Throughout the NBA play-offs, The National's resident NBA dudes Jonathan Raymond and Kevin Jeffers will be breaking down the key talking points of the night before, plus looking around the scope of the league. Here are our NBA Play-off takeaways.
• Read more: 2016 NBA play-offs: Previews, predictions and what we learnt day-by-day
Thursday, April 28 scores:
Atlanta Hawks 104, Boston Celtics 92 (Hawks win series 4-2)
Hawks take flight
There is a clear statistical delineation between the Hawks of this year and the Hawks of a year ago.
Last season’s Atlanta team was among the NBA’s best offensively, ranking sixth in points per 100 possessions (106.2). Their defence was solid, conceding just 100.7 points per 100.
This season their offence was 18th (103.0) which they compensated for, somewhat, with improved defensive play (98.8 points/100 against, second in the NBA).
The reason they dropped off so steeply offensively, for one, was because of down years for both Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver, critical components of their ball-movement attack. The other was the loss of DeMarre Carroll, who struggled in Toronto after leaving as a free agent yet whose loss nonetheless was felt down south.
The last couple games in their first round series, though, Atlanta looked like after 86 attempts this season they’d finally reassembled their offensive puzzle.
The Hawks snuffed out the Celtics with dizzying passing, an array of cuts and off-ball movement, pace-pushing and three-point marksmanship. The final two games of the series they scored at a 104.4 points per 100 possessions rate, not quite at their peak of a year ago but trending in that direction.
Throughout the first five games of the series, someone was always off. Korver was 1-for-10 in Game 1; Paul Millsap 1-for-12 and Kent Bazemore 2-for-14 in Game 2; Millsap 3-for-9 in Game 3; Bazemore 2-for-10, Al Horford 2-for-8, Korver 3-for-11 and Teague 4-for-17 in Game 4; and even Horford went 2-for-11 in an otherwise team-wide great Game 5.
In Game 6 everyone was finally on the same page and contributing, and they looked most comfortable offensively, even if statistically it wasn’t their best offensive game of the series.
They will need that, every bit of that, to compete against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. The key is that when Korver is lighting up from three at his best, when Teague is confident and probing the area around the rim for looks, when Bazemore steps up and at his best replaces most of what was lost in Carroll – with all that working and with Horford and Millsap at the top of their games, the Hawks can pair their improved defensive play with an attack that can very nearly touch elite level.
On most nights throughout 2015/16 Atlanta have struggled to get the balance just right. For the last two games against Boston, at least, they have looked like they’ve got it figured out.
Now here are a couple questions for the Hawks, regarding the Cavaliers:
• How do they slow down a suddenly very fluid and scary Cleveland attack, with LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love working together maybe better than they have at any point in their time together?
• How do they maintain the offensive functionality they have shown at their most lucid moments in the Celtics series?
I don't know the answers to those. I'm fascinated to watch the Hawks try and find them. If they can, and it's a long shot but also maybe not so long a shot, there could be something special to be seen in this coming series.
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
Palestine and Israel - live updates
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
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Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
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MATCH INFO
Manchester City 0
Wolves 2 (Traore 80', 90 4')
Schedule:
Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles
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