The Thunder and Panthers reach the NBA and Stanley Cup Finals

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🏀 Thunder storm their way to NBA Finals

The Thunder finished the dismantling of the Western Conference on Wednesday by blowing out the Timberwolves, 124-94, to secure a spot in the NBA Finals.

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From Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill:

40 minutes of hell was supposed to be a college basketball mantra, and long gone — but the Thunder have remixed it.

Sometimes it’s five minutes, maybe 10. Just a stretch in which they turn the opponents into stumbling, bumbling, inept strangers. They can barely get a shot up, let alone an entry pass.

With the franchise smelling opportunity, a chance at clinching a berth in the NBA Finals, dribbling became an obstacle course. And that five- or 10-minute stretch lasted for an entire half.

Postgame reading:

Looking ahead: The Thunder are overwhelming favorites (-625 at BetMGM) to beat either the Pacers or Knicks. A $10 bet on OKC to win the Finals would net a measly $1.60 in profit if they were to win the title.

🏒 Panthers reach third straight Final

The defending champion Panthers beat the Hurricanes, 5-3, on Wednesday to clinch their third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

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Rare feat: Florida is the ninth franchise to make the Cup Final in three consecutive years, joining Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Edmonton, New York (Islanders), Philadelphia, St. Louis and Tampa Bay.

What they’re saying: “I remember a few years ago it felt like such an accomplishment,” said forward Matthew Tkachuk after he and his teammates bypassed a postgame celebration. “This year, it’s all business.”

Are we headed for a rematch? Since the NHL expanded beyond the “Original Six” in 1967, the same two teams have met in back-to-back Cup Finals on four occasions. The Oilers (up 3-1) are one win away from making it five.

• 1968: Canadiens over Blues

• 1969: Canadiens over Blues

• 1977: Canadiens over Bruins

• 1978: Canadiens over Bruins

• 1983: Islanders over Oilers

• 1984: Oilers over Islanders

• 2008: Red Wings over Penguins

• 2009: Penguins over Red Wings

• 2024: Panthers over Oilers

• 2025: Panthers vs. ???

Go deeper: Why the Panthers didn’t touch the Prince of Wales Trophy

⚾️ MLB’s arms race

MLB teams used to routinely make it through the season using only 20 or so pitchers. Now, they’re lucky if they make it to June before crossing that threshold.

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By the numbers: In 2010, 635 pitchers made an MLB appearance. This year, that number is already 638 and we’re only a third of the way through the season.

• The league has been trending this way for years, first eclipsing 700 in 2015, 800 in 2019 and reaching a high-water mark of 909* in 2021 when players were still missing time due to COVID.

• MLB implemented a three-batter minimum rule in 2020, which has moderately decreased the number of pitchers used per game but has had a negligible impact on the season-long total.

What’s driving this? The sport has changed. Pitchers used to pride themselves on going deep into games, but the type of pitcher that teams value today — flamethrowers with high strikeout rates — can’t eat as many innings. More arms are required to make the math add up.

• Consider this: In 2005, 50 pitchers threw at least 200 innings. In 2019, just 15 guys crossed that threshold. Last year? Four.

• This “death of the innings eater” isn’t just about endurance, either. Analytics-minded managers tend to pull their starters before their third or fourth time through the order, turning instead to a long string of relievers.

Between the lines: Health also plays a major (and related) role, because while increasing velocity leads to more strikeouts, it has also fueled a worrying rise in pitcher injuries. The more arms on the IL, the more are needed to fill those spots.

What they’re saying: “If you miss more bats, you get more outs. If you get more outs, you accumulate more wins. If you accumulate more wins, you get paid more,” Cubs GM Carter Hawkins told The Athletic ($). “So the incentive structure is geared towards that, but it’s more taxing on pitchers and therefore (you need) more rest for pitchers at different times.”

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Bottom line: MLB’s “stuff over stamina” era has yielded a new status quo: It’s no longer about how many innings your starter can give you, but how many quality arms are waiting in the wings.

*These numbers include position players pitching, which tends to average about 60 per season in recent years.

📸 Through the lens

Carlsbad, California — Oklahoma State beat Virginia to win its 12th men’s golf national title, tying Princeton for third most. Only Houston (16) and Yale (21) have more.

Bormio, Italy — Isaac Del Toro, the first Mexican cyclist to lead the Giro d’Italia, won Stage 17 to add precious seconds to his advantage. He leads by 41 seconds with four stages left.

Wrocław, Poland — Chelsea beat Real Betis, 4-1, in the Conference League final to complete the full set of European trophies (Champions League, Europa League).

Paris — Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka rolled at the French Open, where the second round concludes today.

📺 Watchlist: Thursday, May 29

🏀 Pacers at Knicks, Game 5 (8pm ET, TNT)

If the Knicks are going to keep their season alive, they’ll need to snap Indiana’s strange but true streak: the Pacers have only lost Game 3’s this postseason (0-3), going 11-0 in all other games.

🏒 Oilers at Stars, Game 5 (8pm, ESPN)

The good news for the Stars, as they face elimination, is that they’re 7-2 at home in these playoffs. The bad news is that the Oilers have won three straight games by a score of 13-2.

⛳️ U.S. Women’s Open (8:30am, Peacock; 12pm, USA)

The season’s second major tees off at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, the 16th course to host both the men’s and women’s U.S. Open. Defending champion Yuka Saso, 23, became the youngest two-time U.S. Open winner last year, but has missed her last three cuts.

🥎 Women’s College World Series (12pm, ESPN/ESPN2)

The double-elimination bracket begins today in Oklahoma City, with No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Texas (12pm, ESPN), No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Tennessee (2:30pm, ESPN), No. 12 Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss (7pm, ESPN2) and No. 9 UCLA vs. No. 16 Oregon (9:30pm, ESPN2).

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Plus:

• 🎾 French Open: Second Round (5am, TNT/truTV/Max) … No. 1 Jannik Sinner, No. 6 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Coco Gauff headline today’s action.

• ⛳️ PGA: Memorial Tournament (8am, ESPN+; 2pm, Golf) … A stacked field tees off at Muirfield Village for a $20 million purse.

• ⚾️ MLB: Nationals at Mariners (9:40pm, FS1) … Washington’s MacKenzie Gore leads MLB with 13.4 strikeouts-per-nine innings.

• 🚴 Cycling: Giro d’Italia (7:50am, Max) … Stage 18 of 21.

Today’s full slate.

🏈 Guessing game

The Raiders just made AJ Cole the NFL’s highest-paid punter, signing the three-time Pro Bowler to a historic four-year extension.

Take a guess: How much will Cole earn per year?

• $1.65 million

• $3.95 million

• $5.25 million

• $8.05 million

Answer at the bottom.

🎓 Everything schools

It’s been a year to remember for these six athletic departments.

Trivia answer: $3.95 million (four-year, $15.8 million contract)

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