Jalen Brunson powers Knicks to 2-0 lead; Real Madrid shocks Bayern Munich

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THE NEW YORK KNICKS

Bruised and battered and exhausted, the Knicks just keep going -- and keep winning -- behind their superstar point guard. Jalen Brunson suffered a first-half foot injury and returned to score 24 of his 29 points in the second half as New York outlasted the Pacers 130-121 to take a 2-0 series lead.

Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart -- the 'Nova Knicks -- combined for 74 points after having 92 in Game 1. Brunson and DiVincenzo scored the team's last 11 points of the game.Isaiah Hartenstein had a near triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.The Knicks trailed by 10 at halftime but outscored Indiana 36-18 in the third quarter. About the only thing that went wrong in the quarter -- and this could loom large -- is OG Anunoby leaving with a hamstring injury. He did not return. A phenomenal defender, he was also terrific offensively with 28 points.

New York's ability to win without so many key players is a testament to their resilience, James Herbert writes from the Garden.

Oh yeah: Reggie Miller got serenaded with a NSFW chant, and Rick Carlisle got ejected and had some fiery postgame comments. Not a banner night for Indiana.

👍 Honorable mentions The Yankees are already 6-0 against the Astros this season. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton all homered.Chris Sale beat his former team.Dennis Dodd has new post-spring ball college football Power Rankings.Candace Parker is Adidas' president of women's basketball.What a start to the season by Salvador Perez.The Hornets named Celtics lead assistant Charles Lee their new head coach.  ⚽ And not such a good morning for ... Getty Images

BAYERN MUNICH

Real Madrid has pulled off plenty of miracles throughout its storied UEFA Champions League lore.

Few, if any, compare to this. Los Blancos pulled off the stunner of all stunners (though is it really a stunner if they always do it?) with substitute Joselu -- a little-known 34-year-old journeyman -- scoring in the 88th and 90th+1 minutes to give Real Madrid a 2-1 (4-3 aggregate) win over Bayern Munich.

It was an ending straight out of a fairytale, or a nightmare, depending on who you support.

Alphonso Davies hit an absolute rocket in the 68th minute to give the visitors the lead.In the 88th minute, Manuel Neuer, Bayern Munich's longtime superb goalkeeper, fumbled a relatively tame effort from Vinicius Jr., and Joselu pounced. Tie game.In the 90th+1, Joselu snuck behind the defense and redirected Anthony Rudiger's sizzling cross into the back of the net.The heartbreak for Bayern, somehow, wasn't over. In the 90th+13 minute (yes, 13th minute of added time), Joshua Kimmich played a long ball over the top that Thomas Muller eventually headed to Matthijs de Ligt, who stroked one home. However, the assistant referee had signaled for offside, which replay showed to be erroneous.De Ligt and manager Thomas Tuchel said the assistant referee apologized after the match. Tuchel called it "disastrous" and "like betrayal." CBS Sports rules analyst Christina Unkel explained how the referees actually made multiple errors on the play.

Somehow, this is only the fifth-craziest Real Madrid Champions League comeback, Chuck Booth writes. They'll face Borussia Dortmund in the final June 1. Here's our way-too-early look at that.

👎 Not so honorable mentions Travis Kelce just missed out on a huge Kentucky Derby payday.Patrick Beverley is under police investigation after throwing a basketball at Pacers fans. Ippei Mizuhara will plead guilty in the gambling scandal in which he allegedly stole nearly $17 million from Shohei Ohtani. He'll face up to 33 years in prison.Did the Raiders really flip a coin to determine their first-round pick?The Cubs' bullpen must be better.Bad news for Rangers pitching: Dane Dunning is on the IL and Max Scherzer's rehab has stalled.Brian Kelly addressed LSU's underwhelming transfer portal haul.Thanasis Antetokounmpo tore his Achilles. 🏆 Nikola Jokic wins his third MVP; now he must play like one Getty Images

With his Nuggets down 2-0 to the Timberwolves in the second round, Nikola Jokic accepted his third career MVP award with muted enthusiasm. Still, it's worth celebrating a monumental achievement from the Serbian center.

Ninth player to win three MVPs, joining joining Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and LeBron JamesSeventh player to win three MVPs in a four-year spanLed the NBA in almost every major advanced metric, including, but not limited to, PER, Win Shares, Offensive Win Shares, Win Shares Per 48 Minutes, Box Plus-Minus, Offensive Box Plus-Minus, Defensive Box Plus-Minus and Value Over Replacement Player.
Earned 78 of 99 first-place votes, beating out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic, among others

Now, it's time for him to play like the MVP -- and all-time great -- he is, Bill Reiter writes.

Reiter: "Anthony Edwards has far and away looked like the best player in this series -- and perhaps of any postseason series so far. All while Jokic, the cool, celebrated, can't-be-troubled-to-worry big man has looked more demoralized than dominant. ... After the Game 2 humiliation, Jokic was asked how the Nuggets would respond in Game 3. Jokic was not exactly brimming with confidence: 'I don't know,' he told reporters. 'We will see.' Here's a solution, a response, a plan: Let the MVP play like one. Let's see that." 🏴‍☠️ Pirates promote Paul Skenes, MLB's top pitching prospect, for MLB debut Saturday
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Welcome to the bigs, Paul Skenes! The Pirates promoted the former LSU star and 2023 No. 1 draft pick, who has blazed through the minor leagues. He'll start Saturday against the Cubs.

Skenes, 21, was the No. 1 pitching prospect and No. 10 prospect overall in R.J. Anderson's preseason prospect rankings.He has only improved since, if anything. In 27 1/3 innings with Triple-A Indianapolis this year, Skenes had 45 strikeouts and a 0.99 ERA while allowing just one home run.Skenes hits triple digits with his fastball and mixes in a mid-80s slider, a mid-90s splitter-sinker (a new pitch for him), a mid-80s curveball and a changeup. Basically, he's a power pitcher with a ton of offspeed goods, too.

So, just how good can Skenes be? R.J. says ...

Anderson: "In our estimation, Skenes' mainstream appeal can be attributed to a confluence of factors. He throws extremely hard. He was the No. 1 pick in last summer's draft after playing ball for a prestigious program. He throws extremely hard. He's part of a power couple. And did we note that he throws extremely hard? Velocity sells, baby; always has, always will. ... In the magical world of baseball scouting parlance, you have what evaluators refer to as dudes and and you have what they refer to as Dudes. A dude is just a guy; a Dude is The Man. Got it? Good, because Skenes certainly has the look of a Dude." 📺 What we're watching Thursday

🏀 Game 2: Cavaliers at Celtics, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Game 3: Rangers at Hurricanes, 7 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Game 2: Mavericks at Thunder, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Game 2: Avalanche at Stars, 9:30 p.m. on TNT
⚾ Royals at Angels, 9:38 p.m. on FS1