Nuggets force Game 7 against Thunder; WNBA season preview; favorites struggle at 2025 PGA Championship

Jamal Murray shakes off illness to save Nuggets' season and force Game 7

By Zachary Pereles

May 16, 2025 at 8:52 am ET • 8 min read

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🏀 Good morning to all, but especially to ...

THE DENVER NUGGETS

Jamal Murray may have been under the weather coming into Game 6, but it was the Thunder who got altitude sickness while watching Murray carve them up.

Thanks in large part to Murray's efforts, the Nuggets forced a Game 7 with a 119-107 win in Denver. Murray finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists despite not feeling 100%.

Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic was as great as you'd expect. He posted a team-high 29 points to go along with 14 rebounds and eight assist, but Jokic and Murray had some help from a surprising source.

Second-year guard Julian Strawther came out of nowhere to give Denver a huge boost in the biggest game of the season, as our own Sam Quinn notes.

Quinn: "Nikola Jokić flirted with a triple-double and Jamal Murray overcame illness to play maybe his best game of the series. But the story in Game 6 was the second-half explosion from Julian Strawther. Denver's young bench guard, who was barely a factor in the first round and only peripherally in the rotation in this series, scored 15 huge points to help Denver clinch this victory."

The Rocky Mountain High of a Game 6 victory was dampened a bit because of a hamstring injury Aaron Gordon suffered in the closing minutes.

After the game, Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said his concern level is "high" regarding Gordon's injury. There were probably 21,000 people in Ball Arena who would echo that sentiment.

👍 Honorable mentions

Review the good (and some of the bad) about each NFL team's 2025 schedule.
The Colts deleted their schedule release video, but Tyreek Hill had a good laugh at his own expense.
NFL players at the 2028 Olympics? Maybe ... as long as the owners give their seal of approval.
Is it ever too early to get Week 1 NFL picks? I didn't think so.
The Subway Series starts today, and we combined the best of both teams into one super roster.
There are only 100 days til college football kicks off, so here are 100 things to get excited about.
Two Duke stars go in the top five of our latest 2025 NBA mock draft.
Arizona State tops our Big 12 Power Rankings after a shocking CFP appearance in 2024.
Jim Nantz really wants Aaron Rodgers to sign with the Steelers.
UCLA's Cori Close is trying to win the Wooden Way.

🏌 And not such a good morning for ...

FAVORITES AT THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau were all expected to be battling atop the leaderboard at the 2025 PGA Championship. Instead, the leaderboard is as messy as the "mud balls" players were dealing with throughout the first round at Quail Hollow Club.

At the conclusion of Thursday's action, the highest-ranked player among that aforementioned trio of stars was Scheffler (-2), who is tied for 20th. DeChambeau battled his way to even, and McIlroy (+3) had a disastrous outing. McIlroy will just be fighting to make the cut on Friday.

So, who is our PGA Championship Leader after Round 1? That would be Jhonattan Vegas (-7), who has made six cuts in 16 major championship appearances.

Behind Vegas, the rest of the top five is littered with more unproven major performers:

1. Jhonattan Vegas (-7)
T-2. Ryan Gerard (-5)
T-2. Cam Davis (-5)
T-4. Luke Donald (-4)
T-4. Ryan Fox (-4)
T-4. Alex Smalley (-4)
T-4. Stephen Jaegar (-4)
T-4. Aaron Rai (-4)

Despite their slow starts, any star within chipping distance of the lead has to feel pretty good, explains Patrick McDonald.

McDonald: "There may not be a name on the first page of the leaderboard that draws fear into the eyes of the competitors, but there are more than plenty not too far behind. Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg and DeChambeau are all at even par or better. They all remain in the picture to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy."

👎 Not so honorable mentions

Caleb Williams considered joining the UFL to avoid going to the Bears.
The Twins lost Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton to the concussion protocol.
Should Pete Rose get into the Hall of Fame now? Not according to our experts.
The Red Sox are facing some big questions amid a disastrous May.

🏀 WNBA season preview

The 2025 WNBA season tips off tonight, and we have you covered from every angle.

The Liberty are looking to defend their title, but they will have some formidable challengers. The Aces will certainly try to regain their place atop the WNBA, but the Lynx and the new-look Fever should also be in the mix.

