Over the seven seasons Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have played together for the Boston Celtics, they have faced a wide variety of skepticism about their fit together as two ballhandling wings. Both were varying degrees of great at different times, but did their skill sets overlap too much to build a championship team around them as a pair?
The Celtics’ 2024 NBA championship win answers that question with a definitive “no,” but there were real questions about the pairing’s fit together over their near-decade as a duo, as well as calls from media and fans alike to trade Brown. Instead, the Celtics (somewhat controversially) continually doubled down on the twosome, most recently by giving Brown the most lucrative contract in NBA history last summer.
Doing so may seem like the easy call with the benefit of hindsight, but in the aftermath of the confetti falling, as the Celtics celebrated their 18th championship in franchise history and Brown lofted his NBA Finals MVP, there was a stat on the broadcast for anyone watching at home that demonstrated just how unprecedented Boston’s patience with the Brown and Tatum duo was (as captured by Tim Bontemps of ESPN):
For Tatum and Brown, the 107 games they played together before winning the title are the most by a duo prior to winning their first championship in NBA history.
That’s quite the astounding factoid, and it shows how rare it is for any two NBA players to
be good enough to justify keeping together that long, period, and…
be good enough to maintain faith in despite not having won a title together yet.
It remains to be seen if this record will ever be broken, but given the constant roster churn of today’s NBA, it seems unlikely. Maybe Brown and Tatum’s long-awaited success will convince more GMs to remain patient with various star pairings, but this otherwise seems primed to be a record Brown and Tatum can hold together for a long time.
In the 186th playoff game of his NBA career, Al Horford won his first NBA championship. The Celtics capturing the 2024 title took Horford off an ignominious list, as Boston coming up short this year would have almost certainly (eventually) vaulted him past Karl Malone (193) for most career playoff games without a championship.
After the game, Horford was understandably excited to finally get his first ring, 17 years into his NBA career:
Al Horford: “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I’m going through the emotions right now, but I don’t feel like it’s over. This is an unbelievable feeling. Like the confetti, everything’s going on, but I just hasn’t hit me.” pic.twitter.com/kGOAtUdV8k
But with Horford winning a championship, James Harden ended up taking a crown no player wants: His 166 career playoff games without a ring is now not just fourth all-time in NBA history, but the most of any active NBA player.
Per StatMuse, the next closest is… his former Rockets teammate Chris Paul, with 149.
With the NBA Finals over, Harden is now eligible — under a new NBA rule going into place this year — to begin talking with the Clippers about a new contract to keep him in Los Angeles in free agency. Given that franchise’s historic playoff woes, it seems unlikely Harden will end his reign atop a leaderboard that no current NBA player wants to sit on, but there is a small silver lining: At least, at age 34, he’s unlikely to go on enough long playoff runs in Los Angeles to pass Malone or John Stockton (182) for a top-two slot on the all-time ranking.
That’s something, right?
While maybe Harden can do some title chasing to end his career to put this record to bed, at least as of right now, the self-described “winner” appears poised to hang onto that bit of infamy for a while.
But hey, at least maybe he appears poised to get a different type of ring soon!
The Boston Celtics returned to their home floor in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals with the chance to clinch the series and secure the 18th championship in franchise history. The Dallas Mavericks couldn’t even make it to halftime before Boston turned the game into a blowout.
The Celtics took a 67-46 lead into halftime against Dallas in Game 5 on Monday night. Boston’s offense led a cascade of shot-making, rim attacking, and ferocious defense. The Celtics saved their most devastating bucket of the first half for last.
Payton Pritchard didn’t play in Game 5 until Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla checked him in as Dallas went to the free throw line with four seconds left in the half. Pritchard had already hit a halfcourt in NBA Finals, beating the third quarter buzzer back in Game 2. He out-did himself in Game 5, delivering a buzzer-beating dagger to Dallas just before halftime. Watch the play here:
Pritchard checked in just to take a halfcourt heave, and he drained it. Mazzulla remains a mad genius.
It’s the longest shot made in the NBA Finals in the last 20 years, according to ESPN.
Pritchard has been the Celtics’ first guard off the bench all season long. He doesn’t play big minutes for the team, but like any role player on a championship team, he’ll soon be beloved in Boston forever. These halfcourt shots in the NBA Finals will be replayed for the rest of his life. Celtics fans are already loving this one:
The Celtics were the best team in the NBA all season. For the first time in the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era, they end the season on top of the league.
