Michael McCarthy had just witnessed a display of resilience unfold in front of him at the Preakness Stakes on Saturday when he referenced another. “We’ll rebuild,” McCarthy told NBC in a televised interview from the wet track of Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, just minutes after his horse, Journalism, won the 150th running of the Triple Crown’s middle leg. “This is for Altadena.” Journalism’s victory required a comeback of more than five lengths, an improbable run that required slipping between two horses on either side as it entered the backstretch, then furiously making up ground on leader Gosger, never taking the lead until the final strides. The route was unexpected and challenging — not all that dissimilar to what its trainer had endured since January wildfires in Southern California displaced McCarthy and his family from their home. As flames creeped within a reported 600 feet of the walls of McCarthy’s Altadena home, he, his wife and daughter left at 4:40 a.m. and checked in to a hotel, The Athletic reported last month. McCarthy’s home in Altadena suffered smoke damage but ultimately survived what became known as the Eaton Fire, named for a nearby canyon from which it originated and grew into a blaze that would kill 18 people. But his neighborhood was largely destroyed, as was the city where he was raised. What remained in Altadena was “just chimneys,” McCarthy told NBC Sports last month. Together the Eaton and nearby Palisades Fire, which also ignited in early January in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, and also spread via extreme winds, destroyed an estimated 16,000 structures, impacted more than 30,000 people and caused an economic loss of more than $250 billion. On the morning of Jan. 8 when the fire broke out, 3-year-old Journalism was in the back right corner of its stall in a barn at Santa Anita Park in nearby Arcadia, “which is where they go when they know something is going on,” McCarthy told NBC Sports’ Tim Layden. The trainer decided to move Journalism and other horses out of the barn that day and had them driven near San Diego as a precaution. Aron Wellman, a co-owner of Journalism, told The Athletic last month that “there were a lot of moving parts” as the fires broke out. “The weight of the world was on Michael’s shoulders there for a bit,” he said. When, four days later, Journalism was brought back to Santa Anita, his trainer remarked that the horse appeared unaffected by the disruption taking place around him. It was a foreshadowing of the unflappability the horse used to win at Pimlico on Saturday. Considered the betting favorite to win the May 3 Kentucky Derby, Journalism finished second when it was unable to catch Sovereignty. The Derby champion was not entered at the Preakness because of the two-week turnaround. It used to be rare for a Derby champion to skip the Preakness, and thus miss out on the possibility of winning horse racing’s Triple Crown, which ends with the Belmont Stakes. Yet this year marked the third time in the last four years the Preakness field has not included the Derby winner. The trend has created a debate about whether the Triple Crown, with three races spaced apart by just two weeks, is too taxing on horses. Only three horses in the Preakness field had also raced in the Kentucky Derby. “I think it says a lot about him,” McCarthy said after the race. “None of these Triple Crown races are easy to get to, you certainly need the vehicle, and we had it with him.” In a nine-horse field Saturday, Journalism sat in sixth through the backstretch of the 1 3/16-mile track, and appeared too far back to make a challenge entering the homestretch in front of the Pimlico grandstand that will soon be demolished. Yet Journalism showed why it was the pre-race favorite, with 6-5 odds, by charging to a victory. The comeback “defied logic,” Wellman said after the race. “I just think that this victory symbolizes so much about life,” Wellman said. “It took guts for Mike McCarthy to make this call to come here. It took guts for [jockey] Umberto Rispoli to power his way through a seemingly impossible hole, getting sideswiped and threading the needle and powering on through. And it took guts from an incredible horse to somehow will his way to victory.”

