Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic <\/p>\n
A season that featured an NHL-best 55 wins and 114 points \u2014 and a postseason that started with seven straight wins \u2014 is now 60 minutes from ending after the Rangers dropped Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final, 3-2, to the Panthers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
Despite finally getting their first point of the series from Chris Kreider on the game\u2019s first goal, another strong effort from Igor Shesterkin (34 saves) and Alexis Lafreniere\u2019s fourth goal of the series, the Rangers lost their seventh straight Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Final, which now includes five at the Garden (1994, 2012, 2015, 2022) to fall behind in the series.<\/p>\n
The Rangers have lost each such series since Mark Messier\u2019s Game 6 guarantee in New Jersey and Stephane Matteau\u2019s Game 7 clincher in 1994.<\/p>\n
Kreider\u2019s shorthanded goal \u2014 the team\u2019s sixth of the postseason, marking the most by any team in 16 years (Red Wings) \u2014 gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead barely two minutes into the second period, but the Panthers quickly responded with Gustav Forsling\u2019s backhand goal set up by a brilliant no-look pass from Sam Bennett.<\/p>\n
The Panthers took the lead for good on an Anton Lundell goal with 9:38 to play.<\/p>\n
The teams will face off for Game 6 on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ABC) in Florida, where the Rangers and Panthers split overtime wins earlier this week.<\/p>\n
The oft-cited parallels to the Rangers\u2019 most recent Cup-winning run of 1994 now offers another similarity: The Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners leave home for what could be their last game of the season.<\/p>\n
Anyone got a guarantee?<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s back page<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy being green<\/p>\n
It is unclear why the Celtics are back in the NBA Finals \u2014 because they were the league\u2019s top team in the regular season or because they encountered an historically favorable path through the Eastern Conference?<\/p>\n
Their good fortune began when the bracket was finalized \u2014 three wins separated the No. 2 seed and No. 7 seed \u2014 and Boston headlined the weak side, knowing it would not face more than one of its greatest threats (Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia).<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the Celtics encountered none of them, benefitting from injuries to the conference\u2019s best player (Giannis Antetokounmpo) and half of the Knicks\u2019 roster.<\/p>\n
Instead, they faced the Heat \u2014 who defeated the Celtics in two of the previous four Eastern Conference Finals and took them to seven games in 2022 \u2014 who never had their best player (Jimmy Butler). A potentially tense series against Cleveland was wrapped up in five games after the Cavs\u2019 best player (Donovan Mitchell) missed the final two games. And the Eastern Conference Finals \u2014 featuring a pair of three-point wins and an overtime victory \u2014 ended in a sweep after the Pacers lost their best player (Tyrese Haliburton) for the final two games.<\/p>\n
The Celtics may have ended up here \u2014 four wins from their first championship since 2008 \u2014 even if every team was at full strength. They led the league with 64 wins, earning home-court advantage on a floor where they went 37-4 during the regular season.<\/p>\n
But dominance during the regular season doesn\u2019t mean as much as it used to.<\/p>\n
Since 2006, only five of 12 teams that have won at least 64 games in a season went on to win the NBA title. Before then, 10 of 13 teams to win at least 64 games finished with a championship.<\/p>\n
Now, the Celtics\u2019 run will climax with an NBA Finals matchup against the fifth-seeded Mavericks \u2014 marking the first title matchup in seven years between teams separated by double-digit regular-season wins \u2014 who just decimated the league\u2019s top defense and clinched their first Western Conference crown since 2011 with a 124-103 win Thursday night in Game 5 in Minnesota behind 36 points apiece from Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.<\/p>\n
It has the feel of a run that will earn little respect, that could be decorated with an asterisk. But that will fade. That\u2019s how most titles are won these days.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Nuggets won the final two rounds against a 7-seed and an 8-seed. In 2021, the Bucks won Game 7 in Brooklyn because Irving was hurt and James Harden was playing on one leg. In 2020, the Lakers won a title in the bubble, following a Jamal Murray injury and a matchup with the fifth-seeded Heat in the Finals. In 2019, the Raptors ended the Warriors\u2019 three-peat bid following Finals injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. In 2018, the 65-win Rockets led 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals, then lost the series after losing Chris Paul to a hamstring injury. In 2016, the Cavs\u2019 unprecedented comeback came after Draymond Green\u2019s controversial Game 5 suspension. In 2015, the Warriors won their first title with Steph Curry against the shorthanded Cavs, playing without Irving and Kevin Love.<\/p>\n
The Celtics will be favored in the Finals. Their net rating (11.6) is tied with the 2016-17 Warriors for the third-best in league history, trailing only Michael Jordan\u2019s Bulls in 1995-96 and \u201996-97. Brad Stevens hit back-to-back home runs with the acquisitions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, upgrading the perennial contender into the league\u2019s most balanced and consistent team.<\/p>\n
But their greatest strength may be their health.<\/p>\n
Every spring, their top two players (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown) are available, allowing the Celtics to reach the Eastern Conference Finals in four of the past five seasons. Meanwhile, so many of the players lost or limited during the postseason (Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Zion Williamson, OG Anunoby) were easy to envision.<\/p>\n
It feels as if the Celtics are due, following so many close calls.<\/p>\n
It feels as if a title will never be easier for them to take, now, with nine days of rest before Game 1 of the NBA Finals begins in Boston and Porzingis expected to return from a calf injury.<\/p>\n