The Boston Celtics have a chance Monday night to capture their 18th NBA Finals title. And they are putting it all on the line in pursuit of that championship.
Literally.
With the minutes ticking down in the first half, Boston held a 52-39 lead over the visiting Dallas Mavericks in Game 5, and were locked in on the defensive end. Dallas forward P.J. Washington stumbled off the dribble and tried to shove a pass in the direction of Dereck Lively, but the ball was knocked loose by Jayson Tatum.
In the ensuing melee for the loose ball, Derrick White of the Celtics absolutely laid out trying to corral the ball, before catching an entire face full of the parquet floor at T.D. Garden:
If you dare, you can watch the close-up replay of White’s effort:
In the moment, it looked as if Boston would lose the player that has been the “oomph” of their roster since he was acquired via trade during the 2022 season. White made his way to the Celtics bench after staying down on the floor for a moment, and was looked at by Celtics trainers:
He returned to the game immediately after.
And buried a three moments later to give Boston a 60-42 lead.
Look at this guy:
Between that and another heave at the buzzer from Payton Prichard, Boston has had one heck of a first half.
And they are 24 minutes away from their 18th banner.
Mercedes are coming off their best weekend of the entire 2024 season in the Canadian Grand Prix. George Russell scored the team’s first podium in a Grand Prix this season, with a second-place finish after qualifying on pole position, and the fourth-place finish from teammate Lewis Hamilton — coupled with the bonus point for the fastest lap of the Grand Prix — saw the Silver Arrows bank 28 points over their weekend in Montreal.
Can they keep that momentum going in Barcelona?
Previewing this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff outlined how the team hopes to keep the momentum going, but the configuration of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya may pose a stiff test for the upgraded W15.
“We have continued to make incremental gains across the past few races. It was encouraging therefore to take another positive step forward in Canada,” said Wolff in the team’s media preview. “To see that translate into our strongest team result of the season so far is a reward for everyone’s hard work.”
Wolff cautioned that not only is the circuit in Montreal “unique,” but Mercedes are not the only team working hard at upgrading their challenger.
“The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a unique track, however. It has a narrow range of corner speeds and, with a newly re-laid surface, was something of an outlier compared to more traditional venues,” added Wolff. “We know our competitors will perform more strongly at upcoming races so we will need to continue to work hard to consistently get ourselves in the fight for podiums, and eventually race wins.”
As for what to expect in Barcelona, Wolff outlined that the Spanish Grand Prix might be the best measuring stick yet for how far the team has progressed with the W15.
“Barcelona will provide a good test of our progress. It has a mix of fast, medium, and low speed corners, a long straight and plenty of elevation change,” described Wolff. “Tracks that contain this wide speed range have been a weakness of ours so far this year. This weekend will therefore provide another opportunity to evaluate our progress through our recent updates, and we hope to build on the positive momentum from Montreal.”
Mercedes enter the Spanish Grand Prix still in fourth place in the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship, but the 28 points they banked in Montreal saw the team inch closer to not only Red Bull at the top of the table, but Ferrari in second:
Not only did Mercedes outscore Red Bull 28-25 in Montreal, but they outscored Ferrari 28-0 thanks to a double DNF from the Scuderia.
It might be hard to duplicated that in Barcelona, where Red Bull is expected to perform well and Ferrari might be bringing some upgrades of their own, but the results these past few weeks indicate that progress is truly happening at Mercedes.
The eighth and final Signature Event of the 2024 season has arrived, as the best players on the PGA Tour head to the Northeast for the Travelers Championship.
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy, fresh off his heartbreaking finish at the U.S. Open, headline the 72-man field at TPC River Highlands. Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, and Viktor Hovland will tee it up in Connecticut this week, too.
Unlike Pinehurst No. 2, this golf course yields plenty of birdies while placing a premium on iron play. It’s a second-shot golf course, and whoever can make the most par-breakers this week typically wins. You should also expect a final score around 18 or 20-under-par, with multiple 62s and 63s shot over the course of the week. Heck, Jim Furyk shot a 58 on this layout in 2016, which still stands as the lowest score ever on the PGA Tour.
Travelers Championship Odds:
Here are the current odds for players to win this week, provided by DraftKings.
