SNY's The Warm-Up: Mets & Yanks roundup — Obi's Dunk Contest — Griffin ➡️ Nets

Monday, March 8, 2021 · Get Today’s New York Sports Here The Tweet of the Day --------------------------------------------------------------- 🌅 Good morning. Same, James Harden. Same. --------------------------------------------------------------- 📅 Today's sports schedule - Mets at Nationals, 1:05 p.m. ⚾ - Big East Tournament Finals: No. 1 UConn WBB vs, No. 2 Marquette, 8 p.m. 🏀 --------------------------------------------------------------- 📺 SNY originals - [Geico SportsNite]( How long can Jacob deGrom maintain his level of dominance? Today's word count: 735 words This weekend in New York baseball Mary Holt/USA Today 1. The Mets tied the Marlins on Sunday, 4-4, and beat the Astros on Saturday, 6-1. Three things: - Jacob deGrom made his 2021 debut on Saturday against the Astros, [striking out]( three while allowing one hit and no runs in two innings. Marcus Stroman pitched Sunday, stretching it out to three innings. He allowed two earned runs and K'd two. - Home run roundup: [Jonathan Villar]( | Dominic Smith - Michael Conforto [said]( on Saturday regarding extension talks: "Nothing to report on my end." Meanwhile, extension talks with Francisco Lindor are reportedly "[expected to begin in earnest]( this week. Sunday's [takeaways]( Today's probable starter: Jordan Yamamoto 2. The Yankees played through the weekend, tying the Tigers on Friday, losing to the Pirates on Saturday, and topping the Phillies on Sunday. Three things: - Aaron Boone, sidelined by surgery last week, returned to the dugout for Saturday's game against the Pirates. "I was shocked to see him here today," said Jameson Taillon on Saturday. - Home run roundup: Gleyber Torres | Jay Bruce | Clint Frazier | Brett Gardner - Aaron Judge raised some brows on Sunday with a [comment]( about Gary Sanchez: "Gary's a guy that can go out there and win AL MVP. He's that dynamic and he's that important of a player to this team." Sunday's [takeaways]( On SNY.tv: - [Luis Rojas gave an update on when Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco will make their spring debuts]( - [Jameson Taillon discussed his new delivery after his impressive start against Pittsburgh]( Trivia time How many 50-point dunks have Knicks players had in the Slam Dunk Contest? Answers at the bottom. The spring training highlight of the weekend goes to ... MLB/Twitter ... Brett Gardner, who hit a grand slam in yesterday's 4-0 win over the Phillies. It was his first hit of the spring and also came off former Met Zack Wheeler. Gardner, 37, will likely enter the season as a bench player behind Clint Frazier, but there isn't anyone within the organization who isn't happy to have him back for a 14th season. Here's what Brian Cashman said about the longest-tenured Yankee on Friday: "He was always someone we wanted to have back and we tried to articulate it through his agency throughout the winter. It was something we had to wait for because we had other areas we wanted to address first and foremost. But that doesn’t dismiss or dilute how important Brett Gardner has been to this franchise." Obi Toppin's dunking highlights a New York-repped All-Star Sunday @InsidetheNBA/Twitter Obi Toppin had a good showing in last night's NBA Slam Dunk Contest but finished second to Portland's Anfernee Simons by virtue of a 3-2 final-round tally from the five judges. His three dunks: - A baseline, between-the-legs, off-the-bounce [dunk]( which scored a 48. - GIF'd above: A windmill while jumping over Julius Randle and Toppin's father, Obadiah, a streetball legend who earned the nickname Dunker's Delight as a player. ("His pop looks younger than all of us," said Kenny Smith on the broadcast). This one scored a 46. - A between-the-legs [dunk]( from just inside the free-throw line, which came in the finals and wasn't scored on a 50-point basis. The All-Star Game, which used the "Elam Ending" and was won by Team LeBron [on a half-court shot]( by Damian Lillard ... - Julius Randle, who lost to eventual champion Domantas Sabonis in the first round of the Skills Challenge, played 13 minutes for Team Durant, scoring four points on two shots. ("I'm leading the league in minutes," he [said]( of playing only 13 minutes. "It was a great thing!") - Kyrie Irving (Team Durant) had 24 points on 15 shots in 32 minutes, while James Harden, also Team Durant, had 21 points in 31 minutes. On SNY.tv: - [Ranking the Knicks' appearances in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest]( By the numbers SNY graphic 33 All-Star selections The Nets [signed Blake Griffin]( who was bought out by the Pistons earlier in the week, to a contract for the rest of the season. Assuming he starts alongside Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Joe Harris, that starting five will have 33 All-Star appearances combined. Griffin was having a nondescript year in Detroit, but was an All-Star and an All-NBA selection with the Pistons during the 2018-19 season. 5-2, three times The Islanders beat the Sabres yesterday, 5-2. The Islanders beat the Sabres on Saturday, 5-2. The Islanders beat the Sabres on Thursday, 5-2. Overall, New York has won five in a row and sits atop the East Division standings. 20.2 PPG UConn's James Bouknight scored 22 points in the Huskies' regular season-ending win over Georgetown on Saturday. He's averaging 20.2 PPG entering the Big East tournament, most by a Husky since Kemba Walker's 23.5 PPG average in 2010-11. The New York Minute - [READ]( Jerry Blevins: "I want to win a World Series ... the only team I would've come back for was the Mets." - [READ]( The UConn women beat Villanova on Sunday to advance to the Big East finals today. - [READ]( James Harden called Sunday's NBA All-Star Game "forced." - [WATCH]( Keith Hernandez was talking to his cat during yesterday's broadcast. TRIVIA ANSWER: Four: One by Gerald Wilkins, one by Nate Robinson, and two by Dennis Smith Jr. That's the buzzer. Enjoy your Monday. (Have feedback for The Warm-Up? Click [here](mailto:%20SNYfeedback@gmail.com?subject=)). Copyright © 2021 SNY- Sportsnet, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SNY- Sportsnet 150 Greenwich St Fl 50New York, NY 10007-2444 [Add us to your address book]( [update your preferences]( | [unsubscribe from this list](