SI:AM | Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic Are the Better Star Duo Right Now

Plus, the inspiring comeback of a historic stadium.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. If not for the NBA playoffs, I would have written an entire newsletter about Tom Kim’s mud bath.

In today’s SI:AM:

⛏️ The Nuggets’ unstoppable tandem

🏟️ The remaking of a Negro Leagues park

⛹️‍♀️ WNBA season preview

🎭 When Carl Weathers worked for John Madden

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It was Jamal Murray’s turn to take over

If I told you before last night’s Game 2 that the Nuggets would trail the Lakers by three points after the third quarter and that Nikola Jokić would be held scoreless in the fourth, you’d be fair in assuming that Denver would lose the game.

But Jamal Murray had other ideas.

Murray nearly outscored the Lakers by himself in the fourth quarter, dropping 23 points (to the Lakers’ 24) as the Nuggets came from behind to win, 108–103, and take a 2–0 lead in the series. Just like Jayson Tatum in Game 6 against the Sixers, Murray struggled over the first three quarters before coming alive over the final 12 minutes. Through three quarters he was a mediocre 5-for-17 shooting, including 2-for-9 from three. In the fourth, he couldn’t miss. He hit six of his seven field goal attempts (4-of-5 from three) and went 7-of-8 from the line. Jokić didn’t score in the fourth, but he did assist on three three-pointers during the period and was his usual excellent self over the first three quarters.

Through two games, Rohan Nadkarni writes, the main difference in the series is that the two-man game of Murray and Jokić is surpassing that of LeBron James and Anthony Davis:

Through two games in this series, Jokić and Murray are averaging 62.5 points, 26.5 rebounds and 18.0 assists. Jokić had a meager game by his standards Thursday and still recorded a triple double, racking up 23, 17 and 12. Murray, after struggling for three quarters, turned into a new state of matter in the last 12 minutes, ultimately finishing with 37 points after hitting eight of his last 11 shots.

Meanwhile, both James and Davis struggled. LeBron, looking like he switched his pregame powder toss for olive oil, let three attempts at the rim during the game seemingly slip out of his fingertips. In the fourth, he settled for three iffy threes and clanked all of them. James finished with 22 points while missing all six of his shots from beyond the arc. Davis converted on only four of 15 shots from the field to get to his 18 points, despite being single covered by Jokić for most of the night. On the other end of the floor, his inability to slow down the Joker one-on-one forced the Lakers to alter their defensive coverages significantly.

The first two games of the series have been close, decided by a combined 11 points. The Nuggets haven’t run the Lakers off the floor, but they’ve proved to be a step ahead and capable of closing out tough games. Nadkarni added that “the longer these playoffs continue, the more Denver seems to be separating itself from the pack.” With a 2–0 lead, the Nuggets are well on their way to their first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. The Lakers have had a great run, made even more impressive by how the team was reimagined entirely at the trade deadline, but Jokić and Murray might prove to be too much to handle.

Do they really have to come back tomorrow night?

NHL fans in Raleigh got two games for the price of one last night. Game 1 of the NHL’s Eastern Conference finals between the Panthers and Hurricanes took a whopping four overtimes to decide. It was the sixth-longest game in NHL history.

Florida thought it had the game won in the first overtime, but Ryan Lomberg’s goal was disallowed after a replay review determined it occurred after goaltender interference. Nearly 80 minutes of game time (and three hours of real time) later, Matthew Tkachuk scored in the waning seconds of the fourth overtime to win it. He was glad he scored before time expired to avoid playing another period.

“Probably my favorite [goal] so far in my life,” Tkachuk told reporters. “Big to not let it go to five overtimes there.”

The game ended at 1:58 a.m. local time. Imagine what all the Hurricanes fans who stuck it out felt as they filed out of the arena in the middle of the night.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Kevin R. Wexler/NorthJersey.com/USA Today Network

• In today’s Daily Cover story, Tom Verducci writes about Hinchliffe Stadium, one of only two surviving Negro Leagues ballparks. The stadium will reopen in Paterson, N.J., offering, as Verducci writes, “the best kind of sports story: the comeback.”
• SI’s staff is previewing the WNBA season and answers the question on everyone’s mind: Do the Aces or Liberty have the better superteam?
• Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth all went through stretches when they collected majors like they were baseball cards. Now, Michael Rosenberg writes, they’re finding what once seemed easy much more difficult.
• Gary Van Sickle was on-site at the PGA Championship, and he breaks down eight things that stood out to him from Day 1.
• Pat Forde proposes changes to the Triple Crown calendar.
• Before Carl Weathers played Apollo Creed or Greef Karga, he was a linebacker for the Raiders. Joseph Salvador revisits the actor’s football career under coach John Madden.
• Angels pitchers are trying to imitate Shohei Ohtani, Emma Baccellieri writes.
• Rafael Nadal announced yesterday that he will not play this year’s French Open, the tournament he has won 14 times, Jon Wertheim writes.
• Boston faces an important Game 2 test against Miami, with tickets to tonight’s matchup topping out at more than $6,000.

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. Jeff Van Gundy’s reaction to a soft flagrant foul call on D’Angelo Russell.

4. The Nuggets fan who gave LeBron James a towel after he fell on the floor.

3. Jamal Murray pointing at Mike Breen and saying “bang!” after one of his many fourth-quarter threes.

2. LeBron’s totally blown dunk attempt.

1. Tom Kim’s bath in a creek after getting himself covered in mud during the first round of the PGA Championship. He didn’t know that his embarrassing moment had been captured on video until he was informed after his round that it was going viral.

SIQ

This week’s PGA Championship is being held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester. The last time the tournament was held there, in 2013, who won the tournament and shot a course-record 63 in the second round?

• Jim Furyk
• Dustin Johnson
• Jason Dufner
• Rory McIlroy

Yesterday’s SIQ: On this day in 1950, which Cardinals infielder, whose name sounds oddly similar to a Hall of Fame pitcher’s, committed errors on three straight plays, allowing the Dodgers to complete a miraculous comeback?

• Tommy Glaviano
• Greg Mathis
• John Schmaltz
• Rory Holliday

Answer: Tommy Glaviano. He was one of the Cardinals’ better hitters that season but on May 18, 1950, he cost St. Louis a game as he completely melted down defensively in the bottom of the ninth inning at Ebbets Field.

The Cardinals had dominated the first seven innings, opening up an 8–0 lead. But the Dodgers scored four in the eighth inning, and an RBI double by Jackie Robinson in the bottom of the ninth cut the St. Louis lead to 8–5. After a Duke Snider walk loaded the bases, Roy Campanella hit a grounder to Glaviano at third, who tried to turn two with a throw to second base. But the throw was wide, pulling Red Schoendienst off the base, and everybody was safe as the Dodgers scored a sixth run.

The next batter, Eddie Miksis, also hit a grounder to Glaviano at third. This time, instead of going for the inning-ending double play, Glaviano went for the force out at home. His throw to catcher Del Rice was also off the mark, and Gil Hodges scored to make it 8–7.

Sure enough, the next man to step to the plate, Pee Wee Reese, also hit a grounder to Glaviano.

“This time, Tommy didn’t throw wild,” famed New York Daily News writer Dick Young wrote. “He didn’t throw at all, because he never held the ball. He had planned to scoop it up, step on third, and fire to first—but in moving toward third, he let the ball zip through his legs and into left.”

Glaviano’s third and final error of the inning allowed the tying and winning runs to score. Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer called the game “the most bitter defeat of any I’ve had in the years I’ve managed.”