From Larry Bird to Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics have suited up some of the best perimeter shooters in NBA history.

None of them ever had a hotter hand from behind the arc in a quarter than rookie Carsen Edwards on Tuesday night.

Edwards made eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points in the third quarter, leading the Celtics to a 118-95 victory over the host Cleveland Cavaliers to complete an unbeaten preseason (4-0).

Edwards' performance was a surprise, because there have been few like it in any game, no matter whether it counted in standings. The second-round pick out of Purdue was 8-for-11 from behind the arc in the third quarter, all in just under nine minutes.

"I've never seen anything like that," Boston coach Brad Stevens told reporters after the game. "He was pretty special."

Edwards finished 9-of-15 from 3-point range and scored 30 points. He made four 30-footers in the third quarter alone; across the NBA over the past 20 seasons, the most 30-footers made in a regular-season quarter is two.

Not bad for a 6-foot rookie.

"You look at a guy that size and you try to figure out how he does it," Stevens said. "And he just keeps doing it."

Bird has raved about some of Klay Thompson's shooting performances, and the Golden State Warriors All-Star is the only player who ever made more 3s in one quarter. He hit nine during his 37-point third quarter -- also a record -- against Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2015.

Three other players -- Kevin Love, Joe Johnson and Michael Redd -- have drained eight 3-pointers in a quarter during a regular-season game.

The Celtics' record for made 3s in a regular-season game is nine, a mark held by Isaiah Thomas and Antoine Walker (twice).

Information from ESPN Stats & Information was used in this report.

SHANGHAI'S SKYLINE IS breathtaking. The Oriental Pearl Radio & Television Tower looks like a giant ray gun pointed up to the heavens. The Shanghai Tower twists and climbs 128 stories into the clouds. The Shanghai World Financial Center showcases at its peak a trapezoid-shaped aperture so big that a helicopter could fly through it.

But as the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets stared out the windows of the dining hall in the Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong on Wednesday, Oct. 9, it was difficult for them to notice anything other than the 30-foot banners of their likenesses being stripped off the side of a shopping mall across the street.

With the teams set to play the first of two scheduled exhibition games the next day and no explanation available as to why the promotional posters were being taken down, a state of confusion -- even fear -- enveloped the room, sources present in China last week told ESPN.

"Nobody knew what to do," one source said. As most NBA fans know by now, it all started with an image Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted on Oct. 4 to show support for protesters in Hong Kong. Morey quickly deleted the tweet, but the damage was done. What began on Twitter was becoming an international debacle.

"If this was tweeted by the Grizzlies' GM or Phoenix, it wouldn't have caused the same impact," an NBA China employee told ESPN. The Rockets, who drafted former NBA and Chinese player Yao Ming, are the most popular U.S. team in China.

The issue of China's sovereignty had been drilled into Team USA players who traveled to China for the FIBA World Cup just weeks before. One player from USA Basketball told ESPN that he "couldn't believe" Morey would take on the issue with a tweet after the way Team USA was warned about its complications.

It was with this backdrop that the Lakers and Nets buckled their seatbelts for their lengthy flights.

THE LAKERS DEPARTED LAX on Monday, Oct. 7, for a 14½-hour journey -- and their plane had no Wi-Fi connection. As the teams crossed 15 time zones and the Pacific date line, the reaction to Morey's tweet continued to escalate.

"We had zero knowledge of it before we took off," LeBron James said of the backlash.

By Tuesday, around the time the Lakers landed in Shanghai, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was conducting a news conference in Japan in which he defended Morey's tweet as "a freedom of expression."

Silver's stance didn't help ease tensions.

As the Lakers took the bus to the team hotel, they got wind that the NBA Cares event, scheduled to be hosted by the Nets, had been canceled earlier in the day by the Chinese government. When the Lakers got to the Ritz, they found out that the welcome reception for both teams that evening was canceled, too.

"We started to kind of get a sense of what was kind of happening," James said Monday.

By Wednesday, the league's second NBA Cares event, this one hosted by the Lakers, had been canceled by the Chinese government. Undeterred and hoping to get their jet-lagged legs moving and salvage a day of training camp for their group full of new faces, the Lakers went to the Mercedes-Benz Arena to practice.

The basketball didn't last long.

After about 30 minutes of practice, the Lakers were rushed off the court by arena workers, sources told ESPN. The workers were tasked with sanding down and resurfacing the hardwood to remove the logos for the presenting sponsors of the China Games because those sponsors had withdrawn.

While the games were losing corporate money, the players were feeling it in their wallets as well.

James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo -- to name a few -- had appearances canceled. One Lakers player, sources told ESPN, had agreed to a $1 million endorsement deal with a Chinese company prior to the trip. When he arrived -- poof -- it was gone. A seven-figure payday went out the window.

