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Spurs Block Thunder’s Road to Finals

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Report) – Luke Kornet returned to the bench a hero.

The San Antonio Spurs backup big man had just turned in perhaps the biggest defensive play of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, coming in for a stretch in relief of Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama exited the game with five fouls and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder had what seemed like a prime chance to seize control.

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But instead, Kornet blocked Isaiah Hartenstein just seconds after entering, the Spurs came through on the other end, and the Spurs were on their way to an NBA Finals berth with a 111-103 road win over the Thunder on Saturday.

“The definition of a winning play,” Wembanyama said.

San Antonio will open the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks at home Wednesday.

The teams have met in the Finals once before, with San Antonio winning the 1999 NBA Championship in five games.

It was the first of five titles for the Spurs. Their last visit was in 2014, when they beat the Miami Heat in five games.

In the playoffs for the first time since Wembanyama became the face of the franchise, San Antonio is four wins away from adding to that total.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said his team’s relative inexperience isn’t a limiting factor by this point.

“This team has now been pretty damn consistent for a long time, for over 100 games, for the most part,” Johnson said. “… I don’t know who has as much experience as we do this year in the season of 2025-26.”

The Spurs led for much of the game but struggled to put away the pesky Thunder, who continually battled back from double-digit deficits to get back within striking distance.

And when Wembanyama, who was San Antonio’s tone-setter throughout the series, left the game with five fouls with 6:48 remaining, the Spurs could have been in trouble.

Hartenstein’s steal got the Thunder in transition with a chance to cut the deficit to four.

But Kornet blocked Hartenstein’s shot, getting between Hartenstein and the basket, then Stephon Castle drained a pullup jumper for a 99-91 advantage.

Kornet headed to the bench just 59 seconds after he entered, and was greeted enthusiastically by the rest of the Spurs — including Wembanyama.

Coming out of that stoppage, Julian Champagnie drained his sixth 3-pointer of the game to stretch the lead back to 11.

The Thunder pulled back to six with just more than two minutes remaining, but Oklahoma City went 0-for-4 the rest of the way on chances to trim the deficit even further.

Wembanyama had 22 points and seven rebounds.

“I want to win so bad, it’s like my life depends on it,” Wembanyama said.

Wembanyama was named the Most Valuable Player of the Western Conference finals.

“He has such a vision, in my opinion, of who he wants to be as a person and as a player,” Johnson said. “And the commitment and investment that he puts into that vision, it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before.”

Champagnie scored 20 and Castle, De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper also came up big for San Antonio.

“They were just the better team tonight, start to finish,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And then every time we tried to like cut into and take control of the game, it felt like they had an answer.”

Gilgeous-Alexander had struggled in the series, shooting just 37.9% from the floor through six games, but looked much more like the back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player in Game 7.

“I was a little bit closer to it, for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

He finished with 35 points on 12-of-21 shooting with nine assists and three steals.

“He was brilliant,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

But the other two of Oklahoma City’s big three — Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams — made little impact.

Williams missed his fourth game of the series with a hamstring injury, while Holmgren finished with just four points on 1-of-2 shooting. Holmgren didn’t attempt a shot after the first quarter.

His two field-goal tries were tied for the fewest of Holmgren’s career. His only other two-shot game came March 27, 2024.

Cason Wallace added 17 points, returning to the starting lineup with Williams and Ajay Mitchell out again.

Alex Caruso scored 12 off the bench but was just 3 of 14 from the field.

Kornet, who won a title with Boston in 2024, was all smiles after the game.

“Someone from the bench yelled, ‘Who is it, LeBron James?’” Kornet said of his block and referring to James’ block of an Andre Iguodala shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. “We’ll see which one has more staying power in the record books of history.”

Gilgeous-Alexander sees plenty more matchups with the young Spurs in the future.

“They’re young, talented, well-coached, play the right way, seems like they like each other,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They have the makeup. You don’t beat us without the makeup.”

–Field Level Media

It’s the Connor Wong Show

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CLEVELAND – (Wire Service Report) – Connor Wong hasn’t seen much action of late behind the plate for the Boston Red Sox, so he has to maximize every opportunity he receives.

Thanks to his big game Saturday, the Red Sox have a chance at earning a rare series victory against the host Cleveland Guardians.

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Boston will send left-hander Ranger Suarez (2-3, 3.02 ERA) to the mound against Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee (0-7, 4.57) today, seeking its sixth series triumph in 19 sets this season.

Wong drove in three runs, including the go-ahead double in the sixth inning, and had a pair of hits for the Red Sox in a 9-1 win. It was just his third start at catcher in a 22-day span as Mickey Gasper and Carlos Narvaez have taken most of the playing time.

“Just a really, really good performance by a guy who hasn’t played much,” Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Don’t forget, he also had a rocket in the second that (Daniel Schneemann) made a great play on in center. Most days, that falls for a double here.”

Wong finished 2-for-5 with a run and was able to wear the Red Sox’s prized Wally the Green Monster mascot head for the first time, only to have a replay review by crew chief John Tumpane take away the home run that earned him the privilege.

The 30-year-old’s double in the sixth was initially called a homer, which would have been his first since 2024, but the MLB command center ruled the ball had struck the yellow line atop the fence before hitting the guardrail.

