Greg Cote’s Hot Button Top 10: Game 7s settle NHL, NBA semis, heat on Messi, schedule flatters Fins
[Note to readers: Hot Button Top 10 (and the Poll Dance) are taking off this Sunday, May 25. Both will be back next Sunday, June 1.]
GREG COTE’S HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (MAY 18): WHAT IN SPORTS HAS GRABBED US THIS WEEK: Our Sunday Hot Button Top 10 notes column brings you what’s on our minds, locally and nationally but from a Miami perspective and accentuating stuff that’s big, weird, damnable, funny or otherwise worth needling as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. Welcome to the 104th edition of your HB10:
1. PANTHERS: It’s the best, most terrifying two words in sports. Game 7: Sunday night in Toronto. Now says “must win” and mean it literally. Win, keep repeat-championship hopes alive. Lose, pack up your season. The Stanley Cup-holding Florida Panthers got there with Friday night’s desultory 2-0 home loss to the Maple Leafs to put their second round series at 3-3. Cat seemed in charge coming home after a 6-1 win in Toronto. Now? Florida is a narrow betting favorite. Let’s see how smart the money is. [Link to related column below. and here.]
2. INTER MIAMI: Team Messi seeks to end skid Sunday vs. rival Orlando: Miami is a credible 6-2-3 in MLS play but had lost four of five in all competitions before this week’s further disappointment, a 3-3 draw at mediocre San Jose in league play despite Lionel Messi in for the entire match. Herons are under the gun as they host rival Orlando City today, trying to sharpen for June 14 start of FIFA Club World Cup play. Meantime, on Thursday Messi for first time will reveal his all-time favorite goal in a sports/art collab with data-sculpted creator Refik Anadol, a work to be auctioned to benefit UNICEF and other charities.
3. NBA/NHL: Two Sunday Game 7s set Final Fours in hoops, on ice: Denver visits Oklahoma in a Game 7 today to determine who’ll face Minnesota in the NBA Western finals as Indiana and New York are set in the East finals. In the NHL, Florida visits Toronto in tonight’s Game 7 to see who’ll face Carolina in the East finals Dallas and Edmonton have reached the West finals. The two best finals? HB10 votes for Thunder-Knicks on hardwood and a Panthers-Oilers title rematch on ice.
4. DOLPHINS: Wait, does league think Fins will be really good?: As Miami continues offseason work, NFL schedule-release day delivered the unexpected for Dolphins. Coming off 8-9 season and not routinely seen as a playoff team, Miami was given five prime-time games -- as well as a marquee international game vs. Washington in Spain. That suggests someone thinks Dolphins will be good, exciting or interesting. (Let’s see.) Fins open at Indy, which deleted a schedule-release video spoofing Tyreek Hill’s ‘24 police matter by depicting him as a dolphin being chased by the Coast Guard. Non-controversy. Even Tyreek thought it was funny..
5. GOLF: Scheffler rescues PGA from no-name leaderboard, leads by 3: A roaring finish including a 14th-hole eagle vaulted star Scottie Scheffler to a six under 65 and a three-shot lead at Quail Hollow entering today’s final round of the PGA Championship, the year’s second major. Scheffler was 5-under the last five holes to close in on his third career major. A person named Jhonny Vegas led after two rounds. (His name is Jhonatton, but if you’re last name is Vegas, you gotta go by Jhonny.)
6. HORSE RACING: Journalism is not dead, wins Preakness Stakes: The horse named Journalism burst through a crowd and came from behind to win the 150th Preakness Stakes Saturday in Baltimore, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Journalism had been the betting favorite after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby to Sovereignty, which skipped the Preakness and ruined Triple Crown season.
7. MLB: Hall of Fame opens to the dead; Rose, Shoeless Joe now eligible: Baseball wants applause for a progressive move that, in fact, came decades too late: Ruling that ineligibility ends with death, therefore Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are now eligible to be inducted into Cooperstown. Two committees will together make that decision, and not until late 2027. [Links to related column and poll below.]
