Power Rankings of World Leaders

Here's the new power rankings of world leaders. The last one was posted on July 6.

Rank	Leader	Country	Previous Rank
1	Xi Jiangping	China	1
2	Vladimir Putin	Russia	3
3	Kim Jong-un	North Korea	2
4	Ali Khamenei	Iran	4
5	Shinzo Abe	Japan	Not Ranked
6	Emmanuel Macron	France	Not Ranked
7	Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic	Croatia	Not Ranked
8	Abiy Ahmed	Ethiopia	Not Ranked
9	Sauli Niinisto	Finland	Not Ranked
10	Donald Trump	United States	9

1. The only reason the Chinese didn't collude with Trump in 2016 is because Russia beat them too it. All joking aside, U.S. President Donald Trump has been the gift that keeps on giving to Xi and China. The Belt and Road Initiative has filled in for Trump and America's increasing absence on the world stage.

2. After the World Cup helped give off the appearance of a statesman, the autocratic leader of Russia traveled to Helsinki to have a summit with the President of the United States. Putin had Trump eating out of his hand, parroting Putinist propaganda on issues ranging from Russia meddling in the 2016 U.S. election to Macedonia's participation in NATO potentially leading to World War III. Russian media hailed the summit as a victory for Trump. President Trump was eviscerated even by fellow Republicans. So of course, Putin received an invitation to the White House to rip Trump a new one again. Putin most ardent enemy in Europe is Theresa May who has been struggling. Her diplomatic boycott of the World Cup didn't gain any traction among other countries and two cabinet members resigned over her interpretation of Brexit. Putin is feeling high.

3. Kim is still living large off of his summit with Trump. He got POTUS to salute one of his soldiers and praise him endlessly. Trump trumpeted the summit as a victory for denuclearization and Kim decided to ramp up his program as a result.

4. Trump threatened Iranian President Hassan Rouhani over mild comments Rouhani made. Trump continues to embolden hardliners such as Ayatollah Khamenei and the Quds Force. Iran will likely be a nuclear power soon since Trump backed out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and even U.S. military power won't slow it down for long.

5. While President Trump has treated Abe like something to use and throw away, Abe has hit back by agreeing with the EU on a huge free trade deal. Also in the TPP, Japan is angling to be a leader in global free trade.

6. Macron's bid to be the leader of the Western Alliance faltered when Trump backed out of the Paris Climate Accord, the Iran Deal, and generally berated his allies. But France's World Cup win represented the benefits of multiculturalism and immigration. Defeating an ethno-state in the final drove home the point. That win has been soured by the Benalla Affair, in which a member of Macron's security detail beat the hell out of some protesters.

7. Grabar-Kitarovic was the true star of the World Cup. She traveled to the games from Croatia flying coach. She sat in the stands and cheered for her team. Then she took selfies with other fans. She also gave some world leaders Croatia jerseys. Her humility stole the show.

8. Ahmed heads one of the fastest growing economies in the world. On top of that, Ethiopia and Eritrea finally found peace. It's been a good few weeks for the reformer.

9. Niinisto, who hosted the summit between Putin and Trump in Helsinki, has led the charge to improve relations between the two former Cold War adversaries. Boy were relations good between the two. It was a love in.

10. The first U.S. president not to be considered the leader of the free world since World War II has fallen even farther down the list. He's actually in danger of falling off the list. Real intelligence professionals were seriously postulating as to whether Trump is a controlled asset of Russia. Others called him treasonous for backing Putin over all of his own intelligence agencies. He's trying to distract from his embarrassing performance in Helsinki by threatening Iran.

Mark Kriegel is Annoying, Bring Back Teddy Atlas

Late last fall, ESPN replaced Teddy Atlas with Mark Kriegel for their live boxing broadcasting. The switch was a mistake.

Teddy Atlas has his quirks, but what I'm looking for in an announcer is knowledge of the subject and  entertainment value. Atlas fills both requirements. Kriegel fills neither.

The Storylines
The perfect place for Kriegel on a broadcast is doing those bio pieces before the fight that I usually just fast forward through. Every action has some deeper meaning or some deeper story behind it with this guy. A fighter's orphaned childhood eating garbage out on the streets led him to that straight right-left hook combination in the 4th round. What the hell? It's a fucking boxing match, not a Russian novel. I want to know that he landed the combo because the opponent's left was low after a jab, not because he overcame bipolar disorder through years of intensive therapy.