Oklahoma City has the likely MVP on its roster, but all season long its calling card was its defense — getting stops and turning those into transition offense fueled a 68-win regular season. It also led to a Game 7 win against Denver — particularly in an 18-5 run to end the first half, which changed the game. That run had the Nuggets up by 14 at the half, a lead that stretched to 23 just a minute-and-a-half into the second half. It was all Thunder the rest of the way — they had a 93.9 defensive rating for the day — and by 9:12 in the fourth quarter it was a 30-point game and Nuggets interim coach David Adelman emptied his bench. In the end it was a 125-93 OKC win that puts the Thunder through to the Western Conference Finals, taking the series 4-3. Minnesota will be in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night to open the West finals. This series and this Game 7 took the Thunder from a team with potential to one that looks the part of a champion. “We’re better now than we were at the beginning of the series, and it’s because of them,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “[Denver] pushed us to the limit.” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like an MVP Sunday with 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting Sunday, but what won the game was the Thunder’s role players stepping up: • Jalen Williams scored 24 points with seven assists. • Alex Caruso did a brilliant job as the primary defender on Nikola Jokic, harassing the two-time MVP into a human night (20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists) while scoring 11 points himself. • Chet Holmgren had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Those points didn’t come because the Thunder were bombing away from 3 — they shot 30.8% on the night — but in the paint, where the Thunder scored 64 points before both coaches emptied their benches. It took seven games, but the Thunder finally figured out how to score against the Nuggets’ zone defense, by getting the ball to a player at the free throw line and having a strong finisher cutting out of the dunker’s spot. Denver looked the more comfortable team in the bright lights early, racing out to a 21-10 lead. Oklahoma City was pressing, missing 3s (they started 0-of-6) and aiming shots. The Nuggets have been here and done this, they got to the rim and with that got eight early free throws. Aaron Gordon played through a strained hamstring and gave it everything he had, finishing with eight points and 11 rebounds, but he moved slowly all night and was a shell of himself. “What he played with today, I don’t know many people that would even attempt to go out there and run up and down,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. “And he did it in Game 7 against Oklahoma City on the road. That that was one of most incredible things I’ve ever seen. He was extremely close to not playing. I was surprised.” Christian Braun made plays and stepped up with 19 points, but after that, things fell off. Jamal Murray was 6-of-16 shooting in the face of defensive pressure from Lu Dort and Cason Wallace. Denver led by five after one quarter, but to start the second Adelman sat both Jokic and Murray, and the result was a 6-0 Thunder run 1:02 that put Oklahoma City back in the lead. It was close most of the second quarter until the 18-5 run at the end. Things just snowballed from there. Denver now heads into an offseason without a formal head coach — although after this run and his performance, David Adelman should have the interim tag removed — and they need to find a new general manager. That person will walk a fine line, trying to find a way to get more around Nikola Jokic while he’s in his prime — more shooting, more athleticism, more depth — and doing so while not spending deep into the luxury tax.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jon Rahm appeared on the verge of doing what few thought possible — overcoming a five-shot deficit on the final day of a major championship to beat Scottie Scheffler. And then came the collapse. After battling back to tie the top-ranked Scheffler with a birdie on the 11th hole, Rahm turned what seemed like a foregone conclusion of a Scheffler victory into an entertaining back nine at the PGA Championship — at least for a while. But the two-time major champion missed birdie putts on the 14th and 15th holes and hooked drives on Nos. 16 and 18, playing the final three holes in 5 over par, leaving him trying to process his thoughts after his round. “Am I embarrassed a little bit about how I finished today? Yeah,” Rahm said. “But I just need to get over it, get over myself. It’s not the end of the world. It’s not like I’m a doctor or a first responder, where somebody if they have