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Good morning! Don’t get caught spying today. Coming up:
- ➕ Overtimes in both NBA and NHL
- ⛳ Major golf is happening right now
- 🕵️ A hilarious scandal
Overtime(s): The beauty and cruelty of OT
To the objective observer, a difficult line exists in playoff games such as the two thrillers we saw last night in the NHL and NBA. Are you happy for a team that mounted an incredible comeback? Or crestfallen for the one that let destiny slip through its fingertips?
Both games had oddly similar arcs, and they finished within 10 minutes of each other. Quickly:
- We’ll start in the NBA, where the young No. 1-seed Pistons had a chance to take a 3-2 series lead at home against the Cavaliers, a raucous crowd behind them. In the final minutes of regulation, you could feel the energy through the screen, even. This was their night of ascension, even if it didn’t ultimately win the series. They led by 15 points. Then, a falter into overtime. Then, heartbreak. It felt like a night Detroit fans will rue for years. It was also a monumental feat of perseverance for a wily Cleveland team. Tears and cheers simultaneously.
- In the NHL, the dichotomy had more juice. The underdog Wild led 3-0 over the vaunted Avalanche after just one period. Minnesota, facing elimination at 3-1 in this series, clamped up. Colorado roared back with three goals to force overtime, where Brett Kulak did this just 3:52 into the extra period:
SERIES OVER. THE AVS WIN IN OT.
🎥 @Avalanche pic.twitter.com/AuQX8cQTQK
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 14, 2026
And that’s how a season ends. Colorado will play the winner of Vegas and Anaheim in the Western Conference final, while the Wild will wonder what happened all offseason.
On to the tee boxes:
Five Questions: Talking about winners and toes
The PGA Championship has long been known as the fourth major, with emphasis on that number. The tournament does not hold the general mystique of the Masters, the Open Championship or the U.S. Open. The identity, the history, the courses are all just a minor rung below.
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Despite that, this is still a major tournament. A legacy will be burnished or tarnished this week, most likely. We have a full team on the ground in the Philadelphia area, too, and they’ve helped me answer five questions I have coming into today’s first round:
1. Does anyone outside of Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy have a shot here?
While the premise is absurd, Brody Miller’s story this week on PGA Championship longshots stuck with me. Six of the last seven PGA Championship winners have entered the week with odds at 35-to-1 or lower.
That leaves us with three probable names, actually: Scheffler, McIlroy or Jon Rahm. Read Brody’s story for some interesting longshots with a chance, though.
2. About Rahm: What’s his deal right now?
I find it hard to feel sorry for a man worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but Rahm is pushing that moral line. Rahm’s late leap to LIV, in what appeared to be a strategic move to force the PGA Tour and LIV to reconcile, backfired. Now, LIV is failing while Rahm is stuck under contract. He also refused the PGA Tour’s lifeboat offer that Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed took earlier this year.
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Rahm tied for eighth in this tournament last year, but had a disappointing finish at this year’s Masters. For now, he has to lie in this bed he made, as Brendan Quinn wrote. Woof.
3. Wait, is McIlroy OK?
This will be quick: McIlroy has struggled with a blister on his foot in practice this week. He swears he’ll be fine, but it sounds painful. He tees off at 8:40 a.m. ET.
4. What’s the deal with this course?
Aronimink has drawn both praise and scorn this week. The gist: It’s a pretty course with a lot of bunkers. It also presents less of a strategic challenge than most major courses. McIlroy summed it up well: Bomb your drive and figure out the rest later. It is a place that values length off the tee above everything else.
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And yet, the Tour’s shortest hitter, Brian Campbell, isn’t worried. I loved his perspective, told by Gabby Herzig.
5. Who’s your pick, dude?
I have always been the person who needs to veer away from the norm, ever so slightly. I can’t explain it. Take it up with my therapist.
