Subscribe to Scoreboard by clicking here! Read the archive here.
Hello on this Thursday in sports, as we continue to push forward with championship season. One night after the Golden Knights opened the Stanley Cup Final by erasing a 2-0 deficit and stealing Game 1 in Carolina, the Knicks answered with their own finals road heist Wednesday, closing Game 1 in San Antonio on an 11-0 run to stun the Spurs and grab home-court advantage. We’ll have more on the NBA title picture below, plus a note on Cristopher Sánchez’s historic streak of scoreless innings, and a busy Thursday slate that also includes French Open semifinals, Scottie Scheffler at the Memorial, and a handful of MLB and WNBA matchups worth tracking. Here’s what we’re watching:
🗓️ TONIGHT’S DANCE
The Main Events
All listed times are Eastern.
NBA Playoffs:
🏀 No games (finals Game 2 is Fri.)
NHL Playoffs:
🏒 Golden Knights (40%) at Hurricanes (60%),* Game 2 (VEG leads 1-0) - 8 p.m. (ABC) - VEG 59% to win series
MLB:
⚾ Guardians (39%) at Yankees (61%) - 1:35 p.m. (MLB.tv)
⚾ Pirates (49%) at Astros (51%) - 8:10 p.m. (FS1)
⚾ Dodgers (57%) at D-Backs (43%) - 9:40 p.m. (MLB.tv)
WNBA:
🏀 Dream (48%) at Fever (52%) - 7 p.m. (Prime Video)
🏀 Valkyries (39%) at Lynx (61%) - 9 p.m. (Prime Video)
Soccer:
⚽ International Friendly: Mexico (78%) vs. Serbia (8%) - 10 p.m. (FOX Deportes)
Tennis:
🎾 French Open, men’s (Alexander Zverev 63% to win) and women’s (Mirra Andreeva 73% to win) semifinals
Golf:
⛳ The Memorial Tournament (Muirfield Village Golf Club - Dublin, OH) - Scottie Scheffler 22% to win
🔍 FIND THE EDGE
Knicks steal Game 1
Going into Game 1 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night, we noted that the Spurs opened as the market’s clear title favorite (65% to win), but that traders might have simultaneously been overindexing on San Antonio’s emotional Game 7 high against OKC and underestimating the Knicks’ postseason buzz saw. But midway through the contest, those mitigating factors seemed irrelevant — the Spurs were up by more than a dozen in the second half, Victor Wembanyama was blocking shots while his supporting cast scored points, and Jalen Brunson was having an off night. San Antonio was headed for a 1-0 series lead and a big odds boost.
However, things flipped around entirely late in the game, and the Knicks stormed back to make things close, survived multiple Spurs rallies, and closed the game on an 11-0 run — with Brunson making several key buckets — to steal away home-court advantage and take the 1-0 series lead instead. Here’s how the prediction market odds swung around throughout the game:
At one point, the Spurs had a 90% chance to win the game, and consequently a 76% chance to win the series at their peak (since we know how important Game 1s are to NBA playoff series). But now, here’s an updated snapshot of where the odds sit after Wednesday’s series opener:
Teams leading 1-0 in the NBA Finals win 70% of the time, so perhaps the market is still disrespecting the Knicks here — though it’s worth noting that teams that go up 1-0 with a road win specifically (as New York did) only go on to win the series 42% of the time, with 8 wins in 19 tries. So by that standard, maybe the Knicks are properly rated by traders.
The interesting chess match from here involves whether the Knicks’ defense — which was perhaps getting underrated compared with their dominant offense — can keep hassling the Spurs, who were held to a weak 97.8 points per 100 possessions in Game 1. That includes both whether Karl-Anthony Towns can continue to force Wembanyama into missed shots, and whether NY can limit Wemby’s supporting cast when it matters. Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell, and De’Aaron Fox had 57 combined points through three quarters, but just 8 in the fourth on 3-for-12 shooting.
The market gives San Antonio around a 66% chance to get one back on their home floor in Game 2, which would send things to New York all tied up. But it already seems fair to consider this a tighter battle than traders were giving it credit for going into Game 1.
📊 CHART OF THE DAY
One streak ends — another begins?
Most pitchers can’t go a single start without allowing at least one run — often they give up many more, in fact. (The leaguewide Earned Run Average for starters is 4.16 per 9 innings.) MLB batters are tough to get out! That’s why it was so special that Phillies hurler Cristopher Sánchez went an entire MONTH without allowing a single run in five starts, part of a streak of 50 ⅔ consecutive scoreless innings pitched stretching from the second inning of his start on April 30 to the seventh inning of last night’s game against the Padres. Sadly, all good things must eventually end, and Sánchez allowed a run to finish with the fifth-longest streak ever — and the longest ever by a lefty. But maybe that just sets up a new streak from here?
❄️ STAY FROSTY
What else we’re reading
Smart, short reads we liked while building today’s odds.
🏈 “The Liberation of Myles Garrett” by me
🏒 “Carolina/Vegas Game 1 Statcap” by Corey S.
🏈 “Giving out Red Cards to NFL Players” by Ray Carpenter
🏀 “I Will Miss the Sixers Having a Front Office Guy With Personality” by Andrew Unterberger
🏁 “2026 Monaco Grand Prix: Fast Facts” by Formula Reports
👀 EYES UP
Next on deck…
Friday (6/5)
🏀 NBA Playoffs: Knicks at Spurs, NBA Finals Game 2 (NYK leads 1-0)
🏒 NHL Playoffs: No games
⚾ MLB: Red Sox at Yankees
🏀 WNBA: Wings at Sparks
⚽ International Friendly: Canada vs. Republic of Ireland
🎾 Tennis: French Open, men’s semifinals
⛳ Golf: The Memorial Tournament
Saturday (6/6)
🏀 NBA Playoffs: No games
🏒 NHL Playoffs: Hurricanes at Golden Knights, Stanley Cup Final Game 3
⚾ MLB: Pirates at Braves
🏀 WNBA: Valkyries at Aces
⚽ International Friendly: US vs. Germany
🎾 Tennis: French Open, women’s final
⛳ Golf: The Memorial Tournament
🥊 UFC Fight Night: Belal Muhammad vs. Gabriel Bonfim
🐎 Horse racing: 158th running of the Belmont Stakes
Sunday (6/7)
🏀 NBA Playoffs: No games
🏒 NHL Playoffs: No games
⚾ MLB: Giants at Cubs
🏀 WNBA: Sky at Tempo
⚽ International Friendly: Argentina vs. Honduras
🎾 Tennis: French Open, men’s final
⛳ Golf: The Memorial Tournament
🏁 F1: Monaco Grand Prix (Circuit de Monaco, Monaco)
🏁 NASCAR: FireKeepers Casino 400 (Michigan International Speedway)
🏁 IndyCar: Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (World Wide Technology Raceway - Madison, IL)
🧠 Looking ahead
Stay tuned for more updates and in-depth analysis of these events and more as they unfold. We’ll be bringing you all the scores, highlights, and expert commentary.
Got a favorite team or sport you want us to cover more? Let us know!
All data current as of time of send.
— by Neil Paine
*Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.