a bad day, truly bad things happen. I’ll get over it. I’ll move on.” The Spanish star wound up with a 2-over 73 on Sunday and tied for eighth place, eight shots behind Scheffler . That would have been inconceivable outcome for Rahm just an hour before. “The last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” Rahm said. “Especially knowing 16 is not the narrowest fairway in the world. That bunker is in play. You’re lucky enough, you have a shot to the pin. Not a terrible swing, but bad enough to put me in a real difficult situation.” But Rahm said in hindsight he felt the tournament began to slip away on the 14th hole. Dressed in all black with a pink hat on an 85-degree day, Rahm was looking to become the seventh player to win the PGA Championship after trailing by five or more shots entering the final round. He blasted his tee shot on the 14th hole 340 yards onto the oblong green, but instead of the ball tracking toward the flagstick in the back it took a nasty bounce into the bunker. He hit out of the sand to 10 feet still hoping to save birdie, but misread his birdie putt and had to settle for par. He misread another birdie putt on 15 and took another par. The momentum from his birdie binge on Nos. 8, 10 and 11 was long gone and his confidence seemed shaken. He had errant drives on 16 and 18 and made double bogeys on the final two holes. “I think it was a bit of nerves,” Rahm said. “Can’t pinpoint exactly right now. I’ll go back to what happened. I didn’t feel like I rushed anything. I didn’t feel like the process was bad.” Rahm left the course disappointed, receiving a long embrace from his wife. He said when he has time to reflect on the week, he may view it in a different light. For 15 holes he said it was the most fun he’s had on the golf course in quite a while. And, he had played himself into contention on the final day of a major championship for the first time since leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in December, 2023. “Again, there’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week,” Rahm said. “I’m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the U.S. Open. ... I think it’s the first time I’ve been in position to win a major that close and haven’t done it. The only times I think I’ve been in the lead in a major on a Sunday, I’ve been able to close it out. “This is a very different situation,” he added.

Turns out, it wasn’t just Rory McIlroy who failed a driver test earlier this week at Quail Hollow. The eventual PGA champion did, too. Scottie Scheffler confirmed that his driver also was deemed non-conforming by the USGA, which conducts the testing for the PGA of America, before teeing it up in the 107th PGA Championship. Scheffler’s fellow competitor Xander Schauffele first told reporters of Scheffler’s failed test earlier in the day. “The driver testing is something that regularly happens on Tour,” Scheffler said Sunday evening after his five-shot victory. “My driver did fail me this week. We had a feeling that it was going to be coming because I’ve used that driver for over a year. I was kind of fortunate for it to last that long, I felt like.” Modern drivers get hotter the more they are hit, which leads to the faces of older drivers thinning and eventually failing the characteristic time test, which measures the spring-like effect of the club. The PGA Tour has been testing drivers at its events since the 2019-20 season, though doesn’t test every driver, every week. Scheffler said he and TaylorMade were “really well prepared” for when his older driver ultimately became non-conforming. With his replacement, he ranked fifth in strokes gained off the tee this week, though he did struggle in Sunday’s final round, hitting just six of 14 fairways. “No, I think that was my fault,” Scheffler said with a big laugh when asked in that inaccuracy was due to the new equipment. More seriously, Scheffler, like Schauffele did hours before him, criticized the randomness of the testing. “I would argue that if we’re going to test the drivers, we need to be even more robust in the way we test them,” Scheffler said. “That was a conversation I had with one of the rules officials; if it’s something we’re going to take seriously, I feel like we’re almost going halfway with it right now. If we’re going to test only a third of the field, if we’re going to do it right, leave it up to us as players, like the rest of the rules in the game of golf are. “It’s a newer rule that we haven’t quite gotten right yet. I think we have some stuff to figure out. I think, if we’re going to do it, we might as well do it right, get more robust and get even more strict. You can test guys every week, if you want. I mean, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t.”

