| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker · Jun 02, 2022 | | 👋 Good morning! Great day to be alive. Today's word count: 1,695 words (6 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🏀 The final showdown |  | | | Graphic: Axios Visuals | | | | The Warriors host the Celtics tonight in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, a series featuring two teams with numerous similarities, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. By the numbers: Both are among the winningest franchises in league history, with at least one of them appearing in 33 of the 76 NBA Finals (43%). - Boston's 17 titles are tied with the Lakers for the most ever, so another win would put them back on top after L.A. evened the score in 2020.
- Golden State's six titles are tied with Chicago for third-most, and with another win they would join the Lakers, Celtics and Bulls as the only franchises with four rings in eight years.
The big picture: The similarities run through every level of the organization. Even ownership is linked, with Joe Lacob having to sell his minority stake in the Celtics to buy the Warriors in 2010. - Both squads are anchored by homegrown trios: Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson; Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. And both rosters were built with patience.
- Both coaches, Steve Kerr and Ime Udoka, played for Gregg Popovich and coached under him at last summer's Olympics. Udoka is trying to win a title in his first year at the helm, just like Kerr did in 2015.
- Both teams play a similar brand of basketball. They rank No. 1 (Celtics) and No. 2 (Warriors) in defensive efficiency and are both in the top 10 for threes attempted and bottom 10 for free throws attempted.
The other side: One area where these two teams greatly differ? Championship experience. The Warriors' roster has played a combined 123 NBA Finals games. The Celtics have played zero. Finals notes: - Odds: Golden State (-160) is favored over Boston (+135), per FanDuel, though both FiveThirtyEight and ESPN's models disagree, giving the Celtics an 80%+ chance of winning.
- Broadcast: Mike Breen will call play-by-play, flanked by analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, and sideline reporter Lisa Salters. Game 1 also features an alternate broadcast on ESPN2.
- Injury report: Smart (ankle) and Williams (knee) are both questionable for Boston ... Gary Payton II (elbow), Otto Porter Jr. (foot) and Andre Iguodola (neck) are questionable for Golden State.
Go deeper: |     | | | | | | 2. 📺 Chart du jour: A ratings dream |  Note: Nielsen slightly undercounted 2021 events. Data: Sports Media Watch; Chart: Connor Rothschild/Axios The Warriors-Celtics showdown is a dream pairing for ABC and should be a boon for ratings after two down years amid the pandemic. By the numbers: Of this season's 30 most-watched games, Boston has appeared in 14 and Golden State has appeared in 13, per Sportico (subscription). | | | | | | | | 3. 🇺🇦 Ukraine 2, Scotland 1 |  | | | Photo: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images | | | | Ukraine beat Scotland, 2-1, on Wednesday to keep their World Cup dreams alive and set up a winner-take-all clash with Wales on Sunday. Why it matters: This was Ukraine's first official game since Russia invaded the country in February. - Highlights: Captain Andriy Yarmolenko opened the scoring with a lofted finish in the 33rd minute and Roman Yaremchuk's header just four minutes into the second half provided the necessary cushion.
- Looking ahead: The winner of Sunday's game in Cardiff, Wales, will slot into Group B in Qatar, alongside England, the U.S. and Iran.
My thought bubble: Soccer is just a game — until it's not. Wednesday's match was bigger than Ukraine vs. Scotland, bigger than the World Cup, bigger than sports. - It gave Ukrainians a chance to raise their voices in unison and sing their national anthem. To gather in a stadium, far from the chaos of the world, and watch a game with fairness and respect at its center.
- It gave players a chance to spill their hearts out onto the canvas. To take the emotion welling up inside of them and turn it into something beautiful: A goal, a hustle play, a celebratory hug.
What they're saying: Several players are in regular contact with those fighting on the front line; they know what qualifying for just the second World Cup in the Ukraine's history would mean. "We want to go to the World Cup, to give these incredible emotions to the people. Ukrainians deserve it so much at this moment." — Oleksandr Zinchenko | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Get smarter, faster on Cryptocurrencies | | |  | | | | Axios Crypto brings you daily updates on the most consequential trends in cryptocurrency and the blockchain Subscribe for free | | | | | | 4. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Photo: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images | | | | 🎾 33 straight: Iga Świątek beat Jessica Pegula, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the French Open semifinals and extend her winning streak to 33 matches, the longest on tour since Serena Williams won 34 straight in 2013. ⚽️ USA 3, Morocco 0: The USMNT cruised past Morocco with an impressive 3-0 friendly win in Cincinnati, though Christian Pulisic wasn't happy with the lack of supporters in the stadium. 🏀 Zags are back: Two-time All-American Drew Timme has withdrawn from the NBA draft and is returning to Gonzaga, along with fellow starters Rasir Bolton and Julian Strawther. 🏈 The great debate: The SEC is split when it comes to scheduling. Alabama, Florida and others want to go to a nine-game slate. Kentucky and others want to stay at eight. The Athletic has more (subscription). ⛳️ Texas wins title: Texas held off Arizona State to win its fourth men's golf national championship and first since 2012. | | | | | | | | 5. 📆 On this day: The longest home run ever |  | | | Joey Meyer's baseball card. Photo courtesy of Topps. | | | | 35 years ago today, Brewers minor leaguer Joey Meyer launched the longest home run ever hit — a 582-foot moonshot into the Denver night, Jeff writes. Why it matters: Babe Ruth hit a 575-foot HR in 1921. Mickey Mantle smashed one 565 feet in 1953. Reggie Jackson nearly left Tiger Stadium with a 539-foot shot in the 1971 ASG. But Meyer has them all beat. - The 25-year-old had hit 91 HR across three levels of the minors in the previous three seasons and was in the midst of a 29 HR campaign (in 79 games!) for the Triple-A Denver Zephyrs that year.
