Year: 2024

The Boston Celtics needed to come back from as many as 18 points down on Saturday night in Game 3 against the Tyrese Haliburton-less Indiana Pacers. And while it came down to the final moments of the game, Boston was able to get the job done, picking up a 114-111 win in Gainbridge Fieldhouse to move one win away from a sweep and a berth in the NBA Finals.

The thought coming into Game 3 was that Boston would simply run Indiana off the floor. While the Pacers have been outstanding in their own building this postseason, having to beat a Celtics team with a major talent advantage while Haliburton watched on the sideline with an injury seemed to be too much to overcome, and early on, it looked like that would be the case. Boston spent much of the first quarter getting anything it wanted, opening up a lead of as many as nine points.

And then, the Pacers attacked the rim over, and over, and over again. Led by the Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, and T.J. McConnell off of the bench, Indiana had a startling 42-18 edge on points in the paint, as the team repeatedly cooked Boston’s perimeter defense and got good looks near the rim.

They led by as many as 18 points, and shot a scintillating 28-for-44 (63.6 percent) from the field. And as a result, despite a 20-point half by Jayson Tatum and the Celtics having a solid shooting half (50 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from three), the Pacers took a 69-57 lead into the locker room at halftime, with Nembhard doing an excellent job filling the hole Haliburton left to the tune of 21 points and five rebounds in the first half.

While Indiana was able to get its lead back up to 18 early on in the third quarter, Boston was not deterred, and never quite let the Pacers land the knockout blow — their defense became a little more secure in the third, as they limited Indiana to only 21 points in the period.

Whether that inability to put Boston away breathed some life into the Celtics or not is unclear, but the 1-seed in the East started to ramp up its intensity on the defensive end of the floor. Eventually, that led to a bit of success on offense, too, as Boston was able to able to go on a 10-2 run late in the third to cut the lead down to as few as seven. While a Doug McDermott tip-in to close the third snapped the run, the once-gigantic Indiana lead was down to 90-81 as the game entered its final 12 minutes.

Boston continued to chip away to start the final frame, and got the lead down to three points thanks to an early 9-3 run. Indiana did have a response, though, as the team created a little breathing room by getting the lead back up to seven.

Back and forth the two teams went, with the Celtics having a response for everything the Pacers did and vice versa. Even when Brown had one of the nastiest dunks of the playoffs, Nembhard came right back down and dropped a jumper to inject some life back into Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

But the Celtics just would not die, and with his seventh three of the night, Al Horford made sure it would be a two-point game as things entered the final minute. And after a Pacers miss, Jrue Holiday made his way into the paint, made a layup, got fouled, and converted from the charity stripe to give Boston a 112-111 lead with 39 seconds to go.

Nembhard couldn’t knock down a jumper as Indiana decided to go for a 2-for-1, but the door got cracked open as a Tatum layup did not go down. Instead of calling a timeout and drawing up a play, Rick Carlisle decided to let them play it out, but Holiday stonewalled Nembhard as he attempted to drive and poked the ball away from him.

Holiday got fouled and knocked down both free throws, meaning Indiana needed a three in the final 1.7 seconds to extend the game. And while they were able to get a clean look, Aaron Nesmith’s effort did not go down.

Tatum was the star on the night, going for 36 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks, and a steal. Horford turned back the clock by going for 23 points and hitting seven threes, while Brown had 24. Nembhard’s 32 points led Indiana, while McConnell stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and a steal. Both Siakam and Turner scored 22 points.

Indiana will now fight for its playoff life in Game 4, while Boston finds itself one win away from making it to the NBA Finals. Game 4 will take place on Monday night at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Much of the discussion early in this WNBA season has been about the incredibly talented 2024 rookie class. The headliner is top overall pick Caitlin Clark, but there are a number of hopeful young stars that are just getting their careers started, from Cameron Brink in Los Angeles to Angel Reese in Chicago.

Reese’s Sky squad has impressed early this season, getting off to a 2-1 start, but faced the last remaining unbeaten in the WNBA on Saturday night when the Connecticut Sun came to town. The Sun have enjoyed going up against top picks this year, handing Clark and the Fever a pair of losses already, and the veteran laden squad has looked to welcome youngsters to the league by introducing them to their physicality.

On Saturday night, Reese got a taste of that from last year’s MVP finalist Alyssa Thomas, who got ejected after slamming the former LSU star to the court while going for a rebound in the late third quarter.

Thomas got hit with a Flagrant 2 upon review, as the referees saw her get her arm up around Reese’s neck and then threw her down, and said that was enough of that. Reese popped up and hit both of her free throws after, shaking off the hard hit to give the Sky a brief one-point advantage.

Most American’s spend Memorial Day weekend barbecuing with friends and family. But most lovers across the South are preparing to spend the holiday weekend in Dallas, Texas’ Fair Park for the 2024 Twogether Land music festival.

Between May 25 and 26, entertainers such as Summer Walker, Lil Wayne, Key Glock, Gucci Mane, Latto, Jeezy, and more are set to take the stage. But across the multi-day event’s three stages (Twogether Land Stage, TGL Live Stage, and Toyota Music Den), there is more than musical performance to check out including live podcast recordings, a vendor village, skating rink, and more.