8. MARLINS: Alcantara falters again as Fish lose again: The Marlins fell to 17-27, lodged last the NL East, with Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to rival Tampa Bay, with the rubber game of the three-game set today. Erstwhile ace Sandy Alcantara saw his record dip to 20-6 with his ERA at a bloated 7.99. Speculation that Miami will trade Alcantara before the MLB deadline has been muddied by the disarmingly lousy start to his season.
9. HURRICANES: The U scores big in transfer-portal rankings: Coach Mario Cristobal’s reputation as a top recruiter is showing again this offseason. Miami has six additions ranked in ESPN’s new Top 100 most impactful transfer portal gets list, vs. one only defection (WR Isaiah Horton to Alabama. Canes scored the NO. 2 overall portal prize in QB Carson Beck from Georgia. The five other ranked adds are rated 39 through 72 and include three to shore up the secondary. UM’s 2026 recruiting class is rated 13th.
10. WNBA: 29th season underway as league soars in popularity: Reigning champ New York Liberty are betting picks to repeat at +250 but it’s a tight field., with Las Vegas and returning league MVP A’ja Wilson and Caitlin’s Clark’s Indiana both at +350, and Minnesota +400. The betting public is backing Caitlin, with DraftKings reporting 84 percent of money riding on Indy. Dallas is a longshot despite No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers as WNBA welcomes 13th club in expansion Golden State.
THE LIST: WNBA ALL-TIME LEADING SCORERS: As the WNBA begins its 29th season, bigger than ever in popularity thanks, in part, to the wave of buzz Caitlin Clark brought, the league’s all-time leading scorers (with asterisk indicating still active
Player, Points
1. Diana Taurasi 10,646
2. Tina Charles 7,696-*
3. Tina Thompson 7,488
4. DeWanna Bonner 7,482-*
5. Tamika Catchings 7,380
Note: Rounding out the top 10: Candice Dupree, Cappie Pondexter, Sue Bird, Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike-*. No. 13 all-time: Sylvia Fowles, Miami born-and-raised.
Other most recent stuff from me: Panthers were flat in 2-0 home loss to put series 3-3, now must play like champs in Game 7 in Toronto // Florida Panthers, Bobrovsky tie series 2-2, remind Maple Leafs who’s champ // Sudden death to new life: Marchand OT goal wins Game 3 thriller, gives Panthers renewed hope // Previous HB10 // Poll Dance: Heat offseason // Florida Panthers are desperate, doubted, down 2-0. Now the series gets good // Panthers drop Game 1 in Toronto, but don’t dare doubt the Cup champions // Panthers’ 4-1 ouster of Tampa declares intent, and ability, to repeat as champs // Giannis? Durant? Embarrassed Heat need major help after 55-point loss and playoff sweep // NFL Draft Live! Pick-by-pick analysis, Cote vs. Kiper mock results // Our 34th annual Official Herald NFL Mock Draft // Miami Dolphins should be fed up with Tyreek Hill, but team is too desperate to trade him // LeBron vs. Michael, now Ovechkin-Gretzky. Our obsession with ranking greatness // NCAAs crescendo with exciting Final Fours, but college basketball is broken. Let’s fix it // To owner Bruce Sherman of low-hope Marlins: Spend more on payroll, or sell team // Dolphins’ 18-month decline, quiet offseason heap pressure on Tua, coach, GM in ‘25 // A tribute to Miami sports legend Jimmy Johnson as he retires from Fox TV // Must-win MLS season for Messi, Inter Miami a tough climb, as opening 2-2 home draw shows // 15 years later, Dolphins Cancer Challenge is the life-saving legacy of Jim Mandich // Unprofessional Jimmy Butler quit on Heat, ruined his legacy in Miami // Our Top 10 biggest Miami/South Florida sports stories of 2024 // And my latest podcast:
This story was originally published May 18, 2025 at 8:58 AM.