The Repetition
I read Mark Kriegel's book The Good Son about Ray Mancini. It was enjoyable until he recycled the the same old trope: Mancini was avenging his father's career which was successful, but the father never reached the pinnacle of his profession. Kriegel never really built off of that idea, he simply repeated it. He does the same thing when he announces fights and introduces his storylines

The Lack of Knowledge
I blame Howard Cosell, but boxing has a long tradition of placing non-experts in the expert chair. You got the sense that Cosell knew what he was taking about. That doesn't mean Mark Kriegel also knows. Besides the occasional mention of a jab, Kriegel doesn't provide anything of substance. And when he mentions a jab, his accent travels back in time 50 years, but for just a word.

An ESPN official said they took Teddy Atlas off the broadcasts because he treated Kriegel horribly during one telecast. Yeah, because Teddy Atlas holds people who don't know anything about boxing to account. It was cathartic to hear Kriegel called out for his lack of knowledge about boxing.

You, Sir, Are No Larry Merchant
The gradual delivery, the contrarian attitude. Kriegel is channeling his inner Larry Merchant. The difference is we waited to hear Merchant finally finish his thought because it was worth waiting for.

Muhammad Ali Isn't Fighting Tonight
Max Kellerman had to learn this. Bringing up old fighters can be illuminating, but only if done so with care. When Kellerman first started announcing fights on HBO, he compared every Sakio Bika fight to Hagler-Hearns (not an actual example). Kellerman brings up old fighters more judiciously now. Kriegel should be taking notes.

The Jose Ramirez Fixation
Mark Kreigel is in love with junior welterweight contender (don't try to talk to me about the alphabet belts) Jose Ramirez. His infatuation with Jose Ramirez makes Dick Vitale and Duke look like puppy love. Kriegel has managed to mention Jose Ramirez in virtually every fight he's called this year. I mean, Jose Ramirez is pretty good and has a nice back story, but he's not the face of boxing or anything. I can deal with hearing about Jose Ramirez during his own fight and occasionally when another 140 pound contender is in the ring. But enough already.


ESPN should bring back Teddy Atlas. The only problem is Tim Bradley has really come into his own as an announcer since Atlas left. That's primarily because providing anything of substance falls completely on his shoulders during the broadcast. When he called a fight with his old coach, Bradley's voice was neutered. Now, he is the lone boxing expert on the team (all apologies to Joe Tessitore, but Tess does a great job of knowing his place). Neverthless, I'd be willing to sacrifice Tim Bradley's continued improvement if we can mute Mark Kriegel. In the mean time, I'll be patiently waiting to once again hear Teddy Atlas rip a judge's bad scorecard.

A Presidential Press Conference

"I asked Emperor Hirohito in all seriousness if Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and he said no. Why would he lie to me? I don't see any reason why it would be Japan. It could be other people. There's a lot of people out there." - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on December 7, 1941 at a joint press conference with Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

Power Rankings of World Leaders

Here's the new power rankings of world leaders. The last one was posted on June 13.

Rank	Leader	Country	Previous Rank
1	Xi Jiangping	China	1
2	Kim Jong-un	North Korea	2
3	Vladimir Putin	Russia	5
4	Ali Khamenei	Iran	7
5	Narendra Modi	India	Not Ranked
6	Mohammad bin Salman	Saudi Arabia	10
7	Abdel Fattah el-Sisi	Egypt	Not Ranked
8	Recep Tayyip Erdogan	Turkey	Not Ranked
9	Donald Trump	United States	6
10	Pedro Sanchez	Spain	Not Ranked

1. The trade war is happening and China is in a great position to win it. Xi doesn't have to worry about his political constituency because he is the unchallenged leader of China. He can put a real hurt on the U.S. since its president Donald Trump managed to alienate his allies before entering this trade war. The North Korean situation is going swimmingly for Xi as well as Trump has already capitulated on a few issues that bolster China. And in a recent Democracy Perception Index (DPI) report, China was one of the top countries for the questions about the government acting in its people's best interest and- amazingly- about the perception of its news media being balanced.

2. Kim defeated Donald Trump during the Singapore summit. Donald Trump was caught by cameras saluting a North Korean soldier. It was bad enough that the President of the United States met with the North Korean dictator as if they were equals, called a halt to necessary defensive military exercises with South Korea, and didn't get anything of substance in return, but now POTUS is saluting random North Korean soldiers. And oh by the way, after vaguely promising to denuclearize, the North Koreans have increased nuclear production at secret sites.

