The NBA and NHL championships are nearly upon us, so load up on bar fodder with last week in sports!

Vegas Golden Knights Advance

The Vegas Golden Knights are going to the Stanley Cup. Few could have imagined that an expansion team would achieve such success, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since St. Louis did it in 1968, but the Golden Knights have been playing at an incredibly high level since the beginning of the season and especially in the postseason. Behind goals from Ryan Reaves and Alex Tuch on Sunday, the Golden Knights took the game 2-1 and the series 4-1 against Winnipeg.

Now they await the winner of the Capitals/Lightning series, which Tampa Bay currently leads 3-2 ahead of game 6 tonight.

Rockets and Cavs Punch Back

The blowouts continue. After losing the first two games in Boston, LeBron and his Cavs retaliated in spectacular fashion on Saturday. George Hill was a source of offense early in the game and that opened the floor for J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver, and Kevin Love, who all scored 10+ points. Behind their best defense of the series, the Cavaliers won by 30 points to get right back into the series. The Celtics are still up 2-1 and hope to keep their lead with tonight’s game in Cleveland, but the young studs will have to learn how to win on the road – something that’s eluded them these playoffs.

In the western conference finals, game 2 was a decisive win for Houston, as three players scored 20+ points and five players scored 15+. Big games from P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon livened the Rockets’ offense and spread the floor. The Rockets hardly looked like the same team that could only play ISO ball in game 1 and took the game by 22 points by exploiting Steph Curry’s weak defense and getting to the paint at will.

In game 3, however, Steph Curry went 7 for 7 in the third quarter and the Warriors dominated the Rockets in a 41-point win. The Warriors have won 27 games in a row where they were the favorites and haven’t lost a home game in the last two postseasons. The Warriors lead the series 2-1 ahead of game 4 on Tuesday.

Justify Wins Preakness

On a wet and slippery track enveloped by fog, Justify barreled into his final stretch with a slight lead. Good Magic was right on his tail before fading to fourth as Justify won by a half-length. 52 year old jockey Mike Smith won his sixth Triple Crown race on the same track he won 25 years earlier.

Justify paid out $2.80 on a $2 bet.

Rookie Pitches Fire-Emojis

Cardinals rookie pitcher Jordan Hicks hit 105 MPH twice on the radar gun in a single at-bat yesterday. 105 MPH is the fastest pitch of the last 10 years (since we’ve had reliable and verifiable pitch-speed data) and has only been pitched one other time in that span. Those blazing fast pitches are not translating into strikeouts just yet, but the rookie is showing he has a cannon for an arm that can be developed into All-Star pitching in the future. This season he has 9 strikeouts and 16 walks.