The Warriors are probably the best team the NBA has seen in 20 years, but the defending champions showed in Game 4 they’re more than afterthoughts The Cleveland Cavaliers are still the NBA’s current champion with essentially the same team from last year’s title and it was particularly cruel they had to spend three days at home enduring a debate about whether these Golden State Warriors are the greatest team ever. What happened Friday night with Cleveland’s 137-116 Game 4 trampling of the Warriors shouldn’t be a surprise.Did everyone really think Golden State – as good as they have played – are that much better than the Cavs? Related: NBA finals Game 4: Golden State Warriors 116-137 Cleveland Cavaliers –...
Golden State’s two-time MVP was a shadow of himself in last year’s NBA finals. But now he is making the team his own againThe obvious reaction three games into an NBA finals the Golden State Warriors are almost certain to win is that Kevin Durant is the series MVP. After all, he is averaging 34 points and 10 rebounds a game and pulled out Game 3 for Golden State with a three-pointer that clinched the 118-113 victory over Cleveland. Most will say he is clearly the difference between the 2017 and 2016 finals, which the Cavaliers won in seven games.But they forget that the Warriors also have Stephen Curry back. Related: Warriors one win from NBA title after late rally...
This week’s roundup also features a history of England v Scotland football matches, classic French Open moments and Paul Lim rolling back the years1) Cheick Tioté tragically died on Monday after reportedly suffering a heart attack while training with his club in China. If you haven’t already rewatched his famous volleyed equaliser in Newcastle’s 4-4 draw with Arsenal, here you go. He wasn’t a great goalscorer, his one international goal in 52 appearances for Ivory Coast coming against Nigeria in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. His best game for Newcastle undoubtedly came against Manchester United in 2012 – Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick didn’t get a kick as Tioté put in a majestic midfield performance. RIP.2) Alex...
Golden State’s traditional fanbase has stuck with them through thick and thin. But a new menace has risen from Silicon Valley ...It was hard to find anyone who begrudged Cleveland fans their championship 12 months ago. The fanbase had suffered through decades of losing and crushing defeats; there had been tears and screams and, yes, even flames. The collective futility of the Cavaliers, Indians and Browns had endured year-round, one failed season rolling into the next. And all the sports misery occurred at a time when the city and the entire region of northeast Ohio was struggling just to survive. So only the cruelest of souls were upset by the sight of a million people in the streets of Cleveland...
The Cleveland star’s greatness created an arms race in basketball, and it has reached its apotheosis in the Golden State WarriorsLeBron James’ basketball career has played out like the story of a comic book superhero, so it’s only fitting that his downfall should have a fittingly dramatic twist: that which he created became that which destroyed him. James ushered in the modern NBA “superteam” in 2010 (distinct from the past eras of the Lakers in the 80s and Bulls in the 90s) when he signed with the Miami Heat to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. There he won two titles in four years and then returned to Cleveland for a new superteam with Kyrie Irving and Kevin...