DALLAS MAVERICKS' OFFICIALS and select staffers, past and present, packed the team's plane along with members of Dirk Nowitzki's inner circle. The flight was bound for Springfield, Massachusetts, in August 2023, to celebrate the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction of the most legendary figure in franchise history.

Mavs general manager Nico Harrison made the trip. He wasn't especially close to Nowitzki, but their relationship dated more than two decades to when Harrison began his career at Nike as an NBA regional field representative based in Dallas.

Casey Smith, Dallas' director of health and performance, was also part of the team's traveling party for the weekend. Nowitzki often credited Smith, who arrived in Dallas as the Mavs' head athletic trainer in 2004 and was promoted to the executive ranks 15 years later, for helping him extend his career to 21 seasons. Nowitzki trusted Smith implicitly, considering him one of his best friends.

Others who joined them for the Hall of Fame festivities, which featured a pair of extravagant private parties organized by Nowitzki's longtime special projects manager Lara Beth Seager in addition to the Hall of Fame functions, don't recall anything seeming amiss that weekend in Springfield, when Harrison and Smith were each accompanied by their wives.

What happened next began a series of behind-the-scenes decisions that have had massive ramifications for the Mavs during this shocking, drastically disappointing, injury-riddled season in Dallas. Interviews with more than a dozen team and league insiders reveal that while the Luka Doncic era officially ended on Feb. 2, it truly began to disintegrate, along with the franchise's culture, 18 months earlier, the summer before the generational talent led the Mavs to the NBA Finals.

A few days after returning to Dallas' Love Field from the Hall of Fame event, when the franchise that had endured a frustrating, losing season was on a high from honoring Nowitzki, Harrison informed Smith that they needed to meet. Smith replied that it wasn't possible to meet in person; he had gone to his hometown in Ohio to be at the side of his gravely ill mother in the final weeks of her life. Harrison set up a video conference meeting instead.

Smith was then informed that his services in Dallas were no longer needed, ending a nearly two-decade tenure with the franchise. The reason for the dismissal centered on Smith being "too negative," according to sources briefed on the discussion who interpreted the vague reasoning to mean Smith wasn't enough of a yes-man.

"He was 100 percent threatened by him," a team source told ESPN, referring to Harrison's concern that Smith's voice carried too much weight with the franchise. "He's going to show that I'm in charge and nobody else can question that."

It was a stunning first step in Harrison's overhaul of the team's health and performance group over the past two offseasons. Smith's unceremonious departure was followed by the dismissals of athletic performance director Jeremy Holsopple and manual therapist Casey Spangler in June, only days removed from Dallas' appearance in the NBA Finals.

"You bringing up Casey [Smith] is like almost, it's kind of a joke," Harrison said Tuesday during an availability with selected Dallas-based reporters. "Like last year, Casey wasn't around, and we made it to the Finals. No one brought up Casey last year. So, to bring him up this year doesn't really make sense. He's been away for two years. So it's -- I'm not even going to comment on that."

Sources told ESPN that the frigid dynamic between Doncic's camp -- led by Seager, who became Doncic's business manager after being introduced to him by Nowitzki -- and Harrison and his new staff factored into the GM's stunning decision to trade Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in February.

Smith, Holsopple and Spangler were all longtime Mavs employees who had helped Doncic, a Slovenian who spent his adolescence in Spain, make the major cultural transition after coming to Dallas as a teenager. They had become confidantes for the superstar, but sources said Harrison saw them as "enablers" of Doncic, despite them being immensely respected by their peers throughout the league. Holsopple was the NBA's Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2021, and Smith's tenure as Team USA's head athletic trainer included the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medal runs.

"We feel that the guys that replaced them have done an amazing job," Harrison said. "And again, you're coming at me from a negative standpoint, and I look at it from a positive standpoint. The guys that we brought in are better."

Dysfunction between Harrison's new hires -- director of player health and performance Johann Bilsborough and athletic performance director Keith Belton -- has been problematic as the Mavs' medical misfortune mounted throughout the season, sources said. The Mavs have not employed a full-time manual therapist this season. For a stretch late in the season, the Mavs sweated out fielding an active roster with the league-minimum eight available players as Dallas dipped below .500 before finishing 39-43 to claim the Western Conference's last play-in bid.

Harrison's decision to fire Smith, and the way he did it, also drove Nowitzki away from the franchise that he proudly played for his entire career. Sources said Nowitzki, who describes himself as a "Mavs fan" now, opted to no longer be involved in the inner workings of the franchise's basketball operations after Smith's forced exit. Nowitzki had served as a senior adviser to Mark Cuban, frequently attending practices and providing input when he was in Dallas.

Sources told ESPN that Smith's ouster also prompted the departure of Mavs vice president of basketball communications Scott Tomlin, another two-decade employee of the franchise who was close with Smith, Nowitzki and Doncic, among others. Tomlin accepted an offer to become the executive director of the DN Companies and The Dirk Nowitzki Foundation.