While we wait for the full details of the new Brock Purdy contract, another favorable detail has been leaked. Via NFL Media, Purdy’s six-year contract comes with a no-trade clause. The no-trade device is becoming a more and more common aspect of high-end quarterback deals. And while news of a no-trade typically provokes oohs and ahhs, there’s an inescapable reality when it comes to players with starting-quarterback contracts. A no-trade clause isn’t really necessary, because no one is going to trade for a starting quarterback who doesn’t want to go to that team. The starting quarterback is the most unique of all football players. The team needs him to be all in. To show up early. To stay late. To work on Tuesdays during the season, which almost all of them do. There’s a requisite level of commitment and preparation that transcends punching a time clock and doing the bare minimum. If the starting quarterback doesn’t eagerly embrace the team that is interested in trading for him, a trade becomes far less likely. So while Purdy is protected against the kind of sudden and abrupt transaction that would send him from the 49ers to some other team, that’s never going to happen, with or without a no-trade clause. If he’s performing well enough to justify the ongoing investment, the 49ers will want to keep him. If he regresses, it’s not likely that someone else will gladly inherit the balance of his contract. The most important details for the Purdy deal remain to be seen. The numbers won’t be available until after the contract is signed and filed with the league and the union. That’s when we’ll know the full extent of the commitment, both in dollars and in years.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Wings point guard Paige Bueckers will make her WNBA debut Friday night, only 40 days removed from leading the Connecticut Huskies to their first national championship in nine years. And when Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft, takes the court against the Minnesota Lynx, she will be fulfilling a lifelong dream. “A dream, really,” Bueckers told NBC News about what it feels like to be at the precipice of her first professional game. “You get to that stage, and then you want to see what you do with it, like you’re living out your childhood dream. But then you want to continue to build and get better.” “You’re just trying to be grateful for it, like you worked so hard to get here, you had so many people invest in you to get here. So it was really a group effort, and it took a village,” she said. Bueckers, 23, enters the WNBA after an eventful collegiate career. Injuries shortened her 2021-22 season to only 17 games, and she missed the entirety of the following year due to a torn ACL. But Bueckers bounced back, leading the Huskies to the Final Four in 2024 before a championship run in April. She ended her career at Connecticut as the school’s third all-time leading scorer. When asked what Dallas fans can expect when she puts on her Wings jersey, Bueckers said “a passion and sense of pride.” Bueckers will be trying to help build up a Dallas team that has not won a second-round playoff game since moving to Texas in 2016. In that time, the Wings have only made it out of the first round once, in 2023. Bueckers, one of the biggest stars in the women’s game in her time at Connecticut, is joining the league at the same time as an increase in attention on the WNBA, which is coming off its most-watched Finals game in 25 years. Bueckers is cognizant of the impact she and the current generation of stars can have on the visibility of the league. “Continue to build on the foundation that was laid for us and all the people that came before us,” Bueckers said when asked what she hopes to contribute to the sport at large. “So we can dream and live in these shoes, I’m gonna try to build for the next generation.”

ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. allowed two unearned runs over four innings against the Texas Rangers on Friday, six nights after the right-hander failed to get out of the first inning in a game that he said was followed by online threats. “Honestly, a lot, a lot of prayer. And a lot of faith,” McCullers said when asked how he handled everything between those starts. “And my teammates were so supportive of me. I hope one day I’m able to repay the favor of what these guys in here have meant to me over the last couple years, and over the this last week.” The 31-year-old right-hander made only his third start for the Astros since the 2022 World Series. He got a no-decision in their 6-3 win over the Rangers, who led 2-0 when he threw his last pitch. McCullers, who is making a comeback after missing two full seasons with injuries, allowed seven runs while getting only one out in Houston’s 13-9 loss last Saturday, then said afterward that he had received online death threats directed at his children. The Astros said Houston police and Major League Baseball security were alerted to the threats. “They’re on it,” McCullers said, adding that he was asked to not comment on any investigations. “These things aren’t taken lightly.” Back on the mound, McCullers needed 83 pitches to get through his four innings and he threw 53 strikes. He struck out two, walked one and gave up four singles. The only runs against McCullers came when Jonah Heim