After a new coach, and a bumpy buildup, the United States is ready to kick of its World Cup journey on home soil tonight against Paraguay.

The form coming in has been mixed for the USMNT, something long-time fans won’t be shocked to hear. In late May the US beat Senegal 3-2, with Christian Pulisic snapping a lengthy scoring slump with a goal and an assist while Folarin Balogun came off the bench to score again. However before that, they suffered a sobering 5-2 defeat to Belgium, and the final tune-up before tonight’s team opener was a 2-1 loss to Germany.

Despite that most recent loss, Mauricio Pochettino said he liked the response from the team. Antonee Robinson's stunning volley pulled the US even in the first half before Leroy Sane scored the decider late in the game. Germany is an elite opponent, so only losing by a goal and staying in the fight was an important mark for this US team.

We still don’t really know what we’ll see from the US team this month. Pochettino still hasn't locked a formation, having cycled through three shapes in the lead-up games. Expect a 4-2-3-1 that folds into a 5-4-1 without the ball. His mantra has been culture over tactics, and he's trusted unproven names, most notably with keeper Matt Freese, who unseated Matt Turner in net.

Two injury notes matter for your bet. Chris Richards, the one defensive doubt, has been cleared and says he's ready, a meaningful boost for a back line that looked shaky without him. On the other side, Paraguay's most dangerous attacker, Julio Enciso, is out, which means Gustavo Alfaro's side will likely sit even deeper and counter through Miguel Almiron.

This is a grind-it-out spot. Paraguay conceded just 14 goals across 18 qualifier matches and defends in two compact banks of four. The US has the wide attacking fullbacks to stretch that block, and the breakthrough probably comes from Pulisic or Balogun in the second half if gaps start to appear. I lean toward a low-scoring US win, or a 1-1 draw.

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🏀 The Greatest Comeback Ever Has New York One Win Away

Wednesday night at the Garden produced something the league had never seen. Down 81-52 early in the third, the Knicks erased a 29-point lead and won 107-106 on OG Anunoby's tip-in with 1.2 seconds left. That tops the 2008 Celtics' 24-point Finals rally and stands as the largest deficit ever overcome in a Finals game. San Antonio led by 27 at the break, the fourth-biggest halftime cushion in Finals history, and no club had ever recovered from a hole that deep in any playoff game.

The collapse was unparalleled. New York outscored the Spurs 58-30 after halftime and held them to 14 third-quarter points on 4-of-20 shooting. San Antonio buried a Finals-record 14 threes before halftime, then bricked their way to 3-of-17 the rest of the way. Wembanyama finished with 24 and 13 but shot just 36 percent and missed two free throws with under two minutes left and the Spurs up one.

This isn’t the first time in these playoffs that the Knicks have been in this situation and come through. They wiped out a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit against Cleveland in Game 1 of the conference finals, giving them two of the biggest playoff comebacks in history in a single run.

Teams are just 5-733 in the playoffs when trailing by 20+ points in the 4th quarter. The Knicks account for two of those five wins. In the NBA finals, the Knicks are now the one and only team to do it, 45 others have tried and failed.  

If you missed what happened, you only need to look at two guys to find the source of the comeback. Brunson and Anunoby carried the load, combining for 69 of New York's 107. Brunson dropped 36 points with 7 assists across 44 minutes, while Anunoby went 10-of-15 and a ridiculous 7-of-9 from deep for 33 before scoring the game-winning putback.

This wasn’t just a putback though. He was behind the arch when the missed three-point attempt was taken. OG was one of the furthest from the basket yet one of the first to react, and still had to leap through, over, and around most of the Spurs defenders just to reach the ball. The awareness and ability to even put an attempt on target is incredible. You just have to see it.

Game 5 in San Antonio

The Spurs are favored at home for Game 5 and by one of the widest margins of the series, 4.5 points. San Antonio went 32-8 at home in the regular season and hasn't lost three straight there all year. After losing both opening games in Texas, they’ll be desperate to give their fans something to cheer for and extend their season for another game.

But, they still have to beat the Knicks. New York has covered eight road games in a row and rolls in with the best player on the floor and all the momentum you could possibly have. They’ve silenced all the doubters in every opportunity of these playoffs. I’m leaning towards the Knicks moneyline at plus-odds to close out the series and the season.

🌲 The Pine Line

🏎️ The Formula 1 GP in Monaco ran on Sunday. Five days later and the results still aren’t confirmed.

🏒 The Hart Trophy for hockey’s best player was a toss-up this year. The now two-time winner joins an exclusive group.

🏆️ The World Cup opener between Mexico and South Africa was wild. Neither team had a full squad by the end of it.

⛳️ Spieth has been solid all season, but it’s not translating into wins. He says he’s enjoying the challenges on tour this year.

⚾️ I’m not sure if the MLB has an award for “Best Ball Boy”. Make one and give it to this 77-year-old with the highlight of the day.

👑 Carolina Could End a 20-Year Wait in Game 6

The Hurricanes grabbed control of the Cup Final with a 4-2 win in Raleigh on Thursday, pushing ahead 3-2 in the series. Game 6 lands Sunday night in Las Vegas, and Carolina now has two cracks at winning its first title in two decades.

Thursday belonged to the power play and to Andrei Svechnikov, who buried both of his goals with the man advantage and took first-star honors. Nikolaj Ehlers set up three of the four Carolina tallies for his second straight three-point night, joining a very short list of players ever to post back-to-back three-point games in a Final. Captain Jordan Staal keeps making history too, scoring in all five games to tie the longest goal streak in Final history and becoming the first to do it in 70 years. In net, Brandon Bussi stopped 23 of 25 and became the first goalie ever to win each of his first two career playoff starts in the Final.

The other side of the ledger is ugly for Vegas. Carter Hart has now allowed 4+ goals in five straight games, an unprecedented run for a Final. Worse, William Karlsson left Game 5 with an arm injury after a Sean Walker hit, and John Tortorella suggested he likely won't dress for Game 6.

👉️ Logan Stankoven Player Prop

One quiet night doesn't undo the trend. Stankoven has cashed in 10 out of 12 road games in these playoffs with exactly a point-per-game average. He's been close to automatic on the road.

Even though he didn’t score last night, he still generated four shot attempts in Game 5, and logged over three minutes on a power play that scored twice. If Carolina's man advantage stays this hot, he's positioned for at least a helper in Game 6.

👉️ Brett Howden Player Prop

Howden has been an unrecognizably different player in the playoffs. He has recorded 18 points in the playoffs, despite only having 22 in the entire regular season.

He didn’t manage to find the scoresheet in Game 5 but he fired five attempts and won three of four draws. With Karlsson likely out, Vegas needs even more from Howden if they want to extend the series. Expect his role to grow on Sunday.

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