Scottie Scheffler +400
Xander Schauffele +800
Rory McIlroy +850
Collin Morikawa +1200
Ludvig Åberg +1600
Viktor Hovland +2000
Patrick Cantlay +2200
Hideki Matsuyama +2500
Sam Burns +3500
Russell Henley +3500
Justin Thomas +3500
Brian Harman +3500
Tony Finau +3500
Tommy Fleetwood +3500
Tom Kim +4500
Sungjae Im +4500
Si Woo Kim +4500
Sepp Straka +4500
Jordan Spieth +4500
Max Homa +5000
Matthew Fitzpatrick +5000
Wyndham Clark +5000
The 18th hole at TPC River Highlands during the final round of the 2024 Travelers Championship.Photo by Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images
Travelers Championship Insight, Predictions:
Keegan Bradley, the New England native and diehard Boston sports fan, won this event last year at 23-under-par, thanks in part to an opening 8-under 62 on Thursday and a 7-under 63 on Friday. He led the field in strokes gained approach and strokes gained putting, which explains why his final 72-hole score set a new tournament record.
Xander Schauffele continues hot stretch
Good ball strikers and solid putters tend to do well on this golf course. Xander Schauffele, who fits that billing, won this event two years ago, marking his 6th career win on the PGA Tour. He has won two more tournaments since, including this year’s PGA Championship.
Xander Schauffele during the trophy presentation at the 2022 Travelers Championship.Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Schauffele also recorded his 10th top-10 finish of the season at Pinehurst No. 2, despite not having his best stuff throughout the week.
Knowing that Schauffele has won on this golf course before and has played the best golf of his career throughout 2024, we like Schauffele to record a top-five finish at +180.
Big Ton’ posts back-to-back top-10s
If not for an unfortunate triple bogey on the 13th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open, Tony Finau could have vied for the title until the very end. He wound up tying for third, finishing at 4-under-par, two strokes behind Bryson DeChambeau.
Despite that, Finau’s game has rounded into form, as he has his four straight top-20 finishes over the last month.
Tony Finau during the final round of the 2024 U.S. Open.Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
He is a terrific ball-striker—Finau is third on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approaching the green. His putter has let him down at times, but it did not affect him much at Pinehurst No. 2. He gained 0.43 strokes on the greens for the week, ranking 39th among the field.
Considering the greens at TPC River Highlands come nowhere close to the ones at Pinehurst No. 2, we like Finau to have another above-average week with the putter and finish in the top 10 at +280.
Ludvig Åberg bounces back after tough weekend
Like Finau, the 13th hole got the best of Ludvig Åberg on Saturday afternoon. He made a triple bogey there, which all but ended his chances.
Nevertheless, Åberg will bounce back this week. He has quickly become one of the best ball-strikers on the planet, as seemingly every iron shot has a high ball flight and goes as straight as an arrow. That’s an excellent combination on any golf course, especially a favorable one like TPC River Highlands.
Plus, Åberg played at the Travelers Championship last year, tying for 24th and finishing at 13-under par. He even shot a 5-under 65 on Saturday, an impressive round given that he had finished up his tenure at Texas Tech roughly one month before. But knowing that Åberg has some experience on this course, and given his superb talent, we like him to also finish in the top 5 at +330.
It’s Russell Henley time
Perhaps the most underrated player in the game right now, Russell Henley arrives in Connecticut fresh off a tie for 7th at the U.S. Open. He carded a 3-under 67 in the final round, helping him record a back-door top 10, but Henley has four other top 10 finishes this season. He is also the 16th-ranked player in the world, thanks to his solid ball striking and excellent putting.
Russell Henley during the final round of the 2024 U.S. Open.Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
Henley does not miss the fairway often and thus awards himself plenty of opportunities to make birdie. His game should translate well to this course, where he has had some success. Henley’s best finish came in 2018 when he tied for 6th. He has since tied for 19th in his past two starts, in 2021 and 2023. But this year, we like Henley to post a result better than that. He is +3500 to win, which we are greatly considering, but we like him to finish in the top 5 at +650.
Longshot Contender and Winner
Frenchman Matthieu Pavon played well enough to earn a spot in the last group of the U.S. Open and held his own for most of the final round. He shot a 1-over 71 to finish solo 5th, as an early bogey stumbled his momentum. But Pavon put on a ball-striking and putting clinic all week at Pinehurst No. 2, a sign that his game is trending in the right direction.
He knows what it takes to win, too, having won at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. As such, we like Pavon to post another top-10 at +800 in Connecticut. His game seems to come in waves, and he’s riding high right now.