James, after taking 15 consecutive summer trips to China, skipped it this year to complete the filming of "Space Jam 2," anticipating that the China Games would serve as a substitute. Some of his most important appearances of the year -- including two with Nike and one with Beats by Dre -- were canceled during this trip.

According to public financial statements, Nike and other companies' basketball shoe sales have been relatively flat in recent quarters in North America but have been surging in China, where millions of teenagers save up to buy the latest signature models.

Eating an early lunch back at the hotel, players watched as the banners featuring their images -- and the logos of former sponsors -- were peeled off and pulled down until they lay in a clump at the base of the building. The players could only shake their heads at the sight.

"Everything was getting canceled right before things were [supposed to be] happening," James said. "Everything was getting canceled."

Just three weeks before, Silver had been in Beijing for the FIBA World Cup championship game, where he was at the center of a feel-good basketball delegation. He had meetings and meals with some of the league's partners in the country and celebrated 10-figure deals that had been negotiated over the summer to expand business in China.

Now, Silver was flying from Tokyo to Shanghai and was unsure, according to sources, if the Chinese government would even let him into the country.

By early afternoon, the commissioner made it through customs, maneuvering through fingerprint scans and facial-recognition technology. He'd have players and front-office personnel waiting for him at the hotel.

The NBA moved up its scheduled 4 p.m. meeting between Silver and the Nets' and Lakers' traveling parties to 2:30, with urgency growing by the minute.

"It's a long way to go for a high level of anxiety," a Nets team source said.

What was supposed to be a commissioner's meet and greet with players had turned into a make-or-break moment for the China Games.

SILVER STOOD AT a microphone at the front of the beige-colored Grand Ballroom 2 on the same floor as the makeshift dining hall at the Ritz. With tall ceilings and rows of sturdy-back chairs in perfectly straight lines, the room looked like it could have been set up for a chamber of commerce convention the next day.

In the ordinary setting, the commissioner laid out the extraordinary situation, spending 10 to 15 minutes, according to a source present, appearing "vulnerable and transparent" as he detailed the issues and challenges facing the league.

He expressed to the players that the best thing for the league would be for the Nets and Lakers to become ambassadors for the sport, to show a positive front and face the questions that would come from the throng of nearly 200 reporters set to descend upon the hotel in mere hours. One of the league's core values is freedom of expression, Silver said. "It's what you guys stand for." And to not speak, he said, could lead to criticism for staying silent.

Silver opened the floor. James raised his hand.

His question was related to Morey -- and the commissioner's handling of the Rockets' GM. James, to paraphrase, told Silver that he knew that if a player caused the same type of uproar with something he said or tweeted, the player wouldn't be able to skate on it. There would be some type of repercussion. So, James wanted to know, what was Silver going to do about it in Morey's case?

Silver pushed back, reminding the players that the league never doled out discipline when they publicly criticized President Donald Trump. Morey was exercising the same liberty when he challenged China. Regardless of the financial fallout of one versus the other, that's not what should matter. Silver might have disliked the ramifications of Morey's tweet, but he would defend the right to say it.

But James wasn't finished.

"I never speak for just me, things that just benefit me. I try to be educated as much as I can and speak from a pure heart of how can I protect not only me, but protect the players as well in that situation."

LeBron James

Morey wasn't there to answer questions, he countered. Silver hadn't spoken to the media in China, either. Why would this fall on the players to address?

James told the room that it was too much for the players to take on in that moment -- to explain a complicated issue with racial, socioeconomic and geopolitical layers while visitors in China. It was time to follow the league's lead.

"Obviously, when he speaks up, people pay attention," a Nets source told ESPN.

Kyrie Irving, according to sources who were in the room, questioned whether it was worth playing the games in such a charged environment. He said he was there to play basketball games, and if a requirement for those games was dealing with the fallout Morey's tweet created, he would rather not play at all.

After about 30 minutes, Silver and others exited the room to allow for a players-only meeting. Once the others were gone, the players worked to find a consensus. James told the room that he wanted both teams in total agreement on how they would approach the rest of the trip. His instinct was to shield his colleagues from a nearly impossible public relations chasm.

"It's always a responsibility with me as far as players, a protection for the players," James said Monday. "That's always [on my mind]. I never speak for just me, things that just benefit me. I try to be educated as much as I can and speak from a pure heart of how can I protect not only me, but protect the players as well in that situation."

SILVER HAD A breakout session with the teams' ownership and front-office personnel on the ground while the players huddled.

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, according to sources, echoed James' position to the commissioner. Advocating for the players, he thought, was a chance to build unity. If at the end of the day his 15 players believed their front office had their best interests at heart, then trust could be built. It would be a small victory in a tough situation.

