What to watch in sports this week: NBA and Stanley Cup Finals, Belmont Stakes and French Open

It’s no “sports equinox,” but it’s awfully close. This week’s main events feature championship play in pro hockey and basketball, as well as softball’s College World Series and baseball’s oldest rivalry. Internationally, we have finals at Roland-Garros and across Europe for the UEFA Nations League. Check out what’s on tap for the days ahead.

Viewing guide

Friday’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees at 7:05 p.m. is on MLB Network. Games on ABC and ESPN can also be streamed on ESPN+.

UEFA Nations League semifinal/final

When: Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday

What to know: More soccer tournament play. Who says no? After two club finals in May (FA Cup and Champions League), June sets the table with four prestigious national teams — Germany, Spain, France and Portugal.

Wednesday’s semifinal is a good one. Germany plays on its home pitch in Munich, seeking its first Nations League trophy lift. Visiting Portugal won the maiden tourney in 2018-19. The Germans last won international hardware in 2017 at the now-defunct FIFA Confederations Cup. Thursday’s semi with Spain and France tethers the two most recent Nations League winners. The French won the World Cup in 2018, and “La Roja” took Euro 2024.

Spanish winger Lamine Yamal is a captivating watch at just 17 years old, and Pedri is an extraordinary midfielder at 22. Ousmane Dembélé goes for a second helping after leading PSG to their first Champions League title. Germany’s highly regarded Florian Wirtz is one of the world’s top attackers, and he celebrated his 22nd birthday last month. Portuguese prodigy Rodrigo Mora, age 18, just got the senior team call-up for this semifinal. What a wealth of rising talent here.

Stanley Cup

When: Wednesday, Friday

What to know: Last year’s thrilling series between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers went the distance, with the Panthers claiming Game 7 by a single goal. Perhaps we’ll be gifted another full-fledged championship bout in this 2025 remix.

Kenny Albert’s on the call, with Connor McDavid and Aleksander Barkov at center ice: Twist our arms, why don’t ya? Florida pursues a nascent dynasty here. Edmonton has revenge in its sights and seeks Canada’s first Stanley Cup triumph since 1993 (!).

Two third-seeded teams meeting at the summit? Both clubs saved their best hockey for the highest stakes and now hit the week as worthy champs. The Panthers are a two-way force right now. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed seven total goals in five Eastern Conference final games. “Playoff Bob” is indeed at it again. On the other end, these Oilers move the puck with speed and purpose, and McDavid found his top gear again last round against Dallas. After winning the Conn Smythe as a Stanley Cup loser, he will be on a mission to redefine his career with an even more important piece of hardware.

NBA Finals

When: Thursday, Sunday

What to know: The Indiana Pacers have never won an NBA title (they won three ABA championships back in the 1970s). The Oklahoma City Thunder are also ringless (they won in 1979 as the Seattle Supersonics, but that franchise relocation was deeply acrimonious). Two small-market squads take the main stage with everything on the line.

Both teams play with brisk pace and deploy ultra-flexible, hyper-athletic lineups. Indy’s offense is swaggering and breathless; OKC’s defense borders on all-time dominant. Oh, and Mike Breen is the best announcer in the business.

What a cool basketball mirror match. Both sides have efficient superstar point guards, a cadre of springy wings and a long-range rim protector at center. Both sides have reached the mountaintop because of their Paul George trade. And yes, this is the fastest-paced pairing in Finals history. Let it rip.

Women’s College World Series: Texas vs. Texas Tech

When: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (if necessary)

What to know: As the WNBA and NWSL both enjoy exponential growth, let’s not forget about another bellwether of women’s athletics.

Anyone following collegiate softball knows to fear the Sooners, dynastic standard-bearers of the sport coming in with four consecutive national titles. Sure seems like Oklahoma is set to win it all once again …

Wait…what?! Yeah, Oklahoma lost to 12-seeded Texas Tech on Monday night, which means women’s college softball will have a new national champion for the first time in five years. Oklahoma’s ninth hitter, Abigale Dayton, knotted things up with a two-out, two-strike home run in the top of the seventh inning. Even wilder, that moonshot came off Tech’s star pitcher, NiJaree Canady. Wilder still, Texas Tech’s Lauren Allred walked it off in the bottom of the seventh. The Red Raiders now face intrastate rival Texas, which fell just short to Oklahoma in 2022 and 2024. The Longhorns put together an impressive shutout of fiery Tennessee in Monday’s semi. Katie Stewart went yard, while Mac Morgan and Teagan Kavan combined to allow just four total bases from the mound.

Red Sox at Yankees

When: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

What to know: It’s a top-five rivalry in all of American sports. This edition gets early-summer weekend staging and a national finale on “Sunday Night Baseball.”

From the “Curse of the Bambino” to the ALCS mega-comeback, this matchup yields certified classics. One time for Aaron Boone and Bucky Dent … or, for those of another persuasion, one time for Dave Roberts and Carl Yastrzemski.

Boston is at a critical juncture with its season slipping away. The Sox went 16-11 in April but stumbled to 11-17 in May. New York’s big bats are incredible in the box, headlined, of course, by Triple Crown contender Aaron Judge. The Yankees start this week ranked third in runs per game and second in home runs.

Belmont Stakes

When: Saturday

What to know: It’s the third and final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. This year’s “Run for the Carnations” has a $2 million purse. The race was held at Belmont Park for most of the last century. But Saratoga Race Course is hosting this year’s installment — the 157th — after its first try in 2024. There is a rejuvenated energy at this new venue, with last year’s attendance capped at 50,000. Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner, skipped the Preakness but is back for the Belmont. The horse is slated at 2-1 odds. Journalism, the Preakness champ, is the clubhouse favorite at 8-5.

French Open singles finals

When: Saturday, Sunday

What to know: Cue the Panama hats, sweet crepes, trumpeters and “allez!” choruses.

We’ve got the most physically exhaustive tournament of the tour closing out on Sunday. There is more than a century of rich, seismic tennis history at Roland-Garros. This is the clay from which Rafael Nadal molded his legend, the surface atop which Monica Seles beat Steffi Graf.

The quarterfinal of the men’s singles competition showcases the top three ATP members — Italy’s Jannik Sinner, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (who won the French Open last year) and Germany’s Alexander Zverev. Alcaraz will face Tommy Paul Tuesday afternoon, and Serbian stalwart Novak Djokovic will face Zverev.

Belarusian powerhouse and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka will face reigning champ Poland’s Iga Swiatek (ranked fifth) in the semifinal, and Wednesday’s quarterfinal pits No. 2 Coco Gauff against No. 8 Madison Keys in a clash of American aces.

The stars are out in Paris.

On this day (June 3) in sports

2012: Tiger Woods tied Jack Nicklaus with PGA Tour win No. 73. From Karen Crouse in the New York Times:

“Woods, a four-time champion, came to this year’s event forecasting ample sunshine. Gone, he insisted, were the clouds that had darkened his game at the Masters, where he failed to contend and finished tied for 40th, and the ill winds at the Players Championship, where he had to grind to make the cut. After ending a more than two-year victory drought at Arnold Palmer’s tournament in March, Woods on Sunday basked in the warmth of another trophy presentation.”

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(Photo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: David Berding / Getty Images)

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