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🤝 Five things to know Monday
- The Giants and Bengals pulled off a major trade. Less than two weeks after Dexter Lawrence asked out of New York, the Giants found a trade partner. They shipped him off to the Bengals in exchange for the No. 10 pick in this week’s NFL Draft, and all of a sudden, they boast two first-round picks and have a cornucopia of options. This transaction also signals that Cincinnati is going all-in on reconstructing its defense and giving Joe Burrow and his star receivers a chance to compete in the league’s top tier. There could be a domino effect in the draft now that the Giants have extra capital and one defense-needy team is off the board, and that is reflected in our post-trade mock draft.
- The NBA Playoffs are underway. It was a chalky first weekend of the postseason until the No. 8-seed Magic stunned the East’s best team, the Pistons, in last night’s shocker. The biggest surprise to that point was the absence of Kevin Durant, who missed the Rockets’ series opener against the Lakers with a knee contusion he sustained in practice. Now, the question is whether KD will return in time for Houston to win the battle between two injured squads. One star who did make it back into the lineup for his team was Jayson Tatum, whose first playoff game since the fateful 2025 contest that saw him tear his Achilles was an absolute success. And we’ve got your winners and losers following Sunday’s games. Care to guess where Victor Wembanyama lands after scoring a Spurs franchise record 35 points in his win over the Trail Blazers on Sunday night?
- Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns owned the stage at WrestleMania 42. Rhodes capped off Night 1 with a win via pinfall over his mentor, Randy Orton, to retain the WWE title in a showdown that was at times confusing but nevertheless exciting. Earlier in the event, IShowSpeed took out Logan Paul in must-see fashion during a clash between pop culture stars. Night 2 saw what appeared to be the retirement of the legendary Brock Lesnar before Reigns defeated CM Punk to unseat him as the world heavyweight champion.
- Many of college football’s top teams held their spring games over the weekend. Chief among them was Ohio State, which looks like it will not miss a beat at wide receiver even with Carnell Tate off to the NFL Draft. That’s our top takeaway from the large slate of scrimmages, and we also have thoughts on Texas A&M after an injury scare, Georgia’s personnel changes and Michigan’s new-look defense. Meanwhile, an off-the-field blunder defined Virginia Tech’s spring game as a parachuter crashed into the Lane Stadium scoreboard. (He fortunately escaped injury.)
- Things are, uh, not going well for the Mets. That might even be putting it lightly. On Friday, the Mets dropped their ninth straight game to extend their longest losing streak since 2004. The drought got even worse on Saturday when the squad posted its worst start to a season in 43 years. New York then reached a new low Sunday with an extra-innings loss to the Cubs, which extended the losing streak to 11 games for just the 12th time in franchise history. The struggles prompted a rotation change, but not even swapping David Peterson for Tobias Myers could get the Mets off the schneid. Mind you, this team features the highest payroll in baseball and was widely considered a preseason World Series contender. Yikes.
🤼 Do not miss this: Carlos Ulberg debuts in UFC pound-for-pound fighter rankings
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Newly crowned light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg is a fighter on the rise. Not even a torn ACL (for which he underwent surgery over the weekend) could stop him from pulling off a stunning knockout of Jiri Prochazka earlier this month at UFC 327. His improvement to 14-1 earned him a spot in our pound-for-pound fighter rankings for the first time, and it might be a while before he drops out.
Brian Campbell paid homage to Ulberg after placing him at No. 10 in the rankings.
- Campbell: “Although time off for surgery and recovery will be in the native of New Zealand’s future, Ulberg extended his win streak to 10 after defeating his fourth straight former champion or title challenger.”
The rest of the top 10 are unchanged on the men’s side, and there is no movement inside the women’s top five.
🏀 NBA Playoffs picks, predictions
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It has been said that a series doesn’t start until the road team wins, so while every NBA Playoffs series is one game deep and one road team did actually pull off an upset (we see you, Magic!), there’s still plenty of time to unleash our first-round predictions. Our panel of seven NBA experts does not collectively foresee any upsets, and in fact they think at least one or two sweeps are on the horizon.
Only two picks in the entire round went against the grain; James Herbert picked the Hawks to get past the Knicks, and Jasmyn Wimbish likes the Timberwolves to stun the Nuggets. Allow them to explain.
- Herbert: “Based on how the Hawks closed the season, why can’t they at least push the Knicks? I can see this looking a lot like New York’s first-round series against Detroit last year, and that one easily could have gone the other way.”
- Wimbish: “I feel like playing Denver brings the best out of Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves, and I’ve seen them best this Nuggets team before.”
