John Hollinger

New for @theathletic.com - the NBA mostly fixed tanking, but here's why it might not be totally done, and why the league dodged a bullet in the 2026 lottery. www.nytimes.com/athletic/771...

Farewell, city of Oklahoma. This was a much more eventful visit than I expected. More words coming tomorrow.

Hartenstein on the turnover where Jaylin Williams had the ball and tried to help him up while he was still out of bounds. "Just a funny play. Right when he picked me up and I heard the whistle, I was like, yeah, that was kinda stupid. But again, that's how great of a teammate J. Will is"

Might get dusty in here if Woodruff pitches the 9th

Final: Thunder 125, Suns 114. Ajay Mitchell with 30 points and five assists; rookie Aday Mara with an 11-pt, 11-reb double-double. Phoenix's Devin Booker with just three points on 1-7 shooting.

Gasser: 4 earned runs in his last 38 innings. Just pitched one-hit ball in a World Series game. Dude looked like replacement-level filler for 2/3 of the year and now he's Cy Young.

Valkyries held Atlanta to 55 points on 75 trips (0.733 ppp) in a Finals game. Just gonna leave this here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/772...

Brewers basically showing the baseball equivalent of the 2014 Spurs

Brewers were so bad at ABS the first half of the season and now Contreras is basically AI

Some testiness here in OKC; Dillon Brooks put a hard forearm into Thunder rookie Aday Mara as he came up the floor in transition. Thunder vet Kenrich Williams took exception to it and the two exchanged shoves. Foul has been upgraded to a flagrant-1, and Brooks also got a tech.

That's a 10-minute run for Thunder two-way Josh Dix before he finally came out. Didn't score but held up on defense.

my team just did this in a World Series game

Milwaukee, soak this feeling in. The Brewers have plated 8 runs in the fifth inning. 8 straight batters have reached. Jackson Chourio is 4 for 4.

Seven straight two-out hits!!! This is insane!!!!

omg omg LETS GO BREWERS

Turang!!! LFG!!!!!!

Halftime: Thunder 67, Suns 53. An 18-point half from newly promoted starter Ajay Mitchell. OKC's Alex Caruso left the floor late in the first half.

Dillon Brooks might get a $2,000 nastygram from the league for embellishing the contact from Ajay Mitchell, but that arm from Mitchell was definitely up around the head on the offensive foul call.

When it rains, it pours: Alex Caruso to the locker room for Oklahoma City. Looked like he might have tweaked something in his back after he landed awkwardly while challenging a Dillon Brooks shot attempt.

Modern Championship Windows

A call I'm not sure I've ever seen before: Jaylin Williams grabs a defensive board and then turns to help up Isaiah Hartenstein from the ground. As soon as their hands touch the refs whistles a turnover, because Hartenstein's rear was out of bounds.

End of 1: Thunder 33, Suns 27. Thirteen points from newly promoted starter Ajay Mitchell.

Khaman Maluach with the worst transition screen of the young season, just a blatant offensive foul to wipe out a 3 on 1.

really happy that Freddy Peralta is here too but now we must beat his ass #brewers

Starters for Phoenix: Jalen Green, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges, Khaman Maluach. Oso Ighodaro is out.

Tonight's invocation in OKC is a prayer for the Brewers. Or maybe I misheard.

More fun for OKC btw: Chet Holmgren sitting the second night of a b2b with "patellar tendinitis" Thunder listing starters as SGA, McCain, Ajay Mitchell, Kenrich Williams, and Hartenstein.

The slightest of silver linings for OKC: Jaylin Williams, who left last night's game with a wrist injury, is fine and good to go tonight.

Back here in OKC, waiting for Sam Presti's press conference on the Thunder injuries

#RCTID

Gotta love the "let's just hope the series ends in 5 games so we don't have to worry about -- UH OH WHAT THE HELL WHO COULD'VE PREDICTED THIS!" energy

Big leagues don't scramble for arenas at the last minute. The final fail of the Engelbert era.

all but impossible due to back-to-backs for both Hawks and Cavs. "Securing an arena sometime before Monday" was also an option

ATLiens: Tickets go on sale at 4pm today

ATLiens: Atlanta Dream will be playing WNBA FInals Game 6 at SFA at 1230 on Thursday; Hawks game time against Cleveland moving back to 8 pm. @ramonaespn.bsky.social first.

New for @theathletic.com - Williams injury could be a game-changer for the title chase. www.nytimes.com/athletic/772...

Good night from a horrific evening in OKC. Injuries suck. www.nytimes.com/athletic/772...

Ty Jerome has 31 points in 31 minutes #wahoowa The Memphis Grizzlies are 79 wins from history.

Shai's voice in that presser barely got above a whisper. Clearly pretty affected by what happened.

Have never heard the air go out of an arena like that. We'll see what Thunder tell us in the post-game here ...

In what is far and away the least important development of the night, Oklahoma City has hung on to defeat the Clippers 108-101. The Thunder lost Cason Wallace to a shoulder injury in the first quarter, and Jalen Williams appeared to suffer a serious injury to his left leg late in the fourth quarter.

Correction it was Williams' left leg and ankle. Basketball-wise, they called a flagrant-1 on Kris Dunn from behind, and by rule Thunder can choose any sub to take the free throws.

Big collision at the rim between Williams and Derrick Jones, Jr. on a hard drive to the basket. HIs right leg curled back behind him as he landed on his back. They have the stretcher out and the other Thunder players are standing around in shock.

Oh no. That is a serious leg injury for Jalen Williams. You can hear a pin drop in here right now.

Kris Dunn just tried to hit me with a pass at the media table in the left corner. In his defense, I was wide open.

Thunder get Jalen Williams iso'd against Darius Garland but he throws up a wild runner that wasn't close. Now 2-for-7, just six points on the night.

Coaches challenge by T Lue, sure looked like it was out on Hartenstein. Thunder up 93-90 with 4:39 left and may or may not have possession after the timeout.

Darrius Garland was the only person in the building who wasn't expecting Ajay Mitchell to go left. Unfortunately, he was the one guarding Mitchell. Bucket-and-one has the Thunder back in front.

Love seeing Keaton Wagler making that weak side rotation to steal the pocket pass from SGA to Chet right there. It was a slow pass from Shai but still, rook was where he need to be.

the "Kobe Sanders no-ball-dip-3" might need a few more reps on the practice court. Otherwise it's been an impressive night for him though.