“It sucks that was taken away,” said Wong, who is a .442 hitter with five homers and 12 RBIs in 13 career  games against Cleveland. “I still think it was a homer. I wish I could have appealed it myself. But any time you get the win, it feels great.”

Wong played a significant role defensively as well, as winning pitcher Sonny Gray allowed only one run in six innings and credited him for calming him down after a rough first inning.

“He’s great back there,” Gray said. “I was happy for him with the way he played today.”

Suarez has either been terrific or terrible in his first 10 starts for Boston, giving up four or more runs in four of them — and one total run in the other six outings. He was rocked for a season-high five runs in a loss to the visiting Atlanta Braves in his last game on May 26.

In three career appearances against Cleveland, all as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, Suarez is 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA.

The American League Central Division-leading Guardians have endured a historically bad first two months from Bibee. His low point occurred on May 25, giving up a franchise record-tying five homers in three innings during a 10-2 loss to the visiting Washington Nationals.

“I thought it was a lack of execution, and we just haven’t seen that from Tanner,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “It was a tough one, just a lot of mistakes over the middle. He didn’t have much. That was it.”

Bibee went exactly five innings in both of his previous games against Boston, going 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA. The Red Sox have worked him for four walks and struck out only five times.

A roster move could be in the offing for the Guardians, who are now without two starting outfielders. Left fielder Angel Martinez is scheduled to have an MRI after exiting Saturday’s game with left foot inflammation in the fifth inning.

Center fielder Steven Kwan, a multiple-time Gold Glove winner in left, remains on the bereavement/family medical emergency list. Stuart Fairchild was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to take his place and went 0-for-2 with a throwing error on Saturday.

–Field Level Media

Mazzula Wins NBA Coach of Year

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The NBA announced Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was named the 2025-26 NBA Coach of the Year. He becomes the fourth Celtics head coach to win the award (Auerbach, Heinsohn, Fitch), after Mazzulla and his coaching staff steered Boston to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 regular season record. Mazzulla takes home his first Red Auerbach Trophy this season with the help of his assistant coaches and staff: Sam Cassell, Tony Dobbins, D.J. MacLeay, Da’Sean Butler, Nana Foulland, Amile Jefferson, Tyler Lashbrook, Craig Luschenat, Ross McMains, Alex Merg, Phil Pressey, God Shammgod Jr., and Steve Tchiengang.
“Thank you to our players who compete and give it everything they have each night,” said Mazzula. “I am grateful for every member of the Celtics organization whose dedication impacts winning every day. This award belongs to our staff, who are there for the guys every day. Their relentless work ethic improves our team daily. This award should be named, staff of the year.”
The NBA Coach of the Year Award trophy is named in honor of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Red Auerbach. The legendary head coach guided the Celtics to nine NBA championships, including eight in a row from 1959-66.
“This is well deserved recognition and a testament to both Joe and his staff,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens. “With all of our unknowns entering the season, Joe did a fantastic job building and growing a team. He pours everything he has into competing at a high level, while helping players find the best versions of themselves within the framework of a team. On top of all of that, Joe leads with an authentic care for the Celtics and everyone he works with – players, coaches, and staff.”
Ranking second in the NBA in offensive rating (120.0) and fourth in defensive rating (111.7), Boston was one of two teams this season to be in the top four in both offensive and defensive rating. The Celtics also led the league in several categories this season, including fewest turnovers per game (12.4), fewest opponent points in the paint per game (40.1), and fewest steals allowed per game (6.2). The Celtics averaged 16.9 second chance points per game this season, the team’s most in the play-by-play era, and averaged the team’s most offensive rebounds per game (12.5) since the 1999-2000 season. Boston was tied for the league lead in games allowing 100 points or less (22) this season and led the NBA in games with 20+ 3-pointers made (16).
Mazzulla was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for December, his fifth career monthly honor, after guiding Boston to a 9-3 record in December with a league-best 124.3 offensive rating. He earned his 200th career victory in just 275 games, making him the third-fastest coach in NBA history to do so behind Steve Kerr (238 games) and Phil Jackson (270 games).
In four seasons as Boston’s head coach, Mazzulla owns a 238-90 regular season record (.726 winning percentage) and has gone 36-21 (.632) in the playoffs.

NY Knicks Sweep Cleveland

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CLEVELAND – (Wire Service Report) – As the clock wound down, few Cleveland Cavaliers fans could be found. The New York Knicks left them with no reason to stick around.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Knicks advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, routing the Cavaliers 130-93 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals Monday night.

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The Knicks extended their franchise playoff-record winning streak to 11 games — matching the third-longest run in a single postseason in league history — and their long-suffering supporters took over Cleveland’s arena.

“Growing up in the (New York) area, I feel like the word hope has been gone for a long while, so to restore that is special,” Towns said. “There is nowhere better in the world than when (Madison Square) Garden has hope.”

OG Anunoby contributed 17 points and Landry Shamet scored 16 off the bench on 4-for-4 3-point shooting for New York, which built a 29-point lead in the second quarter and went up 123-78 in the fourth.

Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges finished with 15 points apiece, and Josh Hart added six points, 11 rebounds and six assists. The former Villanova championship teammates relished the opportunity to win the East together.

“It’s something that is surreal,” Hart said. “We already share a bond and a brotherhood for life, and we’re going to keep adding memories for that.”