Silver eventually came back to the players: If they weren't prepared to do media, then the NBA wouldn't make them do it. End of story.

But everyone involved wanted to salvage the games.

"We were just hoping to play a little basketball," James said Monday. "No matter what's going on in my life or what's been going on in any situation, the game of basketball has always put people in a great space. So we were just hoping we could get out there and play some ball."

The self-imposed media ban proved moot. The Chinese government canceled the pregame and postgame news conferences -- including Silver's -- for the Shanghai game, just as it had canceled the ancillary events that week. The feeling among NBA officials was that China viewed the games as the crown jewel. Anything that could potentially derail the games -- such as a player echoing what Silver said in Tokyo supporting Morey -- needed to be eliminated.

After days of agitation, Chinese officials seemed to relent and hint that they too wanted to see the games played. Although they didn't offer certainty that day, they essentially "nodded," according to an NBA China source.

For all the discomfort, the league had some leverage: There are hundreds of millions of NBA fans in China, after all.

As a tumultuous Wednesday concluded, everyone went to bed that night confident that there would be a basketball game the next day.

EVEN THOUGH THE first game was on, the Lakers were unsure what type of crowd would greet them at Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Would there be protests? Would the arena be empty? Would it feel like any other preseason game?

"We were there just to play," Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said Monday. "Even if the fans didn't show up or they did show up, we still had to play a basketball game. That was our mindset."

It was almost like any other NBA game -- except it wasn't. There were rough patches on the floor where the logos had been scrubbed off. There were no national anthems -- neither American nor Chinese -- before tipoff. And many of the capacity crowd of nearly 16,000 toted handheld Chinese flags that were distributed outside. (A Lakers player, sources said, signed one of the flags that was thrust upon him when he was signing autographs for fans, causing some within the organization to question whether the well-meaning gesture would be taken as an affront on the flag.)

Two days later, the Lakers and Nets finished their two-game set in Shenzhen.

The Lakers took the 1½-hour bus ride to the airport immediately following the game, waited an hour in line to clear customs and boarded the team plane for the flight home -- where they would have to wait on the runway for another two-plus hours because of a tropical storm.

As they strapped in, more than ready to fly home, some Lakers personnel joked to one another that the Chinese government controls so much that even the weather is under their influence. It was the type of joke people make when they're delirious -- funnier in the moment than in the retelling, to be sure.

Still, the delay proved to be a metaphor. Even though the Lakers and Nets are now back in the United States, the story is far from over.

Morey is waiting to see if he truly weathered the storm or if his job could still be on the line. If the damages from broken broadcast partnerships and abandoned corporate sponsorships reach the multimillions, will pressure mount despite the league's initial backing?

Nike is waiting to see how much revenue it has lost from Rockets jerseys pulled off shelves in stores all over China and whether its losses will end there.

The Lakers are waiting to see if the trip will help or hurt their team chemistry this season. "Only time will tell. We'll see," James said. "Obviously, it's not going to be as great as everybody wants it to be to start off, but one thing about me ... I love the process. I'm extremely in love with being in the process with this ballclub."

The league, on the other hand, is waiting to see if it will ever be welcome in China again.

ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk and Adrian Wojnarowski contributed to this report.

NEW YORK -- Houston Astros ace Gerrit Cole did not have his best stuff against the potent New York Yankees offense in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday. He put up nothing but zeros anyway.

Cole went seven often-laborious innings in Houston's 4-1 win, striking out seven and walking a career-high-tying five batters. But he held New York to just four hits over his seven scoreless frames, extending his streak of starts without a loss to 25, dating back to May 22. That's the fifth-longest streak without a loss in big league history. But this one wasn't easy.

"Intense," Cole said. "Had to battle tonight. I thought their offense did an excellent job working some counts. Fell behind a few guys in a few of the early innings and put us in a tough position [where] we needed to make some pitches, and fortunately we did. Got away with a few mistakes, obviously."

The Astros took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and reclaimed the home-field advantage they lost when the Yankees won Game 1 7-0 at Minute Maid Park. Cole improved to 3-0 in the postseason with just one run allowed in 22⅔ innings -- a 0.40 ERA. His 32 strikeouts during the playoffs are the third most for a pitcher in his first three outings of a postseason, behind Bob Gibson (35, 1968) and Cliff Lee (34, 2010).

"I think he's the best pitcher in baseball right now," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. Then remembering Cole's co-ace in the Astros rotation -- Justin Verlander -- Hinch added, "His competition is right next to him in the clubhouse. They're certainly a good pair.

"Obviously, I'm biased to my guys. But Gerrit is locked in. And to see him do it on the big stage in a playoff game with the magnitude of this game, it was pretty awesome."

