This is the most sportswritery thing I’ll ever write, but all season long the Golden State Warriors won as a team. Sure, Stephen Curry was the MVP of the league, but he was far from a one man band. Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Bogut all won league-wide awards. After two stagnant season, Harrison Barnes improved leaps and bounds. Andre Iguodala agreed to come off the bench. David Lee didn’t complain once about getting his minutes snatched. Shaun Livingston played every position from point guard to power forward. Marreese Speights carried the offense for surprisingly long periods of time. I still don’t know what Leandro Barbosa is doing most of the time, but it worked. The coaching staff was part of this team, too. Rookie head coach relied upon Alvin Gentry to guide his offense and Ron Adams to guide his defense, and was effusive in his praise of both. He fostered a culture of participation, and at the most crucial point in the season, trusted a guy that isn’t even really on the coaching staff. Depth is usually much less important in the playoffs than the regular season. With at least one rest day after each game and the dramatically raised stakes, good players increase their minutes and rotations shorten. But the Warriors’s depth paid dividends, especially in the Finals. They were more energetic than the Cavs late in games, though the Cavaliers’s numerous injuries obviously played a role in that too. But it also meant that when Plan A didn’t work, the Warriors had Plans B, C, and D to scroll through, something I wrote about extensively after Game 4. Game 6 followed a pattern that has become familiar in the Finals, as the Warriors struggled on offense early and only scored six points in the first six minutes. For a few players the struggle lasted all game long. Klay Thompson was shutdown on offense, struggled in the rare moments he was not shutdown, sat long stretches because of foul trouble and eventually fouled out. Andrew Bogut didn’t play a single minute. Stephen Curry only went off for one mini explosion, for a three minute stretch in the fourth quarter. But it didn’t matter, and the Warriors won 105 to 97 to take the NBA title. Andre Iguodala, the only Warrior who showed up for the entire series—and the only person besides LeBron James who has a legitimate claim to be the Finals MVP—punished the Cavaliers for trying to guard him with Timofey Mozgov, tying for the team high with 25 points. He also put in another stellar performance guarding LeBron James, allowing the Warriors to mostly single cover him. Draymond Green wreaked havoc down low, picked up a triple double, and consistently guarded someone bigger than him, making the small ball lineup work. Festus Ezeli played a stellar 11 minutes, dunking all over the Cavs and scoring unexpected points when the game was getting close. Shaun Livingston had his typically understated game, acting to fill-in whatever offensive or defensive hole the team had. For their part, goddamn did the Cavaliers compete. LeBron shouldered the burden of the world yet again. Mozgov was back in and put up a gaudy statline. He also had a stretch where he seemed to reject about ten shots in a row. Tristan Thompson got his rebounds and was a surprisingly effective scorer. Even the much-maligned backcourt, which overall had an awful game, went BANANAS in the final few minutes of the game, and J.R. Smith almost shot the Cavaliers back in the game. But it was too little, and much too late. That the series was even this close after Kyrie Irving went down is a testament to the genius of LeBron James, the defensive scheming of David Blatt, and how hard the Cavaliers worked. But the Warriors were by far the best team in the league this season, and when it was all said and done, they rampaged to a 16-5 playoff record. The Warriors haven’t won an NBA title in 40 years, and for two decades were the most inept team this side of the Los Angeles Clippers. Don’t let any Warriors fan say otherwise: until the end they were convinced the Warriors would somehow figure out how to screw it up. But this team is special, and they didn’t. E-mail or gchat the author: [email protected] | PGP key + fingerprint | Photo via AP
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Inter Milan and Napoli will be looking to cut the gap at the top of the Serie A table on Wednesday evening as they clash at the San Siro.
The two sides sit second and third in the standings ahead of the match, with a victory in Milan giving a statement to the rest of the league about their title credentials.
Inter Milan
Following their failure to secure the UEFA Europa League and Serie A titles last season, it s fair to say that the pressure ramped up on manager Antonio Conte ahead of the current campaign. Despite finishing bottom of their Champions League group, their fortunes have been much better domestically. The Nerazzurri have only lost one out of their opening 11 league matches, that being …
Bayern Munich still have an interest in signing great talent Callum Hudson-Odoi, coach Hansi Flick has confirmed.
The Chelsea winger was a target for the Bundesliga giants in January 2019 and links persisted again in the next transfer window, but he signed a new five-year contract at Stamford Bridge last September.
Having suffered an Achilles injury late in the 2018-19 season, however, Hudson-Odoi has struggled to rediscover the form that made him an England international.
But the 19-year-old made his first Premier League start of the season against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
And while Hudson-Odoi was in action, Flick reaffirmed his admiration for the teenager amid reports he could move to Bavaria on loan.
I don t know what happens, Flick tol…
Wales football chiefs are demanding answers from FIFA after fans were told to remove and discard rainbow-coloured hats before going into the World Cup game against the United States.
