Tyrese Haliburton has triggered discussion and renewed a debate.

The discussion: Does the Indiana Pacers star deserve to be ranked among the most clutch shooters in NBA playoffs history?

The debate: Does “clutch’’ play even exist?

Well, one problem, according to a 2019 research paper entitled, ‘Clutch performance in sport and exercise: a systematic review,” is the following: ‘Multiple, conflicting definitions of clutch performance were identified in the literature, which consequently led to the adoption of two distinct approaches to examining clutch performance …”

So, for the purposes of this story, let’s stick with the conventional definition: making big shots with the game on the line.

“When we looked at the data, we couldn’t find real evidence of clutch players,’’ Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke who disclosed his findings in 2010, told USA TODAY Sports. “But we found lots of evidence that people believed that clutch exists.’’

That evidence is mounting thanks to Haliburton.

“One of the most clutch players we’ve seen in the postseason ever,’’ declared ESPN’s Steven A. Smith after Haliburton made the game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds in Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

It was the fourth time Haliburton has made the game-winning shot or the game-tying shot with less than 1.3 seconds left in regulation or overtime in this year’s playoffs.  While Duke’s Ariely is no more convinced of the existence of clutch play, his position is hardly unanimous.

“Earlier studies, particularly those focusing on statistical consistency, often concluded that players do not significantly improve during high-pressure moments …’’ Vangelis Sarlis of International Hellenic University in Greece told USA TODAY Sports. “Our work suggests that while not all players elevate their performance in clutch situations, a distinct subset consistently exhibits traits — like high true shooting percentage, low turnovers, and impactful defensive plays — that do materially influence game outcomes.

“Haliburton appears to exemplify many of these traits.’’

Coach K’s role in clutch play research

Fifty-five years ago, Jerry West made a 60-foot shot after the buzzer to force overtime in Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks.

Mr. Clutch, they called him.

In 2023, the NBA began giving out the Jerry West Trophy to the league’s top clutch player as measured by the league’s statistical formula – possessions in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points – and voted on by 100 media members.

None of which Ariely would find persuasive.

More than a decade ago at Duke, Ariely has said, he set out to study clutch play and enlisted the help of the school’s legendary and now retired basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski.

Krzyzewski helped assemble a group of pro coaches to identify clutch NBA players, according to Ariely, who worked with Rachel Barkan, a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. The study involved comparing clutch players and non-clutch players in low-stress moments and high-stress moments. (Ariely has written that ‘high stress is when the outcome of a game is hanging by a thread.”)

 “We found that the non-clutch players scored more or less the same in the low-stress and high-stress moments, whereas there was actually a substantial improvement for clutch players during the last five minutes of the games,’’ Ariely wrote in an essay for the Huffington Post. “… As it turned out, the clutch players did not improve their skill; they just tried many more times.

“Their field goal percentage did not increase in the last five minutes (meaning that their shots were no more accurate); neither was it the case that non-clutch players got worse.’’

In discussing the findings, Ariely cites research of the “hot hand,’’ the streaky shooting performance fueled by consecutive baskets.

“Research basically showed that people’s belief in hot hand is very strong, but the data for it is very weak,’’ he said. “And the same is true for clutch play.’’

‘Contributions under pressure’

Lorena Martin, an assistant professor of clinical data sciences and operations at Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, worked for the Lakers during the 2016-2017 season. Her role: director of sports performance analytics.

That season, Martin said, they researched the games’ final two minutes to determine the player best equipped to take the final shot.

A believer in clutch play, Martin said of debunkers, “A lot of individuals who are very good in the math and statistics have not played sports. If you look at it mathematically, then you think, ‘Oh, it’s just random.’ But if you play sports, you know that there is an inertia, there is momentum.’’

As an example of compelling research, Martin cites ‘A Data Science and Sports Analytics Approach to Decode Clutch Dynamics in the Last Minutes of NBA Games,’’ the study co-authored by Sarlis at International Hellenic University.

In that study, Sarlis said, he and his research team focused exclusively on the absolute impact players have during clutch scenarios instead of comparing performance in clutch vs. non-clutch moments. By analyzing 20 seasons of NBA data and applying advanced machine learning techniques, according to Sarlis, they developed the Estimation of Clutch Competency (EoCC) metric.

“A novel formula that captures both offensive and defensive contributions under pressure,’’ Sarlis said.