"My obligation is to the Dallas Mavericks," Harrison said Tuesday. "It's what's in the best interest of the Dallas Mavericks, and that's the most important thing. Again, some of those decisions are going to be unpopular, maybe to Dirk and maybe to the fans, but my obligation is to the Dallas Mavericks."

Nowitzki and Tomlin have attended two NBA games since the beginning of February: Doncic's Lakers debut in Los Angeles on Feb. 10 and his return to Dallas on April 9.

"Over the past year, you could already see the team heading in a different direction," Nowitzki, who declined an interview request from ESPN, said in German during a recent appearance on his foundation's Campus 41 podcast. "Now we're seeing the result of that."

DERECK LIVELY II, a 21-year-old center who projects as a long-term cornerstone, was listed as questionable on Jan. 20 because of a right ankle sprain after sitting out the previous two games. Under Belton's supervision, Lively went through an intense return-to-play workout before sitting out again that night.

The plan was for Lively to play at home two nights later against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But Bilsborough had concerns, prompting him to send Lively for a CT scan. It revealed a stress fracture in his right ankle that sidelined the center for the next 2 months.

"Somebody should be fired for that," a team source said then.

It was a symptom of a much larger problem, multiple team sources said.

Harrison, though, portrayed the handling of Lively's injury as proof that his medical staff is "elite," as he said Tuesday. Sources said that Lively's camp was pleased with Bilsborough's communication and collaboration during the recovery and rehab process.

"It actually goes to show the strength of our medical team, because he was cleared to play, but his signs and symptoms where our medical team knew it was something more," Harrison said. "So that's why they went and tested them again and saw the CT scan, which they actually avoided a potential catastrophic injury. So you know, you will take the angle of being negative, but it's actually a positive thing, because they saw with the symptoms, even though he was cleared to play, they didn't feel right putting him on the floor.

"And so they went back. They stopped him from playing. They went back. They retested, and thank God we saw that he had a stress fracture."

According to more than 10 team sources, the situation led to a loud, heated confrontation between Bilsborough and Belton that began in the trainer's room at the practice facility and continued into the weight room. Harrison did not reply to a question about the incident -- or several others regarding the health and performance group -- ESPN submitted to the Mavs' media relations department this week. The Mavs declined to make Bilsborough or Belton available for comment.

"Not punches, but they were going at it," one of many sources who viewed the surveillance footage of the incident told ESPN.

"That was coming for a long time," another team source said.

THE FRICTION HAD been simmering for months. Harrison had created the uncomfortable dynamic by agreeing to hire Belton before Bilsborough, even though Bilsborough is in charge of the department.

Bilsborough does not respect Belton's acumen, sources said.

"He's a glorified cheerleader," one team source said. "But Nico clearly wanted cheerleader energy."

According to the National Strength Coaches Association database, Belton does not have either of the certifications from the association that are required for NBA strength coaches, per Article XXII of the collective bargaining agreement. The CBA states that an individual hired as a head strength and conditioning coach must have at least three years of experience since receiving those certifications.

An NBA spokesman said the league office was aware that Belton lacked the required certifications, but that the league office accepted his certifications from the College Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association on a temporary basis with the expectation he would receive his NSCA certifications immediately after the season. Belton's UCLA biography noted that he "was a winner of the prestigious Stucky Award given to individuals who excelled during the practical section of the exam."

Some of Belton's critics describe him as more of a personal trainer than the "body engineer" that is standard for modern NBA strength coaches.

"Johann is a little bit handcuffed in his department," a team source said. "[Belton is in] a pivotal role that trains players, but keeps the department in line to a philosophy and everyone working in the same way -- [Belton is] none of those things. And then on top of it, the two of them have been beefing since day one, which led to the big blowup.

"He has shown no respect to Johann the entire year. No collaboration whatsoever. He either ranges from completely standoffish to doing the dumbest s--- with a player just to prove a point to Johann. It's terrible. And you can't do it that way. You can't do what he's done and not put a player more at risk by doing that."

Belton, a former NFL fullback, had no previous NBA experience before this season. He had spent the previous four years as the director of football performance at UCLA, one of several college stops during a coaching career that has primarily focused on the sport he played professionally.

Bilsborough, an Australian sports scientist with a doctorate, also came to the Mavs from the football world, having spent the previous five seasons as the New England Patriots' director of performance and rehabilitation. He also had previous NBA experience, serving as the Boston Celtics' director of sports science from 2017 to 2020.

One Celtics source described Bilsborough as a highly intelligent academic expert -- but not a practitioner -- and someone who tends to be "divisive when he disagrees with somebody."

Bilsborough and Art Horne, the Celtics' head athletic trainer and director of performance at the time, disagreed often. They had no previous relationship but were hired in the same offseason to be co-heads of Boston's health and performance group.

"That was a problem," the Celtics source said. "There was a cold war. There were Art Horne people and there were Johann people."