Brunson was named the series MVP for averaging 25.5 points and 7.8 assists. The Knicks have outscored their opponents by 262 points during their win streak, the most dominant span in league history, playoffs or regular season.

Donovan Mitchell logged 31 points and Evan Mobley posted 15 points and seven rebounds for Cleveland, which reached the East finals for the first time since 2018. James Harden had 12 points and five turnovers while missing all six of his 3-point tries.

“Sometimes you’ve got to ultimately give the other team credit,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They played great basketball and they’re on a heater.”

The Knicks’ Mike Brown is off to the NBA Finals for the second time as a head coach, having led the Cavaliers to their first East crown in 2007.

The 37-point defeat was the Cavaliers’ largest ever in a playoff home game.

“We have unfinished business,” Mitchell said. “I have no doubt this group can get there.”

New York dominated the rebounding battle 60-33 with backup center Mitchell Robinson grabbing 10 boards in 18 minutes.

New York delivered the knockout blow early with a 20-0 run over a span of 4:39 from late in the first quarter into the second. A dunk by Towns punctuated the surge, making the score 50-26.

The Knicks eventually built a 61-32 lead on Shamet’s third 3-pointer of the half.

Mitchell scored 10 points and Mobley had seven in the first six minutes, putting the Cavaliers up 17-14. A 9-0 run then put New York on top for good. Robinson entered for New York and made an impact with six points and four rebounds, sparking a 24-9 run to end the quarter.

Cleveland backup point guard Dennis Schroder was a late scratch with an illness.

Among the Knicks’ celebrity fans seated courtside were comedian Tracy Morgan, filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Timothee Chalamet.

-Field Level Media

Darkness on the Edge of Causeway

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The house is dark. The ghostlight is on, and Bruce Springsteen is on.

The Celtics were up three-games-to-one against a Philadelphia 76ers team that hadn’t beaten Boston in a NBA Playoff series since Billy Cunningham coached a 1982 team, and they blew it. It was so long ago, longtime Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy had just started his first “big” beat covering the NBA. The hometown team – once invincible in Game 7s – has left the TD Garden dark. The Sixers moved on to meet the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals and were mowed down by a superior team. The Knicks will face Cleveland for the right to play in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics “Owe Us One.”

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But, it gets worse.

The TD Garden was witness to a suspect Boston Bruins team losing to the once-lowly Buffalo Sabres a night before the Celtics were sent to see St. Peter. The Sabres hadn’t won a Stanley Cup playoff series in 19 years, while the Sixers hadn’t beaten the Celtics in the playoffs since 1982, a mere 44 years. The Sabres lost to Montreal who are now playing Carolina for right to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s understandable how the Bs lost, but how could the Celtics collapse in such epic fashion?

Let us count the ways:

o Live by chucking 3s, die by chucking 3s. In their four losses to Philadelphia, the Boston Celtics shot 49-for-191, or 25.7%.

  • Game 5 (April 28): Shot 28.2% (11-of-39) from three in a 113-97 home loss.
  • Game 6 (April 30): Shot 29.3% (12-of-41) from three in a 106-93 loss in Philadelphia.
  • Game 7 (May 2): Shot 26.5% (13-of-49) from three in a 109-100 series-clinching loss at home.

o Nick Nurse, the head coach of the Sixers and a champ when he coached at every level, including an NBA Finals title with the Toronto Raptors, can flat-out coach. Yes, he was graced with a resurgence from one-time NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid, but Nurse guided the Sixers masterfully. NBA Coach of the Year, Joe Mazulla of the Celtics, was out-coached.

o Face facts: A starting five of: Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Ron Harper Jr., Luka Garza, and Baylor Scheierman could not cut it in a decisive NBA Playoff game.  That group will never be compared to Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The team of Celtics so many NBA pundits expected for 2025-26 finally showed up. The absence of true “bigs” caught up with the team of green. Remember Al Horford? He was pretty good.

Two Boston pro teams were whooped on their home turf. They’re gone by May 2 and only Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band can bring life to the backstreets of the West End (May 24th), because on Saturday night, it seemed you could hear the whole damn city crying. Springsteen might say, “Blame it on the lies that killed us, blame it on the truth that ran us down.”

The truth was the fact the Celtics could not endure a full season without their best player, Jayson Tatum.

While Tatum orchestrated a miraculous (and quick) return from the devastating right Achilles’ injury he suffered in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and performed quite well from his March 6 return to active duty right on through to an incredible Game 3 shooting performance against the Sixers in Philadelphia, a sore left knee and discomfort that forced him to leave Game 6, also ruled him out just hours before Game 7.

Nine years into his NBA career, the 28-year-old Tatum is feeling the effects of 729 NBA regular season and playoff games.

Boston’s wonderkid GM, Brad Stevens, cannot be blamed for inactivity.

Stevens was faced with a choice of trading one of his “Big Two” of Tatum or Jaylen Brown, and possibly dismantling the 2024 NBA championship team somewhere short of a total rebuild. Instead, being faced with an aging Celtics team and a double secret probation by far exceeding the NBA’s agreed upon maximum team salary zones – the Cs – via Stevens’ surgical strike on salaries – dipped under both the First and Second Aprons of the NBA’s salary cap structure by reducing the team payroll for the 2025-26 season to a mere $187,885,254.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors are all over $200 million and face limitations in their wheeling and dealing. Stevens and the Celtics do not.