However, if you are attending strictly for the music, continue below for the main stage’s set times. All performance slots are listed in Central time.

Twogether Land Set Times: Saturday, May 25

Kenyon Dixon @ 12:15 pm
Josh Levi @ 1 pm
310Babii @ 1:15 pm
Shaboozey @ 1:30 pm
Amaarae @ 2:!5 pm
Tink @ 3:15 pm
Dru Hill @ 4:30 pm
Three 6 Mafia @ 5:45 pm
Gucci Mane @ 7 pm
Key Glock @ 8:15 pm
Summer Walker @ 9:30 pm

Twogether Land Set Times: Sunday, May 26

Akeen Ali @ 12:15 pm
Maeta @ 12:30 pm
Amerie @ 1:15 pm
Mariah The Scientist @ 2:15 pm
The Mexican OT @ 3:15 pm
The Dream @ 5:45 pm
Jeezy @ 7 pm
Latto @ 8:15 pm
Lil Wayne @ 9:30 pm

View both days of Twogether Land music festival’s entire set times below.

Twogether Land poster

Disney added yet another celebrity child to their casting ranks. This coming December, Blue Ivy Carter will co-star alongside her mother, Beyoncé, in Mufasa: The Lion King. Before the CGI-animated prequel hits theaters, lovers of The Lion King were treated to another musical dose of the classic film.

Yesterday (May 24), North West joined in on the fun as part of the film’s 30th anniversary show (Disney’s The Lion King 30th Anniversary – A Live-to-Film Concert Event) at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. In the role of Young Simba, West displayed both her acting and singing skills performing one of the movie’s breakout song, “I Just Can’t Wait to be King.”

In the sold-out crowd, West received support from both of her famous family, including dad Ye (better known as Kanye West), mother Kim Kardashian, and grandmother Kris Jenner. As she left the stage, Kim was waiting close by to embrace her daughter following her major accomplishment.

On Instagram, Kim continued the love by uploading images of the flower arrangement sent to West, along with custom cookies made with West’s face.

This is not West’s first venture into entertainment. Near the top of the year, she appeared on her father and Ty Dolla Sign’s song “Talking/Once Again.” However, West’s casting marked her debut musical role.

According to reports, for those who can’t catch the second performance today (May 25) starring North West, Jennifer Hudson, Heather Headley, Lebo M., Billy Eichner, Jason Weaver, and more, the special will air on Disney+. Find more information here.

With the release of any ranked list, backlash is sure to follow. Apple Music’s top 100 albums of all time list is no exception. But, there’s one person that seems to be content with the streaming company’s opinion.

While Lauryn Hill‘s The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill secured the top spot, Frank Ocean’s Blonde wasn’t far off in the fifth slot. Despite users online’s push back, yesterday (May 24), the “Novacane” singer’s mother Katonya Breaux Riley publicly showed her support of his placement.

“This child sure knows how to make his momma proud,” she wrote. “I first said. ‘Wow, son, you are among the greats.’ But quickly retracted and said, ‘No, you are a GREAT!’ Here’s to my Frankie! #Blonde.”

The chart-topping project was revered at the time of its release. However, it appears things have changed in the nearly-decade following. To be clear, users aren’t upset that the body of work was mentioned, most so its ranking.

“Frank Ocean over Stevie Wonder,” wrote one user.

Not everyone disagreed. Many people have begun to rally behind Frank. “If you’re mad cause Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ is in the top 10 albums ever by Apple Music, you definitely have never listened to the album,” chimed another.

Frank Ocean doesn’t seem to have issued a statement about the recognition.

Cody Rhodes pinned United States champion Logan Paul to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship at King and Queen of the Ring on Saturday at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Paul opened the match with stiff body shots on Rhodes. He continued to target Rhodes’ midsection, going at the champion with punches, an Octopus stretch, and eventually grabbing brass knuckles to toss a body shot at Rhodes on the outside.

Michael Cole disrespected Paul after he used the brass knuckles, so the challenger exchanged words with Cole before Rhodes came flying over the top rope to swing the momentum. Inside the ring, Rhodes missed a disaster kick, then hit his jab combination finished with an elbow attack. Rhodes dropped Paul with a Cody Cutter for two.

Rhodes had Paul in place for a vertebreaker before Paul reversed and landed a Cross Rhodes for two. Paul went to the top rope and rolled out of missed splash attempt and Rhodes hit a spinning suplex. Paul reversed a Cross Rhodes attempt, then tossed the champ to the outside.

Paul tossed the top off the announce table and placed Rhodes there, but Rhodes reversed, landing a Cody Cutter off the guardrail on top of the announce table. Rhodes broke the referee’s count, then Paul tossed Rhodes into the stairs and laid him on the other announce table. Paul climbed to the top rope and landed a frog splash through Rhodes and the table. Paul rolled Rhodes into the ring, hit a frog splash and Rhodes kicked out.

Back on their feet, Paul splashed the referee, then Rhodes hit the vertebreaker. Paul got to his feet and hit a low blow, then pulled out the brass knuckles again, but the guest ring announcer pulled his legs. Rhodes then hit the triple Cross Rhodes for the pinfall.