The communication between the cliques in the department was infrequent and unproductive, Celtics sources said. Bilsborough left the Celtics after three seasons. Horne remains in Boston, having been promoted to director of organizational growth and team development in 2022.

Bilsborough struggled to establish rapport with Doncic and the five-time first-team All-NBA selection's "body team." Harrison had already alienated Doncic by running off the people he trusted and respected. Bilsborough, who already had big shoes to fill in replacing Smith, never earned Doncic's trust or respect, according to sources.

It's not a coincidence that Jalen Brunson's New York Knicks hired Smith as their vice president of sports medicine as soon as his Mavs contract expired last summer. New York also hired former Mavs athletic trainer Heather Mau. The games lost to injury for the Knicks have dropped significantly from last season, and Smith and Mau recently oversaw Brunson's recovery from a gruesome ankle sprain.

Weeks after leaving the Mavs in free agency in 2022, Brunson discussed how much he would miss "the Caseys," Holsopple and Mau during an appearance on the "Old Man and the Three" podcast hosted by JJ Redick. Redick mentioned that he still was in an active group chat with those then-Dallas staffers despite spending only two months with the Mavs at the end of his playing career a year earlier.

"Not a lot of people understand how much of a difference those people make in your everyday life," Brunson said. "I never take it for granted. They're really special. And the fact that they're so personable and you can talk to them about anything, that makes it even harder [to leave the Mavs]. It's not just work. They know how to be people."

Mavs sources, as well as agents and associates of multiple players currently on the Dallas roster, are split on Bilsborough. Some described him as evidenced-based and competent; others are critical. The complaints about him are that he doesn't establish relationships with players or staff, doesn't travel with the team often early in the season and occasionally had "optimistic" timetables for return from injury.

"If you're not around the team all the time, you shouldn't be involved in decision-making," a team source said.

Added another team source who otherwise praised Bilsborough: "That is definitely a challenge. You can't be perceived as this guy that hovers around. You got to be able to get in and obviously that's Casey's magic."

Harrison defended the Mavs' health and performance group, pointing out that the vast majority of injuries sustained by Dallas players this season have been "unavoidable" and caused by contact.

But on multiple occasions, Mavs players have aggravated injuries or sustained related injuries immediately upon their return.

"It's hard to say what a guy should have for a contact injury, but how fast they come back or how likely they are to reinjure it, that's another story," a team source said. "How do you get me back? How well am I when I got back? That's the medical staff and the [performance] staff."

Added another team source: "I think that is where you really see the effect of the dysfunction, but not just within the medical department, but the pressure to tread water until other guys come back so that you can prove what decisions [the front office] made up until this point were the right ones. ... I think there's a dysfunction on an organization level because of the trade itself."

The most notable and costly example is the left adductor strain sustained by Davis during his Dallas debut on Feb. 8, when he returned from an abdominal strain that he sustained Jan. 28, days before the trade.

With Harrison under fire, Davis was motivated to make a strong first impression to the outraged Mavs fan base in the first home game after the shocking blockbuster deal. He acknowledged that he should have waited another game or two to return, but Davis said it was his decision made in consultation with his personal medical team and Bilsborough.

"They meet and communicate every day," said Davis, who works with his own staff in the weight room instead of Belton. "Everybody is one big team."

That description doesn't apply to the dynamic between Bilsborough and Belton, according to multiple sources, who say their discord has been a detriment to the team.

"With all the great organizations, the performance and medical [staffs] are seamless," a team source said. "And here they're just completely separate and at odds. It's pretty clear to see the effect of the divide. The division created an unfortunate environment that ultimately the players had to suffer from."

MONTHS BEFORE SMITH'S exit, Doncic and Seager had hired Real Madrid physiotherapist Javier Barrio Calvo and Slovenian national team strength coach Anze Macek -- both of whom Doncic knew well -- to work for him after his nagging quadriceps injury contributed to the Mavs limping into the 2023 draft lottery. It followed a trend of NBA superstars, including Davis and Mavs guard Kyrie Irving, employing their own health and performance staff to work in consultation with their team's department.

Doncic and Seager had envisioned his staff working seamlessly with Smith, who made annual summer visits to Slovenia and often attended Doncic's national team games around the globe. With Smith having been dismissed for the final year of his contract, Holsopple was the Mavs' point man in the union with Doncic's body team.

Doncic's camp considered the first season of the arrangement a great success. He averaged a league-leading 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists during the regular season and became the first player in NBA history to lead the league in points, rebounds, assists and steals during a postseason. He also led the league in total minutes with 3,524 combined in the regular season and playoffs.

"You don't perform like that ... if you're a fat, drunk pig," a friend of Doncic's grumbled, feeling as if that's how the Mavs portrayed the superstar in the aftermath of the trade, ending Doncic's dream to spend his career in Dallas.