3. One of the most upsetting sights at the World Cup was watching Putin and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince MBS shrug their shoulders as Russia continuously scored goals in the tournament's opening match as if to say, "Let the peons have their fun, this frivolity is of no consequence to us royalty." Otherwise, the optics have been good during Putin's World Cup as none of the stadiums have collapsed and no foreigners have been beaten (except for maybe Neymar, but that's a different story). Don't underestimate Putin's ability to fix the World Cup as his low-ranked Russian squad is still alive. Putin is now preparing for his summit with Trump, who is developing a reputation as an easy mark. Russia- bewilderingly- was number one in the DPI report's question about feeling free to express one's political positions. This despite the untimely deaths or arrests of those who express the "wrong" opinions about Putin.

4. As the Iran Deal continues to crumble following President Trump's withdrawal, the pressure is on Europe and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to revive it. Trump is threatening the U.S.'s European allies with sanctions for trading with Iran, which moves the Europeans to the Iranians' side in the dispute. And if a new deal can't get done, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei benefits. Iranians are protesting the bad economy, Now Khamenei can play that old anti-American nationalism tune and hope to blame Iran's economic woes on the Great Satan. And Iran may soon be free to start up its nuclear program once again.

5. Modi is the top democratic leader on this list. India's economy is thriving, but relations between the Hindu fundamentalist government and the large Muslim minority has been a cause for concern. A UN human rights report on India's only Muslim-majority province, Kashmir, was rough on the Indians, who have run the state as a military autocracy for decades. However, the recent DPI report put India near the top with China in terms of the perception of a balanced media in the eyes of India's citizens. That might be because India's cable news media is basically people from all sides of an issue screaming at each other.

6. Women can now drive in Saudi Arabia, a great news story for MBS, who has overseen a disastrous war in Yemen, the bizarre kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister, a counterproductive blockade of Qatar, and the jailing of female activists. He also was one half of the "let them eat cake" duo at the World Cup with Putin, arrogantly shrugging away his soccer team's pitiful performance. But in that recent DPI report, Saudi Arabia easily won the question about the government acting in its people's best interest and- astoundingly- did well on a question about whether the average citizen's voice matters.

7. Sisi is back on the list because of the DPI report. Egypt was second behind Saudi Arabia for the question about the government acting in the people's interest and tied for second for the question: do you feel that the voice of people like you matters in politics? That is an incredible achievement for a hapless despot.

8. Erdogan won another presidential election. This was an important one because it basically made him dictator for life in the once-democratic country. Erdogan has a knack for just clearing the 50% threshold. I have a feeling he'll do much better next election with his increased powers. It's like that old expression: With increased power comes increased comfort to fix your next election. The good news is Turkey has taken in a lot of Syrian refugees, something the United States and many European countries are loath to do. In the DPI report, Turkey- shockingly- was one of the best countries in terms of the government acting in its people's interest. Apparently, not many Kurds, Istanbulites, and Izmirian were polled.

9. Trump has had a terrible month. Separating children from their parents on the border with Mexico was inhumane. Saluting the North Korean soldier was treasonous at worst and stupid at best. The trade war is going to cost a lot of Americans their jobs and will increase the price of many consumer goods. He entered the trade war after alienating his allies, never a good plan. After being duped by Kim Jong-Un during the pair's summit, he's going to be bamboozled by Putin during their July 16 summit. You never know, Trump might end up giving Putin Crimea and California and still claim he got a great deal.

10. When the Italians heartlessly refused the Aquarius, a boat laden with refugees, Sanchez's Spain answered the call and allowed the ship to dock. Whereas French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have all failed to sway Trump, perhaps, ironically, Socialist Sanchez will be a more effective leader of the Western alliance and the liberal world order.

Top Ten Pound-For-Pound

Here's my pound-for-pound list. I take into account ability and accomplishment. The previous list was posted on April 11, 2018.

1. Vasyl Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) [1]
2. Terence Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) [2]
3. Gennady Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) [3]
4. Sergey Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs) [4]
5. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (45-4-1, 40 KOs) [5]
6. Leo Santa Cruz (35-1-1, 19 KOs) [Not ranked]
7. Naoya Inoue (16-0, 15 KOs) [Not ranked]
8. Errol Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) [6]
9. Mikey Garcia (38-0, 30 KOs) [7]
10. Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-1, 11 KOs) [10]

Exiting the list:
Adonis Stevenson (29-1-1, 24 KOs) [8]
Keith Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) [9]


Stevenson drew with a good opponent, Badou Jack, but that result isn't good enough to warrant staying on the list.

