Dominance. Dominance. If today's NBA is about anything, it is about dominance. Driving toward the basket with great speed, overpowering any center, forward, or guard. Dominance. The Golden State Warriors were completely dominant in their fourth straight meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers, having taken the first three games of the National Basketball Association Finals in succession. They were all prepared to crown themselves the kings of dominance last night, a victory would have given them the overall and final prize. Cleveland had other plans, and finally stopped phoning it in. In a masterful game, proving they had a right to be there, they seized dominance away from the Warriors, to win the game 137-116, sending the series back to California. Dominance.
In Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals certainly have not felt very dominant. They had lost 10 of the last 15 games, and were sinking low in the standings. Not as low as Pittsburgh, don't you know, but still low. Friday night they met the Philadelphia Phillies with a seven game losing streak. Superstar pitcher Yadier Molina, sentimental heart of the Cards, having helped them win for years, was out with back injuries. The monkey came off their back with surprise win on Friday against the Phillies 3-2. They will see if it stays off their back when they face Philadelphia again this even.
In International Cricket: a winning team which certainly does not feel dominant is Australia. They have done well in the 2017 Champions Cup competition, or at least they could have dominated in the group play which has been going on. So far the weather has not cooperated in their quest for greatness, so three of their games have washed out. Today they are set to face England at Edgbaston, but so far in this competition, all of the games at Edgbaston have been washed out, either never played or suspended before points could be assigned. So, Australia, grand Australia, Fair Australia must win tonight's game against England, or they will not Advance, as they will not have enough points to pass through this first group competition. A dominant team, they say, in danger of being left on the ash heap of history with wet socks and not feeling very young and strong.
In other Cricket news, Bangladesh has knocked New Zealand out of the competition, with a convincing win at Cardiff.
In Tennis, French Open competition continues at Roland Garros in Paris. Rafael Nadal stated he is honored to be playing in his tenth finals at Roland Garros, but he will face Stan Wawrinka, to whom he lost the finals here in 2014. Wawrinka convincingly dominated Andy Murray here on Friday, and so the game is on, and Sunday's final should be worth watching. On that note, more in tomorrow's column.
In Aussie Rules Football, the Port Adelaide Power and the Essendon Bombers play in the late game at the Etihad Stadium. Port Adelaide will be keen to remain in touch with the top four with a win over Essendon, having not strung together consecutive wins since its round six victory over the Brisbane Lions. The Power will seek dominance in this game. Essendon, on the other hand, has dominated their series in recent games. In their last 12 games they are evenly matched. This is Essendon's last game before its break next week. The Bombers were competitive against Greater Western Sydney last week but have now lost more games than they have won, meaning they will start the round a win out of the top eight and needing a victory to keep in reach of a finals berth.
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