Am I dreaming? Is playoff season actually upon us? IT IS! NBA and NHL Playoffs both kicked off last night and we had some great games. In the golf world, we had Scottie Scheffler go unconscious and post a -8 to take the solo lead at RBC Heritage. Messi scored twice, Nugs looked good, and Spike Lee got some serious TV time in the garden. Nothing new really, all things we could’ve predicted. Enjoy today’s STUMP!

LETS. GET. INTO. IT.

THE DAILY STUMPED🔮 

STUMP STORY OF THE DAY✍️ 

Day 1 of Playoffs…IN THE BOOKS!🏀

Am I crazy or have we not talked basketball in the Stump Story in a bit? I think I’m just crazy. We had DAY 1 of the playoffs yesterday and it was great! No upsets, 4-0 for the home teams, but still extremely entertaining.

We’ll go game by game here. To start the day we had the 4,5 matchup in the east. The Cavs hosted the Magic. It’s just one game but the Magic seemed to just lack juice yesterday. This was their first playoff game since 2020 and they’re looking to win their first series since 2010!! They’ve got good players on their young team but unless Paolo goes beast mode this series, it seems like it might be tough. The city of Cleveland showed up for the Cavs and stayed juiced the entire game. D Mitch had a 30 burger and Garland, Mobley, and Allen combined for 46! In a low scoring game that’s what the Cavs will need from them this postseason. Shoutout to the cardio king Georges Niang for his 5,3, and 2 with 1/7 from the field. Niang let’s pick it up a little because it’s funny to watch you run around out there.

Next up we had the Suns head to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. Despite being the 1 seed for a majority of the season, the jury is still trying to figure out what the Wolves are about. They got a massive win yesterday with Ant Edwards scoring 33. The power big man duo of Rudy Gobert and KAT had 14, and 19. The crowd serenaded Ant with MVP chants at the end of the game, which had to feel good. He looked like a man on a mission. The Suns seem to have so much potential, but we’ll see what happens. The big 3 for the Suns combined for 64, and for that team I don’t know if that’s going to cut it in the postseason. This still has the making for a great series that could will probably go 6 or 7 games.

Third game of the day was a very sneaky 2, 7 matchup in the East. Knicks hosting the Sixers. Everything you think would happen in this game happened. The garden was juiced, Embiid had a highlight play, got hurt, and came back all in the same game, and Spike Lee got about 10 minutes of screen time. The Knicks prevailed over the underseeded Sixers but it was close. In a series where a lot of people seem to be taking Philly, it was great to see the Knicks get the win at home. The bench showed up in full force with McBride getting 21 and Bojan had 13. With good bench play, the Knicks could make a run. 

THE NIGHTCAP. Nugs. Lakers. Rematch. The Nugs lost the 1 seed after a 20-point blown lead against the Spurs in the second to last game of the season. What did that get them? A date with the Lakers, a rematch of last year’s conference finals. The Nuggets came out a little sluggish, and the Lakers anything but. The Nuggets seem to have a switch, unlike any other team in the league. They went into the half down and they probably just looked at each other and said, ‘alright y’all, it is time.’ They came out unconscious, took the lead and didn’t look back. AD and LeBron both had good games but it seems like it will take great games to knock off the defending champs because the fellas looked good. Big games from Jokic, Murray, Gordon, and MPJ! 

Well, that’s Day 1 of the playoffs. Exciting time to be a basketball fan. Best part is we’ve got four more great matchups today as well. Let’s see what happens. 

🎙️SONG OF THE DAY

Navajo - Masego

Amazing song. Good vibes. Good pregame song, good vibes song, strong beat, strong head nod song!

Link to enjoy: LINK

WHAT’D YOU MISS⁉️📰 

• ⚾️ Aaron Judge on early boo’s from Yankees fans, “I’d probably be doing the same thing.” Judge went 0-4 on Saturday and continues to struggle early

• 🏀 Ant Edwards silences doubters in Game 1 demolition of Suns; scores 33 points in series opener

• 🏀 Kawhi Leonard participating without contact ahead of Game 1 against the Mavs; he has missed the final 8 games of the regular season and his status is still TBD

• 🏈 Broncos have received calls for Courtland Sutton…they have said no sir to those calls, want to keep their WR

• ⚽️ Manchester City advanced into the FA Cup final with 1-0 win over Chelsea

• 🥊 Ryan Garcia gets early nominee for Upset of the Year, defeating Devin Hanley (who was -910 to win!) Gave the people in Brooklyn an absolute show!

• ⚽️ Messi scores twice for Inter Miami in win over Nashville SC, shout Lionel! Thanks for coming to the States it’s ELECTRIC to watch you play futbol!