And yet Cole struggled with his command and pitch count for much of the outing. All five of his walks were issued with two outs. The Yankees got multiple runners on base against him in four of his first five innings, stranding nine runners in the process. The five free passes matched the career high he set on June 18, 2018, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Cole ended up throwing 112 pitches, tied for his third-highest total this season, before turning the ball over to the Houston bullpen.

"I actually think the beginning of the game he had a hard time finding his stuff and finding his tempo, his rhythm," Hinch said. "He was still getting through his outing, made some really big pitches, had some pressure on him. Then once he found his curveball, it was pretty lights out."

Cole got Didi Gregorius on a grounder to second with the bases loaded to end the first. He struck out Aaron Judge with two on to end the second. He retired DJ LeMahieu on a fly ball with two on to end the fourth.

But the closest the Yankees game to finally putting up some runs against Cole came in the bottom of the fifth. With two on and two out, Gregorius lifted a high-arching fly ball to right field that backed Astros outfielder Josh Reddick to the fence. But the ball settled into Reddick's glove, keeping the Yankees scoreless.

"I initially wasn't that worried, and then I started to get a little worried when Reddick was kind of drifting back," Cole said. "But he pulled up and the blood flow just kind of relaxed a little bit. Like I said, thank God he didn't pull it more."

Cole's catcher, Martin Maldonado, was asked about the righty's stuff and command and rated the stuff "a 10" and said that despite the walks, the Yankees deserve some credit, too.

"That was a pretty good lineup," Maldonado said. "It's not like we're facing a s--- lineup. They take some good at-bats, put some at-bats together, foul off a lot of pitches. That's what they did the whole game, from the first at-bat to LeMahieu to the last at-bat.

Cole, 29, went 20-5 with a 2.50 ERA and 326 strikeouts during the regular season, building a strong case for the AL Cy Young Award, with Verlander likely his main competition for the honor. His record during his loss-free streak improved to 19-0.

For all the gaudy numbers, it's Cole's resolve and resourcefulness that most impress his teammates.

"That's one of his best qualities," Houston third baseman Alex Bregman said. "When he doesn't have a pitch or have command or doesn't have something else, he figures out how to get the job down. We all can learn a lot from that."

The Yankees led the American League with 943 runs during the regular season and entered the game having scored 30 runs in their five postseason games. And they still didn't get to a pitcher having an ace's version of an off night. It's a harrowing prospect for the Bronx Bombers, knowing that if the series goes to six or seven games, they'll have to face Cole again, only with the season on the line.

"It goes without saying that anytime you can target another day for him to pitch, it feels pretty good," Hinch said, before reminding everyone that the series is far from over. "I think there's a lot of baseball left to play before that factors in."

WASHINGTON -- The game was over in the first inning. With chants of "Let's go Nats!" echoing from the first pitch, and then chants of "Let's go Corbin!" as Nationals starter Patrick Corbin mowed down the Cardinals with three strikeouts to begin the game, then to the "M-V-P!" chants as Anthony Rendon stepped up with two runners on, the Nationals never let the Cardinals breathe. They never let them breathe the entire series.

The Nationals ambushed the Cardinals with a seven-run first inning - an insane amount of action in just 21 pitches that included six hits, a sacrifice fly, a sacrifice bunt and two horrific defensive miscues -- and held on for a 7-4 victory to complete a sweep in the NLCS and reach the first World Series in franchise history. The Cardinals never led for a single inning in the four games.

It was complete domination, with the vaunted Nationals' rotation leading the way as the Cardinals hit just .130. The four Nationals starters -- Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin -- allowed five runs in 26.2 innings, three of those in the fifth inning off Corbin in the clinching game. It means for the first time since 1933, when the Washington Senators played the New York Giants at old Griffith Stadium, the World Series will be played in the nation's capital. The Nationals, born as the Montreal Expos in 1969 and residents of D.C. since 2005, become the 29th franchise to reach the World Series. Only the Seattle Mariners have never reached one.

Back in May, the odds were long of that happening. The Nationals stumbled to a 19-31 start through May 23 and owned the second-worst record in the National League. There were rumors that manager Dave Martinez could lose his job and even that Scherzer could go on the trade block if they didn't turn things around. According to FanGraphs, the Nationals' playoff odds on that date were 22.2 percent. Their odds of reaching the World Series: 3.9 percent.

In other words: They had a chance. There was too much talent here. The Nationals didn't fire Martinez. They kept Scherzer. The rotation got on a roll and the offense started clicking. Trea Turner was out from April 3 to April 17. Rendon played just one game between April 21 and May 7 -- and still ended up leading the majors in RBIs. Juan Soto was hitting .246/.358/.435 on May 20. The rest of the season, the 20-year-old super sophomore hit .295/.414/.587.