The cost (saving) came when the Celtics jettisoned veteran bigs Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis. Both players contributed mightily in the 2024 NBA Finals with Porzingis’ astonishing Game 1 performance which won the most important game of the series at Boston.  If you remember, with Porzingis coming off the bench for just the second time in his career and playing in his first game (June 6) since he had sustained a calf injury in late April, Porzingis scored 20 points, including 18 in the first half, and added six rebounds and three blocks as the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 to send a statement to the Texans.

Horford provided even more. The veteran center was an influential presence in the locker room, an intangible for NBA teams destined for good things to come, for chemistry, for facing and conquering adversity, and for winning championships. Horford was the whole package, plus, he hit three-pointer after three-pointer, drawing opposing centers away from the basket and allowing Tatum and Brown to operate inside.

Horford was traded to the Golden State Warriors in September 2025, signing a multi-year deal, and continuing into his 19th NBA season.

Boston’s other cost-saving move was to send multi-talented guard Jrue Holiday and his $32.4 million contract to the NBA outskirts of Portland, Oregon (not Maine). Holiday was another veteran, positive influence and key contributor to the 2024 championship, especially on the defensive end of the basketball court.

All of those moves put together allowed the Celtics to avoid the NBA’s punitive luxury taxes. The more stable payroll paved the way for new ownership as the franchise was sold by the longtime ownership group headed by Wyc Grousbeck for a then-record $6.1 billion. The new group, led by Bill Chisholm, paid an amazing amount of cash considering Grousbeck bought the team for $360 million in 2002.

A look over to the Fens, just past the Longwood Medical Center, and the prognosis isn’t much better. The Red Sox are floundering in the AL East basement. The offense is anemic and the middle relievers count runs against, ERA and Whip as though they were all MIT graduates. The brown paper bags are making a fashion statement and Jason Veritek’s wife is pouring on the sarcastic quips aimed at Sox GM, head of baseball Craig Breslow. Veritek “is being re-assigned” within the organization after Breslow leveled the coaching staff, including manager Alex Cora. There’s no AC and no DC in the Sox bats. No static at all.

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But, there’s one thing worse than a dark June at the TD Boston Garden, and that was a dark May. Only Bruce Springsteen’s rock show on May 24th will bring some “glory days” back to Boston.

The memories of 2018 and a club record of 108 wins is long gone. as those were, indeed, the glory days.

And, one thing’s sure of the glory days.

They’ll pass you by.

 

 

NFL Schedule: Here’s a Top Ten

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LOS ANGELES – (Wire Service Report) – Not only do the Los Angeles Rams have a reasonable shot at becoming the first team to win the Super Bowl on its homefield twice, the NFC West runner-up is by far the easiest team to find on the NFL’s 2026 broadcast schedule.

Seven times the Rams are positioned for a primetime slot — tying a league record — barring a slip from contender status that would prompt networks to invoke the “flex” option and reassign Sean McVay’s team to an afternoon kickoff.

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You’ve got to appreciate McVay’s offensive machine as much as the next NFL fan, but let’s survey the broader landscape for the 10 games we are circling on the 2026 schedule.

1. Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears, Friday, Dec. 25
Are the Packers still gutted by two heartbreaking losses to the Bears? They’ll never admit it. The drama on the field and sidelines restored one of the  game’s best rivalries. Chicago’s schedule strength adds a degree of difficulty the Bears didn’t face rising from the bottom of the NFC North to a division title in Ben Johnson’s first season. The Packers had owned this series in recent years and want to pull the pendulum northward.

2. Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys, Thursday, Nov. 26
Thanksgiving Day amplifies whatever the state of the Dallas Cowboys happens to be, and this one should be extra spicy. It hasn’t happened since 2014 and will be the third Turkey Day meeting between the teams. Cowboys fans are crossing their fingers the results will be better than the last time (33-10 loss in ‘14) and 1989, when the Eagles used two Randall Cunningham-to-Cris Carter TDs and Philly’s defense ransacked Troy Aikman at Texas Stadium, 27-0. Philadelphia hosts the first meeting of the 2026 season with Dallas on “Monday Night Football” in October.

3. Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots, Sunday, Dec. 6
Josh Allen ran the AFC East for nearly a decade and Drake Maye was more than the new kid on the block in 2025. He played like an MVP candidate — even winning in Buffalo — and the Patriots went 5-1 in the division. The only loss was a 35-31 barnburner at Gillette Stadium won by the Bills on Dec. 14. It was New England’s only loss between Sept. 28 and the Super Bowl.

4. Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks, Friday, Dec. 25
Fine, we can talk Rams, too Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, the NFL wrapped up a matchup between teams who combined for 26 regular-season wins and took the division duel down to the wire last season. Lumen Field won’t be a present for the Rams, but Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay have usually done just fine in enemy territory. The game falls one week after the one-year anniversary of Seattle’s memorable fourth-quarter rally from 16 down, forced overtime and walked it off with a 38-37 victory over the Rams.

5. Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals, Thursday, Dec. 31
Last season wasn’t a typical set of Bengals-Ravens games. The AFC North rivals split with an average margin of victory of 21 points. Rewind to 2025 and unleashed Lamar Jackson vs. bomb-happy Joe Burrow produced scores of 35-34 and 41-38 (overtime). If we get a New Year’s Eve snow game with division and playoff consequences, even better.

