NBA Playoffs first round preview, predictions: Western Conference elite should cruise ahead

Click through for previews, analysis and predictions for the Western Conference’s first-round play-off games.

• More NBA: MVP, All-NBA picks | Rookie of the Year | Coach of the Year | Sixth Man

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GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS V HOUSTON ROCKETS

• Regular season head-to-head 3-0 Warriors

This is so bad a pairing it almost isn’t worth analysing. The Rockets of a year ago played decent defence, had James Harden at peak levels, and gave Golden State a smidge of trouble in the Western Conference finals. The Rockets of this year are much worse, the Warriors are a level better and this should be a fairly merciless series.

• Prediction Warriors in 4

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SAN ANTONIO SPURS V MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES

• Regular season head-to-head 4-0 Spurs

The Grizzlies have been bleeding and clawing their way to the finish since what feels like January. They finished the season on a 7-16 run and we are almost assuredly about to witness a particularly unceremonious end to the Marc Gasol-Zach Randolph-Mike Conley era at the hands of San Antonio. Here’s a prediction: this series proves even more lopsided than Golden State-Houston.

• Prediction Spurs in 4

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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER V DALLAS MAVERICKS

• Regular season head-to-head 4-0 Thunder

Are there vulnerabilities to Oklahoma City? Sure. Their defence can be leaky, their depth is suspect behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and they too often play an outdated, deferential style that relies too heavily on the prodigious talents of their two stars. Are these vulnerabilities the Mavericks are well-equipped to take advantage of? No. A subdued send-off for Dirk Nowitzki, if it is his end.

• Prediction Thunder in 4

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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS V PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

• Regular season head-to-head Clippers 3-1

Hey this is actually a pretty interesting series! Damian Lillard is the kind of imposes-his-will-heat-check player who can steal a game in a play-off series, and the Trail Blazers are good at choking off the kind of mid-range space Chris Paul and Blake Griffin thrive in. Statistically, they are also the NBA’s stiffest defence inside six feet (though the Clips took the fewest shots inside 10 feet in the league). Portland will be able to trouble Los Angeles – they’re a young, long team who can shape-shift well, and it’s a decent match-up for them ... until you get outside. There, the Clippers are an elite two-way team, capable of stifling Portland’s greatest strength (three-point shooting) and exploiting their greatest weakness (three-point defending). Los Angeles will ultimately overwhelm a resilient Portland team.

• Prediction Clippers in 6

The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

RESULTS

1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m
Winner: Dirilis Ertugrul, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Ismail Mohammed (trainer)
2.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: Kidd Malibu, Sandro Paiva, Musabah Al Muhairi
2.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,000m
Winner: Raakezz, Tadhg O’Shea, Nicholas Bachalard
3.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,200m
Winner: Au Couer, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar
3.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,600m
Winner: Rayig, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,600m
Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
Winner: King’s Shadow, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

Desert Warrior

Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3/5

Key facilities

Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
Premier League-standard football pitch
400m Olympic running track
NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
600-seat auditorium
Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
Specialist robotics and science laboratories
AR and VR-enabled learning centres
Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history

- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon

- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.

- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater

- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.

- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.

- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.

-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.

While you're here

Andrew Wilks: Turkey’s promised reforms could recast US relations under Biden administration

David Lepeska: How two 16th-century pirates inspired Erdogan's foreign policy

Con Coughlin: Grandstanding in Turkey leads to terrorism in France

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

France and Covid-19

France orders 250 million masks to ease shortage

Cannes Film Festival postponed due to coronavirus outbreak

France opens housing for infected homeless people

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Oppenheimer

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Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)

Community Shield info

Where, when and at what time Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday at 5pm (UAE time)

Arsenal line up (3-4-2-1) Petr Cech; Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; Alex Iwobi, Danny Welbeck; Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

Chelsea line up (3-4-2-1) Thibaut Courtois; Cesar Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Gary Cahill; Victor Moses, Cesc Fabregas, N'Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso; Willian, Pedro; Michy Batshuayi

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte

Referee Bobby Madley

BRAZIL%20SQUAD

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