Matthieu Pavon on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2024 U.S. Open.Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
As for a longshot winner, we like South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout to get the job done at +7500. Bezuidenhout could not get any momentum going at the U.S. Open, finishing in a tie for 32nd at 7-over for the week. But he played consistent golf and did not blow up on any day, carding three 71s and a 72 on the par-70 layout. Nevertheless, Bezuidenhout is a terrific putter, ranking 11th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting. He is an above-average ball striker too.
The South African is not a bomber, either, an attribute not needed on this 6,852-yard layout, the shortest course on tour this season. Instead, he relies on his ball-striking and his short game to get the job done.
For all other sports betting content, check out SB Nation’s DraftKings site.
Also stay tuned for SB Nation’s staff picks for the Travelers Championship, set to go live on Tuesday, Jun. 18.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
The Memorial Tournament is returning to its original spot on the PGA Tour calendar.
After striking an agreement with the PGA Tour to stage its event the week before the U.S. Open in 2024, Jack Nicklaus announced Monday that his Memorial Tournament will take place during the first weekend of June.
That means the tournament will begin on Memorial Day Monday, two weeks before the U.S. Open.
“The relationship the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday has enjoyed with the PGA Tour is more like a partnership. The Tour has acted in the best interest of the Memorial Tournament, and we, in turn, have always supported the Tour and its initiatives. That is why a year ago when the Tour presented us its new business model, we were willing to work with them and move the 2024 date to a week before the U.S. Open,” Nicklaus said in a statement.
“Over recent months, we have had a number of conversations with Jay Monahan and his team—ones that have included our presenting sponsor Workday and Co-Founder and Executive Chair Aneel Bhusri—and together we determined that in the best interest of the Memorial Tournament, the Tour and its players, we would return to our traditional date and start Tournament week on the Memorial Day holiday.”
The Memorial Tournament presents a grueling test year in and year out, almost serving as a ‘Mini-major.’ This year’s edition certainly lived up to that billing, as Scottie Scheffler fought firm and fast conditions, as well as a charging Collin Morikawa, to win by a stroke at 8-under par. Scheffler even said it played like a U.S. Open, but it’s extremely difficult for both the mind and the body to play a U.S. Open-type course in back-to-back weeks.
Scottie Scheffler celebrates his par-save on the 18th green, which won him the 2024 Memorial Tournament.Photo by Ian Johnson/Getty Images
Hence, at Pinehurst No. 2 this past week, Scheffler explained why he does not want to play the week before a major going forward.
“I think playing the week before, a lot of it depends on the golf course, but I think last week with the golf course the way it was, it probably was not the best prep work for me coming into another challenging event,” Scheffler said Sunday.
“I shot 5-under during the first round at the Memorial, which would have been the easiest day, and after that, I was 3-under from there on out. I mean, that’s pretty U.S. Open-like, and to play that many rounds, especially with what I’ve been dealing with the weeks leading up or the whole season, been playing a lot of good golf and being in contention, I think maybe my prep would have been a little bit better for this week if I was at home.”
Interestingly, Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion who has won more of them than anyone else, agreed with this sentiment.
“When I played, I rarely played a week before any major championship. So I’m asked to be part of putting on a golf tournament in a week that I would never play,” Nicklaus said before his tournament.
“From a sponsor’s standpoint, Memorial Day has been what our name is, and we were around Memorial Day. [Monday] is normally a huge day gallery-wise for us because it was Memorial Day, and we had maybe a thousand people here [this year on Monday].”
Now Nicklaus gets his wish, as his tournament will welcome the PGA Tour’s best players two weeks before Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh—another brutally tough course—will host the 2025 U.S. Open.
And best of all, Scheffler, now knowing that the 2025 Memorial aligns with his plans, will be there defending his title, too.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
With Florida’s season on the line, Jac Caglianone took the bump for the Gators in an elimination game against NC State. However, a shaky outing saw Caglianone last just one inning for Florida.
He still found a way to help extend Florida’s season at least one more game.
Caglianone was lifted after allowing a run during a shaky first inning, which included both a walk and a hit batter. But the two-way star for the Gators came through with a massive blast in the top of the second, a three-run blast to right that was part of a four-run second inning for Florida.
Caglianone’s three-run shot came on this 91-mph pitch on the inner half of the plate, that the lefty slugger was able to turn on in a hurry:
The home run was clocked at 116 miles per hour off Caglianone’s bat. It also made the Gators two-way star the first starting pitcher to homer in the MCWS since Tim Hudson accomplished that feat for Auburn back in 1997.