Gunther became King of the Ring with a pinfall victory over Randy Orton at King and Queen of the Ring on Saturday at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Gunther kicked off the match with blistering shots to Orton. He executed huge chops across Orton’s chest, attacked his damaged left knee, and eventually hit a big splash for two.

After missing a second splash attempt, Orton landed an RKO, but the Ring General rolled under the bottom rope to the outside. Orton followed him to the outside and dropped him on the announce table three times.

Gunther attacked Orton’s knee over and again, locking in a single leg crab, but Orton was able to escape. Orton hit an RKO for two, but Gunther kicked out, hitting Orton’s knee and rolling him over for the three count despite Orton’s shoulder being off the mat.

After beating Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, and Jey Uso on his way to the finals, Gunther is now in line for a WWE World Championship match at SummerSlam in Cleveland. Following Gunther’s record-breaking Intercontinental championship reign, the logical next step in his progression is a move into the main event scene.

Who he faces remains to be seen after Triple H announced Damian Priest will defend his belt against Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle on June 15 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Draymond Green joined his TNT colleague Shaquille O’Neal on this week’s episode of The Big Podcast, and the topic turned to Green’s many fines and suspensions, which led the four-time champion to get some things off of his chest. Mainly, he takes exception to being fined because, in his words, the system prevents players from accumulating wealth after they’re done playing.

Draymond Green has made $153 million in his career, with another $50 million guaranteed to him (and a $27 million player option) left on his current contract. With a 37 percent federal tax rate and a 14 percent state tax in California, that gets cut roughly in half, but that still leaves more than $100 million in career earnings he will take home over his career — if this is the final contract he gets. Green has been fined a lot and his cumulative total of checks sent to the league for techs and fines have run him around $900,000. Suspensions have cost him more than $3 million, which is because he loses game checks for those absences — with his 12-game suspension for hitting Jusuf Nurkic in the face costing him nearly $2 million. In the words of Linus Caldwell, that’s a lot of money to a lot of people, but for Green, who is on the extreme end of the fine/suspension spectrum, that’s around 4 percent of his career post-tax earnings that have gone to the league.

The technical foul complaint would be the most persuasive argument if those were bigger expenditures, because some of those Ts are not always deserved (although, I’m not sure that’s often the case with Draymond) — also the league will rescind technicals that were deemed unnecessary. It’s the suspensions that have done real damage to Green’s wallet, and those suspensions are the direct result of choices he made — choking Rudy Gobert, swinging his arm wildly and hitting Jusuf Nurkic, kicking LeBron James in the nuts, etc. As such, it’s really hard to imagine many people really feeling for Draymond about the money he’s lost, and I doubt he’s going to have a lot of support for his crusade against the fine system (where all the money goes to charity).

Nia Jax became the Queen of the Ring at WWE’s King and Queen of the Ring event on Saturday at the Jeddah Super Dome in Saudi Arabia.

https://twitter.com/skyblonded/status/1794433400171888787/video/1

Jax spent much of the match as the dominant figure to Lyra Valkyria’s underdog opponent. Valkyria flew around the ring, taking any opportunity to get Jax off her feet. Jax went for an Annihilator, but Valkyria slipped underneath the bottom rope. Jax tried the move on the apron, but missed, opening the door for Valkyria to baseball slide her onto the outside.

Valkyria hit a bulldog on the outside and looked to have the advantage back inside the ring until Jax turned the momentum. The finish came when Jax climbed to the top rope with Valkyria on Jax’s shoulders, looking for a Samoan Drop, when Valkyria slipped out and looked for a powerbomb. Instead, Jax reversed into a massive Annihilator for the pinfall and win.

With Jax’s win, she’ll move on to earn a WWE Women’s Championship match against Bayley at SummerSlam in Cleveland. Jax held the Raw Women’s championship once, holding the belt for 70 days before dropping it to Alexa Bliss.

With a clear path back to the belt, perhaps Jax is finally in the driver’s seat to a dominant championship run.

Liv Morgan pinned Becky Lynch to claim the Women’s World Championship at King and Queen of the Ring on Saturday at the Jeddah Super Dome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Lynch was in control for a good portion of the match before Dominik Mysterio made his way to ringside. He previously claimed he’d do everything to make sure Morgan didn’t win the championship, but ended up being a deciding factor in handing the belt to the challenger.

With both competitors on their back on opposite sides of the ring, Mysterio slid a chair into the middle of the ring and encouraged Lynch to grab it. As he got up on the apron to distract the referee, Morgan dropped Lynch with a DDT on the chair before hitting Oblivion for the three count.

The win ended Lynch’s reign of just 33 days, after she won a battle royal following Rhea Ripley vacating the championship due to injury at the hands of Lynch.

The Mysterio and Morgan storyline is just getting started, with the former being a loyal member of The Judgement Day ahead of Ripley’s injury. There’s no word on how long Ripley will be out of action, but she previously promised to come directly for Morgan upon her return. The love triangle sets perfectly to position Dom in the middle of the two top women stars.