After May 23, the Nationals went 74-38, tied with the Dodgers for the best record in the NL (the Astros went 74-37). That was their first comeback: They won 93 games and hosted the wild-card game against the Milwaukee Brewers. That was comeback No. 2: Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth, they rallied for three runs against Brewers closer Josh Hader to win 4-3. That led to comeback No. 3: They trailed 2-1 in the division series to the Los Angeles Dodgers before Scherzer won Game 4 and then trailed 3-1 in the eighth inning in Game 5 when Rendon and Soto smacked home runs on consecutive pitches off Clayton Kershaw to tie the game. Howie Kendrick's grand slam in the 10th would win it.

No comeback was needed in the NLCS. Sanchez took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Game 1. Scherzer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in Game 2. Strasburg struck out 12 with no walks in Game 3. Corbin struck out 12 in just five innings in Game 4. Only three teams had been 12 games under .500 and reached the World Series: the 1914 "Miracle" Boston Braves, the 1973 Mets and the 2005 Astros.

Another key perhaps was not firing Martinez. Ryan Zimmerman, who reached the majors back in the team's first season in D.C., has been here through it all -- the bad seasons, the playoff disappointments, the hiring and firing of managers.

"I have had a lot of managers, obviously, and they all come into spring training and say they're going to stay this way no matter what, we're going to be here for you, it's going to be us, we don't care what anyone says," Zimmerman said at the outset of this series. "And then as soon as stuff goes bad, every manager has pretty much kind of thrown that out the window and sort of gone into self-preservation mode, where Davey, honestly, has stayed the same way. He's positive every day, his energy, he always trusts his players and has his players' backs. And I don't think it's been any different this year, even when we started as poorly as we did, he stayed the same."

Martinez had a heart procedure in mid-September -- a cardiac catheterization -- after feeling chest pains. He says in good health right now.

"I don't know if you guys have noticed, I have been sitting down a little bit more in the dugout," he said prior to Game 4. "Just because the doctor told me to kind of keep the heart rate down a little bit. It's tough to do, but I'm doing it, and it's helped a lot. I feel my health is great. I took all the tests. ... So the running joke now is I had to take a stress test, and I told the doctors, 'You don't see me every day? I take a stress test every day, and I think I'm passing.' They started laughing, and they said, no, you're going to take a real one now, and I passed that one."

RICHMOND, Va. — IndyCar took another important step in the development of its cockpit-protecting aeroscreen with Tuesday’s two-car test at Richmond Raceway, the three-quarter-mile short oval that will play host to the NTT IndyCar Series next June.

This was the third of four scheduled aeroscreen tests this fall and it went so well that recently crowned NTT IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden of Team Penske needed only a handful of laps to adjust to the new cockpit surroundings.

“Perception-wise, it was a little different when I first got in (the car) but it took maybe 30 or 40 laps and after that you’re pretty used to it,” Newgarden said. “It’s pretty normal at this point.”

The Richmond test also included five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, who also took part in the initial aeroscreen on-track test with Team Penske’s Will Power on Oct. 2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition to testing Firestone tires, Dixon said the aeroscreen works well on ovals and is nearly ready for action now.

“A little different look with the aeroscreen,” Dixon said. “It seems like everything is going well with all the testing (IndyCar has) done. For sure (here), the car’s fine.”

The aeroscreen is scheduled to make its race debut March 13-15, 2020 at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and will be used in competition at all 17 races next season, including the June 26-27 event at Richmond Raceway.

IndyCar President Jay Frye continues to be pleased with the ongoing development of the aeroscreen.

“We’ve learned something every time we’ve tested,” Frye said. “It’s about checking the boxes and once the teams get a hold of it they’ll make it even better. They’ll take it to a whole other level.”

The aeroscreen was developed by Red Bull Advanced Technologies to reduce the risk of driver injury from flying debris or other objects striking the cockpit area. Anchored by titanium framework, the aeroscreen consists of a polycarbonate laminated screen that includes an anti-reflective coating on the interior of the screen, an anti-fogging device through an integral heating element and tear-offs, all of which will be produced by integrated third-party companies.

The titanium framework mounts in three areas around the cockpit: the chassis centerline, two rear side mounts and roll hoop integration to provide enhanced load-bearing capabilities. The load-bearing is expected to be 150 kilonewtons (kN), which equals the FIA load for the Halo design currently used in Formula One. A kilonewton is equal to approximately 225 pounds.

The visit to Richmond Raceway was the third consecutive week of on-track testing of the aeroscreen, with each coming on a different type of layout. Previously, IndyCar staged an aeroscreen test at a superspeedway — Indianapolis Motor Speedway — and followed with the second at the Barber Motorsports Park permanent road course in Birmingham, Ala. on Oct. 7.

