One of the most turbulent championships in NBA history will reach its climax on Thursday when the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs meet in the decisive seventh game of the Finals.

Basketball fans in the United States have been whipped into a frenzy of excitement by what has already been a classic series full of wild fluctuations and escalating drama.

The teams have raised their games to new heights, producing an extraordinary standard of play and athleticism which peaked with Miami's exhilarating overtime win on Tuesday that tied the series at 3-3.

With everything on the line for Game Seven,

Bernard Hopkins

There was never any doubt, really, that Bernard Hopkins would agree to fight whomever the IBF deemed as the mandatory challenger for his IBF world title. His record over the last 20 years proves that.

After his mandatory defence against Karo Murat, set for July 13 in Brooklyn, NY, was cancelled when Murat was unable to acquire a visa to get into the US, the IBF considered what it would do.

Ultimately, it decreed that the 48-year-old Hopkins would have to put his belt up against unbeaten Sergey Kovalev.

There were those who questioned whether Hopkins would agree to meet Kovalev, who has 19

One day, when you're telling your children about Evan Gattis, baseball's folk hero they call El Oso Blanco, you might tell them the story of the day Gattis hit a foul ball and broken his bat on his follow-through. Specifically, how he broke his bat over his own back.

Gattis' strength has never been questioned. He wouldn't be called El Oso Blanco (The White Bear) if he weren't crazy strong. So strong this didn't seem to hurt him, as it might hurt a lesser man.

Later in Monday's game, however, Gattis did hurt himself. He strained an oblique muscle and was

Protesters blocked roads in Sao Paulo and marched toward the stadium before Brazil's match against Mexico on Wednesday in a growing wave of nationwide demonstrations against poor public services, inflation and other woes in Latin America's biggest country.

After more than a week, the biggest series of protests to sweep Brazil in more than two decades continued in major capitals and moved into smaller cities. Focused at first in cities like Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the capital, Brasilia, demonstrations in more than 70 smaller cities were expected across the country on Thursday.

Lionel Messi (Reuters)

In an anonymous wood panelled office overlooking a park in one of Barcelona's most desirable areas a mile from Camp Nou, a team of professionals work on behalf of Lionel Messi. There is no evidence of Messi in this old lawyers' office, no framed shirts on the wall or match balls. In stark contrast to the office of Messi's team mate Daniel Alves, where his six staff work in a room adorned with jerseys from games gone by. Alves has a desk too and is proud to talk about shirts swapped and old encounters. Why a footballer needs an office with staff is debatable, but these mini-brands are

There are few people in life worth listening to for any length of time these days, but George Galloway certainly is one of them. Whether or not you agree with Galloway's politics is neither here nor there. He is a true original of the species. He remains a wonderful orator, a firebrand politician who speaks with real conviction.

Galloway could be found on the BBC's Question Time panel on Thursday evening discussing Scotland's impending independence referendum with an audience of 16 and 17 years old. Ukip leader Nigel Farage was also on the panel only days after he had been railroaded out of