One of the greatest things about Post Malone is his personality. In concert, he exudes a certain stoned, goofy charm and comes across as a likable guy who appreciates every bit of success he’s earned.

Turns out his current tourmate Jelly Roll shares those same qualities. After an opening set from Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Sierra Ferrell on Tuesday night at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, the man born Jason DeFord spent much of his fiery hourlong set grinning. Between songs, he bellowed at the sold-out crowd in a manner that was part motivational speaker, part Southern preacher.

“We did it baby,” he yelled after his 2024 hit “Liar” and proceeded to list all the previous local venues he has played: First Avenue, Cabooze, Skyway Theatre and the Armory.

Jelly Roll attends the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on September 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

After toiling around in the underground hip hop scene for a decade, Jelly Roll broke through in a major way in 2022 with first foray into country music, “Son of a Sinner.” In the time since, he’s been nearly inescapable, from his string of smash singles that get played across multiple formats to the run of commercials in which he stars (Zevia, Uber Eats, Bud Light). He was also the first musical guest of the 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” and has become a regular on the awards show circuit.

Jelly Roll’s growl of a voice is divisive for sure, but Wednesday he used it to power through his hits with a religious zeal. His Machine Gun Kelly collaboration “Lonely Road” (which he mashed up with John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads”), “Hard Fought Hallelujah” and the set-ending “Save Me” had the crowd howling with approval.

Post Malone, or Austin Post to his mom, opened his first-ever local stadium show with four songs that sounded like they could have come from four different acts: “Texas Tea” (goth rock), “Wow” (stripped-down hip hop), “Better Now” (pop) and “Wrong Ones” (country). The latter was the first of several selections from “F-1 Trillion,” his sixth and most recent album as well as his swing into Nashville’s territory.

Country music tends to be wary about would-be crossover acts, but the industry has embraced Posty to the point that the record features guest vocals from some of country’s biggest stars, including Morgan Wallen, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw, Dolly Parton, Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton. His openers also appear on the album and Tuesday night, Ferrell joined him for the tender “Never Love You Again” and Jelly Roll sat in for the twangy “Losers.”

At two different points during the show, Posty mused to the crowd about his impending 30th birthday coming up in July as well as his decade in the business. A key reason he’s lasted that long is his willingness to take chances. That, and the fact his audience follows right along.

The packed house kept focused on the main attraction throughout, whether he was airing old bangers like his 2015 breakthrough “White Iverson” or crooning more recent stuff like his Morgan Wallen collaboration “I Ain’t Coming Back.” If Posty wants it, he’s easily got another decade or more in him.

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Oklahoma City — For the first two rounds of these playoffs — and, really, the six-plus weeks leading up to them — Minnesota had consistently been the bigger, faster, stronger team on the floor.

That was certainly not the case on Tuesday evening in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder were more physical in every respect in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, taking it to Minnesota from the opening quarter en route to a 114-88 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2 is at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday back in Oklahoma City.

Minnesota survived on 3-point shooting to keep its nose in front in the first half. The Wolves jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led 48-40 late in the second quarter. But its formula of outside shot making simply was not as reliable as Oklahoma City’s relentless defensive pressure and offensive attacking.

The Thunder imposed their will. They prevented Minnesota from getting much outside of 3-point shots and, on the other end, lived in the paint. Minnesota was unable to contain the ball.

That’s a losing formula.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled from the field in the first half, the presumptive MVP cranked it up in the second half, scoring 20 of his 31 points over the final two frames. His sidekick, Jalen Williams, scored 19 points to go with five steals. Chet Holmgren recovered from a rough first half to serve as an interior offensive force.

Julius Randle was a force for Minnesota offensively. He rained down triples in the first half, and was aggressive getting to the bucket in the fourth to finish with 28 points. but no one joined him. Anthony Edwards was a bystander in the second half, and the Timberwolves’ bench players of Donte DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz played rhythm-less basketball, looking out of sorts throughout the game.

The Timberwolves turned the ball over 19 times, which led to 31 Oklahoma City points.

Minnesota hasn’t looked that ineffective since Game 1 of its last series, in which it got beat by Golden State. That game also came off a lengthy layoff. The Timberwolves recovered from that debacle just fine. But the Warriors also had to play the remainder of that series sans its best player. That won’t be the case in these West Finals.