The fourth scheduled test will be Nov. 5 at Sebring (Fla.) Int’l Raceway, a track that simulates street circuits. Four-time Indy car champion Sebastien Bourdais of Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan and James Hinchcliffe of Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports will be the drivers at Sebring.

A focus of this test was to make driving the car a more comfortable experience by redirecting the airflow inside the cockpit through the use of interior inlets.

“That was an improvement,” Dixon said, “especially around the legs and body.”

While the aeroscreen adds about 60 pounds to the car, Newgarden said he noticed little difference between driving here and without the aeroscreen at Iowa Speedway, a similar short oval track.

“When I first went out my perception of how much grip the car and how much control I had was slightly different, but I think that’s because it felt foreign,” he said. “You’re not used to having a screen over your head, but after 20 or 30 laps after you got used to it the car feels very similar in terms of how I drive the car or how the car feels compared to a place like Iowa or Gateway — it feels very similar.

“From a tuning standpoint, it didn’t take that much to get it back into the correct window as far as the balance – the balance is very good even with the screen on. From that point, I don’t think the cars are going to change that much going into next year.”

With the highly-anticipated movie, Ford v Ferrari staring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, just weeks away from its release, veteran Stunt Coordinator for the film, Robert Nagle, stopped by The Ralph Sheheen Show Presented by Lucas Oil to share some behind-the-scenes stories on how this racing production was created.

Based on the story of legendary racer and car builder, Carroll Shelby, Ford’s GT40 rolled into victory lane in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time, beating the dominant team of the era, Ferrari.

Catch this week’s full episode on SPEEDSPORT.com or download the podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher, iHeart Radio or Spotify.

Some teams, like the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers, have exploded out of the gate on the power play. Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel are fueling destructive special teams that have helped both clubs avoid a regulation loss this season (combined 9-0-1).

The fantasy realm, as such, is enjoying some early season breakouts from the likes of James Neal, Victor Olofsson, Oscar Klefbom and Rasmus Dahlin. By all means, buy into the performances. McDavid and Eichel aren't going anywhere, so these supporting pieces can keep up close to the stats we've seen so far. It's not like the power plays are in the stratosphere or anything - the Sabres are converting on 42.1 percent and the Oilers on 41.2 percent. Those percentages will regress, but they don't have to by a ton (25 to 30 percent is reasonable for the top teams).

In the meantime, we can look to which players on which power plays are getting the job done with a little less fanfare than the Oilers and Sabres. A good target this time of year is players who are scoring power play points with minimal minutes or on the second unit. Nothing helps fantasy goodness over the long-term like a promotion on special teams.

Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers have four power-play goals so far this season and three have come from the second power-play unit. Travis Konecny has three power-play helpers in 6:09 of PP time, while Oskar Lindblom has two goals in 5:36 and Ivan Provorov has one of each in 6:09. The big minutes are going to Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Kevin Hayes, Shayne Gostisbehere and James van Riemsdyk for now, but it wouldn't be a shock to see the units begin to merge a little, getting some additional minutes for the players producing. With three goals at even strength as well, Konecny is a major buy for me.

New York Islanders: The Isles are getting fewer opportunities on the man advantage, with only 10 chances through five games, but they've converted on three of them. Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson each have two power-play points on those goals. If he wasn't likely out with a leg injury at the moment, Eberle would have my attention here as he's been on the top line with Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal. Keep him on the radar for when he returns. In the meantime, maybe have a look at Oliver Wahlstrom, who appears to be lining up with Barzal and Lee for his NHL debut in Eberle's stead.

Los Angeles Kings: Interestingly, the Kings have two power-play goals on 16 opportunities this season and both have been scored by Drew Doughty with assists on both to Anze Kopitar and Ilya Kovalchuk. It's interesting because the trio have not been on an established unit together very often ... yet. Kovalchuk has been on the second unit for most occasions, but has been contributing in a big way so far this season. It won't hold for long with Kovy on the second unit if he keeps scoring - he has six points through five games. While last season was a write-off for the returning Kovalchuk, this one is off to a much better start. He's available in 80 percent of leagues.

San Jose Sharks: Combined, Evander Kane, Dylan Gambrell and Patrick Marleau have played 13:58 of power-play time. That combined time would be sixth on the team for power-play minutes this season. Yet the trio has accounted for four of the Sharks nine power-play points this season. The Sharks have been splitting up Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson for two different units on the man advantage of late, with Gambrell and Marleau landing on the unit with Karlsson. Marleau is of particular interest, as he's taking shifts with Logan Couture and Timo Meier at even strength.

And yes, I did just recommend the 36-year-old Kovalchuk and the 40-year-old Marleau as possible fantasy additions.

