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From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Welcome to Wednesday!
Want to add some good karma to your mid-week routine? Go ahead and share the GIST with someone in your circle — it’s not the Four Seasons Orlando, but (humbly) it’s a great destination for sports news. Hit that forward button, CC your bestie, and scroll on.
— Forever GOAT Serena Williams, cryptically teasing a return to tennis nearly two years after stepping away from the game. She never did like the word “retirement.”
NBA Conference Finals
🏀 Don’t get greedy
The GIST: Four teams are still fighting for the rights to BringYaAss.com the Larry O’Brien Trophy, with an epic overtime (OT) Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals (ECF) in the books and the Western Conference Finals (WCF) beginning tonight. Swish swish.
No. 1 Boston Celtics eke out Game 1 dub over No. 6 Indiana Pacers: Boston's Jaylen Brown went full superman last night, nailing this three to send the game to OT, where the league’s top squad snuck away with a 133–128 win after blowing multiple double digit leads in regulation.
- Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum came up clutch with 10 points in OT, but Boston’s player of the night was Jrue Holiday, who added a season-high 28 points in addition to his usual defensive excellence.
- Despite dominating at home in the regular season, Boston has struggled on their home court in the playoffs, making tomorrow’s 8 p.m. ET Game 2 a prime opportunity for the resilient Pacers to even the series up.
No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves and No. 5 Dallas Mavericks clash in WCF: Game 1 tips off tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET, marking just the second time since 2015 that the WCF won’t feature LA Laker LeBron James or Golden State Warrior Steph Curry. That said, there’s no shortage of shooting stars in this series.
- The Wolves’ Anthony Edwards is drawing Michael Jordan comparisons, high praise for the 22-year-old who’s led Minnesota to their first WCF since 2004. Along with his explosive scoring, the Wolves also boast an award-winning defense, anchored by Rudy Gobert.
- But that D will be tested by the Mavs, who, yes, lost three of four regular-season games to Minnesota, but are now led by finally flowing Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, and boast postseason clutch king, P.J. Washington. This is going to be good.
NHL Conference Finals
🏒 Beat the heat, beat the charges
The GIST: Only four teams are left skating for the title of Stanley Cup champions: the NY Rangers and Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference and the Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference. Let’s break it all down.
Eastern Conference Final: The Madison Square Garden lights will be shining brighter than ever when the puck drops for Game 1 tonight at 8 p.m. ET, the first playoff meeting between the Rangers and Panthers in 27 years.
- Florida has some regrets after last year’s Stanley Cup Final loss and will rely on left winger (and noted pest) Matthew Tkachuk (pronounced kuh-CHUCK) and center Aleksander Barkov to purr their way back to the ’ship.
- However, they’ll be tested by the Presidents’ Trophy winners, specifically NY’s brick wall of a goalie in Igor Shesterkin, who has a stunning .923 save percentage this postseason. Doesn’t hurt when you also have endless offensive weapons to choose from.
Western Conference Final: It’s been a grind for Dallas, who beat the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights and high-scoring Colorado Avalanche to get here. If postseason points leader Miro Heiskanen continues to dominate on both ends of the ice, the Big D will be tough to beat.
- Standing in their way? The only Canadian team still in contention. Edmonton overcame a horrible start to the season and are back in the conference final for the second time in three years, thanks to the steady play of superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
- However, the Oils will need consistent production from the rest of the squad to end Canada’s 31-year Stanley Cup drought. Giddy on up — Game 1 goes down tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET.
🏒 PWHL Minnesota makes goalie change, evens best-of-five championship series with 3–0 Game 2 win
After a high-scoring Game 1, last night was all Minnesota, backstopped by goalie Nicole Hensley’s 20 saves and defenseman Sophie Jaques’ two goals. The away team lit the lamp twice in the first period then added empty-netter insurance in the third to hand Boston their first loss of the postseason. We have ourselves a series as this thing shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Friday.
🎾 The WTA and PIF announce eyebrow-raising multi-year partnership, renew sportswashing concerns
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) named Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) as their first-ever rankings naming partner on Monday, a historic but head-scratching move given the PIF’s propensity for sportswashing, aka using sports to improve a tarnished reputation.
- Tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova are among those criticizing the PIF and WTA crossover, citing Saudi’s history of persecuting women and the LGBTQIA+ community, among other human rights abuses. Make it make sense.
🏀 WNBA sets viewership records in thrilling opening week
The most anticipated WNBA season ever is off to a hot start — Saturday’s game between the Indiana Fever and NY Liberty averaged 1.71M viewers, making it the most-viewed WNBA game ever on ABC. No wonder Indy star Caitlin Clark inked a multi-year deal with Wilson and will become the first athlete since some guy named Michael Jordan to release a Wilson collection.
- As for the hoopin’, Clark’s Fever will be looking for their first win of the season when they face the Seattle Storm tonight at 10 p.m. ET, where 2024 No. 14 draft pick (and shutdown Clark defender) Nika Mühl is expected to make her regular-season pro debut.
Here’s what has The GIST team currently hyped:
🏀 What to shop
Golden State Valkyries merch. Snag some sleek purple threads to cheer the newest WNBA team on in style.
🎾 What to check out
Tennis Channel's women's coverage, which dedicates Tuesdays to highlighting the best women on the court. Now that’s an ace.
🏒 What to watch
Shut Out, the powerful documentary on CanWNT goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé’s struggles with anxiety and depression, spotlighting the pressures of being a pro athlete and the need for mental health support in sports.
Question of the Day
If you made it this far, then you know there’s a lot happening in the sports world these days. So, we want to know: which social media platform are you using to stay up to date?
Last week, we asked who you think will win it all this WNBA season. 18% voted for the Las Vegas Aces, 13% voted for the NY Liberty, 10% voted for the Indiana Fever, 9% each voted for the Chicago Sky and Seattle Storm, 7% each voted for the Connecticut Sun and LA Sparks, 6% each voted for the Phoenix Mercury and Minnesota Lynx, and 5% each voted for the Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings, and Washington Mystics.Today’s email was brought to you by Lauren Tuiskula, Alessandra Puccio, Marga Sison, Lisa Minutillo, and Briana Ekanem. Editing by Laura Pastore, Janine Kiefer, Emma Leishman, Rachel Fuenzalida, and Lindsay Jost. Fact-checking by Parul Kanwar. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster, Alexis Allison, and Dee Lab. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.