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Inter Miami vs. New York City FC: Three Key Battles That Could Decide MLS Eastern Conference Final

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Inter Miami vs. New York City FC: Three Key Battles That Could Decide MLS Eastern Conference Final


Inter Miami are in the form of their lives. They hope this continues when they welcome New York City FC to Chase Stadium on Saturday night for the Eastern Conference final, with a berth in the 2025 MLS Cup on the line. 

While Miami brings star power and holds home pitch advantage, they come up against a New York City side riding high after eliminating the Supporters’ Shield winners. And there are reasons for NYCFC to believe they can pull off another upset here. 

Sports Illustrated takes a look at three key battles that could define which team earns the honor of facing San Diego FC or Vancouver Whitecaps FC in MLS Cup on Dec. 6 

Lionel Messi, Matt Freese

Lionel Messi (left) looks to get the better of Matt Freese (right) in the playoffs. / Jeff Dean/Getty Images, Adam Hunger/Getty Images

Lionel Messi has been on an absolute heater for Inter Miami all season and has taken things a step further in the playoffs. After a regular season that saw him score 29 goals and register 19 assists in 29 games, he now has six goals and six assists in just four playoff games. 

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But, he hasn’t seen a goalkeeper like U.S. men’s national team backstop, Matt Freese. The 27-year-old has been in stellar form as well, posting five saves–including four outstanding stops–against the Philadelphia Union, to help NYCFC advance past the Supporters’ Shield champions. 

While Messi has shown his ability to score in nearly every way possible, the clear-cut opportunities he saw and created against FC Cincinnati and Nashville will be fewer against a stronger defensive team. The opportunities he does get will come up against a better goalie between the posts. 

If NYCFC pulls off the upset, Freese will have a big part to play in it. If he’s not on his game, well, Miami can put together its plans to beat San Diego or the Whitecaps in MLS Cup. 

Sergio Busquets

Sergio Busquets will battle in midfield against Kevin O’Toole. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Kevin O’Toole has had quite a few weeks. He was called up to Ireland for the first time, making the bench as the Irish beat Portugal in a game Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off. Now, he’s clashing with Sergio Busquets in midfield, as well as Messi and the other stars in Miami. 

If anyone is playing with confidence, it’s him. Against Philadelphia, he shut down Danley Jean Jaques and recorded eight defensive contributions.

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He will likely be paired with Aidan O’Neill (who served a one-match suspension against Philadelphia) and tasked with combating Busquets in central midfield, and working the ball away from the Spaniard and Rodrigo De Paul. Busquets, in particular, has been potent with his ability to slide passes through Nashville and FC Cincinnati’s midfield and clogging things up in that area of the pitch will be critical for NYCFC. 

Lionel Messi - MLS Cup

Lionel Messi was unable to help Inter Miami to a win in the 2025 Leagues Cup final against Seattle Sounders FC. / Rich Lam/Getty Images

Outside of the individual player level, the mentality of both teams is starkly different, with NYCFC on the road and Inter Miami facing a match of defining proportions. 

Led by the veteran poise of Maxi Moralez, New York City FC knows how to win playoff games on the road. In their run to the 2021 MLS Cup title, NYCFC played every game after the first round on the road, just as they would have to do should they make it all the way to the trophy this time around. 

Meanwhile, Miami has fallen short in the most defining games. So far through the playoffs, it has been about seeing off disaster in the wake of the 2024 first-round elimination against Atlanta United. 

They have been able to push the season through two rounds for the first time in club history, but now comes their first massive test–they would even get to lift the Eastern Conference trophy should they win here. 

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Miami’s ability to win trophies doesn’t paint a pretty picture: A 2024 Leagues Cup final loss and a 2023 U.S. Open Cup loss hangs alongside their 2023 Leagues Cup title, the only knockout trophy Miami has captured to date.

On Saturday, one of those aspects has to fall. Will it be NYCFC’s away abilities, or Miami’s poor record in big games? 

READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND GOSSIP



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Jaylen Brown bidding war? Haslem drove this? All the fallout from Antetokounmpo trade to Miami

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Jaylen Brown bidding war? Haslem drove this? All the fallout from Antetokounmpo trade to Miami


It was the blockbuster deal of the NBA offseason: After years of will-he/won’t-he, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has been traded to Miami.

It also feels like the first domino of what will be some other big moves — including possibly a Jaylen Brown bidding war and trade. At NBC, we’ve explained the Antetokounmpo trade, named its winners and losers, and broken down how it will impact fantasy teams. Still, the fallout from this trade just keeps coming. Here are some other notes and analysis surrounding Antetokounmpo’s move to Miami.

Jaylen Brown bidding war?