So Minnesota will need to find real answers. What those are remains to be seen.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after congressional Republicans recommended that he be charged with lying over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

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The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington launched the investigation shortly after Rep. James Comer, Republican chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the Justice Department to prosecute Cuomo over statements he made to the committee investigating his management of the pandemic when the virus was spreading through nursing homes, the person said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation.

A spokesperson for Cuomo said Tuesday that the former governor was never informed of any such investigation. Cuomo is currently running for mayor of New York City.

“So why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in an email.

The investigation was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. The Justice Department declined Tuesday to comment. Spokespeople for the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

To date, the Minnesota Frost have won every playoff round they have been a part of, and have done so without ever winning the opening game of a series.

If history is to repeat itself, the Frost are perfectly positioned, as the Ottawa Charge stayed undefeated at home in the playoffs, getting an overtime goal from Emily Clark to beat Minnesota 2-1 and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Walter Cup Final.

After Minnesota dominated the third period and the early stretches of overtime, Clark picked up an ill-advised Frost drop pass in the defensive zone and went coast-to-coast, beating Frost goalie Nicole Hensley by finding a tiny gap between the netminder and the near post.

Klara Hymlarova scored the only goal for the Frost, who outshot Ottawa 26-19 for the game. They got 17 saves from Hensley.

“We started well. We had a little bit of a lull, I felt like, in the first. But then I liked our second and third,” Frost coach Ken Klee said. “We know it’s going to be a tight series. They’re a good team. Goals are going to come at a premium, and obviously they got one more than us tonight.”

Game 2 is Thursday evening in Ottawa.

The scoreless first period was a tale of two nations, as the Frost dominated early and got the game’s first power play but were unable to capitalize with the extra player.

Ottawa went on the power play later when Michaela Cava pulled down her former Minnesota Duluth teammate Gabbie Hughes, and the Charge pelted Hensley with a quartet of shots on the advantage, but were also held off the scoreboard. The period ended with Ottawa holding a 9-4 shots lead.

Again in the second, Minnesota was the early aggressor, with Denisa Krizova’s solo rush to the net ending with a backhand shot sliding just wide of the far post, and Kendall Coyne Schofield getting tripped up on a 2-on-1 rush to the net, drawing the Frost’s second power play.

They tested Gwyneth Phillips several times, but again failed to score on the advantage. Just seconds after Ottawa got back to five-on-five hockey, Rebecca Leslie threaded a shot through a crowd in front of Hensley for the first goal of the Final.

The second period ended with Ottawa up 1-0 and on the power play, although Minnesota had locked things down defensively and allowed the Charge little offense with the extra skater.

“Ottawa is a great team, a fast team, physical and relentless, so we were prepared for that,” Frost defender Lee Stecklein said. “We’ve faced teams like them all season, so nothing crazy. We just have to stick to our game and find a way to get the puck in the net.”

Phillps’ propensity to range far beyond her crease came back to bite Ottawa early in the third, as the Frost pulled even.

Katy Knoll pulled the puck off the wall in the corner while Phillips scrambled to get back into position. Knoll zipped a cross-zone pass to Hymlarova, who caught the puck in her skates, pushed it ahead to her stick and popped a backhand shot into the mostly empty net a half-second before Phillips could get back to the crease.

It was a rare mistake by the Charge, and the first goal of the playoffs for Hymlarova, which swung the momentum to Minnesota’s side.

The Frost dominated the final period of regulation, outshooting Ottawa 10-3 and forcing Phillips into several high-danger saves before the game went to overtime.

“We knew to expect a close game, and of course the first one goes to overtime,” said Stecklein. “(I) like the way we played. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way tonight but we have a day to reset and get ready for Game 2.”

Minnesota won 2024 playoff rounds versus Toronto and Boston after losing the opening game in both series. This season the Frost dispatched Toronto in the PWHL semifinal round after falling in the series opener.

Phillips finished with 25 saves for Ottawa, which improved to 3-0 at home in the playoffs.

Rebecca Leslie #37 scores on Nicole Hensley #29 of the Minnesota Frost in the second period during Game One of the PWHL Finals at The Arena at TD Place on May 20, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario. (Photo by Troy Parla/Getty Images)
Minnesota Frost forward Michela Cava (86) is stopped by Ottawa Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips (33) during second period PWHL final action, Tuesday May 20, 2025 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)