Which is why Cameron Young is my choice this week. Justin Ray illustrated this in his full preview, noting Young’s putting has caught up to his “titanic off-the-tee talent.” Young’s profile fits this course, and he’s posted seven top-10 major finishes since 2022, including a third-place tie at Augusta this year.
Read Justin’s full preview here.
Unless you open this email immediately upon receipt, golfers are already playing as you read. Let’s keep moving:
News to Know
Second-tier spycraft
Forgive me, but I cannot stop laughing at the picture above, which depicts a staffer for Southampton, an English soccer club in the country’s second tier, openly spying on a practice for Middlesbrough, which Southampton beat in a playoff match Tuesday. Middlesbrough will present the picture, along with other damning evidence, to the English Football League in an effort to have Southampton expelled from the playoffs. What a tale.
Achane gets paid
The Dolphins agreed to a four-year deal with running back De’Von Achane worth $68 million, $32 million of that guaranteed. It makes Achane the third-highest-paid running back in the NFL by average annual value, trailing only Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey. Achane was awesome last year, running for 1,350 yards, but it’s easy to wonder what this depleted, rebuilding Miami team looks like this year. Either way, Achane is rich.
Leafs fire Berube
Craig Berube is out as Maple Leafs coach, continuing Toronto’s offseason of change. Berube was in charge for just two seasons, which ended with a shocking collapse in 2025-26 without a playoff berth. It’s another bold step in an offseason full of them, and as Jonas Siegel writes, it’s time to figure out who this team really is.
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More news:
- Late-breaking news in the WNBA: The Connecticut Sun will officially relocate to Houston next season.
- Never a good sign: Yankees ace Max Fried left his start yesterday after just 61 pitches due to elbow soreness. See the latest.
- Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers underwent a second knee surgery “multiple weeks ago,” sources told The Athletic. Details inside.
- Manchester City routed Crystal Palace 3-0 to keep pressure on Arsenal atop the Premier League table.
- Meanwhile, it appears that Michael Carrick is in line for the full-time gig as Manchester United manager.
- Boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko, 38, is returning to the ring one year after announcing his retirement. Read our full story.
- Jayden Daniels, Joe Flacco, Baker Mayfield and Cam Ward all appear in Netflix’s upcoming season of “Quarterback.” Netflix also picked up five NFL games this season.
- Young Islanders star Matthew Schaefer was the unanimous choice to win the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL’s best rookie. It’s deserved.
Watch Guide
📺 Golf: PGA Championship
6:45 a.m. ET on ESPN+ and ESPN
You can see all the shots on ESPN+, but the “normal” coverage begins at noon ET on the main ESPN.
📺 NHL: Second round
7 p.m. ET on TNT and HBO Max
We start a fantastic doubleheader tonight with Canadiens-Sabres at 7 p.m. in a 2-2 series. Following that, Vegas can advance to the Western Conference final with a win over Anaheim at 9:30 p.m. Find a seat.
📺 WNBA: Doubleheader
8 p.m. ET on Prime Video
The NBA is taking a night off, and the W slides right into prime-time coverage. Minnesota plays Dallas at 8 p.m. — both title contenders — with New York-Portland at 10 p.m. Maybe the Fire can recreate that electric first win.
Pulse Picks
Imagine your coworker showering with work clothes on after a tough day at the office. Mariners star Cal Raleigh did just that — and his teammates requested it. The strategy worked, too.
Barry Svrluga snagged an exclusive interview with Wizards owner Ted Leonsis after the team won the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Read it here.
We’ve known about the incoming MLB labor issues for years now. But the timing of this collective bargaining negotiation — after the league has made so much progress — could not be worse, as Jim Bowden writes. A lockout must be avoided.
The solution to Tarik Skubal’s loose-body problem? Cutting-edge nanotech.
Steve Buckley shared some insights from his personal interactions with Jason Collins in the months and years before Collins’ death this week. His column is worth a read.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The fall of Yasiel Puig.
Most-read on the website yesterday: Our story on the death of Brandon Clarke, again.
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, check out our other newsletters and connect with me on Instagram for more.