Golden State have swept through the playoffs so far but too many days off can affect a team’s sharpness at the most important stage of the seasonThe Golden State Warriors entered the 2016 NBA finals under-rested and overwhelmed. Plagued by questions about Stephen Curry’s dodgy knee and Draymond Green’s kicks to the groin, they had just two days off before the finals. Did a lack of rest ultimately play a role in their breakdown? Perhaps this year’s Warriors will answer that question. In a remarkable reversal of fortune, after finishing their jog to the 2017 NBA finals 12-0, this year’s Warriors were given nine days to rest and recuperate before Warriors-Cavaliers III. Related: Ruthless Warriors complete sweep of Spurs to...
Football thrives on friction between clubs but is it inauthentic to create one? In a young league such as MLS the results can be interesting to say the leastThis week the LA Galaxy reignited their two rivalries, one on the pitch, and one off it. On the pitch, the Galaxy beat the San Jose Earthquakes 4-2 in the 75th edition of the Cali Clásico. It was the third straight win for a suddenly streaking Galaxy, and they are now undefeated in five and back in the playoff positions. The Galaxy now look poised to make their typical summer surge, and the outlook is starting to feel sunny again in Southern California. Off the pitch, however, things are a little more...
The Spanish driver’s aggression shone through at the Brickyard. He will surely be back for another shot at the second leg of motor sport’s triple crownMore than a few questioned Fernando Alonso’s decision to skip the Monaco Grand Prix for the Indianapolis 500 when the double Formula One champion announced plans to try for the second leg of motor sport’s triple crown last month. But when that day finally came on Sunday, it was clear that he had made the right choice – even after finishing 24th in a race won by Japan’s Takuma Sato. “If we put aside the last 20 laps, which were a massive disappointment,” said McLaren-Honda team boss Zak Brown, “if we reflect back on the...
The Celtics’ surprise run to the No1 seed and the Eastern Conference finals was more than any of their fans could realistically ask for. Now the real work beginsThere’s a saying that sounds like an ancient bit of received wisdom but probably originates with the justly maligned Tom Cruise vehicle Cocktail that goes “everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn’t end”. Like many clichés that only seem meaningful if you don’t think about them too hard, it doesn’t really apply it to real life but it works wonders when talking about sports. In sports, only one team or player is guaranteed a happy ending, while every other participant’s quest ends ends in a loss, usually a painful one that effectively invalidates all of...
When the Under-17s lost a final they had all but won with a couple of misses from 12 yards it again underlined that English football’s version of the yips needs a long-overdue cureThe yips can take more than one form. Usually we think of the phenomenon in terms of an individual submitting to a technical meltdown: a golfer seizing up at the sight of a six-inch putt, a tennis player suddenly incapable of tossing the ball up for a serve accurately, or a bowler losing the ability to land the ball anywhere near the cut strip.Jon Lester is one of the stranger variations. A recent issue of Sports Illustrated carried a long and absorbing feature on the 33-year-old left-handed pitcher...