Forwards on the move

Mike Hoffman, W, Florida Panthers (up 10 spots to No. 67): We love Hoffman for fantasy purposes already, so it's hard to describe the emotion when he goes from 15 or 16 minutes a night to more than 20. Elevated to the top line with Aleksander Barkov for regular shifts this past week, it's unfortunate the Panthers didn't start winning to cement the placement. Either way, Hoffman has five goals and seven points already (five games) and with the chance to get an extra five minutes a game on the depth chart, he makes an aggressive move up the rankings.

Max Pacioretty, W, Vegas Golden Knights (up six spots to No. 79): The Cody Glass experiment has come to an end for now, with the Knights brining Paul Stastny back to center the second line that exploded together during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The result through two games back together has been five points for Pacioretty, five points for Stastny and three points for Mark Stone. It looks like they'll be hanging out together for a while again.

Jonathan Drouin, C, Montreal Canadiens (up nine spots to No. 151): I'm not even sure it's the Canadiens second line that Drouin is on, with the offense divided up fairly evenly among three lines. But it's working for Drouin, who has six points through the Habs first five games of the season. Drouin is taking shifts with sophomore Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia. Not a top line on paper, but the results have been solid. If Drouin keeps showing well, his supporting cast could improve and more power-play time could come his way.

Defensemen on the move

Dougie Hamilton, D, Carolina Hurricanes (up 18 spots to No. 61): While he might miss him as a friend, Hamilton has to be over the moon that Justin Faulk was shipped out of Carolina. He's claimed the big power-play minutes for the team and already has three power-play points this season - noting that he finished with a grand total of seven last season. He won't keep scoring on 21.1 percent of his many shots, but it's clear Hamilton is ascending into the top tier of fantasy defensemen.

Shea Theodore, D, Vegas Golden Knights (up 11 spots to No. 160): It feels like we've been waiting for a Theodore breakout for the better part of three years and, while last season was solid, it wasn't the exclamation point we wanted. This campaign is off to a better start, with five points through six games including three power-play helpers. Is 55 points and D2 status awaiting Theodore this season? He's certainly lined up to achieve those marks.

Goaltenders on the move

Carter Hart, G, Philadelphia Flyers (up 42 spots to No. 97): While I don't love the quality of competition to judge Hart's three-game season thus far, stopping 75 of 80 pucks while not losing in regulation is a pretty damn good start for a 21-year-old goaltender. The Flyers identity in the crease has been an ugly one in recent seasons, so riding a workhorse starter would be in the team's best interest. That said, he's still only 21 and the ability to start 60-plus games is a big question mark. I'm OK with playing this one out in fantasy for another couple months, but come 2020 I'm going to start wondering about the rest of Hart's season if he's started 80 percent of the Flyers games at that point.

New to rankings

Ilya Kovalchuk, Zack Kassian, Thomas Greiss, Patrick Marleau, Max Comtois (chance on top line, bonus for hits leagues), Justin Schultz (power-play time for the foreseeable future), Roope Hintz, Dominik Kubalik (didn't stick on top line, but still playing well), Paul Stastny, Jordan Staal

Just missed

Jake Gardiner, Neal Pionk, Blake Coleman, Jordan Eberle, Alex Iafallo, Jeff Petry, Jonathan Bernier (decent results, still wrong side of timeshare).

Dropped out

Evgeni Malkin (he'll come back in when we have a timetable), Alexander Nylander (not in mix for top six anymore), Tyler Johnson, Craig Smith, Laurent Brossoit, Brandon Pirri

Juli Inkster may not be done winning major championships.

The LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer posted a 3-under 69 Tuesday to take the 36-hole lead at the Senior LPGA Championship at French Lick (Ind.) Resort’s Pete Dye Course.

At 3-under 141, Inkster is two shots ahead of Trish Johnson (71), Moira Dunn-Bohls (73) and Jean Bartholomew (70). She’s three ahead of Helen Alfredsson (72) and Rosie Jones (74).

Inkster, 59, has won five times on the Legends Tour but is seeking her first senior major.

“There are a lot of people who would like to add that major,” Inkster said. “I got myself in position.”

Inkster has won 31 LPGA titles, seven of them major championships.

English players have been conservative in their salary demands ahead of Sunday's inaugural draft for The Hundred, with only 19 of the 330 domestic players choosing to put down a reserve price.

While many of the big overseas names in the draft have opted for a base price of £100,000 or more, meaning they will have to be picked in the first four rounds if at all, only four English players - Joe Denly, Liam Livingstone, Samit Patel and Mark Wood - have dared to enter with a reserve price as high as £60,000.

Seven players - Ian Bell, Sam Billings, Morne Morkel, Liam Plunkett, Delray Rawlins, Olly Stone and Ryan ten Doeschate - have entered with a reserve price of £50,000.