Despite the historic production, Harrison was concerned Doncic had still gained weight during the season while carrying the heavy workload. The tension thickened between the GM and the increasingly alienated face of the franchise and his camp. Bilsborough stepped into a difficult situation and didn't endear himself to Doncic's camp.

Sources said Cuban, who had made Doncic's happiness his top priority since Dallas acquired the draft rights to the prodigy in 2018 and worked closely with Seager for years before that, volunteered to serve as an intermediary. But Harrison had succeeded in pushing Cuban completely out of basketball operations since Patrick Dumont took over as the team's governor and didn't want to cede any ground, sources said.

It didn't help matters that Doncic was hit in his left calf while scrimmaging with teammates at SMU just before training camp opened. It was initially believed to be just a bruise, but after Doncic experienced significant soreness in the opening practice of camp, an MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain, sources said, which the Mavs did not mention in their injury release.

Doncic sat out the preseason and added more than a dozen pounds during his absence, sources said, frustrating and angering Harrison and others in the organization.

Doncic, who also used his own team of doctors instead of the Mavs' physicians, was diagnosed with a sprained right wrist on Nov. 20. Sources said Harrison and the Mavs' medical staff considered the diagnosis a cover-up to allow Doncic time to work on his conditioning and shed weight after a sluggish start to the season by his standards.

On Nov. 29, a day before the fifth and final game he sat out, a television in the media room at the Mavs' practice facility was tuned into the closed-circuit feed of Doncic scrimmaging with low minutes players and staffers, launching long jumpers on almost every offensive possession. When a team employee noticed the feed, they changed the channel quickly, saying they were unsure how it became available. The feed has not been shown in the media room since.

Barrio Calvo and Bilsborough communicated regularly, but they frequently disagreed, sources said. Meetings that included Harrison, Bilsborough, Seager, Barrio Calvo and Doncic's agent, Bill Duffy, were often tense and unproductive. Doncic did not work with Belton at all.

The tension between the sides soared after Doncic sustained another left calf strain -- his fourth in a 28-month span -- on Christmas Day. Doncic's camp believed he had returned too quickly from a left heel bruise he had sustained during his 45-point triple-double in a Dec. 15 win over the Golden State Warriors and had been playing on his toes to avoid discomfort in his heel. Harrison blamed poor conditioning.

The sides also drastically disagreed on the timetable for Doncic's return after receiving the MRI results. Bilsborough believed Doncic could be back in two or three weeks, sources said, while Doncic's team adamantly stated that he needed to sit out six weeks. They got their way, and a target return date was set for the Feb. 8 home game against the Houston Rockets.

"That deepened the divide," a source said.

Doncic didn't put any weight on his left leg for two weeks, using crutches and a scooter to get around. The MRI results four weeks later were encouraging but the plan remained in place.

Another major disagreement emerged between the sides when Doncic refused Harrison's request to join the team on a five-game trip leading up to his target return date.

Harrison griped that Doncic was holding the team hostage, sources said.

Doncic's camp argued that he was better off having around-the-clock access to the Mavs' practice facility than traveling with the team. It pointed out that Doncic was doing two-a-day, multihour basketball workouts, which wouldn't be possible with court time difficult to book on the road. He also could utilize the weight room and the high-tech medical equipment at his convenience, which isn't the case in other team's arenas and hotels.

Harrison countered, insisting that Doncic needed to scrimmage. Doncic's camp, in response, said he'd be happy to practice with the G League Texas Legends in Frisco, a Dallas suburb.

The next time Doncic's camp heard from Harrison, it was to share the news that the trade he'd been secretly negotiating for weeks with the Lakers was finalized.

Usually Iga Swiatek is the one dishing out the bagels.

In recent years, the five-time major champion has become known for the ruthless manner of her victories, subjecting many opponents to the ultimate embarrassment of losing a set without winning a game.

Now 23-year-old Swiatek finds herself in the position of being on the wrong end of a 6-0 scoreline - having lost to Jelena Ostapenko for the sixth time in a row.

Ostapenko extended her flawless head-to-head record against the world number two in the Stuttgart quarter-finals on Saturday.

So what's behind the one-sided results?

Having won the 2017 French Open, Ostapenko certainly has the pedigree and her explosive ball-bashing - when it works, and the winners outweigh the unforced errors - can have devastating consequences.

Swiatek has encountered trouble against aggressive ball-strikers, too, so that adds further weight to the explanation.

You also wonder whether there is a mental block against an opponent who a player knows has their number.

Swiatek disputed that afterwards, saying her head "was much more clear" against Ostapenko in Stuttgart than her previous defeats.

While the agony was prolonged in Stuttgart, you can't imagine a player of Swiatek's quality will suffer a career-spanning hex.

There is a long way to go until Swiatek enters the conversation of being on the receiving end of the most dominant head-to-head record.

Gael Monfils has lost all 20 of his matches (so far) against Novak Djokovic, while Richard Gasquet's 18-0 record against Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer's 14-0 against Roger Federer are other notable lopsided match-ups in recent years.

