It didn’t take long for the criticisms to rain on Sixers head coach Brett Brown. In fact, social media was flooded with second-guessing as soon as Game Seven of their semifinal-round series became history. Certainly, the heartbreak that Kawhi Leonard’s four-bounce prayer of a buzzer beater that sent them packing the other day served to rub salt on open wounds. Yet, if naysayers had any ground to stand on, it was precisely because the set-to had to be settled at the very last moment of the very last play. They forced the hosts to rely on inefficient isolation sets, and, still, they couldn’t get the job done, a reflection on lack of both planning and execution.

THE best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup finals series between defending champions San Miguel Beermen and Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok goes to a deciding Game Seven on Wednesday with both teams expecting a grind and a match necessitating only their best.

KAWHI LEONARD hit a buzzer-beating jump shot that bounced up and around the rim before finally dropping through the net, and the Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Philadelphia 76ers, 92-90, on Sunday night in the seventh and deciding game of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

WITH ITS place in the next round of the 2019 AFC Cup still in the balance, Kaya FC-Iloilo tries to give its bid a boost with a victory in its final game in group play today against Home United FC in Singapore.

IN commemoration of the National Intellectual Property Month in the Philippines and World Intellectual Property Day, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde recently held a forum discussing the value of IP in relation to sports.

THE Tagaytay City climb and the winding roads leading to and from Donsol in Sorsogon are bound to test how well the 75 cyclists could adopt quickly and strongly to technical rides in the Le Tour de Filipinas that celebrates its 10^th year from June 14 to 18.

AFTER settling for a heartbreaking runner-up finish in Season 2, Ghana FC dominated and broke through against the Super Eagles in their Philam Life 7s Football League men’s final rematch, 3-1, to emerge as champions in Season 3 Sunday at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

Last year WIM Bernadette Galas played top board for De La Salle University in the UAAP Women’s Team Championship and scored 12/13, leading the Lady Archers to the team gold and winning for herself board 1 gold honors as well as the overall Most Valuable Player award.

Considering how closely the Raptors and Sixers battled throughout their semifinal-round series, it was fittingly settled on a last-second shot in its last game by its most active player yesterday. Indeed, by the time Kawhi Leonard let go of his twisting corner fadeaway over the outstretched arms of Joel Embiid just before the final buzzer sounded, he had already played a whopping 278 minutes through seven grueling matches. He looked tired for the duration of the contest, reflecting his extremely high mid-30s usage rate, and his final stab at the rim was short, just like many of his 38 other attempts. That said, it was straight and, more importantly, soft, managing to draw front iron and bounce around before going in, spectacularly securing for the hosts a seat in the conference finals.

WITH the kind of path they are carving in their ongoing championship run in Season 81 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, it is not hard to refer to the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses as a team of destiny.

THIS year is a landmark one for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings as they celebrate 40 years of existence in the Philippine Basketball Association, which, they said, has been honed by the sense of being a family and, of course, of the Never-Say-Die (NSD) spirit.

THE San Miguel Beermen staved off being outright dethroned as PBA Philippine Cup champions on Sunday after beating the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok, 98-86, in Game Six of their best-of-seven finals to force a sudden-death match.