“In terms of application to Tyrese Haliburton, while our dataset formally ends before his breakout years, his current performances — especially his composure, shot selection, and assist-to-turnover ratios in final minutes — align with several key indicators we found to be strongly correlated with winning outcomes in clutch moments,’’ Sarlis added, “If evaluated using our EoCC framework, Haliburton would likely score highly, given his ability to create efficient scoring opportunities and minimize costly errors under pressure.’’

Expanding the measure of clutch play

Measuring clutch performances strictly by game-winning shots is flawed, according to researcher Franklin Mixon Jr., a professor of economics at Columbus State University in Georgia.

“This approach is subject to confirmation bias as fans will remember these game-winning baskets but tend to forget late-game turnovers and missed shots (free throws) by who they consider to be clutch players,’’ Mixon wrote in an email to USA TODAY Sports.

Mixon is co-author of a 2013 study – “Homo certus in professional basketball? Empirical evidence from the 2011 NBA Playoffs’’ – he says supports the notion that “clutch performance’ is generally a myth.

The study compared players’ average productivity per quarter for the first three quarters of their playoffs games to their fourth-quarter performances in those games. “We found that productivity during the first three quarters generally exceeded that during the fourth quarter of these games,’’ Mixon said.

With the same variables from the study, Mixon ran Haliburton’s numbers from Game 1 of the NBA Finals. That included field-goal attempts per minute, field goals made per minute, field-goal percentage and points scored per minute. He also factored in defensive rebounds and assists.

“Haliburton’s late-game productivity was slightly lower during Game 1 compared to what he did during the first 3 quarters,’’ Mixon wrote. “Again, however, the differences aren’t significant. Based on our approach, his performance was typical of NBA players.”

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault was just 10 years old at the time of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

Just two players on the Thunder’s roster had been born at that time – Alex Caruso had just turned 1, and Kenrich Williams was 4 months old.

But they all have knowledge of the crime and tragedy because every Thunder employee – from the business side to basketball operations, from first-round draft pick to a player on a two-way G League contract – visits and tours the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.

“I was on that tour within a month of working here,” said Daigneault, who was hired as the franchise’s G League coach in 2014. “There’s literally no one that’s ever put a logo on their chest that has not been through there because it’s just such a big part of the story of the city and the kindness, the compassion that the city has and this community has not only for the team but for one another.”

April 19 marked the 30th anniversary of the bombing, and the memorial and museum has conducted several events honoring victims and their families and sharing history. There is no question the bombing shaped the city and region, contributing to its resolve, strength and sense of community.

The memorial and museum are one mile north of the team’s arena in downtown Oklahoma City, and about 500,000 people visit the sacred ground annually.

The memorial is marked by solemnity and a reminder of evil. On a recent morning, visitors walked through the outdoor portion of the memorial. At one end, the 9:01 Gate “represents the innocence before the attack” – the bombing happened at 9:02 – and the 9:03 Gate “symbolizes the moment healing began.”

The 168 chairs represent each of the people killed in the bombing, the survivor wall – a remnant from the explosion – and the survivor tree, “a living symbol of resilience,” are part of the outdoor memorial.

Kari Watkins is the president and CEO of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum and has had a significant role in creating a space that honors and teaches through a variety of storytelling methods, including interactive exhibits.

Watkins, one of USA TODAY’s 2025 Women of the Year, was the memorial and museum’s first employee. She said Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti reached out to her.

“I met with him, talked to him and took him through (the memorial and museum), and we’ve become good friends,” Watkins told USA TODAY Sports. “He is more than a GM to me. He is a friend.”

Presti is on the memorial and museum’s executive committee.

“We have this term called the Oklahoma Standard,” Watkins said. “It was a term that (Tom) Brokaw coined the first night of his broadcast in 1995 talking about how Oklahomans were a little different. They were cowboy tough, they were resilient, they were strong, and they had set the standard he had never seen before. …

“I’ll never forget one board meeting, I don’t know, 10 years ago, eight years ago, Sam said, ‘You guys take this for granted. You think everybody takes care of their neighbors.’ Everybody steps up, and it says so much about the people of the city. They just go and do things. They serve others, they help others. And there’s a kindness level here, and we’ve worked on that harder because of Sam’s influence.”

On Friday, June 6, Watkins led NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Thunder owner Clay Bennett on a tour.

“I was telling the commissioner the reason I think it’s so important is because we are starting to see the same dehumanization and hear the same anti-government rhetoric, and we’re hearing all those same noises we heard in 1995, and we’ve got to stop it,” Watkins said. “We’ve got to figure how to sit down and listen.”