In fact, Swiatek could shake off the hex as early as next week, with Ostapenko slated to be a prospective last-16 opponent in Madrid.

Five series of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and two more will begin Monday. Meanwhile, the two matchups in the Central Division are on to Game 2.

Here's the four-pack of games on the calendar:

• Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals, Game 1 | 7 p.m., ESPN

• St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets, Game 2 | 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

• Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars, Game 2 | 9:30 p.m., ESPN

• Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings, Game 1 | 10 p.m., ESPN2

What are the key storylines heading into Monday's games? Who are the key players to watch?

Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down last night, and the Three Stars of Sunday Night from Arda Öcal.

Matchup notes

Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
Game 1 | 7 p.m., ESPN

You might've heard about the 2010 playoff matchup between these two teams a time or so in the past week.

In that postseason, the overwhelming favorite (and No. 1 seed) Capitals, led by Alex Ovechkin, were upset by the No. 8 seed Canadiens, due in large part to an epic performance in goal from Jaroslav Halak. Halak isn't walking out of the tunnel for the Habs this time around (we assume); instead it'll be Becancour, Quebec, native Sam Montembeault, who allowed four goals on 35 shots in his one start against the Caps this season.

Washington's goaltender for Game 1 has yet to be revealed, as Logan Thompson was injured back on April 2. But there's no question that there is a disparity between the offensive output of the two clubs, as the Caps finished second in the NHL in goals per game (3.49), while the Canadiens finished 17th (2.96). Can Montreal keep up in this series?

St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets
Game 2 | 7:30 p.m., ESPN2

The Blues hung with the Jets for much of Game 1 and even looked like the stronger team at certain times, so pulling off the series upset remains on the table. But getting a win on the unfriendly ice at the Canada Life Centre would be of some benefit in shifting momentum before the series moves to St. Louis for Game 3. The Blues proved that Connor Hellebuyck is not invincible in Game 1, and they were led by stars Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, who both got on the board.

The Jets have a mixed history after winning Game 1 of a playoff series, having gone 3-3 as a franchise (including the Atlanta Thrashers days) on such occasions. Like the Blues, the Jets were led by their stars, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, but the game-tying goal came from Alex Iafallo, who has played up and down the lineup this season.

Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars
Game 2 | 9:30 p.m., ESPN

The Stars might like a redo on Game 1 after the visiting Avalanche essentially controlled the festivities for much of the contest. Stars forward Jason Robertson missed Game 1 because of an injury sustained in the final game of the regular season, and his return sooner than later would be excellent for Dallas; he scored three goals in three games against Colorado in the regular season. Also of note, teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series have won 86% of the time.

Slowing down the Avs' stars will be critical in Game 2, which is a sound -- if perhaps unrealistic -- strategy. With his two goals in Game 1, Nathan MacKinnon became the third player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to score 50 playoff goals, joining Joe Sakic (84) and Peter Forsberg (58). In reaching 60 assists in his 73rd playoff game, Cale Makar became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach that milestone, behind Bobby Orr (69 GP) and Al MacInnis (71 GP).

Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings
Game 1 | 10 p.m., ESPN2

This is the fourth straight postseason in which the Oilers and Kings have met in Round 1, and Edmonton has won the previous three series. Will the fourth time be the charm for the Kings?

L.A. went 3-1-0 against Edmonton this season, including shutouts on April 5 and 14. Quinton Byfield was particularly strong in those games, with three goals and an assist. Overall, the Kings were led in scoring this season by Adrian Kempe, with 35 goals and 38 assists. Warren Foegele -- who played 22 playoff games for the Oilers in 2024 -- had a career-high 24 goals this season.

The Oilers enter the 2025 postseason with 41 playoff series wins, which is the second most among non-Original Six teams (behind the Flyers, with 44). They have been eliminated by the team that won the Stanley Cup in each of the past three postseasons (Panthers 2024, Golden Knights 2023, Avalanche 2022). Edmonton continues to be led by Leon Draisaitl -- who won his first Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer this season -- and Connor McDavid, who won the goal-scoring title in 2022-23 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs last year, even though the Oilers didn't win the Cup.

Arda's Three Stars of Sunday

Toronto's Core Fore
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares

For the last several seasons, much of the postseason narrative for the Leafs has been the lack of production from the Core Four. So this was a dream Game 1 against Ottawa for Marner (one goal, two assists), Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Matthews (two assists) in Toronto's 6-2 win over Ottawa.

Logan Stankoven
C, Carolina Hurricanes

Stankoven's two goals in the second period put the game out of reach, with the Canes winning 4-1 in Game 1. Stankoven is the second player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to score twice in his first playoff game with the club (the other was Andrei Svechnikov in Game 1 of the first round in 2019)

Brett Howden
C, Vegas Golden Knights

Howden had two third-period goals in the Golden Knights' victory over the Wild in Game 1, including a buzzer-beating empty-netter to make the final score 4-2.

