41 h. ago NBA finals: Ruthless Thunder show Pacers no mercy as they level series 1

Indiana Pacers 107–123 Oklahoma City ThunderThunder level best-of-seven series at 1-1The Oklahoma City Thunder blew Game 1 of the NBA finals after holding a significant lead over the Indiana Pacers. In Game 2, they made sure there was no repeat, utterly dominating their opponents in a 123-107 victory that leveled the series at 1-1.In Game 1, the Thunder had a 12-point lead at half-time and a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter before losing to the Pacers courtesy of a Tyrese Haliburton basket in the final second. On Sunday night, they took control of the game early on, but this time they didn’t let their advantage go. Continue reading...

Culture

54 h. ago Game 2: Thunder will try to tie up the NBA Finals, while Pacers will seek complete control of series

Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will almost certainly reach a milestone on Sunday night

Sport

4 d. ago Don’t think Nigel Farage will kill off the Tories? Just look at Reform UK’s surge in Scotland | Owen Jones

The party is making inroads among people who once chose not to vote. But as Zia Yusuf’s resignation shows, chaos still reignsIf you were doubting that Nigel Farage had a serious chance of heading a hard-right British government in 2029, the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse just poured a bucket of particularly icy water over your head. Though Labour won the Scottish parliamentary byelection, defying predictions it would be beaten into third place, Reform UK chalked up more than a quarter of the vote – trailing the victors by an unsubstantial 1,500 voters.This tells a devastating story. Nigel Farage’s outfit seriously outperformed the level of support indicated by Scottish polling: the last four surveys had Reform on between 12% and 19%, yet it secured 26% of the vote after standing here for the first time. This suggests it is mobilising previous non-voters whom pollsters are not picking up. The latest UK-wide YouGov poll, which asked people how they would vote if there wer...

Events

4 d. ago The unsinkable Pacers don’t need the lead. They just need the last word | Claire de Lune

Indiana didn’t lead for 47 minutes and 59.7 seconds of Thursday’s NBA finals opener. But belief, defiance and Tyrese Haliburton’s dramatic flair made the final 0.3 countThis is why you play the games, as the old adage goes. In recent years, the later rounds of the NBA playoffs – and the finals in particular – have felt rote. They’ve gone chalk. The drama was minimal, even under the brightest lights of the league’s biggest stage. This year has been different: a playoffs filled with suspense, tension and plot twists galore. But at the start of the finals, the scene was set for a regression to the intrigue-less mean. Every roundtable pundit, basketball expert and barbershop patron outside of Indiana state lines had Oklahoma City – basketball’s best team from wire to wire – winning the series easily.But Tyrese Haliburton, the instigator of several of this postseason’s most jaw-dropping twists, knows a thing or two about drama. It oozes out of his pores. And he and his Indiana Pacers had...

Politics

4 d. ago Tyrese Haliburton explains how Pacers stunned Thunder with 0.3 seconds left

Haliburton’s late basket completed a remarkable game one comeback in the NBA Finals to earn a precious lead for Indiana

Politics

4 d. ago NBA finals: Indiana Pacers stun Oklahoma City Thunder in final second to win Game 1 thriller

As it happened: Pacers 111–110 ThunderTyrese Haliburton scores with 0.3 seconds left to seal winNearly every analyst coming into this year’s NBA finals had the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Indiana Pacers comfortably. The first three quarters of Game 1 did very little to contradict those predictions until the final minutes, when all hell broke loose.The reigning NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, looked like, well, the NBA MVP for much of the game as he led the scoring with 38 points. His Thunder team went out to an early 7-0 lead and were 57-45 up by half-time. The second half seemed to be going the same way with the Thunder 15 points up at one point in the fourth quarter. Continue reading...

Sport

4 d. ago Indiana Pacers v Oklahoma City Thunder: NBA finals Game 1 – live

Oklahoma City host Indiana in NBA finals openerNBA finals 2025 predictions: can Indiana shock OKC?Send David an email at david.lengel@theguardian.comPacers 10-10 Thunder, 7:07, 1st quarterOKC force a turnover, but then Holmgren throws it away, giving the ball right back to Indy. Siakam shoots again, this time from 12 feet out, inside the paint, and gets a home roll, on the road. Continue reading...

Sport

4 d. ago Indiana Pacers v Oklahoma City Thunder: NBA finals Game 1 – live buildup

Oklahoma City host Indiana in NBA finals openerNBA finals 2025 predictions: can Indiana shock OKC?Send David an email at david.lengel@theguardian.comDavid will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s a look at our predictions for the NBA finals:Thunder in five. They’ve been utterly dominant all season. That’s mostly been the case for the playoffs too, allowing for some Jokić magic in the second round. The Pacers have been a ton of fun to watch, have impressive depth and a rising star in Haliburton. But the Thunder are deeper, more talented and have the best player in the series – that’s a recipe for a gentleman’s sweep. Ryan Baldi Continue reading...