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6. New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks, Wednesday, Sept. 9
A Wednesday night opener ahead of the Thursday Rams-49ers matchup in Australia, we’ll find out if the Patriots are better prepared for a Super Bowl rematch with months to prepare. New England oscillated from disjointed to complete disarray in the February loss to Seattle and didn’t have all oars in the water during an offseason when Mike Vrabel’s off-field, ahem, affairs were a constant talking point.

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears, Sunday, Nov. 8
Baker Mayfield vs. Caleb Williams piques our interest in a midseason “Sunday Night Football” matchup with the undercard of Buccaneers head coach and defensive maestro Todd Bowles against Bears coach and offensive brain Ben Johnson. The Bucs fell short of the postseason in 2025 for the first time since 2019, while the Bears are trending upward after the franchise won a playoff game (well, two of them, actually) in January to snap a 15-year drought dating to 2011.

8. Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks, Monday, Dec. 7
Crossover games with the NFC West add a degree of difficulty to the Dallas schedule this season. While we wait to offer judgment on the revamped defense, the Cowboys are likely to bring all the smoke to test Seattle’s versatile, attacking defense in a game sandwiched between matchups with the Eagles and Rams for Dallas.

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9. Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos, Sunday, Sept. 20
Some called the Denver AFC West run last season but far fewer anticipated Jacksonville winning 13  games and dealing the Broncos one of the team’s three regular-season losses. First-year head coach Liam Coen reflects many of Broncos head coach Sean Payton’s qualities as a play-caller and designer, adding built-in entertainment value.

10. San Francisco 49ers at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 27
What will the 49ers have left in the tank? San Francisco is setting a record for miles traveled in a season thanks to international treks to Mexico and Australia and the closing stretch for the 49ers is some kind of minefield from NFL schedulers. Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy are familiar foes but 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has not beaten Andy Reid as a head coach (0-3). Two of those losses were agonizing Super Bowl defeats (LIV, 2020 and LVIII, 2024). After falling short of historical track and expectations in 2025, is the window closed on one or both of these longtime contenders?

–Field Level Media

SOX SLAMMED!

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a grand slam and Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies also homered to propel the visiting Braves to a 10-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

Acuna’s home run, his third of the season, came against reliever Greg Weissert and was part of a five-run sixth inning that handed Atlanta a 7-2 lead.

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Harris hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to extend Atlanta’s lead to 8-2, and Albies finalized the scoring with a two-run homer in the ninth. Albies had three hits for the Braves, who won two games in the three-game series.

Chris Sale (8-3) limited the Red Sox to two runs in five innings to earn the win. He allowed six hits, walked three and struck out eight. Danny Coulombe (0-2), responsible for three runs in the five-run sixth, took the loss.

Boston starting pitcher Payton Tolle was pulled with two outs in the fifth. He gave up two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out seven.

Boston’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa had two hits and reached base four times. The Red Sox also received two hits from Caleb Durbin.

The Braves grabbed a 2-0 lead by scoring twice in the fourth. After Matt Olson scored on a Jorge Mateo single, Dominic Smith hit an RBI single that drove in Albies to make it 2-0.

Boston responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Durbin drove in Kiner-Falefa with a double, and then Durbin scored on Jarren Duran’s single.

The Braves regained the lead when Coulombe loaded the bases with no outs and Mike Yastrzemski drew a bases-loaded walk from Weissert to break the 2-2 tie. Acuna followed with his grand slam to left center.

Jovani Moran gave up the home run to Harris, who also homered when the Braves beat the Red Sox 7-6 on Tuesday. Albies homered against Ryan Watson.

Boston has lost five of its last six games, and is 2-8 in its last 10 home games.

–Field Level Media

The Home of the Braves

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – In memory of media mogul – the late, great Ted Turner – the one time owner of the Atlanta Braves and SuperStation TBS, tonight’s Braves vs. Boston Red Sox is dedicated to the legion of fans created when Turner decided to launch his SuperStation and place his Braves games on every cable television household in America.

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For the youngsters in the group, back in the days of black and white television, there were 13 slots for television channels and a number of them went unused. There were three networks with national programming (ABC, CBS, and NBC). In each local market, there were a handful of others. As an example, in New York, there was Channel 5 (Metromedia, as FOX TV was yet to be a thing), then WOR TV – Channel 9 (which carried the Mets, Knicks and NHL Rangers), WPIX-TV 11 (which carried the Yankees), and Public Broadcasting, Channel 13.

When Cable TV first made its way through suburban and city households and apartments, the channel selection increased to a maximum of 33 slots, many were used by teletype messaging and music, as broadcasters had yet to adjust to the new availability and the eventuality that one day, there’d be an unlimited universe of cable tv channels.

Home Box Office (HBO) was an early adapter and with it came first run movies and some sports. HBO launched on November 8, 1972 with a New York Rangers vs Vancouver Canucks game, live from Madison Square Garden. By 1980, HBO launched Cinemax and the whole concept of premium channels to headline “basic cable” came about.

Turner was smart enough to grab a slot on basic cable and the larger number of households it served. The Braves and, to some extent, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, became regular programming in homes all over the United States. With that exposure, Turner created his SuperStation, a golden opportunity for advertisers and, little did we know – fans – all over the States.