Sunday's results

Hurricanes 4, Devils 1
Carolina leads 1-0

The Hurricanes came out inspired thanks in part to the raucous home crowd and took a quick lead off the stick of Jalen Chatfield at 2:24 of the first period. Logan Stankoven -- who came over in the Mikko Rantanen trade -- scored a pair in the second period, and the Canes never looked back. On the Devils' side, injuries forced Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass out of the game, while Luke Hughes left in the third period but was able to return. Full recap.

Maple Leafs 6, Senators 2
Toronto leads 1-0

The first skirmish in the Battle of Ontario goes to the home side, as the Leafs never let the Senators get very close in this one. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Mitch Marner scored in the first, John Tavares and William Nylander tallied in the second, while Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies put the game away in the third. Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig -- scorer of a controversial empty-net goal against Toronto in 2024 -- scored for Ottawa. Full recap.

Golden Knights 4, Wild 2
Vegas leads 1-0

In Sunday's nightcap, the two teams played an evenly matched first two periods, as Vegas carried a 2-1 lead into the third. Then, Brett Howden worked his magic, scoring a goal to pad the Knights' lead 2:28 into that frame, and putting the game to bed with an empty-netter that beat the buzzer. The Wild were led by Matt Boldy, who had two goals, both assisted by Kirill Kaprizov. Full recap.

Georgia picked up a trio of transfers Sunday, including one of the top linebackers available in the spring transfer portal window.

Army outside linebacker Elo Modozie, Illinois running back Josh McCray and Miami defensive lineman Josh Horton have signed with the Bulldogs, sources told ESPN.

Modozie, the No. 8 player in ESPN's spring transfer rankings, enjoyed a breakout year during the Black Knights' 12-win season in 2024, producing a team-high 6.5 sacks and earning third-team All-AAC honors.

McCray was Illinois' leading rusher last season with 609 yards on 5.2 yards per carry and 11 total touchdowns.

The Bulldogs were seeking an experienced back to complement rising sophomore Nate Frazier and secured their top target in the spring window. Georgia backup running back Branson Robinson, a former top-50 recruit, entered the portal Thursday after three seasons with the program.

Horton (6-foot-4, 295 pounds) played a total of 58 snaps over eight games during his two seasons at Miami and will provide added depth and size for the Bulldogs' defensive front.

The defending SEC champions are looking to reload after a first-round exit in last season's College Football Playoff and brought in six transfers during the winter transfer portal window, highlighted by wide receivers Zachariah Branch (USC) and Noah Thomas (Texas A&M).

Monday's Serie A fixtures have been postponed following the death of Pope Francis, the Italian league has announced.

Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church and a lifelong football fan has died, the Vatican said in a video statement on Monday. He was 88.

"Following the passing of His Holiness, Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A can confirm that today's league games in Serie A and Primavera 1 have been postponed," the league said in a statement.

"The date of the rearranged fixtures will be announced in due course."

Torino were set to host Udinese, Cagliari were due to face off against Fiorentina, while Lazio -- fresh from their Europa League quarterfinal disappointment in midweek -- were meant to travel to Genoa and Parma were scheduled to play Juventus.

LAS VEGAS -- NHL linesman Bryan Pancich left Sunday night's Minnesota-Vegas playoff game 3:37 into the second period after a collision with Golden Knights forward Brett Howden.

Backup official Frederick L'Ecuyer took Pancich's place in the opening game of the first-round Western Conference series.

Howden was trying to bat down a puck in the offensive zone when he appeared to make contact with Pancich's head with both by the boards. Howden briefly kneeled down to check on the official before joining his team as the Wild went on an offensive rush.

The Golden Knights beat the Wild 4-2.

HOUSTON -- Silence enveloped the Houston locker room shortly after the Rockets fell 95-85 to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series Sunday night.

Down the hall in front of the assembled media, Rockets coach Ime Udoka discussed how his team "guarded well enough to win."

"[If] you hold someone to 95 [points], you'd expect to win if you have a decent offensive night," Udoka said after Houston scored its fewest points of the season, and its fewest in a playoff game since Game 3 of the 2018 Western Conference finals, also against the Warriors.

"Some guys did struggle offensively -- you're not going to overreact to one game," Udoka said when asked if he might change the starting lineup.

"But if guys do play better, we have a chance there. Ten-point loss and like I said, holding somebody to 95; it was an offensively poor showing. The defense was good enough. But I'm not going to overreact to that game. It's some of those guys' first times and we had our chances."

Five players (Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green, Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr.) in Houston's eight-man rotation made their playoff debuts.

"It's my first [playoff] game," Green said. "I'm not too worried about it. I got a taste of what it was, and I've just got to answer back. I've got to take my time, make the right reads, get the pacing I want and just hunt the shots that I need to get. I feel like I've already seen what they're doing out there throughout 82 games. Just got to be better. We're doing our job defensively. We've just got to score the ball, and we can't leave [Sengun] out there by himself just to score the ball."