But the truth is the Celtics probably will have several more swings, with the good fortune of being led by a pair of reliable stars in their mid-20s, playing in the league\u2019s weaker conference.<\/p>\n
Outside of the Knicks \u2014 who held upset potential before the injuries and still could improve in the offseason \u2014 who is a threat to Boston in the East?<\/p>\n
The Bucks\u2019 supporting cast is aging out of contention. Embiid breaks down every spring. The Magic are inexperienced. The Cavs are disjointed. The Heat already peaked. The Pacers\u2019 defense isn\u2019t ready for prime time.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks are different, featuring shooters, size and athleticism, holding the edge in coaching, late-game shot-making and the best player on the court.<\/p>\n
The Celtics\u2019 run through the East was a joke. The Finals will be anything but.<\/p>\n
Now for a Mets changeup<\/p>\n
Jorge Lopez has regrets.<\/p>\n
Though the former Mets reliever \u2014 who was designated for assignment Thursday after getting ejected from Wednesday\u2019s loss and throwing his glove into the stands at Citi Field \u2014 in the immediate aftermath said he did not regret his actions, Lopez now wishes he had a mulligan on his controversial post-game interview, in which it was unclear whether the Puerto Rico native declared himself \u201cthe worst teammate in the entire league\u201d or a member of the \u201cworst team probably in the whole f\u2013king MLB.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst and foremost, I apologize to my teammates, coaches, fans and front office,\u201d Lopez said in a statement. \u201cI feel that I let them down yesterday, both on and off the field. I also want to clarify my post-game remarks, because I had no intention of disparaging the New York Mets Organization. During that interview, I spoke candidly about my frustrations with my personal performance and how I felt it made me the worst teammate in the entire league.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately my efforts to address the media in English created some confusion and generated headlines that do not reflect what I was trying to express.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mets, who ended a three-game skid with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks on Thursday night, did not have Pete Alonso in the starting lineup, but fears of a lengthy absence were quelled after CT scans revealed Alonso did not break any bones in his right hand when hit with a fastball on Wednesday and he then came through with a clutch pinch-hit double.<\/p>\n
Francisco Lindor, who called Wednesday\u2019s players-only meeting, went 4-for-4<\/p>\n
June madness<\/p>\n
There is no greater absence from the New York sports scene than an FBS team.<\/p>\n
There may be no sadder drought locally \u2014 where college basketball was once king \u2014 than the two decades that have passed since a men\u2019s team from any New York borough or suburb won a game during March Madness.<\/p>\n
But on Friday, the NCAA Baseball Tournament begins, with a pair of New York schools eyeing the area\u2019s latest unexpected run.<\/p>\n
No. 3 St. John\u2019s (37-16-1) opens the tournament against No. 2 Mississippi State (38-21) on Friday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+) in the Charlottesville Regional \u2014 also consisting of No. 1 Virginia and No. 4 Penn \u2014 while No. 4 Long Island University (33-23) will face No. 1 North Carolina (42-13) in Chapel Hill (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+) after No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Wofford play the early game of the double-elimination region.<\/p>\n
The Red Storm will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018 \u2014 and 11th appearance since 2004 \u2014 while the Sharks earned their second bid in three years with a Northeast Conference championship.<\/p>\n
It has been 12 years since Stony Brook made its improbable run to the College World Series, the only New York team since 1980 (St. John\u2019s) to reach Omaha.<\/p>\n
But other local schools have also made noise in the tournament in recent years. Columbia and St. John\u2019s reached the Regional Final in 2015, and the Lions returned to that stage in 2022.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t bank on it happening again this year. You can\u2019t rule it out, either.<\/p>\n
Prospect of the day<\/p>\n
Ronald Hernandez is putting an exclamation point on a fantastic May.<\/p>\n
The Mets catching prospect homered as part of a 2-for-5 game for Single-A St. Lucie on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Hernandez, acquired in the David Robertson trade last summer, got off to an inauspicious start in 2024 with a .194 average in April.<\/p>\n
But this month, the 20-year-old from Venezuela has put up a .370\/.433\/.494 slash line with five extra-base hits.<\/p>\n
\u2014\u00a0Andrew Battifarano<\/p>\n
What we\u2019re reading \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n
\u26be After losing emerging rotation piece Clarke Schmidt to a lengthy IL trip, the Yankees (39-19) went out and used an Aaron Judge moonshot to roll past the Angels.<\/p>\n
\u26be The Post\u2019s Mike Vaccaro writes that it\u2019s on Mets owner Steve Cohen to finally reverse the franchise\u2019s reputation for embarrassing slapstick, which was reinforced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u26be What could the Mets bring back if they held a fire sale, starting with Pete Alonso? The Post\u2019s Jon Heyman breaks it down.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfc8 Drew Lock regaled reporters with tales from his past and offered a mix of deference and confidence as he settles into the Giants backup QB job: \u201cWhenever that time comes, if it comes, I\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfc0 The Post\u2019s Phil Mushnick recalls the Bill Walton he knew: an \u201cold-school social conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u26f3 Nelly Korda\u2019s US Women\u2019s Open came unglued in spectacular fashion.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfc0 Caitlin Clark now leads the WNBA \u2026 in technical fouls.<\/p>\n
\u26bd The biggest club soccer match of the year goes down Saturday when Real Madrid meet Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfc0 Drew Gordon, a former NBA forward and the older brother of Nuggets star Aaron Gordon, died in a car crash at the age of 33.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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