In our expert season predictions, all of them have the Liberty making it back to the Finals, and two of them have New York beating the Lynx once again. As for Caitlin Clark's sophomore season with the Fever, every expert has them in the top five of the final WNBA standings.

Even if Clark doesn't win her first WNBA title this year, she should have a very good shot at taking home hardware of some kind. Jack Maloney explains why Clark -- a popular MVP pick in our award predictions -- will unseat A'Ja Wilson in 2025.

Maloney: "History tells us that there's a good chance someone else will be the MVP. But who? Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark is the betting favorite at +200, per Caesars, and received two votes, while Napheesa Collier, last season's runner-up got one. Those two are the most likely candidates besides Wilson."

The other player everyone will be watching this year is Paige Bueckers, the former UConn superstar and the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft. Going from a college basketball powerhouse to one of the worst teams in the WNBA would be enough to give anyone whiplash, but Bueckers won't shy away from the challenge.

Before the season tips off tonight, you can also check out our ranking of the Top 25 players and our preseason Power Rankings.

🏒 Canes advance, Jets force Game 6

Around the NHL, one team punched its ticket to the conference finals while the other kept its season alive by forcing a Game 6.

In another tight-checking game between the Hurricanes and Capitals, Andrei Svechnikov just barely snuck a shot through Logan Thompson for the game-winning goal with just 1:59 left in regulation in a 3-1 victory. That helped the Canes seal up a 4-1 series win and pushed them through to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in the last three years.

While the Caps failed to keep their season alive, the Jets refused to remain grounded. Oh, Connor Hellebuyck has struggled this postseason? No problem. The Jets simply stifled the Stars' high-powered offense in a 4-0 win, allowing just 22 shots on goal.

Nikolaj Ehlers was everywhere for Winnipeg, and he's a huge reason why this series is still going. His slick power play goal in the third-period goal was one of the game's highlights, and his empty-net tally put an exclamation point on a thorough beatdown.

That's why Ehlers was one of Chris Bengel's 3 Stars of the Night.

Bengel: "After missing all but two games in the opening round, winger Nikolaj Ehlers is showing just how vital he is to Winnipeg's offensive attack. Ehlers registered two goals on five shots, while also recording a takeaway in Thursday's contest."

Keep up to date with all the results and schedule updates throughout the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs right here.

🏆 Barcelona captures La Liga title

With a 2-0 win over Espanyol on Thursday, Barcelona sealed another La Liga title. This is now the 28th league title for the club, pulling them within eight of rival Real Madrid at 36.

Lamine Yamal netted the winning goal for Barca, and Fermin Lopez put a cherry on top of the day with his goal in stoppage time. Manager Hansi Flick immediately turned Barcelona back into a force in his first year on the job, and he has hardware to show for his efforts.

One of the biggest reasons for Barcelona's success this season has been Flick's impact on the offensive attack, according to Pardeep Cattry.

Cattry: "Barcelona fully embraced an attack-minded style that included a high line, a high-risk, high reward approach that paid off because of the strength of Flick's attack, led by the likes of Lewandowski, Raphinha and Yamal. They lead La Liga with 97 goals from 87.47 expected goals so far this season, thanks to a varied approach that has allowed multiple players to succeed."

Barca captured the league title with two games remaining in the season, so now they can try to finish off what's been a tremendous campaign with a little more winning.

📺 What we're watching this weekend

⛳ We'll be tuned into the PGA Championship all weekend. Here's how to catch the action.

Friday

🏀 Lynx at Wings, 7:30 p.m. on ION
🏀 Celtics at Knicks (Knicks lead 3-2), 8 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Panthers at Maple Leafs (Panthers lead 3-2), 8 p.m. on TNT/truTV/Max
⚾ Astros at Rangers, 8:05 p.m. on Apple TV+

Saturday

🏀 Aces at Liberty, 1 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Sky at Fever, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏇 150th Preakness Stakes, 6:50 p.m. post time on NBC
⚾ Braves at Red Sox, 7:15 p.m. on Fox
⚽ Columbus Crew at FC Cincinnati, 7:15 p.m. on FS1
🏒 Jets at Stars (Stars lead 3-2), 8 p.m. on ABC

Sunday

🏀 Nuggets at Thunder (series tied 3-3), 3:30 p.m. on ABC
🏒 Panthers at Maple Leafs*, 7:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV/Max
⚾ Mets at Yankees, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏎 NASCAR All-Star Race, 8 p.m. on FS1

*If necessary