Time didn’t stop during the Knicks’ championship run, even if it may have felt like it.
Over the past two months, the Yankees, Mets, Giants and the rest of New York’s teams still played games and/or made headlines while local fans focused on the Knicks closing in on their first NBA title since 1973.
Luckily, the Daily News has you covered.
Here’s what you may have missed — and what you need to know — now that the Knicks’ five-game NBA Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs is complete.
YANKEES
The Yankees have the best chance of bringing the next championship to the city.
At 43-27, the Yankees have the best record in the American League. Entering Monday, they held a one-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. Their run differential of +107 was overwhelmingly the best in the AL, where nobody else was better than +20.
Gerrit Cole returned last month after Tommy John surgery, and most importantly, he’s been sharp, going 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 22 innings through four starts.
So what could stand in the Yankees’ way? Injuries — and they have a lot of them.
Aaron Judge is out for at least a month with a stress fracture in his rib, but the Yankees expect the back-to-back AL MVP to return this season.
Giancarlo Stanton suffered a setback in his rehab for the calf strain that’s kept him out since late April, and he was due for more testing Monday.
Trent Grisham (calf) and Austin Wells (headaches) are also currently sidelined, while Max Fried (left elbow bone bruise) was cleared last week to resume throwing from the mound.
If the Yankees can stay afloat and get healthy before the playoffs, they will be the team to beat in the AL.
Gerrit Cole has made four starts for the Yankees so far in his return from Tommy John surgery. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
METS
The situation isn’t quite as messy for the Mets as it was in April, when they lost 12 games in a row, or even late May, when they matched a season-worst mark by falling 11 games below .500.
But a season-flipping winning streak has still eluded the Mets, who entered Monday with a 32-39 record and were 5.5 games out of the third and final National League wild card spot.
The positives are that Juan Soto (15 home runs, .948 OPS) is delivering a big season, Bo Bichette (.958 OPS in June) is finally hitting, and Francisco Lindor (calf) is expected to return this month.
The biggest negative is that the Mets’ starting pitching remains a huge question mark, with Clay Holmes (fractured fibula) out indefinitely, David Peterson relegated to a relief role, and even Nolan McLean and Freddy Peralta delivering uneven seasons.
There’s still enough talent on this $380 million roster to believe the Mets can make a run, but at some point, they will actually need to do it.
GIANTS
Odell Beckham Jr. is back!
The 33-year-old wide receiver re-signed with the Giants this month, hoping to add one final chapter to an electric but oft-injured career that started with the franchise.
There’s no guarantee Beckham, who signed a veteran-minimum contract, will make the final roster, but there’s also no harm in seeing what the three-time Pro Bowler has left.
Beckham — a 2014 first-round pick who exceeded 1,000 yards in four of his five Giants seasons — is likely fighting Juju Smith-Schuster, Braxton Berrios, Isaiah Hodgins and Jalin Hyatt for the final spot or two in the receiver room.
In the meantime, Beckham provides depth and veteran experience to a position group in which top wideout Malik Nabers is recovering from last September’s multi-ligament knee injury.
Nabers recently underwent a second “clean-up” procedure on his right knee, but the Giants are still hopeful he’ll be ready for Week 1. He was healthy enough to participate in Brian Burns’ charity softball game late last month, though he was still moving gingerly as he ran to first base.
Odell Beckham Jr., pictured on June 9, is back with the Giants.
JETS
It’s been a quieter few weeks for the Jets, who began the offseason with a bang by re-acquiring quarterback Geno Smith and using three first-round picks on pass rusher David Bailey, tight end Kenyon Sadiq and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr., though Sadiq underwent a hernia procedure that will keep him out for the remainder of OTAs.
The biggest recent news came Monday, when they reached a four-year, $62 million extension with sturdy interior lineman Joe Tippman.
WORLD CUP
Amid the Knicks’ Finals frenzy, it was easy to miss that the World Cup is officially underway.
The first game at MetLife Stadium — or New York New Jersey Stadium, as it’s being called during the international soccer tournament — happened on Saturday, with Brazil and Morocco tying, 1-1.
France is set to face Senegal in the Meadowlands on Tuesday night, with more games to follow there in the coming weeks.
The World Cup final is scheduled to take place in East Rutherford on July 19.
NETS
The past few weeks have not been as kind to New York’s other NBA team, as the Nets endured bad luck in the draft lottery for the second year in a row.
They are set to pick No. 6 in next week’s draft at Barclays Center, when top talents such as BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer are expected to be off the board.
The Nets should still end up with another building block, with Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler among the names most often linked to them in that range.
LIBERTY
The Liberty have shaken off a slow start under new head coach Chris DeMarco by winning seven games in a row, including a victory Sunday that clinched them a spot in the Commissioner’s Cup finals.
Notably, they survived the three-week absence of star guard Sabrina Ionescu, who returned from back soreness for Sunday’s win over Washington.
The Liberty are still waiting to find out who they will face in the last game of the Commissioner’s Cup, an in-season tournament the WNBA introduced in 2021. The final is set for June 30.