlines. And not surprisingly, the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans spent a lot of time celebrating the verdict:

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

NBA: Timberwolves @ Thunder, 8:30 PM on ESPN

NHL: Panthers @ Hurricanes, 8 PM on TNT/Max

WNBA: Fever @ Dream, 7:30 PM on Amazon Prime

"I always win things in my second year. Nothing has changed," –Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglu, way back in September when his team was struggling... an incredibly bold claim and he actually backed it up!