Caruso, the Thunder’s key reserve guard, started his professional basketball career with the Thunder’s G League team in 2016. That’s when he visited the memorial and museum for the first time.

“The cool thing about the organization is no matter how big, small, what your role is on the team, you make a trip out there just to learn about the history of it and how it did impact the community and understand why the relationship is so tight between this team and organization and the community,” Caruso said.

Said Watkins: “What the perpetrators sought to do in 1995 was to divide our city. And if you’re here, you see a city that’s united. And so those were the lessons we learned, and we just want to keep, we’re passing them on to thousands of school kids a year.

“But when you wear the words Oklahoma City on your jersey, you are an ambassador for your city. And so when they come through, they learn the story. Most of them don’t know it. They weren’t alive. And unless they’ve Googled it or seen it somewhere, they don’t know the story.”

They now know the story, woven into the heart and soul of the city.

Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

The 2025 Stanley Cup Final is changing venues this week with a 1-1 tie in the best-of-seven series.

That’s a big difference from last year’s series between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers when the Panthers won the first three games and the Oilers won the next three before Florida clinched the championship with a Game 7 victory.

Last year had no overtime games but this year, both games have gone past regulation. The Oilers won Game 1 at home on a Leon Draisaitl overtime goal. But the Panthers took away Edmonton’s home-ice advantage by winning Game 2 on a Brad Marchand goal in the second overtime.

Here are some trends from the first two games and how they might affect the series heading into Game 3:

Sam Bennett will earn a big contract

The Panthers’ pending unrestricted free agent entered the final with a league-best 10 goals. He has added to that with three goals in two games. Bennett has scored 12 playoff goals on the road, setting an NHL record. Toronto’s Mitch Marner is the top UFA, but Bennett’s playoff prowess will have suitors lined up.

He’s highly effective around the net and has a habit of bumping goalies. His Game 1 goal as he fell into Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner survived a coach’s challenge because officials ruled he was tripped, but he was called for goaltender interference on a similar play in Game 2. Is he being watched more closely by on-ice officials?

‘I was pushed and then I think the goalie kicked out my heel, which made me fall,’ he said. ‘I didn’t agree with that (call), but I’ll move on.’

Will Bill Zito finally win general manager of the year?

He’s a finalist for the fourth consecutive season but has yet to win. He changed up the Panthers’ depth players last summer after winning the Stanley Cup, but his biggest moves were before the trade deadline.

He added defenseman Seth Jones, who played more than 30 minutes in each of the first two games of the final and had a goal and an assist in Game 2.

Marchand, the former Boston Bruins star, has been critical to the Panthers’ success. He scored on two breakaways in Game 2, including the winner.

‘I think our whole bench stood up when he had that breakaway,’ Bennett said. ‘It was just a huge play at a huge time. He’s been incredible for us this whole playoffs, scoring massive goals at massive times.’

The voting is already done for the GM award, so we’ll see if it’s finally his turn.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl working their magic

Draisaitl has three goals in the first two games and McDavid has five assists. They connected on the Game 1 overtime winner and the Game 2 setup was even more impressive. McDavid stickhandled past Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov and No. 1 defenseman Aaron Ekblad before feeding Draisaitl.

The Panthers will continue to need to figure out how to limit those two, especially when coach Kris Knoblauch puts them on the same line later in games. Florida has the last line change in Games 3 and 4 and can get the matchups it wants.

Oilers need to play better in the second period

The Oilers have been outscored 3-1 in the second period and outshot 31-16. Florida turned around its Game 2 fortunes with its performance in the second period, when there’s a longer distance to get to the bench for a line change.

‘Our passes weren’t sharp. We gave away a lot of pucks,’ Knoblauch said. ‘If you can’t make that first pass, you’re stuck in the defensive zone. … If you just get it out to the neutral zone, you can’t change.’

The Oilers, however, have outscored the Panthers 2-0 in the third period, tying both games and forcing overtime.

Goalies are playing better than their numbers

Skinner and the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky each have given up eight goals, albeit in elongated games. Though some goals against haven’t been great, such as Evander Kane’s in Game 2, Bobrovsky made a big pad save on Draisaitl before Corey Perry tied the game. Skinner stopped several breakaways before Marchand’s winner.

‘There were some good saves made at both ends, high-end saves,’ Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. ‘There’s some world-class shooters here.’

This story has been updated with new information.

There’s no doubt anymore about the best 3-year-old colt in horse racing. 

It’s Sovereignty. And it’s definitive. 

But is it fair to ask what might have been?

Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner who skipped the Preakness, was an authoritative winner of Saturday’s Belmont, sweeping past favorite Journalism in the stretch to win, just like he did at Churchill Downs. 

That makes Sovereignty the rare horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes but was denied the chance to be horse racing’s 14th Triple Crown winner because he never contested the Preakness. 

Don’t blame the horse. And don’t even blame trainer Bill Mott. If anything, praise him. It’s possible the conservative management of Sovereignty, giving him five weeks between races rather than pushing him to run in the Preakness just two weeks after the Derby, might have been the reason he navigated the 1 ¼ miles in 2:00.69, just a shade off the track record at Saratoga. 

And it could be why Sovereignty remains fresh and poised for a campaign to target the Travers Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup Classic and perhaps the Dubai World Cup next spring, where he could run in front of owners who rule that country. 

But at the same time, it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Sovereignty deserved a chance to be a Triple Crown winner because he’s just that good of a racehorse, and he’ll never have that opportunity again. It’s going to forever remain an all-time horse racing “what if?” 

“If we wouldn’t have won today, we would have taken a lot of criticism,” Mott said immediately after the race on Fox Sports. “But it turned out good. A lot of times we make the wrong decision, but today it worked out well.”

Of course, the other factor here is that the Belmont was run this year at 1 ¼ miles at Saratoga rather than Belmont Park’s traditional 1 ½-mile configuration because the track is undergoing renovations. Even if Sovereignty had won all three Triple Crown races, it would have had an asterisk because of circumstances beyond his control. So maybe by choosing to skip the Preakness, Mott saved the entire sports world from a fruitless debate.

But what’s clear is that this crop of 3-year-olds is very good: Sovereignty, Journalism and Baeza were 1-2-3 in Louisville and 1-2-3 in New York, with Journalism taking advantage in the Preakness to get a classic victory on his résumé. 

That consistency is indicative of some very good racehorses that have the potential to continue their rivalry the rest of the year. But for now, there’s no doubt about the best of them. 

Sovereignty reigns supreme. 

A disappointing weekend for boxer Keyshawn Davis allegedly turned violent Saturday night outside of the ring.

Boxer Nahir Albright told reporters that Davis headbutted him and left a large bump over his right eye.

He said the incident took place when Davis and his younger brother, Keon, confronted Albright after Albright beat the oldest of the Davis brothers, Kelvin, by majority decision at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.

The weekend already had soured for Davis, who on Friday weighed in 4.3 pounds more than the maximum for his WBO lightweight world title defense scheduled for Saturday. That led to the cancellation of the bout against Edwin De Los Santos and the WBO title was stripped from him.

Then came the alleged incident described by Albright.

“I was in my locker room and celebrated my victory with my team,’’ he told reporters in a videotaped interview. “…Keyshawn and his little brother (Keon) came in and they started looking at me and was like, they saying something about his older brother. They was mad and he grabbed me, pushed me back.

“I’m grabbing his head. He moved his head towards my head.’’

Then came the headbutt, according to Albright.

“So yeah, that’s what happened,’’ he said, the incident was not sparked by any exchange of words. “…Their locker room is right next door to mine, so I guess they heard us happy and all that kind of stuff, and they came in and started trouble.’’

Of the confrontation, Albright told ESPN, “Now we’ve got to settle that’’ and said he wants to fight Keyshawn Davis in the ring.

Davis beat Albright by unanimous decision in 2023 but the result was turned to a no contest after Davis tested positive for marijuana – a banned substance in Texas, where the fight was held.

But late Saturday, the talk centered on controversy outside of the ring. For Davis, instead of being featured in the main event in his hometown of Norfolk, it all went awry.

Davis, 26, showed up Saturday at the Scope Arena with his son of less than a year and cheered on his two brothers.

Keon, 23, won his fight via a second-round TKO. But Kelvin, 28, got pummeled by Albright, who won the 10-round bout by majority decision.

During the altercation, Albright said, his coaches eventually interceded.

“My coaches grabbed (Keyshawn Davis) and then I think security came in and grabbed him,’’ Albright said.

Later, Albright said, Davis charged after Albright’s older brother. “It just got crazy,’’ he added.

But Albright said he thinks Kelvin Davis, the brother he beat in the ring Saturday night, was trying to break things up.

“It’s a little unfortunate, but nothing could take away the feeling of being a champion tonight,’’ he said, referring to the vacant Silver US WBC Jr. Welterweight title he won. “I ain’t going to let nothing ruin my night.’’

ESPN reported that the Davis brothers did not comment.

Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones is facing new criminal charges in Northern Kentucky, the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network, reports.

Records show that Jones was later released after posting bond at 11:32 a.m. ET.

Covington police officers were called to the Second Story Bar on West 7th Street at approximately 12:44 a.m. on June 7 following a report of a ‘disturbance involving a customer and an employee,’ police said in a news release.

When police arrived, they were alerted to a car trying to leave the area, per the release. Officers conducted a traffic stop and the 41-year-old Jones was identified as a passenger.

Police arrested Jones ‘on charges related to his level of intoxication and his behavior,’ according to the release. Officials said he’d been consuming alcohol.

Jones was transported to the Kenton County Detention Center and assaulted the arresting officer while being lodged, police say. Officials said it caused a minor injury.

‘The Covington Police Department takes incidents of this nature very seriously. We are committed to maintaining peace and ensuring the safety of all who live in or visit Covington,’ the department said. ‘Adam Jones is being held to the same standard of conduct as any other individual in our community.’

Jones has a history of legal issues. He was arrested in November for an altercation at a Dallas hotel following the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight.

A year earlier, Jones pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in Boone County District Court.

The former Bengals standout was arrested early Sept. 11 after Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport police responded to a call about an unruly passenger on a United Airlines flight, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but that sentence was conditionally discharged for two years, provided Jones avoided new criminal charges.

USA TODAY reached out to the Covington Police Department for comment.

This story has been updated with new information.

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Coastal Carolina has clinched its way to the College World Series.

Sunday’s action will determine at least three of the teams that will join the Chanticleers in Omaha, Nebraska, for the CWS, which kicks off on June 13. Coastal Carolina finished off Auburn with a 4-1 win to sweep the Auburn Super Regional.

Stream the NCAA baseball tournament with ESPN+

The action on June 8 will feature three Game 3s, with No. 5 North Carolina taking on Arizona, Louisville playing Miami and No. 8 Oregon State playing No. 9 Florida State in the Chapel Hill, Louisville and Corvallis super regionals, respectively. No. 3 Arkansas, No. 6 LSU, No. 15 UCLA and Duke all won their respective Game 1s and have a chance to sweep, as well.

Here’s a look at the super regional scores and schedule for June 8, along with how to watch each game:

College baseball super regional schedule today

Here’s a full look at the super regional schedule for June 7 in the NCAA baseball tournament:

All times Eastern

Arizona at (5) North Carolina | Noon | ESPN+
Murray State at Duke | Noon | ESPN+
Miami vs. Louisville | Noon | ESPN+
(14) Tennessee at (3) Arkansas | 3 p.m. | ESPN (ESPN+)
UTSA at (15) UCLA | 3 p.m. | ESPN2 (ESPN+)
West Virginia at (6) LSU | 6 p.m. | ESPN2 (ESPN+)
(9) Florida State at (8) Oregon State | 9 p.m. | (ESPN+)

College baseball scores today

This section will be updated as games become finalized

Arizona vs. No. 5 North Carolina (Series tied 1-1)
Duke vs. Murray State (Duke leads 1-0)
Miami vs. Louisville (Series tied 1-1)
No. 3 Arkansas vs No. 14 Tenneessee (Arkansas leads 1-0)
No. 15 UCLA vs. UTSA (UCLA leads 1-0)
No. 6 LSU vs. West Virginia (LSU leads 1-0)
No. 8 Florida State vs. No. 9 Oregon State (Series tied 1-1)

NCAA baseball tournament bracket

The full bracket for the 2025 NCAA baseball tournament can be found here.

Click here to view the full super regional schedule of the NCAA baseball tournament.

When is the College World Series?

The College World Series gets underway at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 13 with the first day of bracket pool play. The CWS finals start on June 21 and will last until either June 22 or June 23, depending on whether the ‘if necessary’ Game 3 of the best-of-three series is needed.

NCAA baseball tournament schedule

Here’s the full 2025 NCAA baseball tournament schedule:

Regionals: May 30-June 2
Super regionals: June 6-9
College World Series: June 13-22/23
CWS finals: June 21-22/23

What channels are the NCAA baseball tournament super regionals on?

TV channels: ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPNU
Streaming options: ESPN app | ESPN+

The June 8 slate of super regional round games of the NCAA baseball tournament will air across several channels: ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. Streaming options include the ESPN app (with a TV login) and ESPN+, ESPN’s subscription streaming service.