- He was also enormous, standing six-foot-three, 270 pounds. NYT called him baseball's answer to William "The Refrigerator" Perry.
What he's saying: "Well, I knew I hit it good," Meyer told MLB.com last year. "But I didn't watch it ... I wasn't the watching type. When [the third-base coach] told me, 'You went into the upper deck,' I high-fived him and thought he was joking." - To officially measure the blast, the Zephyrs brought in an engineer whose calculations involved things like the speed and arc of the ball, where it landed, and where it may have been projected.
- Such measurements got more precise with the implementation of Statcast in 2015, but no one has hit it farther than 505 feet (Nomar Mazara, 2019) since then.
The big picture: Meyer was drafted in 1981 out of Hawaii's Punahou School (President Obama's alma mater) but opted for college (University of Hawaii at Manoa) and came to the Brewers in the 1983 draft. - He immediately made his mark, winning league MVP for the Single-A Beloit Brewers in 1984 before working his way up through Triple-A and into the majors by 1988.
- But his MLB career never took off, with more strikeouts (124) than hits (119) and just 18 HR across two seasons before his release in 1989. These days, he works security at a hospital in Maui.
Fun fact ... Aside from the record-breaking blast, Meyer's biggest claim to fame was becoming the first and only player to hit a walk-off HR against Roger Clemens. | | | | | | | | 6. 🌎 The world in photos | | Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images NEW YORK — The Rangers routed the Lightning, 6-2, to take a 1-0 lead in the East Finals and improve to 4-0 against Tampa Bay this season. - Wild stat: The Rangers scored more goals in the first two periods (four) than the Panthers scored in their entire series against the Lightning (three).
Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images for The Match LAS VEGAS — Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers beat Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in the latest edition of The Match, a 12-hole exhibition at Wynn Las Vegas. Photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images LONDON — Argentina beat Italy, 3-0, to win the 2022 Finalissima, a match between the winners of the previous South American and European championships. - By the numbers: Argentina's 32-match unbeaten streak is five shy of tying Italy's record 37-match streak (2018–21).
| | | | | | | | 7. 🥎 Watchlist: Women's College World Series |  | | | No. 1 seed Oklahoma is looking to repeat as national champions. Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images | | | | The Women's College World Series begins today in Oklahoma City, where eight schools will spend the next week vying for a national title. - Format: Teams are split in two double-elimination brackets, with the winners of each advancing to next week's best-of-three WCWS Finals.
- Today's schedule (ESPN): No. 5 UCLA vs. Texas (12pm ET); No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 Northwestern (2:30pm); No. 14 Florida vs. Oregon State (7pm); No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. Arizona (9:30pm)
More to watch: - 🏀 NBA Finals: Celtics at Warriors (9pm, ABC)
- 🏒 NHL playoffs: Oilers (down 1-0) at Avalanche (8pm, TNT)
- 🎾 French Open: No. 1 Iga Świątek vs. No. 20 Daria Kasatkina (9am, Tennis); No. 18 Coco Gauff vs. Martina Trevisan (10:15am, Tennis/NBC)
- ⛳️ LPGA: U.S. Women's Open (1pm, Peacock; 3pm, USA)
- ⛳️ PGA: Memorial Tournament (7am, ESPN+; 2pm, Golf)
- ⚽️ UEFA Nations League: Spain vs. Portugal (2:45pm, FS1)
- ⚾️ MLB: 11 games (MLB.TV) ... Free trial.
- 🏀 WNBA: Sun at Aces (10pm, Facebook)
| | | | | | | | 8. 🏆 The Ocho: Bungee world record | | Source: Giphy François-Marie Dibon, 44, completed 765 bungee jumps off Scotland's Garry Bridge from Tuesday to Wednesday, shattering the previous world record of 430 for most in a 24-hour span, Jeff writes. - By the numbers: He completed one jump every 113 seconds for an entire day. And actually, the pace was even quicker because he broke the record after 12 hours, rested for 50 minutes, then got back to it.
- The backdrop: The Frenchman didn't make his first jump until 2011 because he was afraid of heights. "Bungee jumping is a very good cure," he told BBC.
P.S. ... Yours truly once bungee jumped off Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa. Once was more than enough for a lifetime. | | | | | | | | 9. 🎓 NCAA trivia | | Which six Power 5 schools failed to make the NCAA baseball tournament, NCAA men's basketball tournament and a bowl game this year? - Hint: Three Pac-12, two Big Ten, one ACC.
- Submitted by: Palmer T. (Athens, Ga.)
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 🎮 1 cover thing: Madden on Madden |  | | | Courtesy: EA Sports | | | | The late John Madden will grace the cover of this year's Madden NFL 23 video game, which will be released in August. The big picture: Wednesday's announcement came on the 34th anniversary of the release of the first Madden game, on June 1, 1988. Few products have had a bigger impact on sports culture and fandom. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Get smarter, faster on Cryptocurrencies | | | | | | | | Axios Crypto brings you daily updates on the most consequential trends in cryptocurrency and the blockchain Subscribe for free | | | | Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Let's go Coco" Baker Trivia answer: Syracuse, Nebraska, Northwestern, Cal, Colorado, Washington 🙏 Thanks for reading. Follow us on Twitter: @kendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. Tell your friends to sign up. |  | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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