had a two-run single with two outs in the second inning. That was three batters after shortstop Jeremy Peña was charged with an error when he failed to catch a throw from McCullers, who was trying to get the lead runner at second base after fielding a comebacker. “I’m sure if you ask Peña, he’s going to say he should have made the play. And I’m going to say I should have made a little bit of a better throw,” McCullers said. “I kind of joked with some of the guys, my best sinker all night was to Peña at second.” Jake Burger, whose homer was the only run in the Rangers’ 1-0 win in the series opener Thursday night, then had an infield popout before Heim’s hit into the right field corner. Astros manager Joe Espada said before Friday’s outing that McCullers was mentally in a good spot and fine physically, and he liked what he saw during the game. “It was a really good bounce-back outing for him,” Espada said. “He came out throwing a ton of strikes. ... Where he was five or six starts ago, and where he’s at now is now, it’s a step in the right direction.” McCullers had surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and remove a bone spur, and was rehabbing last June when he had a setback during a bullpen session that shut him down for the rest of the season. He made four starts in the minor leagues this year before rejoining the Astros’ rotation on May 4. “We all have confidence he can do it. He just needs to go out there and do his thing,” Espada said. “It’s going to happen.” McCullers is 49-33 with a 3.53 ERA in 133 games (130 starts) for the Astros since his big league debut with them in 2015. An All-Star in 2017, McCullers went 10-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 25 games in 2018 before having Tommy John surgery. He was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 28 starts in 2021, then signed a five-year, $85 million contract that goes through 2026.

For the first time ever, an NFL team will play a pair of road games in two different European cities. It’s a sign of things to come. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Vikings’ Week 4 game against the Steelers in Dublin followed by their Week 5 game against the Browns in London is trial run for the expanded use of multiple teams that will play in multiple European cities in consecutive weeks. As soon as next year, there could be two or three teams that swap two traditional road games for a pair of neutral-site games in London and/or Dublin and/or Germany and/or Spain and/or elsewhere in Europe. (Sign me up for Bruges.) In 2026, those teams would likely come from the AFC, which will have nine road games in the current 17-game eight/nine home/away rotation. Eventually, look for four franchises to serve as the “road” team in (math is hard) eight European games. It’s all part of the NFL’s current plan to expand the number of international games to 16 per year. Which will be the approach unless and until the NFL drops a franchise or two (or four) in Europe.

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde on Saturday after a dismal start to the season by a team coming off two consecutive playoff appearances. The Orioles are 15-28 and in last place in the AL East following a loss to Washington on Friday night. Hyde guided the team through an extensive rebuild and won manager of the year honors in 2023, but Baltimore’s performance slipped noticeably during the second half of last year, and the Orioles have put themselves in a significant hole so far in 2025. “As the head of baseball operations, the poor start to our season is ultimately my responsibility,” Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said in a statement. “Part of that responsibility is pursuing difficult changes in order to set a different course for the future. I want to thank Brandon for his hard work, dedication and passion all these years, and for returning the team to the playoffs and winning an AL East championship.” Third base coach Tony Mansolino will serve as interim manager. The Orioles also fired major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins.

Social media was buzzing on Saturday morning with various videos of what appeared to be an incident involving former NFL receiver Antonio Brown. Near the end of one of the videos, a pair of gunshots could be heard. Via Devon Cetoute of the Miami Herald, Brown explained that he was “was jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.” Brown added that, after being briefly detained by police, he was released after the officers “received my side of the story.” It happened at a boxing event in a Miami warehouse, featuring someone named Adin Ross. (If I was 40 years younger, I’d probably know who that is. If I was 20 years younger, I’d take the time to look it up.) The videos that surfaced seemed to show Brown being attacked and Brown running through a crowd. In a livestream conducted by Ross, Brown said, “I got CTE, I blacked out. I ain’t know what happened.” Police arrived after they received an alert that shots had been fired. No arrests were made. Brown said he’ll explore “pressing charges on the individuals that jumped me.” Brown last played in the NFL in 2021, after a career that included many spectacular seasons with the Steelers, failed stints with the Raiders and Patriots, and a Super Bowl win in Tampa Bay.