Boston tried to say, “We weren’t shopping Brown, it was only because this was Giannis Antetokounmpo.” Except a few years back, they said the same thing when Brown was rumored to be part of a trade offer for Kevin Durant. From Brown’s perspective, you don’t want to be the person in the relationship where your partner is always looking around for an upgrade.

Other teams are expecting Boston to make Brown available, and there could be a bidding war, something articulated well by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on the network’s “Get Up.”

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“What I expect to happenis a bidding war for Jaylen Brown. In the most recent days, teams have been preparing for this eventuality, that it wouldn’t be the Boston Celtics who won the Giannis sweepstakes and that there would be a Jaylen Brown market. And now we’re going to watch that. I think it’ll take time to play out.”

If Brown becomes available, look for Houston and Atlanta to be at the front of the line for him, with a number of other teams — Portland has said it’s interested — in the mix. The challenge will be matching his salary, which is $57.1 million next season and totals about $183 million over the next three years. Brown is coming off his best season as a pro, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

Boston kept young players out

Why did Milwaukee ultimately choose the Miami offer over Boston? In part because, while Brown would have been the best individual player the Bucks could have gotten in return, they wanted more — specifically a young player like Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez, and Boston would not put them in the offer, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

Boston’s final offer was Brown and two unprotected first-round picks. Milwaukee preferred Miami’s offer… or at least one key person did.

Bucks co-owner Haslam pushed for Miami trade

Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam also owns the NFL’s Cleveland Browns — a team that dealt with a trade demand from future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett. Then came the Antetokounmpo saga with the Bucks.

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That led Haslam to push for the “certainty” of the Miami offer because he didn’t want to see Brown come to Milwaukee and force his way out in a couple of years, something Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports reported right after the trade went down.

Report: Haslam a ‘driving force’ in Giannis trade

Mike Florio looks at Jimmy Haslam’s reported role in the blockbuster Giannis Antetokounmpo trade and analyzes Haslam’s involvement as owner of the Cleveland Browns.

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That was a concern of others in the Milwaukee front office, reports Sam Amick and Eric Nehm at The Athletic, who add there had been signs in recent weeks that Brown didn’t really want to land in Milwaukee.

Herro happy

Brown may not have wanted to go to Milwaukee, but Tyler Herro — who is a Milwaukee native — is excited to go home in the trade, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes.

Except Herro may not be staying in Milwaukee—there are multiple reports that the Bucks are listening to offers to trade him again. At the front of that line may be Detroit, which is looking for shooting and secondary ball-handling to pair with Cade Cunningham, and Herro fits that bill.

Is Anthony Edwards next?

Once one superstar is traded, the insatiable NBA trade rumor machine starts looking for the next star who might be on the move.

Is it about to be Anthony Edwards’ turn in the spotlight? ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the latest Hoop Collective Podcast, “The NBA vultures are swirling around Ant in anticipation of him potentially becoming the next superstar who’s available in the trade market.” Multiple reports in recent years have said Edwards has been frustrated with the team building in Minnesota, dating back to when it traded away Karl-Anthony Towns to save money.

This is not happening fast. Minnesota has no intention of trading Edwards right now, and he still has three fully guaranteed years at $156.9 million left on this contract. There is no pressure to move him, and Edwards would deny he is even thinking about leaving.

That said, teams file these kinds of things away and just wait.

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Fiery, fatal crash shuts down southbound lanes of Don Shula Expressway in southwest Miami-Dade

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Fiery, fatal crash shuts down southbound lanes of Don Shula Expressway in southwest Miami-Dade



An investigation is underway after a man was killed in a fiery crash with a truck on the Don Shula Expressway in southwest Miami-Dade early Tuesday morning, according to officials.

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The Florida Highway Patrol said that a white Mercedes coupe was headed south on SR 847 (Don Shula Expressway), near Southwest 104th Street when it crashed into the back of a truck.

A large fire broke out after the crash, and investigators said that the driver of the Mercedes, who was only identified as an adult Hispanic male, died at the scene.

The fiery crash forced officials to shut down the southbound lanes of the roadway, and drivers were being asked to seek an alternate route.

Heavy delays were reported behind the crash, and delays also started to build in the northbound lanes near the scene.

The southbound lanes have since reopened.

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No other information was released.



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Miami Heat slip behind Boston Celtics in Giannis Antetokounmpo race

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Miami Heat slip behind Boston Celtics in Giannis Antetokounmpo race


The Miami Heat woke up Monday no longer in control of the chase they had led for weeks. With the 2026 NBA Draft set for Tuesday and the Milwaukee Bucks closing in on a resolution to the Giannis Antetokounmpo saga, Miami suddenly finds itself in a two-team race it is no longer favored to win.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that Antetokounmpo is expected to be moved before the draft, with the Heat and Boston Celtics emerging as the two finalists. The Bucks have narrowed their talks to those clubs, sources told Charania, and are weighing two dramatically different packages for the former two-time MVP.

