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WAMC Sports Report 6/4/25: Knicks fire coach Tom Thibodeau after first Eastern Conference finals berth in 25 years

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau yells from the sideline during the first half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Michael Conroy/AP
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AP
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau yells from the sideline during the first half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The New York Knicks have fired coach Tom Thibodeau, just days after their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years. The Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers with a loss in Game 6 on Saturday night. They then decided to move on from Thibodeau, who led them to the postseason in four of his five seasons in New York. The decision was made by team president Leon Rose with approval from owner Jim Dolan, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday.

Meanwhile, it’s No. 25 Indiana vs. No. 47 Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals. Game 1 is Thursday night at 8:30 That’s not their seeding. That’s their media market ranking. To some, that might matter. A title matchup that starts Thursday night between the Pacers and Thunder has two young, fun teams that score a ton and are led by marketable stars. That the good news. Here’s the inevitable other side: The ratings, especially at the start of the series, probably aren’t going to be good because the home markets are so small. Those who like the NBA won’t be dissuaded by that. Those who don’t like the NBA will tout it as great failure.

MLB

N.Y. Yankees 3 Cleveland 2

Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a tiebreaking home run in his return from a month on the injured list, Carlos Rodón won his seventh straight decision and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-2 for their 11th win in 14 games. Back from a strained right oblique that caused him to miss 28 games, Chisholm pulled a fastball into the first row of the right-center seats against Tanner Bibee for a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. Six pitches later, Anthony Volpe drove a sweeper into the left-field stands, giving the Yankees back-to-back homers for the fifth time.

L.A. Angels 4 Boston 3

Automatic runner Zach Neto scored on Taylor Ward’s bases-loaded double play groundout to lift the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in 10 innings. Nolan Schanuel had two RBIs and Neto added two hits and an RBI to give the Angels consecutive wins for the first time since capping an eight-game win streak on May 23. Kenley Jansen (1-2) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the win a night after getting a save and Reid Detmers got his first save. Ceddanne Rafaela had two RBIs for Boston and Jarren Duran had one.

L.A. Dodgers 6 N.Y. Mets 5

Max Muncy homered twice, including a tying shot in the ninth inning, and Freddie Freeman doubled home the winning run in the 10th to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the New York Mets 6-5. Freeman’s slicing fly to deep left field was misplayed by Brandon Nimmo, who got twisted around and appeared to lose sight of the ball as it dropped on the warning track beside him. That allowed automatic runner Tommy Edman to score from second base with one out, ending New York’s four-game winning streak. The Dodgers earned their 20th comeback win of the season after blowing a 4-1 lead they established in the first.

Philadelphia 8 Toronto 3

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper hit a first-inning home run in his return to the starting lineup against the Toronto Blue Jays. Back in action after missing five games with a bruised right elbow, Harper finished 1 for 3 with two walks and scored twice as the Phillies won 8-3, snapping a four-game losing streak.Harper played first base and batted third in his first game since he was hit by a 95 mph fastball from Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider last week. The Phillies went 1-4 without Harper and fell out of first place in the NL East.

Houston 3 Pittsburgh 0

Lance McCullers Jr. finally got some peace of mind on Tuesday night. The Astros right-hander pitched six scoreless innings to get his first win since Sept. 21, 2022, as Houston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. McCullers missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons because of injuries and had not won in five starts this year since being activated from the injured list on May 4. McCullers struck out seven and walked one while outdueling Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who gave up one run — on a solo homer by Christian Walker in the seventh — in eight innings.

Kansas City 10 St. Louis 7

Tampa Bay 5 Texas 1

Chicago White Sox 8 Detroit 1

Baltimore 5 Seattle 1

Minnesota 10 Athletics 3

Colorado 3 Miami 2

The struggling Colorado Rockies have ended their ignominious, record-setting streak of 22 consecutive series losses, which dated to last season. A nervy 3-2 victory at Miami on Tuesday night, highlighted by Hunter Goodman’s third home run in two games, gave Colorado two straight victories over the Marlins. That ensures the Rockies will leave town with their first series victory since taking two of three games from Arizona in Denver in mid-September. Colorado is a major league-worst 11-50. They won consecutive games for just the second time this year after beating Atlanta on April 30 and San Francisco the next day. Before the Rockies arrived in Miami, they’d gone 3-28 on the road.

Chicago Cubs 8 Washington 3

Cincinnati 4 Milwaukee 2

Cincinnati Reds ace Hunter Greene will undergo an MRI on his right groin Wednesday morning after being pulled after five innings during Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Reds manager Terry Francona said after the 4-2 win that Greene felt discomfort on his last couple of pitches in the fifth. Greene has made three starts since a 15-day stint on the injured list last month due to a groin strain he sustained May 7 during a start in Atlanta. Greene, who made his first All-Star appearance last season, is 4-3 with a 2.72 ERA in 11 starts this year.

Arizona 8 Atlanta 3

San Diego 3 San Francisco 2

NHL

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers seemed to have been on a collision course to meet again in the Stanley Cup Final. A year since Florida won in seven games to capture the first title in franchise history, there’s an aura of inevitability around the rematch. The question is whether the conclusion of this one will be the Panthers becoming back-to-back NHL champions or Oilers captain Connor McDavid finally hoisting the Cup. Game 1 is tonight at 8 in Edmonton.

WNBA

Indiana 85 Washington 76

Minnesota 88 Phoenix 65

Seattle 83 Dallas 77

SOCCER

China will be eliminated from soccer World Cup qualification if it fails to beat Indonesia on Thursday. Even if it wins, it must also defeat Bahrain on June 10 to have any hope of moving to the next stage of the complex qualification process. China has reached only one previous men's World Cup. That was in 2002 when it lost all three games without scoring a goal. This is difficult to grasp. The country has 1.4 billion people and won 40 gold medals at the Olympics last year. But it can't find 11 elite men's soccer players.

Ally Sentnor and Lynn Biyendolo each scored two goals and the United States beat Jamaica 4-0 after the team honored longtime defender Becky Sauerbrunn. Sentnor scored in the 19th minute then scored her second off a deflection 10 minutes later. Biyendolo scored in the 60th minute, three minutes after coming into the game as a substitute. She added a second in the 88th minute off a cross from Avery Patterson. Phallon Tullis-Joyce made her second consecutive in goal for the United States. Before the game, the United States honored Sauerbrunn, who retired from soccer late last year after a 16-year career.

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David Guistina is the host of Capital Connection, Legislative Gazette, and Morning Edition and the producer of the Media Project on WAMC.