Mickey Togs

LeBron James gave the Denver Nuggets his best shot on Monday. It wasn’t enough.

Powered by a history-making Nikola Jokić triple-double, the Denver Nuggets rallied for a 113-111 win to complete a 4-0 sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals. The victory continued a remarkable postseason run by the Nuggets while securing their first-ever trip to the NBA Finals. They did so while overcoming the best effort of the postseason by one of the game’s all-time greats.

Lebron James started the game on fire, scoring 21 points in the first quarter as the Lakers took a 34-26 lead. He shot 7-of-9 from the field, including a 4-of-4 effort from 3-point distance. A lob attempt from beyond the 3-point arc instead dropped through the net for a basket in a sign of things to come.

The bucket sparked a personal 8-0 run by James that gave the Lakers a 23-15 lead. He remained hot throughout the half, and didn’t leave the game until taking an early break to the locker with with 4.3 seconds remaining in the half. The Lakers led 73-58 at the break powered by James’ 31 first-half points.

But the Nuggets weren’t fazed. From there, the game remained a back-and-forth battle through the final minute. But as they’ve done all postseason, the Nuggets made the big plays when it mattered most down the stretch. A Jokić layup in traffic with 51.1 seconds remaining gave Denver the lead for good at 113-11.

Young Reds starter Hunter Greene had some nasty stuff early on Sunday morning in Cincinnati, but the Yankees made their four hits against him count. Homers from Harrison Bader and Gleyber Torres put New York ahead, and the Bombers won Luis Severino’s much-anticipated season debut, 4-1.

Luis Severino’s return was worth the wait. It took longer than initially expected when he strained his lat in the final week of spring training, and he is still not all the way built up after an abbreviated rehab assignment. 

But working on a pitch count of 75, Severino got stronger as his season debut went on. The right-hander struck out five over 4 innings of one-run ball, retiring nine of the final 10 batters he faced in an encouraging outing overall. 

“I feel pretty good,” Severino said. “Feel like I was attacking the  zone after the first walk. But everything else was really good.” 

Severino also built up his velocity as the game went on, averaging 96.7 mph with his fastball but topping out at 98.6 mph on a strikeout of Kevin Newman in the fifth inning.

New French Toast Sticks are coming to Wendy’s

French Toast Sticks will debut as a permanent addition to Wendy’s national breakfast menu. They come served with a side of sweet syrup for dipping.

Interestingly enough, Jack in the Box just brought back French Toast Sticks for a limited time as more and more fast-food chains focus on breakfast as the negative effects of inflation start to eat into bottom lines.

Jalen Brunson had a superb season, from the start until the bitter end, but the Knicks’ other top players couldn’t do nearly enough to help him keep that season alive.

Brunson followed up his 48-minute masterpiece from two nights earlier  with 41 points in 45 minutes, but the Knicks received little production from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett in a crushing, season-ending 96-92 loss to the Heat in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Kaseya Center.

“You’ve got to give the Heat a lot of credit. They didn’t play like an eight seed, at all,” Brunson said. “For me, we did a lot of great things this season. We obviously want the team to keep playing, to have the opportunity.

“It stings a little bit, definitely a learning experience. But if you don’t win, you lose.”

Aside from Brunson, who finished 14-for-22 from the field, the other four Knicks starters shot a combined 15.6 percent (5-for-32). 

That shoddy statistic included 20 of 24 misses by Randle (15 points) and Barrett (11) as the Knicks fell to 0-15 in their history when trailing 3-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series.

After taking a 6-0 lead against the Rays and blowing it with Gerrit Cole on the mound, the Yankees came back to force extra innings before suffering a crushing loss.

The Rays walked it off for an 8-7 win in 10 innings in front of 32,142 in a playoff-like atmosphere at Tropicana Field.

Despite the teams being separated by nine games entering the series — with the Rays (28-7) atop the AL East and the Yankees (18-17) in last place, just as they finished the weekend — they played three one-run games. 

And yet dropping two of three, especially with how gut-wrenching Sunday’s finale was, felt like a brutal swing for the beaten-up Yankees.

