The smallest man who ever lived

The GIST: And they’re off — the puck dropped on the inaugural PWHL Finals last night, with No. 3 Boston taking an early series lead over No. 4 Minnesota in the best-of-five championship action. Just getting started.

Unexpectedly high-scoring Game 1: Billed as a battle between two goalies at the top of their game, Game 1 turned out to be a scoring fest that included a flurry of five goals in nine minutes during the second period, with Boston winning 4–3 after both teams traded genos.

• One of those goals, the eventual game-winner, belonged to defender Jess Healey, who went from Boston’s last pick in the inaugural draft to their Game 1 hero. Any given Sunday.

• On the other side, Minnesota’s Taylor Heise notched two goals and an assist, giving her an impressive five points in her last four games.

Previewing Game 2, tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET: The series stays in Boston for Game 2, where the home team will try to remain undefeated in the postseason. After the abundance of scoring in Game 1, both standout goalies (Aerin Frankel for Boston and Maddie Rooney for Minnesota) should settle in, but if this postseason has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected.

The GIST: Heart rates soaring and Stephen A. Smith memes flying — there’s truly nothing like Game 7 Sundays. With history made and the Conference Finals now set, here’s how it happened.

Minnesota Timberwolves upset defending champion Denver Nuggets: After trailing by as many as 20 points, the Wolves stormed back to win Game 7 98–90 and knock MVP Nikola Jokić’s Nuggets out of the playoffs. Minnesota’s comeback was propelled by the explosive confidence of Anthony Edwards and the Wolves’ rock-solid defense, which shut down an exhausted Joker.

• For the first time since 2004 (aka the same year Kelly Clarkson released Since U Been Gone), the Wolves are so moving on to the Western Conference Finals, facing Luka Dončić’s Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.

Indiana Pacers shoot the lights out to eliminate NY Knicks: The Pacers fought back from a 3–2 series deficit to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals (ECF), capping off the comeback with yesterday’s 130–109 Game 7 win over the injury-plagued Knicks.

• NY notably lost their fearless leader, Jalen Brunson, to an injury in the second half, and Indy shot a playoff record-setting 67.1% from the floor, with all five starters contributing at least 17 points. Teamwork makes the dream work.

ECF tips off tomorrow: Back in the ECF for the first time since 2014, the Pacers face the intimidating Boston Celtics in Beantown at 8 p.m. ET. The well-rested Cs have considerably more postseason experience than the Pacers after qualifying for six of the last eight ECF, but Indy boasts a fully healthy roster and played well against Boston in the regular season. It’s anyone’s ball game.

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