Thunder up 2-0 on Timberwolves; why Knicks should feel hope; ranking college football's top 25 coaches

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put on an MVP-level performance

By Zachary Pereles

May 23, 2025 at 9:03 am ET • 7 min read

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OK, let's get right to it.

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

THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

You don't go 68-14 in the regular season by accident, and you don't go up 2-0 in the Western Conference finals in dominant fashion by accident.

The Thunder's dominance is years in the making, and it was on clear and obvious display again in a 118-103 Game 2 thumping of the Timberwolves.

It's the individual brilliance of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (38 points, eight assists), who showed why he won MVP, as well as Jalen Williams (26 points, 10 rebounds) and Chet Holmgren (22 points) but also the team-wide excellence of 30 assists on 45 field goals.

And that's just the offense. The defense is even more impressive. Again, there's the individual brilliance of Lu Dort and Alex Caruso, but notice the team-wide skill, smarts and effort -- active hands, positioning, anticipation, rotation. In the playoffs, when teams hunt any weakness, the Thunder are showing very few. Everyone on the court is a solid defender, and several are much more than that.

Botkin: "The Thunder are the best team in the league at defending outside the 3-point line and inside the restricted area, the two holy lands of modern offense, and on top of that they create more turnovers than anyone else.
If you do just one of those things you're a really good defense. To be the best at them all is like a pitcher having the league's best fastball, curveball and changeup. It's just a guessing game at that point. Close your eyes and hope you accidentally connect."

😃 Honorable mentions

The Panthers crushed the Hurricanes, 5-0, to take a 2-0 series lead, but Sam Reinhart left with an ugly injury.
After a strong playoff showing, the Nuggets promoted interim coach David Adelman to the full-time role.
LeBron James is getting an honorary degree from Ohio State.
After winning MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander gifted his teammates some luxury goods.
This marks the seventh straight season a foreign-born player won MVP. Which American-born player will end the streak?
Here are the NBA All-Defensive teams.
Dawn Staley is a fan of the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese rivalry.
Shohei Ohtani somehow keeps getting better.
Here comes Ronald Acuña Jr.
Brian Schottenheimer is aiming to improve the Cowboys' culture and camaraderie.
Aidan Hutchinson is "fully cleared" after breaking his leg last season.
Ben Johnson will be a big boost for Caleb Williams and the Bears, Jared Dubin writes.
Aaron Glenn praised Justin Fields' leadership.
Jim Irsay tributes continue to pour in, and here's what you should know about the Colts' new owner.
Duke landed five-star Italian wing Dame Sarr. Here's where the Blue Devils stand in Gary Parrish's latest Top 25 And 1.
NC State landed top-10 transfer Darrion Williams.
The Blackhawks hired Jeff Blashill as coach.
Kiki Iriafen has the Mystics off to a strong start.
Here's the USMNT roster for a pair of June friendlies.

🏀 And not such a good morning for ...

THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

There have been 34 instances of a team going down 2-0 in the Western Conference finals. Of those 34, 33 have lost the series. Anthony Edwards (32 points) was much better than he was in Game 1, but Julius Randle (6 points on 2-for-11 shooting) really struggled, and Minnesota simply doesn't have the offensive firepower to withstand that.

😥 Not so honorable mentions

It's nearly June, and the best link we have between Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers is an informal throwing session with DK Metcalf. Bryan DeArdo says it's time for the Steelers to move on.
Saquon Barkley says the 2024 Eagles were a top-five team all-time. Cody Benjamin says he's wrong.
Jake Haener suffered an oblique strain as the Saints try to find Derek Carr's successor.
Sean Murphy-Bunting's 2025 season is over before it began. Here's who the Cardinals could look to for help.
Justin Verlander (pec strain) landed on the IL.
Red Sox' pitcher Liam Hendriks says he and his family have been the target of death threats on social media.
The Maple Leafs moved on from president Brendan Shanahan.

🏀 Why Knicks should still be optimistic after Game 1 collapse

It's been over 24 hours, and I'm still thinking about that absolutely bonkers Pacers-Knicks Game 1. James Herbert's excellent story on choke signs, shoes and ... pineapple (?!) is a must-read ahead of tonight's Game 2, and there's plenty more from one of the wildest games ever ...