The Wales team s LGBTQ+ supporters group, known as the Rainbow Wall, has representation in Qatar, and its bucket hats were being worn by a number of fans arriving at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Monday.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) said it had played a part in the Rainbow Wall bucket hats being created and was extremely disappointed female fans were instructed to give up the items.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the FAW said: The FAW has collated information on these alleged incidents and will be addressing this matter directly with FIFA today.
Former Wales foo…
Ruben Dias has signed a new six-year contract with Manchester City, the club announced on Monday.
The centre-back enjoyed a fantastic first year in English football and has been rewarded with a new deal that will keep him with the Premier League champions until 2027.
Dias joined from Benfica for a reported £65million (€89m) in September 2020, with his previous deal having run though 2025-26.
An extra year has been added on by Pep Guardiola s men as the Portugal defender continues to partner either Aymeric Laporte or John Stones, though Nathan Ake has also been used by Pep Guardiola at the start of 2021-22.
Last term, Dias made 50 appearances as City lifted their fifth Premier League title, with the 24-year-old going on to be named Premier League Pl…
Besiktas have targeted Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh as a potential replacement for Hugo Almeida or Ricardo Quaresma.
Club board member Ahmed Nur Cebi outlined the situation regarding Almeida and Quaresma, as well as identifying Chamakh, plus Mevlut Erding of Rennes, as potential arrivals.
Chamakh joined the Gunners in 2008 from Bordeaux but has found first-team opportunities difficult to come by after his initial promising form at the Emirates Stadium fading.
Cebi confirmed the club s interest in the Moroccan but suggested that he may have expectations of joining a bigger club.
Chamakh, I d love but we re different from his expectations, he said.
Cebi went on to reveal that Besiktas interest in Gokhan Unal, of Fenerbahce, and Necati Ates, of…
A 26-year-old worker has died during construction work at Everton’s new stadium.
Merseyside Police confirmed that an injured man later died at hospital “after an incident” at Bramley Moore Dock on Monday afternoon.
They said that “his next of kin have been told and an investigation is under way”.
Everton tweeted that everyone at the club is “heartbroken” by the news a male worker had died following an incident at the site.
They said: “The thoughts and condolences of everyone connected with Everton are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this unimaginably sad time.”
Stadium contractor Laing O’Rourke said they were “shocked and saddened” by the death.
Work at the site has been suspended work “until further n…
Gary Neville believes any team eyeing the Premier League title this season will have to get past Chelsea if they are to be successful.
Jose Mourinho s side finished the previous campaign eight points clear of Manchester City to be crowned champions for the first time since 2010 and have since added to their squad with the signing of Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan.
Chelsea s rivals have been busy in the transfer market, with Petr Cech moving to Arsenal, Manchester United acquiring Memphis Depay and Liverpool making six new signings including Roberto Firmino and Danny Ings.
Despite the other contenders seeking to close the gap, Neville says Chelsea will start the new campaign as favourites.
We re in July when teams haven t completed their busines…
Watford have secured the future of Almen Abdi after he signed a new three-year deal on Tuesday.
The midfielder moved to Vicarage Road from Udinese in 2012 and has gone on score 23 goals in 92 Watford appearances.
Abdi joins the likes of Troy Deeney, Craig Cathcart and Gabriele Angella in signing new contracts with the Premier League newcomers during the close-season.
The 28-year-old started his career with Zurich in Switzerland, and he spent six months with Le Mans from January 2010 before moving to Udinese ahead of the 2010-11 campaign.
…
Ten-man Paris Saint-Germain began their Ligue 1 title defence with a battling 1-0 victory over Lille at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Friday.
With the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic and new recruit Angel di Maria watching from the stands, Laurent Blanc s men looked to be up against it when they lost Adrien Rabiot to a senseless red card with only 28 minutes on the clock.
However, the visitors dug deep and pinched the points courtesy of a superbly-constructed goal from Lucas Moura just short of the hour mark.
The result marked the first time since 2010 that PSG have started their league campaign with a win and although they rarely resembled the side that swept all before them en route to an historic domestic treble last season, Blanc will certainly have been heartened by …
Spain defender Cesar Azpilicueta is anticipating another difficult encounter as the reigning European Champions prepare to host Slovakia in Saturday s Euro 2016 qualifier.
The only defeat of Vicente del Bosqu
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e s side s campaign came at the hands of Slovakia, who claimed a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture in Zilina last October.
Juraj Kucka gave Slovakia the lead on that occasion, with Miroslav Stoch ensuring success three minutes from time after Paco Alcacer had cancelled out the opener.
Slovakia remain unbeaten and head Group C by three points from Spain and can approach the game with a degree of freedom knowing that qualification is within their grasp.
Regardless of the result in Oviedo, Jan Kozak s men will qualify for the finals providing…