Thurman falls off the list due to inactivity. A good win will put him back on.

Entering the list:
Santa Cruz fell off the list in April and is now back on with an impressive win over Abner Mares. He's now beaten Mares twice, avenged his lone loss to Carl Frampton, and has bested a number of good fighters. Spence hasn't quite faced the same competition as Santa Cruz. He beat an undefeated, but untested Carlos Ocampo in one round in June. Garcia has fought a similar amount of solid opponents, but doesn't yet have a signature win; Santa Cruz has three.

Inoue hasn't fought anyone great, but he has demolished good fighters. His bigger opponent in May, Jamie McDonnell, was no slouch. Inoue stopped him inside one round.

What to Watch for:
Golovkin faces Canelo Alvarez in a rematch of their September draw. Alvarez failed a drug test before the scheduled May 5 match up. If he's clean, Canelo may return to the list. GGG might make a good case for #1 with a great showing.

Kovalev is in tough against undefeated contender Eleider Alvarez in August.

Cruiserweight Olexandr Usyk was supposed to face Murat Gassiev in May. That fight is now slated for July 21. The winner could crack the top ten pound-for-pound.

Mikey Garcia faces the undefeated Robert Easter, a legitimate and lengthy lean lightweight on July 28.

Top 10 NBA Players

Top 10 NBA Players Now
While this list consists of the top 10 players now, the past is taken to account, but it is not a list of the best players who happen to be active. Previous ranks posted on June 20, 2017.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	LeBron (1)	LeBron (1)
2	Durant (4)	Harden (4)
3	Westbrook (2)	Curry (5)
4	Harden (6)	Westbrook (3)
5	Curry (5)	Durant (2)
6	A. Davis (7)	Paul (7)
7	Paul (8)	Towns (NR)
8	Antetokounmpo (10)	A. Davis (8)
9	J. Butler (NR)	Antetokounmpo (NR)
10	Lillard (NR)	Lillard (NR)

Top 10 NBA Careers Among Active Players
You're making a list of the ten best players in NBA history, but there's one caveat; you can only include players who played during the 2017-18 season. These are our choices, taking the players' entire careers into account. Previous ranks posted on June 20, 2017.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	LeBron (1)	LeBron (1)
2	Durant (3)	Dirk (3)
3	Dirk (2)	Wade (2)
4	Curry (5)	Durant (4)
5	Westbrook (7)	Paul (6)
6	Paul (6)	Curry (5)
7	Wade (4)	D. Howard (10)
8	Parker (8)	Westbrook (NR)
9	D. Howard (9)	Carmelo (NR)
10	Harden (NR)	Harden (NR)

Top 10 NBA Franchise Players
This list is about which players you would pick to start a franchise right now. They must have played in an NBA game. Previous ranks posted on June 20, 2017.

#	David (PR)	Mike (Previous Rank)
1	Antetokoumpo (2)	Towns (9)
2	Simmons (NR)	Antetokounmpo (5)
3	A. Davis (3)	Harden (3)
4	Towns (4)	LeBron (4)
5	Durant (6)	Westbrook (2)
6	LeBron (1)	Durant (1)
7	Porzingis (NR)	Jokic (10)
8	Mitchell (NR)	A. Davis (8)
9	Tatum (NR)	Curry (7)
10	Westbrook (7)	K. Leonard (6)

Power Ranking of World Leaders

Here's the new power rankings of world leaders. The last one was posted on May 18.

Rank	Leader	Country	Previous Rank
1	Xi Jiangping	China	1
2	Kim Jong-un	North Korea	2
3	Moon Jae-in	South Korea	5
4	Lee Hsien Loong	Singapore	Not Ranked
5	Vladimir Putin	Russia	6
6	Donald Trump	United States	7
7	Ali Khamenei	Iran	3
8	Benjamin Netanyahu	Israel	4
9	Mahathir bin Muhammad	Malaysia	10
10	Mohammad bin Salman	Saudi Arabia	8

1. The big winner of the U.S.-North Korea summit? China. Nothing of substance came about, but tensions do seem to be thawing. The U.S. also promised to end joint military exercises with South Korea. Xi couldn't have drawn it up better.

