There are many ways to describe just how one-sided the U.S. women’s national team’s 2019 World Cup opener was.
The most simplistic would be the score: USA 13, Thailand 0 – a record margin of victory at the Women’s World Cup.
But no single stat can do this bloodbath justice. No single description can explain just how excellent and ruthless the U.S. was.
The Americans battered and bullied and outpaced and outplayed their overmatched opponents. Which wasn’t unexpected. But the extent of their dominance was still jarring. It was almost cringeworthy.
It was, in so many ways, the perfect World Cup start.
Stephen Curry scored 31 points, Klay Thompson added 26 and they led a season-saving surge that gave the Golden State Warriors a 106-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
The Splash Brothers combined for three straight 3-pointers in the closing minutes after Toronto had taken a six-point lead with under 3½ minutes remaining in front of a raucous, red-shirted crowd.
The Warriors lost Kevin Durant barely a quarter after getting him back but got the win, cutting Toronto’s lead to 3-2 and sending the series back to Oracle Arena for Game 6 on Thursday.
Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points for the Raptors but couldn’t get the final shot, having to give the ball up.
Jalen Rose, who became famous as a member of the University of Michigan’s Fab Five basketball team, in the nineteen-nineties, is now one of the most recognizable figures in sports media. At Michigan, Rose was part of a team that included Chris Webber and Juwan Howard and came infamously close to winning the N.C.A.A. championship. He went on to have a successful career in the N.B.A., playing most notably with the Indiana Pacers, the Chicago Bulls, and the Toronto Raptors. Since retiring, in 2007, he has been a regular presence at ESPN and ABC, appearing on ESPN’s morning show, a radio show, and the pregame and halftime show (“NBA Countdown”) for this year’s N.B.A. Finals, in which the Raptors are playing against the Golden State Warriors. Outside of sports, Rose is known for co-founding a charter school, the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, in his home town of Detroit.
I spoke to Rose on Wednesday, before Game 3 of the Finals, which he was covering from Oakland. I had been interested in talking about his basketball and media career, but I started by asking him about the analytics movement, which has revolutionized most major sports, and Rose and I spent most of our conversation discussing it. During the interview, which has been edited for length and clarity, we also discussed the racial dynamics that he sees underlying various sports debates, the good and the bad of the so-called “player-empowerment era,” and whether he was kidding when he recently went on television and cast doubt on the moon landing
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Jalen Rose talks about statistical analysis, the racial dynamics underlying various sports debates, and the moon landing.
Argentina will face Japan in their 2019 Women’s World Cup group stage opener on Monday as part of Group D play. Joined by England and Scotland, Argentina and Japan will battle in Paris for three vital points in search of a spot in the next round.Japan has made two straight finals, while Argentina is hoping to make a run and represent South America.
The Boston Bruins saved their season with a dominant 5-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night to even the series at 3-3.
Which gives us fans the best thing in sports: A Game 7 for the Stanley Cup.
How great is that?
St. Louis fans probably don’t think its that great because the city was ready to explode Sunday night. Fans packed Enterprise Center hoping to hear Gloria as the Blues skated around the rink with the Cup raised above their heads.
Approximately 30,000 fans watched outside in the city, ready to party all night long in celebration of the franchise’s first-ever championship.
Let us dismiss the tasty-yet-faulty comparison folks will try to make regarding Game 5 and Kevin Durant and the fate of the Warriors in these NBA Finals:
In 1970, when Knicks center Willis Reed famously limped out of the tunnel at Madison Square Garden for Game 7, he only hit two jumpers and was done, too gimpy to go any further. The Warriors, starved for points against a toothy Raptors defense, will require plenty more than that from Durant before he’s done.
Back then, it was winner-take-all, New York vs. L.A. Durant and the Warriors are trailing 3-1 and face elimination at Scotiabank Arena. They’re staring down a far deeper and darker tunnel.
This is the stark reality for a would-be savior and his recuperating calf and the desperate two-time defending champions. Durant was upgraded to questionable for Monday, which means it’s likely he’ll at least be on the floor. Whether he stays long enough to break a sweat or plays well enough to make the Raptors perspire is the real issue.
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The specter of Kevin Durant has haunted these NBA Finals.
It’s June. The time of year when temperatures warm up, days get longer and winter’s marquee sport enters its most important period of play, the Stanley Cup Final. This is absurd. The only kind of ice anyone should be thinking about right now is the type that goes in lemonade.
Even for me, a hockey enthusiast born and raised in chilly Canada, staying focused for Thursday’s Game 5 between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues this close to summer is a challenge. Worse yet for the sport, potential viewers who aren’t die-hard fans are turned off from tuning in at all. And it’s not just the dissonant weather and the long slog the NHL is asking newcomers to undertake. The timing also means hockey is facing off against a sport with greater worldwide popularity — basketball — that is also in the midst of its showcase playoff run.
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The St. Louis Blues battle the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final in St Louis on June 3. Fans could enjoy the playoffs more if they were held in May.Bruce Bennett / Getty Images file
The 2019 Women’s World Cup kicked off in style as hosts France cruised to victory over South Korea in the opening game on Friday – so what can we expect from day two?
More than 45,000 supporters watched the French claim three points in Paris, with many more expected to flock to Rennes, Le Havre and Reims for three matches on Saturday.
BBC Sport takes a look at the big stories surrounding the second day of competition and how you can stay across the action.
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Jennifer Hermoso has won scored 27 goals in 67 appearances for Spain
Will we get one more game at Oracle Arena? The scene of so much Golden State wonderfulness the past five seasons? A building about to be abandoned when the Warriors move from Oakland to a state-of-the-art arena across the Bay?
Hold up. Asking one more game out of the Warriors seems a lot at the moment.
These guys just suffered their second consecutive home playoff loss by 10 points or more, something that hasn’t happened to this franchise in 50 years. After three straight games scoring precisely 109 points, the Warriors came up 15 short Friday. They are 0-9 overall this season when held to double digits, and 0-11 in the playoffs during the Steve Kerr era, when they score 94 or fewer.
And now they’re on the wrong side of a 3-1 deficit, lacking everything from certain healthy bodies to an edge, a sharpness that was missing in the second half.
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
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The specter of Kevin Durant has haunted these NBA Finals.
Jennifer Hermoso has won scored 27 goals in 67 appearances for Spain
James' World 2 