We also unveiled fresh power rankings ahead of the postseason, and Brad Botkin added a twist to his weekly exercise by placing each of the 16 remaining teams into tiers. There’s only room for four at the top in the group Botkin dubbed “The Heavyweights.”
- Spurs
- Thunder
- Celtics
- Nuggets
Lastly, Sam Quinn uncovered the seven storylines that will define this year’s playoffs. The No. 1 narrative is juicy: Who’s the best player in the world?
🏒 Stanley Cup Playoffs picks, predictions
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The postseason is also underway in the NHL. Only one Game 1 remains as the Ducks and Oilers will get their series rolling tonight at 10 ET. Before the last of the eight series begins, let’s dive into our first-round predictions. Austin Nivison and Alexander Baumgartner each picked the outcome of every pairing, and they only reached a consensus on five of them.
Here are the three series with which our hockey experts are in disagreement:
- Senators vs. Hurricanes: Senators in 6 (Nivison), Hurricanes in 6 (Baumgartner)
- Wild vs. Stars: Wild in 7 (Nivison), Stars in 7 (Baumgartner)
- Golden Knights vs. Mammoth: Golden Knights in 6 (Nivison), Mammoth in 6 (Baumgartner)
The guys are a little more like-minded when it comes to which team will win the whole thing. The Avalanche are the betting favorites to not only emerge from the Western Conference but also to achieve league glory, both experts project them to defeat the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
- Nivison: “This pick is full of chalk, but I can’t overlook what my eyes and the numbers have told me all season long. The Avalanche and Lightning have been a cut — or two — above the competition in almost every aspect of the game. The Avs and Bolts are comfortably inside the top 10 of the league when it comes to creating scoring chances and goals, as well as preventing them.”
👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest
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- Will Anderson Jr. became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history with his new contract extension.
- Audi Crooks has announced she’s leaving Iowa State, but will stay in the Big 12 by joining Oklahoma State.
- A loss in the NBA Play-In Tournament ended the Warriors‘ season but not before Draymond Green was ejected for an incident with Devin Booker. We pondered what’s next for Golden State, and Steve Kerr did the same when he acknowledged his future is unclear.
- The NFL Draft arrives this week, and we have primers for the Jets, Raiders, Browns, Dolphins and Titans. Also, draft rumors were flying over the weekend.
- Braylon Mullins — he of the unforgettable game-winning 3-pointer against Duke — will return for his sophomore year at UConn. And Kymora Johnson will withdraw from the transfer portal and return to Virginia.
- Scottie Scheffler‘s final-round surge was not enough to overtake Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the RBC Heritage in a playoff. Fitzpatrick earned himself a plaid jacket and a nice $3.6 million payday.
- The Padres are for sale, and they carry a record price tag.
- The NFL will not investigate Mike Vrabel over the photos that showed him with NFL reporter Diana Russini.
- Even with a few stars scuffling, the Dodgers are off to their best start since 1977.
- Police arrested former Georgia WR Zachariah Branch ahead of the NFL Draft on two misdemeanor charges.
- The weekend’s top WNBA free agent deals included those of Napheesa Collier, Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart.
- The USWNT took Game 3 of the international friendly series against Japan.
- Jacoby Brissett reportedly plans to skip the Cardinals‘ offseason program while he seeks a new contract.
- Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan are attempting to rebuild their friendship.
- Gilbert Burns announced his retirement after losing via TKO to Mike Malott at UFC Fight Night.
- Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from LIV Golf Mexico City ahead of the final round, citing wrist discomfort.
- USMNT defender Tim Ream sustained a groin injury while playing for Charlotte FC.
- Joe Flacco detailed two reasons why the NFL should not expand its schedule to 18 games.
📺 What we’re watching Monday
🏃 Boston Marathon, 9 a.m. on ESPN2
⚾ Tigers at Red Sox, 11:10 a.m. on MLB Network
⚽ West Ham United at Crystal Palace, 3 p.m. on USA Network
⚾ Reds at Rays, 6:40 p.m. on MLB Network
⚾ Braves at Nationals, 6:45 p.m. on ESPN Unlimited
🏀 NBA Playoffs: Raptors at Cavaliers, Game 2, 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Network
🏒 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Flyers at Penguins, Game 2, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Senators at Hurricanes, Game 2, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2
⚾ Orioles at Royals, 7:40 p.m. on FS1
⚾ Phillies at Cubs, 7:40 p.m. on Peacock
🏀 NBA Playoffs: Hawks at Knicks, Game 2, 8 p.m. on NBC
🏒 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Wild at Stars, Game 2, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
⚾ Blue Jays at Angels, 9:38 p.m. on MLB Network
🏒 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Ducks at Oilers, Game 1, 10 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 NBA Playoffs: Timberwolves at Nuggets, Game 2, 10:30 p.m. on NBC
