The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions.

Oklahoma City capped a thrilling NBA Finals Sunday night with a dominant second half in Game 7 to secure a 103-91 win over the Indiana Pacers and the franchise’s first NBA title since it moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008.

A Pacers team that rallied for multiple unlikely wins throughout the playoffs kept pressure on in the fourth quarter after digging a 22-point hole. But without injured star Tyrese Haliburton, they couldn’t complete the comeback.

The win caps a brilliant season in which the Thunder posted a league-best 68 wins and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named league MVP for the first time. Gilgeous-Alexander powered the Thunder effort Sunday night to put away a Pacers team that pushed them to the brink.

The swarming defense that has become Oklahoma City’s trademark took over after halftime as the Thunder repeatedly turned Pacers turnovers into transition points.

For the game, Oklahoma City won the turnover battle 21-7 while securing 14 steals. The result was a 32-10 advantage in points off turnovers for the Thunder.

The game was marred by a significant injury to Haliburton in the first quarter. Haliburton had hit three quick 3s and appeared on pace for a big game with a team-high nine points early on. But Haliburton fell to the floor injuring his leg and could not return. 

The Florida Panthers are once again Stanley Cup champions.

Thanks to a historic four-goal night from Sam Reinhart, the Panthers rolled over the Edmonton Oilers and grabbed a dominant 5-1 win in Game 6 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena in South Florida. That officially closed out the series 4-2 and gave the Panthers back-to-back titles and their second championship in franchise history.

The Panthers also beat the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final last season in seven games. They are now the first team to win back-to-back titles since the Tampa Bay Lightning did so in 2020 and 2021. The Oilers’ loss also ensured that Canada’s 32-year dry spell — the country hasn’t had a team win a Stanley Cup since 1993 — continues.

Though he didn’t score on Tuesday night, Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe trophy. He had 15 goals throughout the postseason, including five in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers haven’t won a title since the 1989-90 campaign, which marked their fifth championship in seven seasons. This was their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in the past two decades.

Pete Alonso wasn’t satisfied just tying for second place on the Mets’ all-time home run list Sunday, so he claimed the spot as his own.

The sizzling first baseman had already homered once to tie David Wright with 242 homers as he approached the plate in the eighth inning at Coors Field. 

Two pitches later he was ahead of Wright, with only Darryl Strawberry remaining ahead of him.

Alonso and Jeff McNeil each blasted two homers on a day the Mets totaled six. 

Juan Soto reached base six times, becoming the first Mets player to accomplish that feat in a game since Alonso in 2019.

Alonso was a beast on the seven-game road trip, delivering five home runs and 15 RBIs. 

Alonso, with his 23rd career multi-homer game, moved ahead of Strawberry as the all-time Mets leader in that category. 

Alonso needs nine homers to match Strawberry at 252 as the leader in franchise history.