Sport

5 d. ago NBA finals 2025 predictions: will the Pacers shock the Thunder? Our writers share their picks

Will it be Oklahoma City or Indiana? Our contributors pick the winner, key players and dark horses before the season’s grand finale tips off Thursday nightThe Thunder’s path to victory is to continue to be the most fearsome defensive unit we’ve seen in recent years. They play an uber-aggressive, hyper-switchable form of defense that has suffocated opponents all year long. It means they give up a lot of fouls, but they also get away with a bunch and force turnovers more than anyone else in the league. Keep that up and, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander getting his customary 32 points a night, they won’t be stopped. Ryan Baldi Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago NBA Finals prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder to secure first NBA Championship

Read the latest odds and tips ahead of the 2025 NBA Finals between OKC and the Pacers

Sport

7 d. ago Knicks reportedly fire Tom Thibodeau days after Eastern Conference finals defeat

Coach led team to verge of NBA finalsKnicks lost to Pacers 4-2 in conference finalsThe New York Knicks have fired coach Tom Thibodeau days after their loss in the Eastern Conference finals, according to multiple reports.The Knicks beat the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, during their run to the Conference finals but fell short of the NBA finals after a 4-2 series loss to the Indiana Pacers. Thibodeau’s in-game decisions were questioned by some during the series, but the conference finals run was the team’s first since 2000. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau despite run to Eastern Conference finals

Coach led team to verge of NBA finalsKnicks lost to Pacers 4-2 in conference finalsThe New York Knicks have fired coach Tom Thibodeau days after their loss in the Eastern Conference finals.“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” team president Leon Rose said in a statement on Tuesday. The Knicks’ last title came in 1973. “This pursuit led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we’ve decided to move in another direction. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago NBA Finals guide: When the games are, how to watch, what the odds are

The NBA Finals are set: It’s the Oklahoma City Thunder vs

Sport

9 d. ago Relentless Pacers overrun Knicks to set up NBA finals showdown with Thunder

Siakam scores 31 as Pacers reach second NBA finalsPacers’ 9-0 run after half sparks Game 6 knockoutKnicks commit 17 turnovers, fall short of comebackPascal Siakam scored 31 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 21 points and 13 assists, and the Indiana Pacers pulled away for a 125-108 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 6 on Saturday night to reach the NBA finals for the second time in franchise history.Obi Toppin added 18 points and six rebounds against his former team as the gold-clad crowd gave the starters a roaring ovation when they departed with 47.2 seconds left. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Anthony Edwards is 23, far from a failure – and not the next LeBron just yet

The Thunder ended the Timberwolves’ playoff run in brutal fashion on Wednesday night. But Minnesota have come far, and can still push onThe definition of success is subjective, ephemeral. But in today’s sports zeitgeist, it’s becoming less so: “rings culture” dominates all, serving as the wall into which any nuanced conversation inevitably crashes: “But did they win?” Of course, each NBA team enters the season every year with the same goal: to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy. But only one team can every year, so does that make the other 29 failures?The Minnesota Timberwolves present an interesting counterpoint: their fanbase is, no doubt, deeply disappointed this morning after a harrowing blowout loss in Oklahoma City, which means the team came up short of the NBA finals in devastating, decisive fashion for the second year in a row. On the other hand, they’ve made back to back Western Conference finals for the first time in team history, gone from league laughing stock to bona fide p...

Events

2 w. ago Thunder stifle Anthony Edwards to move one win from NBA finals

Oklahoma City Thunder 128-126 Minnesota TimberwolvesOKC lead best-of-seven Western Conference finals 3-1Edwards limited to 16 points; SGA scores 40 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a steely performance befitting the NBA MVP, and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped back from a 42-point loss by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-126 in Game 4 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.Jalen Williams scored 34 points on 13-for-24 shooting, including 6 of 9 from three-point range, and Chet Holmgren added 21 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in a statement game in his hometown that helped the Thunder stave off several pushes by the Wolves to tie the series. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Haliburton and Pacers stun Knicks with epic comeback in Game 1 of East finals

Indiana rally for 138-135 OT win over New York in Game 1Pacers tie game on Halburton’s shot at end of regulationNew York suffer historic collapse in spite of Brunson’s 43The ghosts of Reggie Miller were alive and well at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night – and Tyrese Haliburton once again played the role of Garden villain to perfection.Haliburton helped Indiana complete an unprecedented 14-point comeback in the final reel, tying the game with a wild jumper at the buzzer in regulation, to beat the New York Knicks 138-135 in overtime in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers now hold a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven-games series for a trip to the NBA finals after pulling off one of the most improbable finishes in playoff history. Continue reading...

Sport

3 w. ago The NBA's final 4 is set: Thunder, Knicks, Wolves and Pacers remain, and parity reigns again

There will be a new NBA champion

Politics

3 w. ago The Knicks’ transition from laughing stock to title contenders is complete

The long-suffering Knickerbockers were the butt of jokes around the league for at least two decades, but now they’re just four games from the NBA finalsOn Friday night in New York City, more than 19,000 Knicks fans poured out of Madison Square Garden and onto Seventh Avenue, celebrating their team’s improbable 4-2 series victory over the Boston Celtics. The NBA’s social media peanut gallery had previously taken issue with Knicks fans for their overly exuberant early-round victory celebrations, but after landing in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in a quarter-century, this party was as legit as the Knicks newfound title hopes.New York had beaten their rivals by a franchise playoff-record margin of 38 points, ending Boston’s reign as NBA champs. If you watched the way they suffocated the Celtics, you know it wasn’t even that close. The way this series ended was as stunning as how it began, with consecutive historic Celtic meltdowns at TD Garden, when the home team sur...

Politics

3 w. ago Farm Simulator: 16bit Edition review – the simple joy of ploughing your own furrow

Strictly Limited/Giants Software; Mega Drive It may be seem horrendously old-fashioned, but the seemingly dull repetition of working your wheat fields has a nostalgic pull like a combine harvesterWhen I got my first job in games journalism 30 years ago, I arrived just too late to review games for my favourite ever console: the Sega Mega Drive. Although a few titles were still being released for the machine in 1995, the games magazine world had moved on and all anyone wanted to read about were the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. It was a bitter blow.Fast-forward to 2025 and a resurgent interest in producing new games for vintage home computers and consoles has led to Farming Simulator: 16bit Edition – a Mega Drive instalment in the hugely successful agricultural sim series. The passion project of Renzo Thönen, lead level designer and co-owner of Farming Simulation studio Giants Software, the game has been written using an open-source Mega Drive development kit, and manufactured in ...

Politics