Two Conference Final games Wednesday and both home favorites left disappointed. NHL: Vegas stole Game 1 of the Western Conference Final 4-2 at Ball Arena; Carter Hart 36 saves, Pavel Dorofeyev scored his playoff-leading 10th goal, Dylan Coghlan + Brett Howden + Nic Dowd also scored. Nichushkin and Landeskog scored for Colorado, but the major story was Cale Makar EXITING with an undisclosed injury; his availability for Game 2 Friday 5/22 in Denver is the swing variable for the rest of the series. Knights take home-ice. NBA: Thunder evened the Western Conference Final series 1-1 with a 122-113 Game 2 win at Paycom Center; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 30 points. The series opened Monday with one of the great double-overtime classics of the playoffs: Spurs won 122-115 behind a Victor Wembanyama 41 points + 24 rebounds masterpiece and rookie Dylan Harper's 24 points + 7 steals (team playoff record). Series shifts to San Antonio for Game 3 Friday 5/22. Cup futures: Vegas climbs to +200; Thunder hold at -200 to repeat. Tonight (Thursday 5/21): NHL Carolina-Montreal Original Six ECF G1 at PNC Arena + NBA NYK-CLE G2 at MSG.
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