Happy Thursday morning, all. Hope you're having a wonderful first week of May.
Let's get right to it.
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Good morning to everyone but especially to...
THE PHOENIX SUNS...
The Suns are really, really good. If you missed the memo in the regular season, you should be getting it now in the playoffs. Phoenix buried the Mavericks with a fourth-quarter barrage, demolishing Dallas 129-109 and taking a 2-0 series lead.
The Suns shot 64.5 percent from the field, 52 percent from three and 85.7 percent from the free throw line. They are the first team ever to have those shooting splits in a playoff game.After trailing by two points at halftime, Phoenix won the second half, 71-49.Devin Booker had 30 points and Chris Paul had 28 points -- half of which came in the fourth quarter -- as well as eight assists and six rebounds.Luka Doncic had 35 points, seven assists and five rebounds, but he also had seven turnovers and had to be held back from confronting a fan.If you want to see dominant basketball, watch the first six minutes of the fourth quarter. That's when Phoenix outscored Dallas 21-10, and Paul himself outscored Dallas 14-10, hunting Doncic and scoring against him in a variety of ways. Paul turning it on late is a reminder of how special he is, writes our NBA scribe Jasmyn Wimbish.
Wimbish: "You would think Doncic would be able to stay in front of the grizzled veteran guard, but Paul ... caught Doncic on his hip every time he drove to the rim and just kept racking up points. You would also think that the Mavericks would try anything to slow Paul down, like trying to trap him and force the ball out of his hands, but instead it was the CP3 show and he delivered every time he touched the ball in the fourth quarter. "... AND ALSO A GOOD MORNING TO THE MIAMI HEAT
Getty ImagesThe Heat were far from the most talked-about Eastern Conference team this season, but they're showing why they finished atop the conference standings. Miami topped Philadelphia, 119-103, to take a 2-0 series lead.
The Heat certainly have had luck on their side this series given Embiid's absence, but Miami is also showing far superior depth. Herro alone has outscored Philadelphia's bench, 43-40, this series and overall, the Heat own a 94-40 advantage in bench points. It's one of Miami's best qualities, notes NBA guru Jack Maloney.
Maloney: "They draft well, have arguably the best player development team in the league and are constantly finding players that other teams overlooked. Even with Kyle Lowry out injured and $90-million man Duncan Robinson out of the rotation, head coach Erik Spoelstra was comfortable playing nine different guys in a second-round playoff game. ... Embiid is obviously a bigger loss than Lowry, but while the Sixers flounder to find an answer without their star man, the Heat just keep chugging along."Honorable mentions
Not so honorable mentions
Real Madrid advances to UCL final after miraculous rally ⚽
Getty ImagesIf you turned off yesterday's UEFA Champions League semifinal in the 89th minute, I don't know if I could have blamed you. Manchester City was up 1-0 in the match and 5-3 on aggregate. Done deal, right? Wrong. Real Madrid pulled off their latest and, perhaps, greatest Champions League comeback ever -- and they have had plenty of them -- eventually winning 6-5 on aggregate. Real Madrid will face Liverpool in the final May 28.
Here's what happened:
Riyad Mahrez seemingly all but ensured City would go through with a wonderful strike in the 73rd minute.But Rodrygo tapped in from short range in the 90th minute and then scored a phenomenal header in the 91st.Karim Benzema completed the comeback with a penalty kick in the 95th minute.Rodrygo's and Benzema's heroics will rightfully grab the headlines, but this comeback wouldn't have even existed without Ferland Mendy's incredible goal-line clearance in the 87th minute or any one of many huge saves from Thibaut Courtois.
Our soccer reporter Roger Gonzalez ranks this as the third-greatest comeback in Champions League history.
Gonzalez: "In terms of the most clutch comeback, this is up there with any two-leg affair in the competition's history considering they needed two goals in added time to just force extra time."On the other end of things, soccer scribe James Benge wonders if it will ever come together for Pep Guardiola and City in this competition.
Benge: "In the short term, they may well be able to park it to one side for the remaining four games of their title chase, starting with what is sure to be a fiddly clash with sportswashing rivals Newcastle on Sunday. But what will happen the next time they find themselves in a similar position in next year's Champions League final? Or the year after?"As for everything else on this all-time classic:
