by Tim Reynolds OKLAHOMA CITY  — The last time Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder played a Game 7 it was the ultimate game of ultimate games, one that decided last season’s NBA championship. And that’s why, as the NBA’s two-time Most Valuable Player spoke about the Game 7 that looms against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night to decide the Western Conference title, it might have seemed mildly surprising that he said these five words: “Biggest game of my career.” “It’s the next game,” he quickly added. “And if I lose, my season’s over.” Simple as that.…

by Tim Reynolds OKLAHOMA CITY  — Victor Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds, Dylan Harper finished with 24 points and a team playoff-record seven steals, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-115 in a double-overtime classic to open the Western Conference finals Monday night. Wembanyama sealed it with a pair of dunks in the final minute, one of them leading to a three-point play as the Spurs stole home-court advantage and beat the Thunder for the fifth time in six meetings this season. Stephon Castle had 17 points, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson each scored…

by Tim Reynolds OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s trophy case is a little more jammed. A day after the Oklahoma City guard was revealed as the NBA’s Most Valuable Playerfor the second consecutive season, he received the Michael Jordan Trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night. It was the fourth individual trophy for Gilgeous-Alexander in just under a year — and three of those were hand-delivered by Silver. “In the 80-year history of the NBA, only a few select players have won back-to-back MVPs,” Silver said in a brief on-court ceremony.…

by Rod Maaddi On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here. ___ Aaron Rodgers defied conventional medicine by returning to practice just 77 days after surgery for a torn Achilles tendon. How he did it should be the No. 1 question instead of questioning his motivation. Even if Rodgers doesn’t play again for the New York Jets (4-7) this season because it wouldn’t make sense if they’re eliminated from the playoff race, his recovery so far sets a standard. Every player who tears an Achilles tendon should call…

by Philip Marcelo and Michael R. Sisak NEW YORK  — The Long Island Rail Road, North America’s largest commuter rail system, was shut down Saturday after unionized workers went on strike for the first time in three decades. The railroad, which serves New York City and its eastern suburbs, ceased operations just after midnight after five unions representing about half its workforce walked off the job. The unions and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the public agency that runs the railroad, have been negotiating for months on a new contract, with talks stalled over the question of workers’ salaries and healthcare…

by Ope Adetayo LAGOS, Nigeria  — President Donald Trump said that a joint operation by U.S. and Nigerian forces killed a top leader of the Islamic State group in Nigeria. Trump wrote in a social media post that the mission in the early hours of Saturday targeted Abu Bakr al-Mainuki, who was part of the top leadership of the local IS chapter in West Africa. Nigeria’s government and military said the operation in the Lake Chad Basin, a stronghold of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), was the result of a recently formed partnership with the…

by Kim Chandler MONTGOMERY, Ala.  — Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the cradle of the modern Civil Rights Movement to mobilize a new voting rights era as conservative states dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called Montgomery “sacred soil” in the fight for civil rights. “if we in our generation do not now do our duty, we will lose the gains and the rights and the liberties that our ancestors afforded us,” Booker said. The crowd was led in chants of “we won’t go back” and “we fight.” “We…

by Paul Wiseman WASHINGTON  — U.S. consumer prices climbed sharply again last month as the 10-week war with Iran pushed energy prices higher. The Labor Department’s consumer price index rose 3.8% from April 2025, according to data released Tuesday. On a month-to-month basis, April prices rose 0.6% from March as gasoline prices rose 5.4% during the month; the month-over-month gain was down from 0.9% increase from February to March. Grocery prices rose 0.7% from March to April as meat prices rose. Those prices had retreated slightly the month before. “Inflation is the key drag on the U.S. economy now,” Heather…

by Safiyah Riddle and Amy Taxin Libyan Dr. Faysal Alghoula must renew his green card to continue caring for roughly 1,000 patients in southwestern Indiana, but hasn’t been able to since the Trump administration stopped reviewing applications for people from several dozen countries it deemed high-risk. Alghoula’s current visa will expire in September if his application is denied. But last week, the administration quietly made an exemption for medical doctors with pending visa or green card applications, possibly allowing Alghoula’s case to move forward. It’s a move physicians organizations and immigration attorneys had sought for months, citing widespread shortages and…

by Lindsay Whitehurst WASHINGTON — The first baby boomer on the Supreme Court hit a milestone on Thursday, becoming the second-longest serving justice in history at a time when his influence has never seemed greater. Once an outlier on the nation’s highest court, Justice Clarence Thomas has become a towering figure in the conservative legal movement over the last decade as he helped secure landmark rulings on abortion, voting and Second Amendment rights. The only justice with a longer tenure is liberal William O. Douglas. Thomas would overtake Douglas in 2028 if he remains on the court, and there is…