2. Kim got his wish to sit down with a U.S. president and sign a joint declaration of friendship. The cherry on top came when the president called Kim "honorable" and "talented." Between the summit with South Korean president Moon and this summit with Trump, Kim is apparently the most popular belle at the ball.

3. Moon worked hard to restore the summit after Trump cancelled it over hurt feelings last month. While the summit didn't accomplish world peace, it did keep the process going, which is ultimately helpful to South Korea and Moon's legacy.

4. The summit put the spotlight on Singapore, one of the most successful countries in the world. Singapore has the rare distinction of being a trade partner with North Korea and also a close ally of the U.S.

5. Putin was kicked out of the G-7 for invading Crimea in 2014. Putin critics argue he never should've been invited in, but the invasion exposed him as the bad faith actor he is. Now U.S. president Donald Trump has inexplicably whined that Putin should be let back into the club, despite killing dissidents and breaking international laws by invading other sovereign nations. Putin should hire Trump as his agent. Plus, the World Cup is in Russia starting tomorrow.

6. The summit with Kim was a positive step. Despite his critics' fears, Trump didn't mess things up and induce nuclear war. It was a rare success for Trump, who hasn't seen much else go right- usually due to his own actions. He insulted America's allies at the G-7 meeting, initially cancelled the summit like a petulant child before looking ridiculous and making an about-face, and promised to end joint military exercises with South Korea without getting any concessions from the North Koreans or consulting the South Koreans. And that was just in the last few weeks. That doesn't include ripping up the Iran deal (a deal similar to the one he hopes to get with North Korea), moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem without getting any concessions from Israel, starting a trade war with China, starting a trade war with our allies, and walking away from the TPP before asking to get back in.

7. It looks like Iran will restart its nuclear weapons program if the other parties in the JCPOA can't save it. That favors the hardliners like the Grand Ayatollah in Iran over moderates like president Hassan Rouhani.

8. Despite being interviewed by police for corruption this week, Netanyahu is doing well thanks to Trump. The U.S. moved its embassy to Jerusalem and Israel didn't have to give anything up. Netanyahu also convinced Trump to get out of the JCPOA.

9. Prime Minister Mahathir hopes to reinvigorate his country and has invited Ali Baba head Jack Ma and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to Malaysia in recent weeks in order to do just that.

10. MbS falls down the list as activist women were arrested last month showing that either MbS isn't the reformer he has tried to portray himself as or the crown prince doesn't have as much power as he hopes. His war in Yemen is a disaster, but he has become close to Trump.

Game Four - Thrice as Nice

The Golden State Warriors won their third championship in four years to cement their legacy as a dynasty. Led by Stephen Curry's 37 and Finals MVP Kevin Durant's triple double, the game's outcome wasn't in much doubt from the outset.

The core of the team over the past four seasons has been Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green with Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston acting as key role players. Reserve Kevon Looney joined three years ago. When Kevin Durant arrived before last season, the Warriors solidified their position as perennial favorites. David West, JaVale McGee, Zaza Pachulia, and Patrick McCaw arrived with Durant and contributed differing levels of help. This year, Quinn Cook filled in admirably for an injured Stephen Curry towards the end of the regular season and Jordan Bell and Nick Young also provided some key minutes. And thus, the 2018 Golden State Warriors were formed.

Cleveland never really had a chance. The Cavs were fortunate even to make the Finals for the fourth time. Without LeBron James, who is a free agent, Cleveland is a lottery team. The trades int he middle of the season were ill-advised. Gone was all star Isaiah Thomas. Key glue player Jae Crowder was also shipped away. Some solid talent in George Hill, Larry Nance, Rodney Hood, and Jordan Clarkson were acquired, but it left the Cavs with a plethora of serviceable players, but fewer standouts.

The new talent could've been molded into a winner, but head coach Ty Lue was too late in making adjustments. Hood sat on the bench for much of the playoffs and it was too little too late by the time he got in during the Finals. He managed to score 15 in Game 3, but his shot was inconsistent from sitting on the bench so much and he struggled to score 10 in Game 4. A nearly 17 ppg scorer in Utah this season, Hood sat much of Game 7 in the first round against Indiana even though he had been score efficiently during the series.

Neither Nance, nor Tristan Thompson played enough in the Finals. Too often Lue was trying to matchup his inferior players to Golden State, instead of forcing Steve Kerr to make any hard decisions. After burning up during most of the playoffs, Kyle Korver struggled in the final six games. But his presence on the floor creating openings down low. Instead of giving Korver confidence, Lue stripped him of minutes. Jeff Green defended his friend Kevin Durant well in the Game 1, but then his minutes were cut too.

