Good Morning, Stumpers!

Unreal stuff is happening the ECF. First off it’s Knicks vs Pacers, and now the Pacers just stole BOTH road games at Madison Square Garden! Insanity! We’ve got a loaded Stump for you, Happy Saturday, hope we’re all doing well!

Today’s Rundown

What’s in today’s edition?

• 🟡 The Pacers Are Two Games From the NBA Finals

• 🟣 The Golden State Valkyries are ON FIRE….(two straight)

• 🛏️ We’re Talking Bed Plops for our GLUE!

• 🏒 Let’s Talk Some Puck! Oilers Get Right!

On This Day

On This Day…

🏎️ Closest Indy 500 Finish EVER…

A lot of Indianapolis 500 moments to choose from today! We’ve got the big race tomorrow. Today we look at the closest finish of all time, the number is almost unbelievable!

On this day in 1992, Al Unser Jr. won the Indy 500 over Scott Goodyear. He won by 0.043 seconds! Four Hundredths of a second! Absolute insanity out of one of the biggest races in the States. One more little blip for you, Unser Jr. became the first second-generation driver to win as well!

Today’s Trivia

🧠 Test your sports knowledge…

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: C. Reggie Miller! The Pacers lost in 6 to the LA Lakers. It was Shaq who went nuclear, averaging 38 PPG, but for the Pacers it was Reggie Miller who averaged 24 PPG. 25 years and this guy will no doubt get something thrown at him today while calling the Knicks-Pacers game!

Before We Dive In…

👀 Yesterday’s Must See’s

• 💥 First pitch back HR for Ronald Acuña Jr. WOW!

• 🟡 This line still does not feel real…Pacers fans are fired up!

• 🏀 Siakam with a game-high 39 points! Championship Pedigree!

🔍️ Stump Spotlight

Eastern Conference Finals

🟡 Pacers Are Now 10-2 This Postseason

They dismantled the Bucks, they stunned the Cavs, so why am I now surprised that they handling the Knicks? This is getting insane!

Walking the streets of New York today, there was a buzz. Everybody had their nicest Knicks gear on, they were heading to meet with fellow Knicks fans, and they were ready to release all of their Knicks anxiety on a Friday night. Man, this thing has gotten unreal in a hurry!

Before the postseason started, the number of radars that the Indiana Pacers were on to make it to the NBA Finals maybe were single digit, and they were all in Indiana. Now they have taken a commanding 2-0 lead in this series and now head back home for two games. It’s easy to forget that this team was in this exact same spot a year ago, they were in the ECF against the Boston Celtics, the same exact core of players, and they were leading in the fourth of most of those games. The series ended up being a Boston sweep but the Pacers no doubt learned a lot not just about themselves, but what it takes to win at that stage in the postseason. They took what they learned and now are putting it on full display.

Rick Carlisle and his deep roation is stunning! A guy like Tony Bradley getting 8 meaningful minutes and them playing 11 different guys is ABSURD! They want to push the pace, and this nonstop rotation of glue guys is allowing them to do this.

Won’t talk too much about this game individually. Pascal Siakam went NUCLEAR for 39 points, and the Pacers always seemed to be up by a few. Jalen Brunson went on a solo run late to bring it to within three. But an ‘excuse me’ three by JB with 10 seconds to go was the final nail in the coffin for the Knicks.

Pacers def. Knicks, 114-109 (IND leads series 2-0)

The Hot Stove

🏒 Oilers Even Series at 1!

Sometimes you forget about the NHL Madness that is going on now as well with the Basketball Conference Finals, but they are oh so alive and well! Yesterday the Oilers struck back!

After a nutso ending in Game 1, when the Oilers gave up FIVE 3rd period goals, they needed a regroup game here in game 2, and that is exactly what they got! 3 goals within the first two periods helped the Oilers win a 3-0 ballgame against Dallas.

It was all hands on deck for Edmonton, with Nugent-Hopkins, Brown, and Kulak all netting one each for the boys. We have no doubt brought it down to the best teams in the league. And the Oilers who made the Stanley Cup Finals just last year showed that they are not one to collapse in this series! They are here to play! Series tied at 1!

🟣 Valkyries Win Back-To-Back!

I’ll tell you one team in the WNBA that nobody thought was winning a whole lot of games…and that would be the expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries! They have now won two straight…they are a team of fully GLUE!

This is pretty cool, expansion teams never really burst out into the scene early, and in the WNBA people had low low expectation for the ladies in purple! And yes, we are very very early, but it sure is cool to see these gals fight, and rattle off two straight wins, something nobody thought they would do this early. Last night Carla Leite led the team off the bench with 19 points, and Janelle Salaün tacked on 18 points and 8 rebounds of her own!

They played 9 who all contributed in different ways, and helped them get a 82-73 win over the LA Sparks. Who knows how many wins they will get, but they will be cool to keep an eye on!

⬇️ Quick Links

• 👏 All-NBA Teams are announced!

• ⚾️ Storybook return for Acuña Jr!

• 🔴 Red Sox beat the breaks off the O’s

What To Watch

🏀 NBA Playoffs

• Western Conference Finals: Thunder @ Timberwolves (8:30 PM ET - OKC leads 2-0)

⚾️ Major League Baseball

• Primetime on FOX: Dodgers @ Mets (7:15 PM ET)

• What to Watch: Diamondbacks @ Cardinals (2:15 PM ET), Orioles @ Red Sox (4:10 PM ET), Padres @ Braves (4:10 PM ET), Yankees @ Rockies (4:10 PM ET), full schedule

🏒 NHL Playoffs

• East Final: Hurricanes @ Panthers (8:00 PM)

🏀 WNBA

• Liberty @ Fever (1:00 PM ET), Wings @ Dream (3:00 PM ET)

⚽️ Soccer, at home!

• NWSL: U

⛳️ PGA Tour: Day THREE of the Charles Schwab Challenge gets underway today in Fort Worth, TX at Colonial Country Club. Here’s the leaderboard!

The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For

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