Knicks stars' thoughts on the collapse
How Tyrese Haliburton's dad reacted
How Knicks fans reacted
One Knicks fan even used his frustration to become the 18-hole leader at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The best remedy for angry Knicks fans is a Game 2 tonight in which New York can put its collapse in the rearview. Sam Quinn has three reasons the Knicks should be optimistic, including ...

Quinn: "The Pacers still can't stop Jalen Brunson -- Jalen Brunson has played eight playoff games against the Pacers and reached 40 points in three of them. ... The freedom of movement Brunson experienced in Game 1 was pretty jarring visually, considering the series he just came out of. He was able to get to his spots relatively comfortably. ... Brunson isn't going to score 40 every night, but this is still probably the most favorable matchup of the postseason for him thus far. He's not the only Knick that's true for."

🏈 Projected College Football Playoff bracket following seeding change

NCAA Football: Rose Bowl-City Scenes — Getty Images

The College Football Playoff approved a proposal for a straight-seeding model for the upcoming postseason, a major change for the sport's preeminent event.

Under the previous 12-team bracket, the four highest-ranked conference champions got the top four seeds and an automatic bye.
This created a lot of confusion regarding the difference between rank and seed, and it also led to discrepancies between how good a team was and how it was seeded.
For example, No. 1 seed Oregon faced No. 8 seed Ohio State in the second round, even though the Buckeyes had a higher ranking than No. 3 seed Boise State (Mountain West champ) and No. 4 seed Arizona State (Big 12 champ).
All four teams that got a first-round bye lost their next game, supporting the idea that there was a clear flaw.
We explained it all in detail last week.

You can see why the Big Ten and SEC were the first supporters of this format -- under this format, Texas and Penn State would have received byes, and Ohio State would have been the No. 6 seed -- and the ACC recently joined them.

In our early 2025 CFP projection, here's how the first round would look:

Byes: (1) Ohio State, (2) Texas, (3) Penn State, (4) Clemson
(5) Notre Dame vs. (12) Navy
(8) LSU vs. (9) Miami
(6) Alabama vs. (11) Iowa State
(7) Oregon vs. (10) Georgia

🏈 Ranking top 25 Power Four college football coaches

Now we get to the big dogs. After ranking Power Four college football coaches No. 68-26 Wednesday, our CBS Sports and 247Sports experts delivered their top 25 Power Four college football coaches, and there's no change at the top, as Tom Fornelli details.

Kirby Smart, Georgia -- "The King stays The King. Kirby Smart was a unanimous choice at No. 1 among our panel, which should come as no surprise. Yes, the Bulldogs have failed to win a national title the last two years, but when a season that includes an SEC championship is seen as something of a letdown, it says a lot about the program that's been built in Athens. Also, who knows what would have happened if Carson Beck hadn't been injured in the SEC Championship Game last year?"

We also got the biggest jump of any coach in this group, with Kenny Dillingham climbing from 64th to 18th after leading Arizona State to the College Football Playoff. There were a couple of other significant risers -- and one very significant fall -- elsewhere in the top 25.

📺 What we're watching this (long) weekend

Friday

⚾ Orioles at Red Sox, 1:35 p.m. on MLB Network
🏀 Pacers at Knicks (Pacers lead 1-0), 8 p.m. on TNT
🏒 Oilers at Stars (Stars lead 1-0), 8 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday

🏀 Liberty at Fever, 1 p.m. on CBS
⛳ Charles Schwab Challenge, 3 p.m. on CBS
🏀 Wings at Dream, 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
⚾ Orioles at Red Sox, 4:10 p.m. on FS1
⚾ Dodgers at Mets or Guardians at Tigers, 7:15 p.m. on Fox
🏒 Hurricanes at Panthers (Panthers lead 2-0), 8 p.m. on TNT/truTV
🏀 Thunder at Timberwolves (Thunder lead 2-0), 8:30 p.m. on ABC

Sunday

⛳ Charles Schwab Challenge, 3 p.m. on CBS
🏒 Stars at Oilers, Game 3, 3 p.m. on ABC
⚾ Dodgers at Mets, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Knicks at Pacers, Game 3, 8 p.m. on TNT