“I feel like we could have walked away with three of these games and they probably feel the same way,” Anthony Rizzo said.

After the Yankees’ bullpen had already used Jimmy Cordero, Clay Holmes, Wandy Peralta and Michael King to get through the ninth inning — with Ian Hamilton and Ron Marinaccio unavailable — Albert Abreu came on for the bottom of the 10th and allowed a one-out single to Isaac Paredes to end it.

KFC is about to add two new chicken sandwiches: the Ultimate BBQ KFC Chicken Sandwich and Spicy Slaw Chicken Sandwich.

• The Ultimate BBQ KFC Chicken Sandwich features an Extra Crispy, 100 percent white meat filet with KFC’s Honey BBQ sauce, crispy fried onions, hickory-smoked bacon, melted cheese and pickles all on a premium brioche bun. 
• The Spicy Slaw Chicken Sandwich consists of an Extra Crispy, 100 percent white meat filet is topped with cole slaw to perfectly cool down the heat of the spicy mayo, topped with pickles all on a premium brioche bun.

Both sandwiches are available a la carte or in a combo that also includes a medium drink and an individual side.

The Mets were defeated 5-2 by the Rockies in yet another lifeless performance that is becoming all too common. Tylor Megill struggled through over four innings and the offense remained uncompetitive against southpaws, or against pitching in general. They have scored just four runs in their last 38 innings and have now lost ten of their last thirteen.

The Mets did manage to tie the game twice when the Rockies took a one-run lead, but the difference became the Mets scoring on outs and never finding the big hit. The Rockies, however, did not have that problem. 

First it was Elias Díaz who bookended Megill’s day. He opened the scoring in the first with a RBI single and then ended the righty’s day with another RBI hit with two-outs in the fifth. Megill badly needed to get that out but couldn’t manage it on a day when he was in trouble throughout the entire outing.

Megill’s final line for the day was 4.2 innings, six hits, three walks, three runs, and four strikeouts which is unacceptable when the plan is to have Joey Lucchesi pitch on three days rest for the finale of the series.

Panda Express adds a new premium entree to the menu with the introduction of new Sizzling Shrimp.

The brand’s new Sizzling Shrimp features succulent shrimp and baby broccoli wok-tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce.

As with all Panda Express entrees, Sizzling Shrimp can be enjoyed a la carte for a suggested starting price of $6.65.

In addition, Panda Express is also introducing a new Plate Bundle as a new value option that’s meant to feed up to two people.

As part of the Plate Bundle, you can get one side, two entrees including the Sizzling Shrimp, an appetizer, and a medium fountain drink for $15.25 (may vary).

For the first time in the series, Akira Schmid looked human when he surrendered five goals in a 5-2 Game 6 loss against the New York Rangers. However, the New Jersey Devils goaltender was tremendous when his team needed him the most in Game 7 as the Devils defeated the Rangers, 4-0.

Schmid stopped all 31 shots that he faced and recorded just his second career shutout. When the dust settled in the series, Schmid recorded an impressive 1.72 goals-against-average after replacing Vitek Vanecek in Game 3.

With Monday’s victory, the Devils won their first playoff series since defeating — you guessed it — the Rangers in Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Final. It also marked New Jersey’s sixth win in their last eight Game 7s, including winning four of their last five.

Following their triumph over the Rangers, the Devils will face their Metropolitan Division rivals in the Carolina Hurricanes.

As the Islanders skated off the UBS Arena ice on Friday, handshake lines finished and last vestiges of the crowd clearing out, the reality in front of them was clear as day.

They had lost a winnable Game 6, 2-1 to the Hurricanes on home ice with Paul Stastny ending their season in overtime. 

They had lost a winnable series, blowing leads in both Game 2 and Game 6 that will haunt them for the entire offseason. 

And they might have lost their best chance of an extended playoff run with this core of players.

“One-goal leads in the playoffs are just not safe,” Mathew Barzal said in a dead-quiet locker room, repeating a mantra the Islanders learned in the first round to their chagrin.