— Pacers 138, Knicks 135 OT
Knicks led by 14 with 2:51 left in regulation.
Indiana’s starters were +31, their subs minus-16
Halliburton scored 31 points, Nesmith added 30.
Brunson scored 43 points for the Knicks.
— 22 of the 30 players in the Minnesota-Oklahoma City series are age 26 or younger, so those teams figure to be really good for several years.
— NBA will have a different champ for the 7th year in a row; last team to repeat as champs were the 2017/2018 Golden State Warriors.
— Former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who won an NBA title two years ago, is working for ESPN on the Western Conference finals.
There must be a hell of a story as to what happened with the Nuggets this year; not often do you see the coach of a good team fired, three games before the playoffs start.
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is this year’s NBA MVP, the 7th year in a row a foreign player has won that award. Last American player to win MVP; James Harden, in 2018.
— NFL announced Wednesday that the Buffalo Bills will be on Hard Knocks during training camp this summer; the in-season Hard Knocks will be the teams in the NFC East.
— Detroit Lions have five games this season against team whose previous game was on Monday Night Football, little bit of a rest advantage for Detroit.
— Former NFL coach Jon Gruden has joined the ownership group of the Nashville Kats of Arena Football One; former NFL coach Jeff Fisher is also a part owner of the Kats.
— Famous birthdays, May 22nd:
Richard Benjamin, 87
Tommy John, 82
Fair Hooker, 78
Randy Brown, 57
Michael Kelly, 56
Dre Bly, 48
Eric Sogard, 39
Julian Edelman, 39
Chase Budinger, 37
Lauri Markkanen, 28
Isaiah Stewart, 24
Anthony Richardson, 23
— RIP to actor George Wendt, 76, who passed away this week; he became famous playing Norm from Cheers, the great sit-com about a bar in Boston.
He was one of only three actors to appear in every episode of Cheers; he was a funny man.
RIP, sir.
— RIP to Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, who passed away Wednesday at age 65; when Jim Irsay was 12, his father bought the Rams and that same day, traded them for the then-Baltimore Colts. 12 years later, Robert Irsay moved the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis.
Jim Irsay was the Colts’ CEO since 1997; he played in a band and had a tremendous collection of guitars used by famous musicians.
RIP, sir.
— Mets 5, Red Sox 1
Mets scored three runs in 7th inning to break a 1-1 tie.
Brett Baty drove in three runs.
Mets are only 9-11 in their last 20 games.
— Guardians 5-5, Twins 6-1
Teams split a pair of games; the first game was the completion of Monday’s game, which was suspended by weather in the fourth inning.
Minnesota has won 14 of its last 16 games.
— Pirates 3, Reds 1
Pittsburgh has scored 4 or fewer runs in 26 straight games, tying an MLB record.
Andrew Heaney and four relievers held the Reds to four hits.
— Orioles 8, Brewers 4 (11)
Baltimore snaps an 8-game losing skid.
Adley Rutschman hit a 3-run homer in the 11th inning.
— Cubs 2, Marlins 1
Kyle Tucker had three hits, including a home run.
Cubs have won seven of their last nine games.
— Mariners 6, White Sox 5
Leody Taveras won the game with a 2-run homer in the 8th inning.
Seattle has won five of its last six games.
— Royals 8, Giants 4
Salvador Perez went 3-for-4, with two RBI.
Kansas City is 17-1 when it scores 4+ runs, 11-22 when it doesn’t.
— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Mets, Padres, Giants
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Twins, Guardians, Royals