The Warriors employed an aggressive defensive game plan that featured plenty of physicality while sending two defenders to the ball handler in pick-and-rolls. In addition to jamming the passing lanes and the paint, Golden State defended Sengun one-on-one for much of the night. He finished with a team-high 26 points. Dillon Brooks and Smith contributed 11 points apiece as Houston's second-highest scorers.

Golden State forced Houston to settle for dreadful shots. Fred VanVleet and Green became the third starting backcourt since 2000 to each shoot 25% or worse (minimum 15 attempts) in the same playoff game, joining the Milwaukee duo of Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton (2019 against Toronto) and Chicago's Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler (2015 against the Bucks).

Entering Sunday night, Warriors superstar Stephen Curry was 0-10 in road playoff games in which his team failed to score 100 points. Houston helped Curry, who scored a game-high 31 points, secure his first win under those conditions.

"We just didn't execute," VanVleet said. "Maybe the physicality was an issue. But I thought we matched that for the most part. They definitely heat the ball up, but they didn't do anything differently tonight than they've done all season. They heat the ball up. They crowd the paint. They obviously tried to take Jalen out."

They succeeded, too, limiting Green to seven points on 3-of-15 shooting, the worst field goal percentage (20%) by a Rocket with at least 15 field goal attempts since 2019, when James Harden shot 15% in Game 3 of the opening round of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz.

Houston shot 39.1% from the field and was 6-of-29 from 3-point range Sunday. The Rockets committed 17 turnovers that Golden State turned into 25 points.

Despite the Warriors taking a 23-point lead in the third quarter, the Rockets gradually whittled it down to four points with 2:38 left on VanVleet's 3-pointer off an assist from Thompson.

Houston finished with an offensive rebounding percentage of 46.6%, the highest percentage in a postseason loss since Game 6 of the 2014 opening-round playoff series between the Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. Houston lost in six games on a series-ending buzzer-beater.

The Rockets also squandered numerous fast-break opportunities. Golden State outscored Houston 16-4 in fast-break points, but the Rockets went just 2-of-7 in those opportunities after ranking seventh during the regular season in fast-break scoring (17.0).

"They are not a typical modern NBA team in terms of spreading you out, playing fast, shooting a million 3s," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "They're kind of old-school. In many ways, they're in the image of their coach. Ime, he was grimy as a player. He was tough, physical and that's what Houston is. It felt like 1997 out there to me, [a] completely different NBA game than what we're used to, and we've got to be ready for that. This is what this series is going to be."

HOUSTON -- Jimmy Butler sized up Alperen Sengun, milked the shot clock down and hit a turning 19-foot stepback jumper over the Houston Rockets big man with 1:03 left to play.

After Butler's shot sealed Golden State's 95-85 win over Houston in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series, the Warriors star nodded with confidence in a gesture that let his teammates, including Stephen Curry, know they have another star closer.

In his first playoff game with the Warriors, Butler delivered 25 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals to give the seventh-seeded Warriors a 1-0 lead over the second-seeded Rockets. Butler scored six of his points in the final 1:43 to put the game away.

"There were several moments where they cut the lead," Warriors forward Draymond Green said. "... [But each time we] did a great job of getting Jimmy the ball. It always just settles the offense down. Even that last one, he hit over Sengun. That's what we want. And I think we got to do the better job of making sure we're getting him the ball.

"But overall, he's such a huge calm force for us. Just calms everything down, get us to our spots and get us a good look."

Butler is the first player to have 25 points and 5 steals in a playoff debut with a franchise since steals became official in 1973-74. He also tied Allen Iverson for the third-most playoff games with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.

In game in which the Warriors trailed by eight early after a furious Houston start that was punctuated by an early Sengun poster dunk on Green -- and then built a 66-43 lead midway through the third quarter, only to see Houston slice that deficit to three in the fourth -- Butler helped Curry and the Warriors when they needed it the most by making a play to stabilize things on the floor.

"He has that impact every game," said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who secured his 100th playoff coaching victory. "He calms things down. He's very confident, he's very poised. He always believes we're going to win.

"Jimmy is, he's one of the best players in the league, and that's what the best players in the league do. It's not just about scoring or stats. It's about settling the game down, having the presence and the nature to compete and win games like this."

The first game of the Rockets and Warriors series might be a preview of things to come. It was physical, low-scoring and defensive-minded. Kerr likened it to a game out of "1997."

In other words, it was a game that Butler was suited for.

"They're an incredible team," Butler said. "Definitely a physical one. But I would like to think that we don't back down from any challenge anyways and we met brute force with brute force. Maybe a little bit of finesse in there as well. I think we handled their pressure incredibly well knowing that coming out the next game is probably going to be two to three times even more physical."

The Warriors know they will have to find a way to keep Houston off the offensive glass. The Rockets had 22 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points.