Of course, along with the Superstation came a little gem called Cable News Network – “CNN” – and then CNN Headline News, TNT, and a host of other channels which originated in Turner’s burgeoning Techwood Drive and Peachtree Street studios in Atlanta. Along with the multitude of programming, along came “man’s best friend,” the remote control. (In fact, we lovingly call our remote control, “Ted,” as in … “Can you please pass “Ted” over to me?”

With all of that as background, let us examine the crowd at Fenway Park for tonight, the second game of a three-game series between the Red Sox and Braves.

Fenway is packed with Braves fans. In some cases, there might be three generations of Braves fans in the groups, and most of them are not from Georgia. Braves fans are everywhere. The oldsters can be identified because of their Greg Maddux or Chipper Jones uniforms and sometimes you might even see a Henry Aaron or Rico Carty replica. Then come the John Smoltz or Phil Niekro uniforms, and don’t forget Dale Murphy and Andruw Jones.

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It all added up to national fandom, and to a great degree, the Braves earned the respect and admiration of their massive fanbase. The Braves posted 14 consecutive divisional crowns, and a couple World Series banners, to boot.

The Braves’ faithful enjoyed the series opener, an exciting 7-6 Braves’ win on Tuesday night at Fenway.

On Wednesday, maybe the TV audience changed channels to TruTV for the Carolina vs Montreal NHL Stanley Cup Playoff game? If they stayed for the Red Sox game, the fans would’ve seen Boston’s biggest inning at Fenway since a September 14, 2025 opening stanza against the New York Yankees.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, the Sox bats awoke. The outburst, combined with a stellar effort by Boston starter Connelly Early, resulted in an 8-0 Red Sox win on Wednesday night.

Base hits, walks, a couple Braves’ errors, a wild pitch, a stolen base and three consecutive singles by Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu placed six runs on the scoreboard, five of them earned and the barrage sent Atlanta starter Bryce Elder packing before reliever Dylan Dodd walked to the mound to ease the pain. Elder lasted only 3.1 innings and gave up nine hits.

On the flip side, Boston’s promising pitcher, Early, tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball, allowing only four hits with three walks. He struck out seven Atlanta batters and threw an efficient 97 pitches of which 65 were strikes. He earned his fifth win of the season (5-2).

The Braves and their fans will live to see another game, a Thursday afternoon rubber-game with a 4:10pm EDT start. Braves’ pitcher Chris Sale, the former Red Sox ace, will face Boston rookie lefty, Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.45 ERA). Braves fans will flock to Fenway, once again, while others tune-in on Braves Vision rather than TBS, as there’s been a lot of chance since the 1970s when SuperStations were king and Braves owner, Ted Turner, owned the throne.

Editor’s Note:

Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and a pioneering figure in the media industry, passed away on May 6, 2026, at the age of 87. His death marked the end of a remarkable career that transformed how news is consumed and established Atlanta as a media hub.

Early Life and Career
Birth: November 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Education: Attended Brown University and served in the U.S. Coast Guard.
Business Beginnings: Took over his father’s billboard company after his father’s death in 1963.

Media Innovations
Turner Broadcasting System: Launched in 1970 with the purchase of a UHF station, which became TBS.
CNN: Founded on June 1, 1980, as the first 24-hour news channel, revolutionizing news broadcasting.

Contributions and Achievements
Sports Ownership: Acquired the Atlanta Braves in 1976 and the Atlanta Hawks in 1977, significantly impacting Atlanta’s sports culture.
Philanthropy: Donated over $1 billion to various causes, including the United Nations Foundation and environmental initiatives.

 

SGA, Thunder Hold Serve vs Spurs

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Report) – OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might not have liked the way he started on Tuesday night. But the Oklahoma City Thunder star came up big in the second and third quarters — getting plenty of help from the cast around him — as the Thunder beat the visiting San Antonio Spurs 127-114 to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

“I thought we were first to the fight tonight on both ends and I thought we weren’t the other night,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I just loved the way we approached tonight on both ends of the floor.”

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Oklahoma City will have a chance to close out the series in Game 6 Thursday in San Antonio.

It was a rough start for Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed his first four shots and had three first-quarter turnovers.

“If it was four or five me’s out there, we would’ve been down 20 after the first quarter,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Probably should never start like that again.”

But even with the back-to-back Most Valuable Player’s struggles, the Thunder led after a quarter thanks in part to Gilgeous-Alexander’s seven points in the final two minutes.

In Sunday’s 103-82 loss, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso and Jared McCain combined for just 14 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

In Game 5, the trio all came up big.

McCain was inserted into the starting lineup for his first playoff start, as Daigneault went with McCain over Cason Wallace with the Thunder playing without both Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell for the second consecutive game.

“We just thought he could give us some good stuff with that unit just based on where we are right now with a couple guys out,” Daigneault said. “And he did. He was really good. … He’s got great moxie and confidence and he showed that.”

McCain didn’t make much of an impact on the stat sheet early, with just two points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half, but Diagneault said McCain still made a big impact on both ends of the floor from the start.

In Tuesday’s game, the trio combined for 58 points, going 18 of 38 from the floor.

McCain scored 18 of his 20 points after the break and didn’t have a turnover in the second half.

