NBA: Warriors favored over LeBron and Cavaliers in the finals

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers open their title defense as underdogs against the Golden State Warriors as the NBA finals get underway next week.

The reigning champion Cavaliers and the 2015 winner Warriors will battled for the crown for a third straight year in the best-of-7 starting at Golden State on Thursday.

James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA's all-time playoff scoring leader, as the Cavaliers routed the Boston Celtics 135-102 on Thursday to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title.

Both teams dominated throughout the playoffs — the Warriors made history by going an unprecedented 12-0 through three rounds in the Western Conference, while the Cavs lost just one game to the Celtics to cap their dominant run.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook installed Golden State as a minus-260 favorite, with Cleveland at plus-220, meaning a $100 bet on the Warriors would win $38.46 and the same bet on the Cavaliers would win $220, according to ESPN.

The Warriors are listed as 7-point favorites for Game One at home, according to CBS Sports.

"I'm going to be honest," James told reporters in Boston on Thursday. "I'm not in the right mind to even talk about Golden State. It's too stressful, and I'm not stressed right now."

The Cavaliers and Warriors split their two meetings this season, both winning at home. Cleveland won by one point on Christmas Day and Golden State prevailed by 35 on Jan. 16.

It will be James' 7th straight trip to the finals and 8th overall.

"I've been very blessed the last few years to be a part of this league and play on the big stage," James said. "But we're going to enjoy this for a couple more days before we have to lock in on that juggernaut out west."

Golden State led the league with a 67-15 record this season and is 27-1 in their last 28 games, including the playoffs.

"Playing in this league, you can't take anything for granted," Warriors guard Stephen Curry said after the Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 129-115 in Game 4 on Monday.

"Thirty teams suit up every year trying to get to this point, and only two teams do. So you have to appreciate it."

While James is going for his 4th ring, Warriors forward Kevin Durant will be trying to win his first. Durant signed a 2-year, $54.3 million contract with the Warriors last offseason.

Durant's only other time in the finals was 2012 when he was with Oklahoma City, but the Thunder lost to the Miami Heat in a series that made James a champion for the first time.

"It's a little different, definitely. I can't lie," Durant said when comparing the 2012 finals trip to this one. "I went when I was 23 years old, and it felt like the Western Conference Finals was almost like the championship.

"So it's a little different now, obviously. We have a bigger goal in mind."

James called the Warriors "the best team in our league the last three years. And they've added an unbelievable player in Kevin Durant this year.

"We have to be ready for the challenge."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Kobe Bryant wants to go skydiving after NBA retirement

After he's done being Kobe Bryant the basketball player, we may see Kobe Bryant the skydiver, next.

Chatting with Jared Greenberg and former Lakers teammate Rick Fox of SiriusXM NBA radio per James Herbert of CBS Sports, Bryant wants to go extreme after he retires at the end of this season.

"I'm looking forward to skiing a little bit. I've never been skiing before. Maybe do a little surfing, maybe. Maybe a little skydiving," Bryant said.

According to Fox, whowas part of the Lakers dynasty of the early 2000s, the NBA does not allow those extreme sports for fear of injury.

Bryant can skydive all he wants after he completes his 20th and final season.

This story was originally published on the ABS-CBN Sports website.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

What HBO has to say about Pacquiao-Floyd fight

MANILA, Philippines – HBO has denied that it is an "impediment" in the negotiations for a potential mega-fight between superstar boxers Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

HBO airs Pacquiao's fights, but Mayweather has an exclusive contract with rival network Showtime/CBS.

"We are not an impediment to this fight," HBO said in a statement. "We stand ready to go."

"The principals need to agree to terms and come to a deal," the network added.

HBO and Showtime have previously worked together to promote a fight, when Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson faced off in June 2002.

RingTV reported that among the "major stalling points" is that HBO is insisting on being able to show the replays of the fight.

For the Lewis-Tyson bout, the network who represented the winner earned replay rights; in that case, HBO did after Lewis, their fighter, knocked out Tyson.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

McIlroy wins PGA Championship, claims fourth major

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy recovered from a stumbling start to overcome a series of challengers and clinch his fourth major title by a shot at the PGA Championship on Sunday.

A stroke in front of the chasing pack overnight, the Northern Irish world number one lost the lead but regained control after the turn, signing off with a three-under-par 68 at Valhalla Golf Club for a 16-under total of 268.

Phil Mickelson, the 2005 winner, birdied 18 to finish alone in second with a closing 66, with Swede Henrik Stenson (66) and American Rickie Fowler (68) a stroke further back in third.

"I didn't think in my wildest dreams I'd have a summer like this," British Open champion McIlroy told CBS Sports after being presented with the coveted Wanamaker Trophy, which he hoisted high in celebration.

"I've just played the best golf of my life and just really gutted it out today. It was a little different from the previous major wins that I've had and I think I showed a lot of guts out there today to get this job done."

Trailing by three at one point, McIlroy got within a stroke of the lead with a spectacular eagle at the par-five 10th where he hit his second shot from 281 yards to seven feet, before effectively sealing the title with birdies at the 13th and 17th.

In gathering gloom at Valhalla, where play was suspended for just under two hours earlier in the day due to water-logged conditions, McIlroy parred the last to win his third consecutive title on the PGA Tour, and his second major this year.

The 25-year-old, who won the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah by a record eight shots, became the fourth youngest player to land four majors, with only Tom Morris Jr., Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods ahead of him.

Mickelson, who had been bidding for a sixth major title, recorded his first top-10 finish on the 2013-14 PGA Tour after a disappointing season.

"It was good for me to get back in the mix and to feel the pressure and get in the thick of it," said the American left-hander. "I kind of ran out of steam there after 12, wasn't able to get a couple of birdies coming in like I needed to."

With birdies abundant on a receptive, rain-softened layout, the galleries were treated to a breathtaking display of shot-making in the final round.

RACE AGAINST DARKNESS

However, the late starters faced a race against darkness in their bid to finish the 96th PGA Championship on Sunday.

Play was halted just before noon as heavy rain swept across the par-71 Valhalla layout, leaving rivers of water on several fairways and pools covering many greens.

Roughly an inch of rain had saturated the course by the time play resumed at 2:44 p.m. (1844 GMT), and with dusk fast approaching a Monday finish seemed likely.

One ahead going into the final round, McIlroy ran up a three-putt bogey at the par-three third to slip to 12 under, level with Mickelson and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.

Moments later it became a five-way tie at the top when Fowler birdied the fourth and Stenson the fifth.

Fowler seized the lead with a spectacular chip-in for birdie from just off the right edge of the green at the fifth, but was caught soon after by Mickelson and Stenson.

An up-and-down birdie at the seventh put Fowler one ahead again but the lead did not last long as Stenson soon joined him, draining a 27-footer at the ninth.

McIlroy, who had bogeyed the sixth after finding a bunker with his approach, picked up his first shot of the day at the seventh, hitting a delicate chip from beside a bunker to four feet and sinking the putt.

Out in one-over par 36, McIlroy eagled the 10th, narrowly missed birdie putts at 11 and 12 before sinking a five-footer at the 13th to join Mickelson and Fowler in a tie for the lead at 15 under.

Fowler dropped back with a bogey at 14, and Mickelson dropped his only shot of the day at the 16th before McIlroy effectively made the title safe when he rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th green.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com