Old Rivals, New Drama đ
Today weâve got updates on the Round 2 action in the NBA playoffsâŚand a reminder that some rivalries go way beyond one game, one court, or even one sport.
⪠Scoreboard Snapshot
đď¸ Nuggets at ⥠Thunder
Blowout Alert!!! The Thunder scored a playoff-record 87 points in the first half and never looked back, crushing the Nuggets 149â106 in one of the most one-sided games youâll ever see.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a scoring machine. 34 points on just 13 shots, plus he made all 11 of his free throws.
Series tied 1â1⌠and Mile High pressure is up next.
đ˝ Knicks at âď¸ Celtics
Remember Game 1âŚThe wild comeback, the clutch steal? Well⌠it happened again! đ˛
The Knicks pulled off another 20-point rally and won 91â90 to take a 2â0 series lead.
Mikal Bridges scored all 14 of his points in the 4th quarter and sealed the game with a steal at the buzzer! Want to see what the ending looked like?
What a great game! But thatâs just the latest chapter in a rivalry thatâs been burning for over 100 years.
đ The Story of a Century-Old Clash
Knicks vs. Celtics isnât just about two teams. Itâs about two cities. Two fanbases that are loud and loyal. And the rivalry isnât just on the hardwood. Boston and New York also go toe-to-toe in baseball, football, hockey, and soccer.
Other great sports rivalries around the world might sound familiar:
â˝ Barcelona vs. Real Madrid
đ Texas vs. Oklahoma
âž Dodgers vs. Giants
đ Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens
But none stretch across this many sports, this many decades, or this many memorable moments like Boston vs. New York.
âž The Curse, the Comeback, and the Greatest Rivalry in Baseball
In 1919, the Red Sox traded away a young star named Babe Ruth to the Yankees.
Wait⌠whoâs Babe Ruth?
Heâs one of the most famous players ever. He hit more home runs than anyone else. He made baseball feel magical. And after Boston let him go?
Boston fans believed they were cursed. Literally! The Red Sox didnât win a single World Series for 86 years... while the Yankees won 26! They called it the âCurse of the Bambinoâ (Bambino was Ruthâs nickname).
But then came 2004. Down 3â0 in a best-of-7 series against the Yankees, the Red Sox pulled off the impossible: they won 4 games in a row, something no MLB team had ever done before. They went on to win the World Series (and break the curse?!?!).
It was so special that Netflix made a whole show about it! Hereâs the trailer:
đ The Giants Who Stopped a Perfect Season
If the Yankees were Bostonâs baseball nightmare, then the New York Giants were footballâs biggest spoiler.
In 2008, the New England Patriots and QB Tom Brady had 18 wins and no losses. They were one win away from the first perfect season in the NFL in 36 years!
Enter Eli Manning and the Giants. With a defense that refused to give up and the âhelmet catch,â one of the wildest plays in NFL history, the Giants won the Super Bowl 17-14. Check out this catch!
And four years later? The Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl again. So in his career, Tom Brady went 7 and 3 in the Super Bowl⌠but 2 of the 3 losses were to Eli and the Giants!
đ Todayâs Action
Old rivalries remind us whatâs at stake. But new stories are being written every night.
đ Warriors at đş Timberwolves
The Warriors try to extend their 1â0 series lead without Steph Curry, whoâs out for at least a week with a hamstring injury
Experts say 56% chance Wolves win
đĄ What we learned today
Rivalries remind us: sports arenât just about who wins. Theyâre about the stories we share together!