Instead, J.R. Smith and George Hill, the two goats from Game 1, were trotted out on the floor like some Russian soldiers without weapons during World War I. Hill had one decent game in Game 2, but otherwise contributed virtually nothing despite playing nearly 30 minutes a game. Hill had a couple of good games during the playoffs while playing over 30 minutes, but most effective as a bench scorer in the Indiana series. Smith played terrible all series long and should've been pulled as soon as Lue realized he wasn't going to recover from his Game 1 blunder. The realization came to everyone else after Game 2's first quarter. Smith played 32 minutes a game in the Finals and scored 9 and half points per game on 31.7% shooting from the field. He made up for it by playing poor defense.

For Golden State to keep the dynasty going, the big question is Kevin Durant's impending free agency. Having won two Finals MVPs during his time in Oakland, perhaps he wants to establish his legacy further by taking a less talented team to the promised land. The original core should be back for another season, which makes the Warriors a contender regardless of Durant's decision.

Golden State's 108-85 victory ended the first sweep in the Finals since 2007 when the Spurs won four straight against an under-talented Cavs team led by LeBron and only the second time since the Lakers swept the Nets in '02.

Game Three - One More 'Til Three for Four

Golden State took a commanding three games to nothing lead in the 2018 NBA Finals thanks to timely buckets by Stephen Curry and the greatness of Kevin Durant.

Cleveland started Game 3 at home with a bang, but by the end of the first quarter, the Cavs' lead was only one. LeBron James, who had a 33-point triple double, kept his team in the game throughout. Kevin Love rebounded well, grabbing 13 missed shots and scoring 20 points. Tristan Thompson had another good game with 8 points, including an acrobatic layup on the other side of the rim from which he started, and 7 rebounds. Otherwise, only Rodney Hood had a noteworthy game for the Cavs. After spending much of the Finals on the bench, he chipped in 15 points.

Golden State featured balanced scoring and the offensive genius of Kevin Durant. Durant had an incredibly efficient 43 points on 23 shots. He added 9 assists and was a clutch shooter down the stretch, including a late three from well beyond the arc as the shot clock ended. The Warriors need his performance because Curry and Klay Thompson showed that they are human, not three-point making machines. They shot 7 for 27 collectively. But Curry had a late lay up and a three that helped propel Golden State forward in tight game.

The Warriors also got good bench play. Andre Iguodala came back from injury to score 8 points. Shaun Livingston added 8. Two of Golden State's centers, JaVale McGee and Jordan Bell scored 10 points.

Cleveland lost 110-102 and now are one game away from elimination. But LeBron James did complete a play for the ages. He flew by McGee, threw the ball of the backboard, and slammed it down hard.

Game Two - Curry For Three

Golden State intended to punish the downtrodden Cleveland Cavaliers after the latter's heartbreaking Game One loss. The Warriors knocked down 10 of their first 11 field goals, but Cleveland valiantly hung on and trailed by only four after one.

The Warriors made a run in the second and went into halftime with a double digit lead. In the third, Cleveland kept pace, cutting the lead to five at one point. Kevin Love had another strong game with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Thirteen of his points came in the third.

Golden State broke the game open in the fourth. Stephen Curry hit five of his NBA Finals-record nine three points in the final quarter including a ridiculous fade-away buzzer-beating 28-footer that swished beautifully. He amassed 33 points with 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Klay Thompson (20 points) and Kevin Durant (26 points) both made well over half of their shots. Neither JaVale McGee nor Shaun Livingston missed a shot from the field. McGee scored 12 points on six field goals and Livingston scored 10 on five. Draymond Green had another strong all-around game.

LeBron James had performed well- if not legendarily. He scored 29 points on 50% shooting with 13 assists and 9 rebounds. After being poked in the eye in Game One, he sported a severely reddened sclera. Tristan Thompson scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, but for some reason, head coach Ty Lue only played him 23 minutes. George Hill added 15 points.

J.R. Smith's Game One blunder carried over into Game Two. He scored only 5 points in 31 minutes. During his lone free throw attempt, the Warriors' faithful began sarcastically chanting "MVP! MVP!" Smith missed.

The Warriors pulled away in the end and won 122-103 to take a two games to nothing series lead.