Holmgren finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Caruso, who averaged 21 points off the bench over the first three games of the series before being held scoreless on just one shot Sunday, got going early and finished with 22 points, six assists and three steals.

“He’s one of, if not the best, competitor in the NBA night in and night out,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Caruso. “He’s huge for us.”

Gilgeous-Alexander eventually got going, scoring 12 points in Oklahoma City’s 40-point second quarter and 11 more in the third, finishing with 32 points on 7-of-19 shooting and handing out nine assists.

“That’s one of the things that I always marvel at with him is his ability to course correct inside of a game,” Daigneault said. “He usually doesn’t go a full game struggling like that. He obviously didn’t have his fastball early.”

Oklahoma City was 48.2% from the floor after shooting just 33% in Game 4.

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama finished with 20 points on 4-of-15 shooting to go with six rebounds.

After averaging 20.5 rebounds per game in the first two games of the series, Wembanyama has just 18 total over the last three games.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Wembanyama was going to have to be a bigger force offensively if his team is going to be able to turn the series around and advance to the Finals.

“He’s going to have to take more than 15 shots even with the free throws,” Johnson said. “He’s going to have to score more than 20 points for sure.”

Stephon Castle, who led San Antonio with 24 points, expressed frustration afterward with the way the games have been called.

Tuesday, the Thunder attempted 38 free throws, six more than the Spurs.

“I just think with the way they guard, how physical they are, we don’t get that same luxury to be able to play as physical on the other end at times,” Castle said. “Offensively, I think we do a good job of screening and playing through it. I think we create a lot of advantages but I think we just missed a lot of open shots tonight.”

The Thunder carried an 11-point lead into halftime and extended the margin coming out of the break, scoring the first nine points of the third quarter.

San Antonio didn’t go away quietly, cutting the deficit to eight twice late in the third quarter.

The Spurs never could pull closer, though, as Oklahoma City closed out the game to bounce back from the Game 4 loss.

–Field Level Media

 

Sox Lose in Stride(r) vs. Braves

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Boston Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez retired the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves in order in the top of the first of this three game series between the National League East leader and the American League East cellar-dwellers. That brought Red Sox lead-off hitter, Jarren Duran to the plate to face (one of) Atlanta’s ace pitchers, Spencer Strider.

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Strider returned to the Braves’ starting rotation May 3 after being placed on the club’s injured list on March 25, after a left oblique strain sidelined him in the final week of Spring Training. Strider worked his way back by making three minor league rehab appearances in April, going 0-1, but with a steady 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. He also recorded 18 strike-outs in those 12 innings between the High A Rome franchise and Triple A Gwinnett.

Not bad, right?

Strider’s even tougher than that.

Tuesday night against the Sox at Fenway, Strider made his fifth start of the 2026 season. He owned a 2-0 record (and 3.00ERA) going into the game and considering the Braves are 51-27 in Strider’s starts, things weren’t looking too bright for the hometown nine.

Consider one more interesting nugget: Strider owned a .631 winning percentage (41-24) in his career with Atlanta, the third best mark among Braves pitchers since 1966 (at least 80 starts). That means Strider only trails Baseball Hall of Famers Greg Maddux (.688) and active phenom (and current New York Yankees’ ace) Max Fried (.670). Strider ranks ahead of Hall of Famer Tom Glavine (.624) on that Braves totem pole (no disrespectful pun intended).

Duran, batting .193 as the game began, decided Strider’s resume wasn’t all that impressive and rocketed an (0-1) pitch some 412 feet for his seventh home run of the season. It was his 10th career lead-off home run. It was highly unusual for both Duran and Strider, for sure. But, then Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela stepped up to the plate and hit another whopper.

Rafaela’s homer travelled only 368 feet but went out of the ballpark at 101 mph to make the score Red Sox 2, Braves 0 before the 34,126 fans settled into their seats at the beloved joint. It marked the first time the Red Sox had back-to-back, lead-off homers since May 31, 2016 in Baltimore.

Strider settled in and the Braves gradually hacked away at that 2-0 deficit.

Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson tied the game in the fifth inning with a 2-run blast off Suarez. Olson’s homer traveled 428 feet at 105 mph and it brought Mauricio Dubon to the plate as well.

In Atlanta’s half of the sixth, a pair of doubles bookending a walk created three runs for the Braves with OF Michael Harris II providing the effort for two RBI to give the Braves a 5-2 lead.

The Sox picked up a couple runs, one in the sixth on a Mickey Gasper ground out (GIDP) that scored Wilyer Abreu and in the seventh on a Isiah Kiner-Falefa home run.

With the Braves leading 7-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias got the call but looked quite shakey in his attempt to put the lights out on Boston. Iglesias gave up a lead-off single to Gasper, then a double to second baseman Nick Sogard. Both Gasper and Sogard scored later in the inning when Kiner-Falefa singled.

Atlanta dug in on defense, made a tough SS Ha-Seong Kim to 3B Austin Riley force-out, then after a Duran single, Iglesius retired Abreu to end the game and preserve a 7-6 Atlanta victory.

Strider earned the win, his third, and Iglesias – somehow – placed a save in his column, the ninth for the veteran reliever while Sox starter, Ranger Suarez, took the loss. He’s (2-3) on the year after allowing five earned runs with six hits and three walks in his five innings pitched.

