The tortured sports fan department

The GIST: Win and advance or lose and go home — the stakes couldn’t be higher ahead of tonight’s Play-In Tournament finale, with two No. 8 seeds up for grabs before the first playoff round tips off tomorrow. No time to waste.

No. 9 Chicago Bulls vs. No. 8 Miami Heat — Tonight at 7 p.m. ET: Yes, you’ve seen this film before, but Jimmy Butler can’t save Miami tonight. The superstar scorer sprained his MCL on Wednesday and will be out for several weeks. With that tough news, plus Chicago’s inconsistent offense finally grooving, the Bulls have a chance to make it to round one for the first time since 2022.

No. 9 Sacramento Kings vs. No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans — Tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET: The Pels are also dealing with an injury blow: Zion Williamson strained his hamstring in Tuesday’s lights-out performance and will be out for this do-or-die matchup. Can his recently struggling teammates get the job done without him or will the Kings’ standout trio light the beam for the second straight year?

First round preview: But wait, there’s more hoops, with the playoffs beginning in earnest tomorrow. Once the play-in is done and dusted, the 16 official playoff teams compete in best-of-seven series from here on out. Here are two especially spicy first round showdowns:

• The Eastern Conference features a fierce rivalry battle between the No. 2 NY Knicks and the No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers. Both squads experienced last-season surges thanks to star players (NY’s OG Anunoby and Philly’s Joel Embiid) returning from injury, but this one could come down to a battle of depth, with the fun beginning tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET.

• And in the Western Conference, the defending champ No. 2 Denver Nuggets will aim to sweep the No. 7 LA Lakers out of the postseason once again. The Lakers have not defeated the Nuggets since December 2022, and will rely on LeBron James to contend with Nikola “MVP form” Jokić. The journey begins tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.

The GIST: We have news for the “Caitlin Clark is taking a pay cut” crowd: The newest WNBA star is reportedly close to signing an eight-figure signature shoe deal with Nike. Check!

The details: Clark signed a Nike NIL deal in 2022, but it expired when she left Iowa, making her a “free agent” of sorts. The Athletic reported that Adidas and Under Armour (UA) brought Clark to the negotiating table and made “sizable” offers, with UA in particular pulling out all the stops.

• Golden State Warriors star and UA ambassador Steph Curry even joined Clark’s pitch meeting — a smart move considering the two athletes are often compared.

Zooming out: Historically, Nike has been selective with WNBA shoe deals. In 2021, NY Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu (pronounced yo-NESS-coo) signed just the 12th signature shoe deal in the league’s 27-year history. What’s more unprecedented than the potential sponsorship value of Clark’s deal is Nike’s immediate buy-in — W players grind for years for this kind of contract, if they land one at all.

• A deal like Clark’s could kick down the door for others to land signature shoes, but it’s hard to fathom why popular brand ambassadors like the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and the Seattle Storm’s Skylar Diggins-Smith don’t already have them.

• It’s crucial to note that of the three active WNBA shoe deals, none are with Black players despite the league being predominantly Black. She should have next.

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⛳ LPGA: Chevron Championship — Today through Sunday — Golf Channel and NBC

• Defending champ and world No. 2 Lilia Vu sadly withdrew from the tourney with a back injury, leaving the door wide open for a surprise contender as world No. 94, American Lauren Coughlin, leads by two strokes after yesterday’s first round.

🎓🤸 NCAA gymnastics: National Championship — Tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET — ABC

• With two-time defending champs No. 1 Oklahoma stunningly eliminated in last night’s semis, a new champ will be crowned with No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Cal, No. 4 Florida, and No. 5 Utah in contention. It all comes down to this.

🏎️ F1: China Grand Prix — Sunday at 3 a.m. ET — ESPN

• The grid returns to Shanghai for the first time since 2019, a race that will also feature the first Sprint of the season. Vroom, vroom.

👟 Running: London Marathon — Sunday at 4 a.m. ET — FloTrack

The World Marathon Majors continue with three of the four fastest women in history lacing up in London, highlighted by world record holder Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia. Jolly good.

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