Latest news with #TimReynolds
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
NBA Finals: Game 1 of Thunder-Pacers set to happen in Oklahoma City
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Winning Game 1 of the NBA Finals does not guarantee anything. The 79th title series in league history — it has been called different names over the years — starts Thursday night, when the Oklahoma City Thunder play host to the Indiana Pacers. Advertisement And the winner of Game 1 will obviously leave the floor feeling good about themselves. But in the past 78 years, only 55 Game 1 winners have gone on to eventually win the title — or just about 71%. If the winner is the Thunder, it's a really good sign. Teams that win Game 1 at home have ultimately prevailed 78% of the time (47 out of 60). If the Pacers win, their odds of winning the title improve dramatically but they probably still wouldn't be called favorites. Teams that win Game 1 on the road only end up winning the series 44% of the time (8 out of 18). But it should be noted as well that the last time the Thunder were in the NBA Finals, they had the home-court advantage over the Miami Heat. Oklahoma City won Game 1 of that series at home — then lost the next four games, and LeBron James won the first of four NBA championships for the league's all-time scoring king. ___ AP NBA: Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Panthers have chance to join list of franchises with 3 straight Cup final appearances
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Only eight franchises in NHL history have reached the Stanley Cup Final in three or more consecutive seasons. There's Montreal, Toronto and Detroit, franchises that all have three separate streaks of doing so. And five other franchises — Edmonton, the New York Islanders, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Tampa Bay — have had such a streak once. The Florida Panthers have a chance to join that club. The Panthers are one win away from a third consecutive trip to the title round and can get there as early as Monday night when they host the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. Florida — the defending Stanley Cup champion — leads the series 3-0. It would be the latest accomplishment in what has been an incredible turnaround for the Panthers, who were once a moribund franchise and now are a hockey power. Florida went to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996 and didn't win another playoff series until 2022, missing the playoffs entirely 18 times in that span. But in the last four years, Florida has more wins than any other team in the NHL — 243 and counting going into Monday night. The team won the Presidents' Trophy for finishing with the league's best regular season record in 2021-22, then hired Paul Maurice as coach going into the following season. The Panthers went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023 and lost to Vegas in five games, then returned last season and beat Edmonton in seven games for the franchise's first title. ___ AP NHL playoffs: and Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
USA Today
07-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Anthony Edwards had priceless reaction to Timberwolves' historically bad 3-point shooting
The Minnesota Timberwolves had a particularly rough performance in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Golden State Warriors. The Timberwolves scored just 31 points in the first half, which was their lowest total in a single half in franchise history. Minnesota was just 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) on 3-pointers in the series opener, shooting 0-for-15 from beyond the arc in the first half. That was the worst start from the perimeter during the postseason by any team in the play-by-play era, which began in 1997, per AP's Tim Reynolds. Over the course of their last two playoff games, the Timberwolves are now a combined 12-of-76 (15.7 percent) from long distance. Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who made just one shot from beyond the arc in the game against the Warriors, was particularly mortified to hear this statistic. In the clip above, you can see just how aghast he was to learn this information about his team. Minnesota head coach Chris Finch said during his postgame press conference that he wants to see Edwards "set the tone" for his teammates even when his shot is not falling, which is hopefully something the former No. 1 overall pick can implement moving forward this postseason.