 

Thunder Planning to be Aggressor

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Wire Service Preview) – The San Antonio Spurs have gotten off to big starts in each of the last two games of the Western Conference finals. Heading into Game 5 tonight with the seven-game series deadlocked at 2, the host Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to reverse that trend.

“They just punched us in our face early,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after Sunday’s 103-82 loss in San Antonio. “It’s two games in a row they’ve all come out the aggressors. Last game, we were able to course-correct. Tonight, we just didn’t do so. We’ve just gotta do a better job of starting the games.”Sports news articles

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In Sunday’s game, the Spurs jumped out to a 23-8 lead. In Friday’s Game 3, San Antonio scored the game’s first 15 points before Oklahoma City came back to win 123-108.

The series has been physical throughout, with the Thunder throwing several different looks at San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs doing the same against Gilgeous-Alexander.

“They have multiple guys that are tenacious, they get into the ball, and then they have Wemby behind them, and they know that, and they do that to their strength,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So obviously a really good defense. … To score on them, it’s gonna take quick decisions, the right decisions, you gotta be really good offensively and really sound.”

The Spurs changed the way they guarded the Thunder in Game 4, using more one-on-one looks against Gilgeous-Alexander and preventing Oklahoma City from getting as many open looks from beyond the arc.Games

The Thunder were just 6 of 33 on 3-point attempts in Game 4 after shooting nearly 40% from distance in the first three games.

“I don’t want to say what it was,” San Antonio’s Devin Vassell said. “I think we made a great defensive adjustment. … I feel like they had so many wide-open 3s over the past couple games, and you’ve got to respect them, especially if they’re making them. So we were trying to cut them out with that.”

While the adjustment sometimes gave Gilgeous-Alexander more room to work, it also helped San Antonio keep Oklahoma City’s bench largely in check.

The Thunder bench still outscored the Spurs’ 34-30, though more than half of Oklahoma City’s bench points came in the fourth quarter, when the team sat Gilgeous-Alexander and used three of its other starters for 3:17 or less with San Antonio in control of the game.

Oklahoma City is also navigating without two of its primary ballhandlers in Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell.

Williams has missed the last two games after aggravating a hamstring injury. Mitchell is dealing with a right calf strain that knocked him out of Game 3. ESPN reported Monday that both are considered day-to-day.

Mitchell averaged nearly 19 points per game in the first two rounds, starting six of the eight games in place of Williams.

Before being knocked out of Game 3, Mitchell was averaging just 5.3 points per game in the series. While Oklahoma City has struggled with guard play outside of Gilgeous-Alexander and sans Williams and Mitchell, San Antonio is hoping to continue its trajectory among its backcourt.

Guards Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox had just one turnover between them Sunday and combined for 25 points and 11 assists.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Face MLB Best Braves

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It’s been a season full of questions for the Boston Red Sox, none more perplexing than this: Why has Boston struggled so much at Fenway Park?

The Red Sox are 8-17 at home, the worst mark in Major League Baseball, entering Tuesday’s matchup with the visiting Atlanta Braves, who happen to have Baseball’s best road record (19-8). Boston’s 6-5 loss to Minnesota on Sunday extended the team’s home losing streak to four games.

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“You can readily acknowledge (that) at some point this year, if we’re gonna do something, we’re gonna have to get going at home,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It’s just that simple. These are not blowouts. We’re playing good baseball games. But we’re gonna have to win some games at home, no question.”

The Red Sox are 1-6-1 in home series this season. They haven’t won a series at Fenway Park since they took two of three games from Milwaukee by winning the rubber match on April 8.

“It’s tough,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said following Sunday’s loss to Minnesota. “You look at the standings and somehow we’re still in it. So I think that helps a lot. I felt like this series would have been a big swing with our team, the fan base, getting the belief back and kind of going from there. So to get swept right here definitely hurts.

“We feel it. As a group, we really want to make our fan base proud and hopefully we can go on a run and get in this wild-card thing or maybe back in the division. But one step at a time. First we gotta find a way to stack some wins together at home and get back in the race.”

The Braves, who won two of the three games between the teams played in Atlanta earlier this month, are scheduled to start right-handed pitcher Spencer Strider (2-0, 3.00 ERA) on Tuesday. Strider has made two career starts against Boston and allowed three earned runs on nine hits in 11 2/3 innings (2.31 ERA), but didn’t get a decision in either game.

Boston is expected to go with lefty Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.40 ERA). Suarez has made 22 appearances against Atlanta during his career, including 13 starts. He’s 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA and has recorded 86 strikeouts in 80 innings.

The Braves, who have the most wins in the major leagues (36), will be looking to jump-start their offense after being held to one run across two losses to Washington on Saturday (2-0) and Sunday (2-1). Atlanta was limited to one hit on Saturday and went 17 straight innings without scoring before pushing a run across in the ninth inning Sunday.

“It’s just difficult to go out and score six or seven runs every single night,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “So there’s going to be times where you have a handful of guys that are searching for it at the same time. I think that’s kind of what we’re going through right now.”

Matt Olson is batting .160 (8-for-50) with two extra-base hits in his last 13 games.

“He’s been so good since the start of the season that these things tend to level off,” Weiss said. “But, I feel really good any time Matt Olson is in the batter’s box. I feel like something good is about to happen, and it usually does.”

–Field Level Media