Weekend Wrap-Up: Thunder Moves on to WCF, MLB’s Rivalry Weekend, & More

Got it done in Game 7. WCF up next 😤 pic.twitter.com/LDwGZiOCtt

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 18, 2025

Oklahoma, Western Conference NBA betting odds favorites to win the title, made quick work of anything and everything Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets had in store.

After the game, SGA was congratulated by another Thunder legend, now with the Nuggets, Russell Westbrook, who, after playing 821 NBA games with OKC, now sees his former team get another chance at making a true run for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Great moment here between 2 all-time Thunder players.

(@RussFcb) pic.twitter.com/HBUOUjJsPc

— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) May 18, 2025

Next up for the Thunder? None other than Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in what promises to be epic from start to finish.

WOLVES-THUNDER WCF 🍿

WINNER TAKES A TRIP TO THE FINALS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oBDKuzDwxj

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 18, 2025

Between Ant’s thug dominance and SGA’s pristine skills, who’s your favorite to make it to the NBA finals?

SGA for MVP? Yes, Please, and Thank You

Staying on OKC’s win from yesterday, can we please take a moment and talk about SGA’s performance as a whole, and how the MVP debate is officially done and over with?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s stats in this game read like a recap of the numbers he’s been putting up all season long, with 35 points, shooting 12-19 from the paint, hitting three out of four three-point attempts, and adding up three steals, three rebounds, four assists, and a block.

Those numbers spell one thing and one thing only, M-V-P!

THUNDER ADVANCE TO THE WCF 🚨

SGA in game 7:

35 PTS
4 AST
12/19 FG

MVP pic.twitter.com/kGVSHuoOgA

— Overtime (@overtime) May 18, 2025

While there was speculation on whether Jokic would be able to edge out Shai in the race for this season’s MVP award, after last night’s performance, it’s adamantly clear who the deserving winner is here.

If not, let Chet Holmgren tell you all.

“You know who this is? The MVP.”

Chet letting the world know about SGA after OKC advances ⚡ pic.twitter.com/3LHWDBvq5z

— ESPN (@espn) May 18, 2025

Is Finals MVP next for SGA?

MLB Rivalry Weekend Lived Up to the Hype

Over the weekend city rivalries took over MLB as “Rivalry Weekend” went down, pinning teams like the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, New York Yankees and Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, and others against each other in series where bragging rights were ripe for the taking.

While all MLB rumors headlines targeted Juan Soto’s return to Yankee Stadium, across the league, action went down, and rivalries were put to the test.

Rivalry Weekend is in the books and what a weekend it was! 🍿🔥

Repost if your team won their series! 👏

(Astros and Rangers fans, you can repost too…) pic.twitter.com/mL9bO0XJHr

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 19, 2025

With sweeps from the Cubs, Giants, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals, and, most surprisingly Angels, it’s safe to say this weekend did not disappoint one bit.

Immaculate Inning Alert!

Here’s something else for all you baseball buffs.

This Sunday, Cal Quantrill, veteran starting pitcher for the Miami Marlins, tossed the first “Immaculate Inning” of the season, striking out Tampa Bay Rays hitters Jonathan Aranda, Christopher Morel, and Kameron Misner on nine strikes in the fourth inning of Miami’s 5-1 win.

IMMACULATE INNING 🚨

Cal Quantrill tosses the first immaculate inning of the season! pic.twitter.com/FQ52ws9wLy

— MLB (@MLB) May 18, 2025

Yes, nine pitches, nine strikes. Talk about showing who’s in charge of the mound.

Verstappen Stops Piastri’s Streak in Italy

In F1 news, Oscar Piastri saw his recent three-race win streak come to a screeching halt at the hands of reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen in Italy this weekend.

Superb from Verstappen 🤩

The four-time world champ takes victory in @redbullracing‘s 400th grand prix 👏#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/H59o9eMhd3

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 18, 2025

Putting on a pristine race, Red Bull’s #1 driver Verstappen took the win at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in the Enzo e Dino Ferrari Autodrome, beating McLaren’s Lando Norris by 6.109 seconds and Oscar Piastri by 12.956 seconds. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was fourth with a 14.356-second difference.

Yes!!! Brilliant weekend 🙌 Incredibly proud of everyone @redbullracing, celebrating the 400th race of the team with this win 💪 pic.twitter.com/8oCFwzzhB3

— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) May 18, 2025

With this win, Verstappen now trails Norris by nine points and Piastri by 22 points in the F1 Drivers Cup standings as they head to Monaco for the next race in the F1 schedule.

Crystal Palace Gave Us All a Reason to Love Sports

There’s nothing that can unite sports fans all over the world more than an underdog story coming to its rightful end.

This weekend at Wembley Stadium, in the final game of the 2024-25 Emirates FA Cup Championship, soccer fans were treated to just that: an underdog finally getting its chance at the spotlight.

With a Tifo that read “Wembley will shake and it will be beautiful” and another which paid homage to a loyal fan who passed away before seeing his team reach the pinnacle, South London squad Crystal Palace put behind a staggering 164 year old trophy drought, winning their first ever title in team history after defeating Pep Guardiola’s almighty Manchester City team by 1-0.

Crystal Palace are the @EmiratesFACup 2025 CHAMPIONS 🏆 #CPFC pic.twitter.com/BbIwgasmTW

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 17, 2025

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Who’s Crystal Palace, and how did Man City not manage to cruise to a title win?

All it took was one goal. And what a goal it was.

Just watching THAT goal back again…#CPFC pic.twitter.com/4KRaN4XcpP

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 19, 2025

To put this all in perspective, 43,714 days passed before Palace lifted its first-ever major title. Needless to say, feelings at Wembley were running on the highest level of fuel possible.

My favourite clip of the season WOW 🥲

Look at the PURE emotion in that Crystal Palace end 🔴🔵

So much more than just a game of football!! 🦅 pic.twitter.com/nmtOqHWt4G

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) May 17, 2025

One last shot at what this all means, just because it’s too good to pass up.

The beautifully put together montage that closed the BBC coverage of Crystal Palace winning their first ever trophy yesterday.

pic.twitter.com/YSRB3MQBll

— All The Right Movies (@ATRightMovies) May 18, 2025

On behalf of all Crystal Palace fans around, and on my behalf, even though I’m not a CP fan, thank you, Eagles. You made this weekend a beautiful time to be alive.

Until next week! Keep it classy, peeps.