Sports Poets Society

Miami finds its range in Game 2, hands Denver first home playoff loss Heat draws even with Nuggets at a game apiece by BEN GOLLIVER 5 Jun 2023 - The Washington Post Denver — The Miami Heat made Michael Malone’s worst fears come true, pouring in open threepointers as the inattentive Denver Nuggets couldn’t find an answer. In the aftermath of the Nuggets’ resounding win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Denver coach spent more time worrying about his team’s porous perimeter defense than he did celebrating . Sure enough, the Heat’s shooters, cold throughout the opener, came alive in a 111-108 victory in Game 2 on Sunday night at Ball Arena to even the series at a game apiece. “If we would have won this game tonight, we would have stolen one,” Malone said. “The threepoint line was a huge concern coming in. Tonight, the Heat buried us.” During a grinding contest in which the re-energized Heat jumped out to a hot start and finished strong, Miami’s shooters, who went cold in Game 1, roared ba...

Competitive balance benefits playoffs, but what about the regular season? Enhanced NBA competition is refreshing, but parity has a few issues Jerry Brewer 5 Jun 2023 - The Washington Post Denver — For the fifth straight season, the NBA will crown a new champion . Keep up the madness, and even the Charlotte Hornets will need to keep their June schedule open. The pursuit of sustained competitive balance might be the greatest experiment in league history . The character-driven sport didn’t need it to become a global success, but the superteam era made rival franchises determined to codify parity . A half-decade into the massive shift, change feels strangely normal. As the first-timer Denver Nuggets and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat tussle for glory, the NBA Finals are neither the sexiest matchup nor the Connecticut-San Diego State insomnia fest that ended this year’s anarchic NCAA men’s tournament. There are superstars who belong on this stage, diverse playing styles and storylines that c...

Ilkay  Gündoğan  was voted in as Manchester City’s captain by his teammates,  which speaks volumes  He is no stranger to giving others the floor, flashier or more prolific names often stealing the show Nick Ames 5 Jun 2023 - The Guardian It might have felt slightly too good to be true for Ilkay Gündoğan when, in the 71st minute of the FA Cup final, he gobbled up a rebound to beat David de Gea for the third time that afternoon . He wheeled away anyway but the flag went up immediately and there were no complaints from the scorer, who smiled knowingly and could reflect that he had not quite returned quickly enough from an offside position.  Stan Mortensen’s record as the only player to complete a hat-trick in this fixture at Wembley was preserved and it was one of those rare moments, in recent months, when  Gündoğan ’s timing had erred from perfection. Everything else has met the moment and there is something poetic about the transformation of Pep Guardiola’s...

Imperious Spain midfielder is key to Guardiola’s treble chasers with European success the last leg of journey ‘I’ve never played better. I feel in the best moment.  I try to grow every game, try to learn’ David Hytner 5 Jun 2023 - The Guardian Rodri has the gleaming gold of an FA Cup winners’ medal around his neck and the lettering on his dark Manchester City T-shirt frames it all: “June 3rd 2023. CUP WINNERS. Kings of the City.”  It is Saturday evening at Wembley and what most people had foreseen – and not just the City kit guys – has come to pass. With Rodri imperious in midfield again, luxuriating in the form of his life, City have beaten Manchester United to complete the league and Cup Double. It is a sensational achievement and yet one which nobody has properly stopped to acknowledge. That is because City are not finished. They are the kings of England for the fifth time in six seasons and how their supporters enjoyed letting everybody know that Manchester was blue after...