Eight more - Kyle Abbott, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Gareth Harte, Richard Levi, Wayne Madsen, Hamidullah Qadri, Rilee Rossouw and Hardus Viljoen - have a reserve price of £40,000, while the rest have none, meaning they could go for as little as £30,000.

The vast majority of players with a county deal have put their names forward, meaning there are few notable omissions - though some red-ball specialists like Alastair Cook, Rob Yates and Nick Browne have not entered.

Those without a base price that can hope to be picked up relatively early in the draft include Ravi Bopara, Liam Dawson, Cameron Delport, Lewis Gregory, Tymal Mills and Reece Topley, while the overwhelming majority of recent stars in the T20 Blast are on the full list.

Several players without a county contract have entered, including recent pros Mohammad Azharullah, Richard Oliver, and Azeem Rafiq.

As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the overseas player list includes global T20 stars including Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Glenn Maxwell, though AB de Villiers has not registered for the competition.

Harbhajan Singh was the only Indian to have initially entered the draft, but had a change of mind and wanted to focus on playing in the IPL. The BCCI made it clear to him that unless he was retired he could not be permitted to play overseas T20 leagues.

Some players have moved their reserve prices since ESPNcricinfo revealed an earlier version of the overseas player list. Lungi Ngidi has removed his initial reserve price of £125,000, while Shahid Afridi has changed his down from £100,000 to £60,000.

Several more overseas players have registered since then, including Mohammad Amir, Hazratullah Zazai, Umar Akmal and Avishka Fernando. In total, there are now 240 overseas players registered for the draft.

The List of names in the Hundred draft is a who's who of English domestic cricket, although one or two names stand out for their lack of current affiliation to a county. We pick through some of the wilder picks on offer

Azharullah

Azharullah has already done the rags-to-riches tale once, and now, at the age of 35, he's back for another shot at the big time. In 2006, he was an ex-Pakistan Academy prospect, playing for Pudsey Congs in the Bradford League; seven years later (and now married to the club scorer, Emma) he was a T20 Blast champion with Northants, and their leading wicket-taker in the competition. Rapid, and armed with a fierce yorker, Azharullah epitomised Northants' Moneyball approach to T20 squad-building.

Matt Coles

One of the great unfulfilled talents of English cricket. Coles's roistering allround abilities marked him out as a man for the future, but his potential never quite outweighed his ability to attract trouble - unlike that of his former England Lions team-mate, Ben Stokes, with whom he was sent home from the England Lions tour of Australia in 2012-13 for late-night drinking. A change of scene, from Kent to Hampshire, couldn't shake the bad-boy reputation, and subsequent stints at Essex and Northamptonshire have failed to bear much fruit.

Azeem Rafiq

Controversy and tragedy have dogged the career of a player who first hit the headlines in 2010, when an expletive-laden rant against the then-England Under-19 coach John Abrahams became one of cricket's first "Twitter-storms". Rafiq then made further headlines before he'd even played a match for Yorkshire, when the club's failure to register him properly led to the cancellation of their T20 Blast quarter-final at Chester-le-Street. He survived being released by Yorkshire in 2014 to fight his way back into the squad two years later, and in between whiles formed an impressive spin partnership with Adil Rashid. But he was released by the club a second time in 2018, after the tragic loss of his unborn daughter had contributed to a downturn in form. Now plying his trade for Lincolnshire, and hopeful of a third coming.

Richard Oliver

After eight years of nomadic club cricket - summers in England, winters in Australia - Oliver finally got his big break at Worcestershire in 2014, and seized it with aplomb. His prior encounters with stand-in twos coach Kevin Sharp earned him a cameo opportunity in the second XI, and he duly cracked a trio of centuries against Derbyshire and Lincolnshire, before riding a wave of euphoria all the way to Worcestershire's starting XI for the T20 Blast. Opening alongside Moeen Ali, Oliver lit up the tournament, and soon signed his first professional contract with an innings of 77 from 43 against the reigning champions, Northants - after which he spent the rest of the summer living in a caravan near New Road. His fortunes dipped in his second season, however, and he opted to return to Australia rather than work on his game through the winter.

Jacques Banton

There's another one! Tom Banton is already the talk of English cricket - and Welsh for that matter, after being unveiled as one of Fire's picks at the team unveil last week. But at the age of 18, Tom's little brother Jacques is already making waves on the academy and Twos scene for Worcestershire - how does 139 from 70 balls against Ireland Under-19s sound, and in a T20 too? Outside of county commitments, he opens alongside Warwickshire's Ed Pollock for his club side Barnt Green, while a handy sideline in left-arm spin could make him a tempting wildcard for those who believe that talent runs in the family.