They also know Houston will throw more at Curry. Much of the talk entering the series was how Houston can smother Curry with long and athletic wing defenders. The Warriors star point guard was able to overcome the physical defense by hitting 12 of 19 shots, including five 3-pointers, for 31 points. It was his seventh career 30-point game against the Rockets in his postseason career, tied for his most against a single opponent, according to ESPN Research.

When Houston loaded up on Curry, the point guard knew the ball would find Butler. The Warriors are 25-8 since Butler made his debut in Chicago on Feb. 8. They also had the top-ranked defense during that span as well.

In their first playoff game together, Curry got to watch "Playoff Jimmy" work.

"Just a continuation of what it's been like since he's been on our team from February," Curry said of what he saw in Butler in their first playoff game together. "He has a knack for big moments, even if it's not him finishing the play, he had a big shot at the elbow, but just the guy that is composed with the ball, his poised out there, his presence and if they're going to swarm and try to take me out of plays in the half quarter times, you have a guy that can create a lot of looks and defensively as well.

"He plays way bigger than the size. So just it's obviously a great addition and it has been since February and we want to continue that."

CLEVELAND -- When the Cleveland Cavaliers first assembled for this season there was a collective shock at the trash talk coming from Ty Jerome, a career role player who played just 15 total minutes last year because of a bad ankle injury.

"He was talking his s---," Cavs All-Star Darius Garland remembered. "[I was like] 'slow down buddy'."

"[The players] laughed at him because first he was this bit player and he still doing the swag stuff," Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. "And they're kind of like 'who's this guy think he is?'"

Sunday evening the Miami Heat felt that side of Jerome, who ran his mouth and flexed on them as he scored 28 points in just 26 minutes off the bench for a masterpiece in his first-ever playoff game. He was at his best in the fourth quarter, scoring or assisting on 24 consecutive Cavs points to turn a close game into a 121-100 victory to stake the Cavs to a 1-0 series lead.

It was the cornerstone of a dominating performance by the Cavs' guards. Donovan Mitchell and Garland both looked fresh after a week off, attacking the Heat's interior as part of a clear game plan -- get inside looking to score or open up kick-outs to teammates. Mitchell scored 30 points, going 9-of-10 on 2-point shots as part of an elite interior scoring display. Garland put in 27 points, drilling five 3-pointers and handing out five assists.

Jerome made 5-of-8 3-pointers himself and knocked down three in the fourth quarter run that broke what had been an effective stretch of zone defense from the Heat. Jerome, Garland and Mitchell are just the fourth guard trio in NBA playoff history to each score 25 or more points.

It was part of a memorable day for Jerome, who was named a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year earlier in the evening.

"It's definitely special after last year, not being able to play the whole year, not being able to play the playoffs, just watching," Jerome said. "It speaks to the time my teammates have empowered me and how my coaching staff empowered me since day one for sure."

The Cavs appeared to target Heat guard Tyler Herro on offense, repeatedly looking to create matchups to get him in isolation and then attacking. Jerome, who made 10-of-15 shots, several times flexed after scoring on Herro.

"This is who Ty is. This is not a shock," said Mitchell, who first played with Jerome on an AAU team when they were eight years old. "I know everybody's going to react like this is a shock that he'd been doing this for us all year."

Herro was coming off two brilliant games as the Heat became the first-ever 10-seed to win the play-in tournament, scoring 38 points in a win in Chicago and 30 in Atlanta. He scored 17 points in the first half Sunday but the Cavs swarmed him in the second half, aggressively denying him the ball and trying to make sure he couldn't shake open when the Heat attempted to swing him the ball on the weakside. He finished with 21 points on just 7-of-18 shooting.

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 24 points and nine rebounds. Heat guard Davion Mitchell, who also had a strong performance in the play-in games, had 18 points off the bench but the Heat's guards lost the backcourt battle in Game 1 overall.

"We've got three guys who are very talented with the basketball," Mitchell said. "So it's like you kind of have to pick your poison in that regard. Tonight was just an example of it, but we got to do it again [in Game 2]."

The first possession of Alperen Sengun's NBA playoff career began with an offensive foul drawn by Draymond Green on Sunday in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.

Two possessions later, the Houston Rockets center got revenge, slamming home a dunk over the Golden State Warriors forward.

Rockets guard Jalen Green found a driving Sengun, who gathered, then levitated over Green for a poster jam. The highlight-reel play came less than two minutes into the game.

ALPEREN SENGUN CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF

RIM-ROCKING POSTER SLAM EARLY IN GAME 1!!!

Warriors/Rockets underway on TNT. pic.twitter.com/mi9EmtKMvM

NBA (@NBA) April 21, 2025

The two have history dating back to a recent game. Green was hit with a flagrant foul 1 after he elbowed Sengun when the two teams matched up on April 6.

Sengun averaged 19.1 points and 10.3 rebounds during the regular season, earning All-Star honors for the first time in his career. Houston is playing in its first playoff series since 2020.