NBA playoffs: Can Rockets come back from 0-3 deficit against Lakers?

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🏀 Five things to know Thursday

1. Rockets are halfway to an NBA first. Don’t look now, but the Rockets might have the Lakers in trouble. No NBA team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit, which is where Houston found itself a few days ago. But now, after two wins, including last night’s 99-93 win in Los Angeles, the Rockets are halfway home and heading home for a Game 6 on Friday — and the pressure is certainly on the Lakers. Of the 159 best-of-seven series to start 3-0, only four teams have even forced a Game 7. More broadly, that will be one of six Game 6s, the most the NBA has seen in the first round since 2014. And for an alternate view of the postseason, here’s a pessimist’s view of the playoffs with the NBA Hater Report.
2. Texas is on top of our NCAA football rankings after spring practices. While Texas’ loaded offense, led by Arch Manning, has the Longhorns on top of our post-spring rankings, Texas Tech is a much different story. The Red Raiders fell out of the top 10 after Brendan Sorsby revealed he has a gambling addiction. 
3. Atletico Madrid and Arsenal battle to a draw in Champions League semifinal. The first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal between Arsenal and Atletico Madrid ended with neither team landing an edge in the aggregate after a 1-1 draw. The match wasn’t without controversy, however, with a penalty overturn leaving Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta saying, “I’m sorry, but this cannot happen.” Despite that situation, Arsenal left Madrid with their destiny in their hands. Check out our Champions League Power Rankings after the first leg of the two semifinal pairings this week. 
4. Who are the winners and losers in NCAA’s March Madness expansion? The news of March Madness’ likely expansion to a 76-team bracket rocked fans of one of every year’s most anticipated sporting events. We have both a look at why the tournament expansion is happening, as well as who came out as winners and losers in the deal.
5. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will pull funding for LIV Golf. After pumping more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since its 2022 launch, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will pull funding for the league. With the news, LIV Golf is left facing an uneasy and uncertain future.

⚾ Do not miss this: Most fun MLB players to watch?

The MLB season is a long grind for both players and fans. Whether your team is battling for a playoff spot or just working through a rebuild, there’s nothing worse than spending a 162-game season watching a joyless squad grind nine innings at a time. Give me a bat-flipping, fist-pumping, dugout-celebrating team over a ruthlessly efficient machine any year. As a White Sox fan, I call back to the 2005 World Series champions as one of my favorite sports seasons of all time because the squad was a quirky group of outcasts who put it all together in a season where every game felt like an adventure.

With the idea of joyous play in mind, Matt Snyder put together MLB’s All-Fun Team comprised of the most entertaining players to watch at each position. As a White Sox fan caught up in MuneMania, here’s what Snyder had to say about his first base pick, Munetaka Murakami, who is the human embodiment of baseball’s three true outcomes.

• Snyder: “Yes, I’m totally caught up in the fever. Murakami strikes out a lot. But, holy smokes, when he makes contact, it’s like the ball is fired out of a rocket launcher.
  “How about this division of hits for the 26-year-old MLB rookie from Japan: 12 home runs, zero doubles, zero triples and 14 singles. Basically, he’s just here to drop bombs, and we’re all better for it.”

🏈 NFL Draft fallout continues

For months, NFL fans eagerly await the NFL Draft, taking in endless mock drafts and dreaming about which game-changing talent their team may draft to lead them closer to the promised land. Then, in a matter of days and with a flurry of picks and trades, it’s over. Now comes the time to reckon with the decision of your team’s leadership. Whether they did what you had hoped or not, did they make the team better?

We’re all aboard that train now, and the CBS Sports team has plenty of insight, including looking at the best draft pick for each NFL team and what each team’s selections said about the state of the franchise. We also identified the five players selected who are the best scheme fits, with the highest chance of having an immediate impact on their new teams. Finally, we broke down each team’s biggest positional need after the draft.

🏈 A look at how Oklahoma State landed Drew Mestemaker

Drew Mestemaker was one of the most coveted pieces in the transfer portal. The former North Texas quarterback delivered impressive numbers last season, making him an enticing choice for any school that wanted a proven signal-caller under center. However, Mastemaker handled his transfer differently than most, with FBS’ leading passer delaying his decision until after UNT’s Dec. 27 bowl game, only a few days before the portal opened on Jan. 2. 

Despite power conference teams such as LSU, Oregon and defending national champions Indiana inserting themselves in the race, Mastemaker always seemed destined for Oklahoma State. Chris Hummer took a look at Mastemaker’s portal journey.

• Hummer: “North Texas head coach Eric Morris took the Oklahoma State job in the days before the American title game. Eventually, most of UNT’s offensive staff, including co-OC and quarterbacks coach Sean Brophy, followed Morris to Stillwater.
  “That gave Oklahoma State the inside track in the push for Mestemaker. After all, that staff took Mestemaker, a high school receiver, and helped transform him from a walk-on to an All-American candidate.”

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

⚾ Rockies at Reds, 12:40 p.m. on ESPN
⚽ UEFA Europa League: SC Freiburg at Braga, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Europa League: Aston Villa at Nottingham Forest, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
🏀 Knicks at Hawks, Game 6, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Stars at Wild, Game 6, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Celtics at 76ers, Game 6, 8 p.m. on NBCSN
🏀 Nuggets at Timberwolves, Game 6, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Oilers at Ducks, Game 6, 10 p.m. on TNT