For a fan base that spent the better part of a month believing Miami was the team to beat, the shift landed hard. The Heat are still in it. They are simply no longer the favorite.

A two-team race with a Tuesday deadline

Milwaukee set the timeline itself. Bucks ownership signaled in May that it wanted Antetokounmpo’s future settled by the start of the draft, and Charania reported Monday on ESPN’s “Get Up” that a trade is expected to land in line with that cutoff.

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Charania framed the two bids as opposites. One is built around an established star, the other around youth and draft capital, and he described the negotiations bluntly.

“These conversations have been a blood bath,” Charania said.

He also stressed that whatever happens, it will not balloon into a multi-team construction the way other blockbusters have. Whether the deal closes Monday or Tuesday, Charania said, it is expected to be a one-to-one trade between Milwaukee and one of the two finalists, with no third team folded in. That detail matters for Miami, because it removes one of the lifelines the Heat had been counting on.

Boston changed the math with Jaylen Brown

For most of the buildup, Miami held the perceived edge because the Celtics were reluctant to part with Jaylen Brown. That changed over the weekend. The Stein Line’s Marc Stein reported Monday that Boston emerged “with a real shot” to win the race built around a Brown-centric offer, with Milwaukee willing to consider a swap even without a third team to absorb his contract.

That is the development that flipped the race. Brown is a five-time All-Star and a former NBA Finals MVP coming off the best statistical season of his career, having averaged a career-high 28.7 points per game as Boston’s centerpiece. He is also a bona fide star Milwaukee can plug in immediately, which speaks directly to ownership’s stated preference to get a recognizable face back rather than a stack of prospects.

The money works, too. A Brown-for-Antetokounmpo framework lines up cleanly under the salary cap, and from Milwaukee’s vantage point, flipping one star for another carries better optics than entering a full teardown empty-handed.

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Prediction markets moved with the news. Per Kalshi data, Miami’s implied odds slid from the low 60s into the mid-30s on Monday while Boston vaulted toward roughly 70 percent. Those figures shift by the hour and should be read as a temperature check rather than a forecast, but the direction of the swing is the story.

What Miami is putting on the table

Tyler Herro Miami Heat

The Heat’s pitch leans on volume and flexibility rather than star power. Reported frameworks have centered on Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic, with Kasparas Jakucionis and multiple future first-round picks also in the mix, and Miami holds the No. 13 overall pick in Tuesday’s draft.

It is a thoughtful offer for a rebuilding team. It is also, by definition, not a star, and that is the gap Boston is now exploiting.

There is a limit to how far Miami is willing to go. Bam Adebayo is the only player truly untouchable in the Heat’s discussions, and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported that the front office does not want to strip the roster and its draft capital down to the studs to get a deal done. That restraint is understandable given the franchise’s history of swinging big and missing, most painfully on Damian Lillard three years ago, but it also means Miami may be unwilling to match a price Boston now appears ready to meet.

The case for the Heat to lose this race

There is a real argument, voiced by some of the league’s most prominent analysts, that Miami should be careful what it wishes for. Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons both cautioned against the Heat gutting their young core for an aging star, with Lowe warning that the long-term cost could hollow out the roster.

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“The concerns I think are very real for Miami,” Lowe said.

The basketball context behind that caution is hard to ignore. Antetokounmpo is 31 and coming off the most injury-plagued season of his career, appearing in just 36 games amid groin, calf and knee issues while the Bucks finished 32-50 and missed the playoffs, snapping a run of nine straight postseason appearances.

He still produced when available, averaging 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, but his looming free agency in 2027 is depressing his trade value across the league. For a Heat team that went 43-39 and has been hunting a co-star for Adebayo since dealing Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors, the math of trading a future for a 31-year-old’s prime window is genuinely fraught.

What happens next

The next 24 hours should decide it. Milwaukee has telegraphed the draft as its internal deadline, and the expectation is a resolution before Tuesday night, though multiple insiders have noted the saga could still spill into free agency if the Bucks decide their leverage is better served by waiting.

For Miami, the stakes are stark. Landing Antetokounmpo would end years of frustrated superstar pursuits and reset the franchise’s ceiling overnight. Losing him to Boston, again on the doorstep of a deal, would sting in a way Heat fans know all too well. Either outcome arrives soon, and for the first time in this chase, the Heat are watching it unfold without holding the best hand.



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