Yes, that Tim Hudson, who is now the head coach at his alma mater.
Of course, Caglianone’s short outing on the bump meant the Gators needed to go deep into their bullpen to outlast the gators. Caglianone was lifted in favor of Cade Fisher, who lasted four innings and allowed three earned runs to pick up the victory. But after Jake Clemente pitched a scoreless sixth inning, Brandon Neely came on to start the seventh for the Gators.
Neely closed things out, going the distance for the rare three-inning save. The Florida right hander allowed just one hit and one walk, striking out six over three nearly-perfect innings for his fifth save of the season. The three innings of work brought Neely’s total innings pitched over the postseason to 21, meaning Neely has pitched 25% of the team’s 84 innings in the postseason.
Following the game, Neely praised the entire team, and Florida’s toughness:
Florida’s season is now extended by at least one game, as the Gators await the loser of tonight’s contest between Texas A&M and Kentucky.
Almost 24 hours after Rory McIlroy collapsed at the U.S. Open, he took to social media to distill his thoughts.
“Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer. Firstly, I’d like to congratulate Bryson. He is a worthy champion and exactly what professional golf needs right now. I think we can all agree on that,” McIlroy posted to his social media account.
“As I reflect on my week, I’ll rue a few things over the course of the tournament, mostly the 2 missed putts on 16 and 18 on the final day. But, as I always try to do, I’ll look at the positives of the week that far outweigh the negatives. As I said at the start of the tournament, I feel closer to winning my next major championship than I ever have.
“The one word that I would describe my career as is resilient. I’ve shown my resilience over and over again in the last 17 years and I will again. I’m going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up for my defense of the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open at Royal Troon. See you in Scotland.”
McIlroy will skip this week’s Travelers Championship, the final Signature Event of the 2024 season. He will also not play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the John Deere Classic in the subsequent weeks—the final two events before the PGA Tour heads to Scotland.
Golf fans will see him next at the Genesis Scottish Open, scheduled to begin on Thursday, Jul. 11. McIlroy won that event last year in thrilling fashion, making a birdie on the final hole to eclipse Robert MacIntyre by one.
McIlroy has also had a lot going on in his personal life. He was spotted in Florida on Monday with his wife, Erica, and daughter, Poppy, just one week after the couple called off their divorce. The New York Post first reported the news of their sighting.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
Many believe Emma Hayes has what it takes to return the U.S. women’s national team to the No. 1 status in the world it coveted for decades.
Over the last few years, the prominence of the U.S. women’s team has dropped considerably as key players have retired from the world stage and young newcomers are asked to hold the line.
Despite wins in a pair of recent matches, the U.S. dropped to No. 5 in the latest FIFA women’s world rankings. And while it may not appear as though being the fifth best team in the world is that big of a scare, anyone who knows the dominance of the States for the last 40 years as the preeminent team to beat knows that the latest designation certainly came as a surprise.
For the first time, fans got an insider’s look at the philosophy of Hayes through the latest version of Inside the Crest, U.S. Soccer’s mini-documentary series which chronicles the exploits of both the men’s and women’s programs.
Usually, these are not much more than fluff for the program, but the latest offered a direct look at Hayes and a player pool eager to make her roster in advance of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
Hayes had several poignant comments to the group but these were the Top 5 quotables from Hayes to the team ahead of their back-to-back tune-up games against Korea Republic.
After the Olympic squad is selected, the group will have two tune up games in July. The first against rival Mexico on July 13 (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo) and Costa Rica on July 16 (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT, NBC Universo).
— Emma Hayes to the group ahead of their first game, a 4-0 win against Korea Republic. This is now a group that is 7-1-2 overall in 2024, scoring 26 goals and allowing just seven.
Hayes was adamant in a team meeting that she’s not looking to change much but elevate with the group she’s got. And, right now even with the loss of players like Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz and others due to retiring from international duty, Hayes feels she can work what she’s got into one of the world’s best.
This was great as it added a bit of her philosophy on coaching and style and what she expects out of every player. There’s also an acknowledgment off the bat that she and her staff know that it comes down to their preparation as much as the execution. No scapegoating here.
Took this to mean she doesn’t really care about the pressures from the federation. They hired her to do a job and gave her some pretty moldable tools to do it, so what is there to complain about? Results are all that matter and so far, she’s off to a good start.
This quote says it all. Pressure’s off when it comes to worrying about playing for your country. You’re already here. Do your job and enjoy the ride.
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