Optim Analyse

The best NBA game of the decade? Plus, more from a wild night

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Good morning! Pull up from 30 today. Coming up: 

Electricity: A perfect sports night

These are the nights that create fandom. We can parse viewership numbers, social media reach and comment sections all we want. But nights like last night can pierce the shell of even the most jaded sports fan. 

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Three playoff games, all three decided in the final minute or in overtime. Moments in each one that you realize will birth a fan, no matter if they’re 80 or 8. We’ll go in reverse chronological order here: 

1. Just … how, Wemby?
Nothing said about Victor Wembanyama today will qualify as hyperbole. That’s how good he was in San Antonio’s 122-115 double-overtime win in Oklahoma City, which probably qualifies as one of the best NBA playoff games of the last decade. 

Wembanyama scored 41 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in the win, which gives the Spurs a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference finals over the defending champs. But watching him play was more impressive than a stat line that made him NBA royalty. Just consider the following two plays that happened after the fourth quarter:

That’s a 7-foot-4 player pulling up from Steph Curry range, his team down 3, to tie it and ultimately force another overtime. Is that allowed? We can have humans do this, and we’re all OK with it? 

Here’s Wemby a few minutes later, being 7-foot-4 around the rim to ice the win:

One day I’ll stop being amazed by this, but it won’t be soon. Read more on the game here. I need to exhale for 24 hours. 

2. The Habs, away from home
The barn in Buffalo looked incredible for last night’s Game 7 between the Canadiens and Sabres, particularly as the game wore on. Montreal took an early 2-0 lead in the first period, but that melted to a 2-2 tie in the third. KeyBank Center was frothy. 

Montreal held, and overtime arrived. Then Alex Newhook happened 11:22 into OT:

The Canadiens advance to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2021 and get there via two consecutive Game 7 road wins. Lord. 

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3. The PWHL handled business in regulation — barely
Like their city mates, the Montreal Victoire had a chance to close out a series last night, but this was for a title, and the Victoire were 5:30 away from a clean sweep of the Walter Cup Finals. 

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As if they drew it up in a kid’s backyard dream, the Ottawa Charge scored two goals in that final 5:30 of the game to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Look at Rebecca Leslie (an Ottawa native, no less) with 54 seconds left in regulation:

Ottawa saved its season and prevented Montreal from celebrating on its ice. Game 4 is Wednesday in Ottawa. 

What a night. Let’s keep moving:

News to Know

Sorsby sues NCAA
As expected, Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby sued the NCAA to reinstate his eligibility for the upcoming season while he is under investigation for gambling violations. In his affidavit, Sorsby admitted to betting on Indiana while he was a reserve on the Hoosiers roster, and he is ultimately seeking a quick decision so he can apply to the NFL’s supplemental draft in June if his college career is done. What a mess.

More news:

  • NFL owners will vote this week on whether to award the 2030 Super Bowl to Nashville. More details here. The league is also considering double-digit international games in 2027.
  • The Pelicans signed former Magic coach Jamahl Mosley to a five-year deal to be the team’s new head coach. Mosley is a rebuild specialist.
  • Edmonton will interview former Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube to be the Oilers’ new head coach. See our full report.
  • Lots of coaching news today: Austin FC fired both coach Nico Estevez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell. A loss to last-place Sporting Kansas City sealed it.
  • Yankees ace Gerrit Cole could make his season debut this weekend. Nice.
  • Meanwhile, the Nationals are recalling Dylan Crews to the major-league roster. Washington might be the real deal.
  • Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong apologized for his profane interaction with a White Sox fan over the weekend. More details inside.
  • Brazil named its World Cup roster: Neymar in, Joao Pedro out. See the list.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Wait, More? When a no-hitter goes awry

To stay in the moment for a bit longer about last night: Baseball did its best to join the party with one of the more gutting endings you’ll see in a game. 

For eight innings, the Angels were hitless against the Athletics, blanked by a virtuosic J.T. Ginn on the mound. Then came the ninth inning. Adam Frazier singled, and Zach Neto followed with this:

Gahhhhh. Three outs from a signature career moment. Two batters later, a loss. Tough.

Watch Guide

📺 EPL: Manchester City at AFC Bournemouth
2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network
City needs a win to stay alive in the Premier League title race after Arsenal’s squeaky 1-0 win over Burnley yesterday. Win one for the … Pep-per? Sorry, sorry, trying to delete. 

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📺 NBA: Cavaliers at Knicks
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
And here’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, in which the Knicks are highly favored to secure their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. Ticket prices for this one are astounding. I’m excited to see the Garden rocking.

Pulse Picks

Tom Condon spent over a decade in the NFL trenches, then became the league’s premier super agent. He’s fought, blocked, talked and negotiated. His latest fight will be his toughest yet. 

A final note on the NFL schedule: Our staff picked the must-watch game for every NFL team during the 2026 season. See them here. 

Something we may expand on this week is the state of the College Football Playoff, which is more chaotic than you think. Seth Emerson has a helpful explainer on all of it. 

NASCAR is in a state of flux at the moment, and this past weekend’s All-Star race was … confusing. Jeff Gluck thinks it’s still a worthy race, but has ideas to fix it. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our report on the white nationalist sign seen at Nationals Park. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The NBA anonymous player poll on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future.

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, check out our other newsletters and connect with me on Instagram for more.

Analyse

2026-08-14 11:05:15

Post already analysed. But you can request a new run: Do the magic.