LeBron James celebrates the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 95 to 93 win over the Golden State Warriors in overtime during Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals in Oakland, California. Ezra Shaw/Gettyhide caption
itoggle caption Ezra Shaw/Getty
The Cleveland Cavaliers have evened the NBA Finals at one game apiece. Sunday night in Oakland, the Cavs won a thrilling game, beating the Golden State Warriors 95-93 in overtime. Both finals games have gone to an extra period.
Cleveland led by 11 points with a little over three minutes left in regulation, but the Warriors stormed back and tied the game with just seconds left to send it into overtime.
Cleveland took the lead quickly in the extra period. The Warriors fought back, but Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova’s two free throws put Cleveland ahead for good.
The Cavs, once again, were led by 4-time league MVP Lebron James. He had a coveted triple double — with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.
But equal if not more credit should go to Dellavedova. He started the game in place of injured all-star point guard Kyrie Irving, who broke his kneecap in game 1.
Dellavedova’s harassing defense on Golden State star point guard Steph Curry contributed to one of Curry’s worst nights of the season. He only sank 5 of 23 shots, and he was 2 for 15 from three point range — an abysmal percentage for the league’s best long-range shooter.
The teams now head to Cleveland for Game 3 on Tuesday
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By clicking “Like” and commenting on Facebook posts, users signal the social network’s algorithm that they care about something. That in turn helps influence what they see later. Algorithms like that happen all over the web — and the programs can reflect human biases. iStockphotohide caption
itoggle caption iStockphoto
Like it or not, much of what we encounter online is mediated by computer-run algorithms — complex formulas that help determine our Facebook feeds, Netflix recommendations, Spotify playlists or Google ads.
But algorithms, like humans, can make mistakes. Last month, users found the photo-sharing site Flickr’s new image-recognition technology was labeling dark-skinned people as “apes” and auto-tagging photos of Nazi concentration camps as “jungle gym” and “sport.”
How does this happen? Zeynep Tufekci, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science, tells NPR’s Arun Rath that biases can enter algorithms in various ways — not just intentionally.
“More often,” she says, “they come through the complexity of the program and the limits of the data they have. And if there are some imperfections in your data — and there always [are] — that’s going to be reflected as a bias in your system.”
Interview Highlights
On bias in the Facebook “environment”
These systems have very limited input capacity. So for example, on Facebook, which is most people’s experience with an algorithm, the only thing you can do to signal to the algorithm that you care about something is to either click on “Like” or to comment on it. The algorithm, by forcing me to only “Like” something, it’s creating an environment — to be honest, my Facebook is full of babies and engagements and happy vacations, which I don’t mind. I mean, I like that. When I see it, I click on “Like” — and then Facebook shows me more babies.
And it doesn’t show me the desperate, sad news that I also care about a lot, that might be coming from a friend who doesn’t have “likable” news.
How biases creep into computer code
One, they can be programmed in directly, but I think that’s rare. I don’t think programmers sit around thinking, you know, “Let us make life hard for a certain group” or not. More often, they come through the complexity of the program and the limits of the data they have. And if there are some imperfections in your data — and there always [are] — that’s going to be reflected as a bias in your system.
Sometimes [biases] can come in through the confusing complexity. A modern program can be so multi-branch that no one person has all the scenarios in their head.
For example, increasingly, hiring is being done by algorithms. And an algorithm that looks at your social media output can figure out fairly reliably if you are likely to have a depressive episode in the next six months — before you’ve exhibited any clinical signs. So it’s completely possible for a hiring algorithm to discriminate and not hire people who might be in that category.
It’s also possible that the programmers and the hiring committee [have] no idea that’s what’s going on. All they know is, well, maybe we’ll have lower turnover. They can test that. So there’s these subtle but crucial biases that can creep into these systems that we need to talk about.
How to limit human bias in computer programs
We can test it under many different scenarios. We can look at the results and see if there’s discrimination patterns. In the same way that we try to judge decision-making in many fields, when the decision making is done by humans, we should apply a similar critical lens — but with a computational bent to it, too.
The fear I have is that every time this is talked about, people talk about it as if it’s math or physics, therefore some natural, neutral world. And they’re programs! They’re complex programs. They’re not like laws of physics or laws of nature. They’re created by us. We should look into what they do and not let them do everything. We should make those decisions explicitly.
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The 90-foot wide, flagpole-topped incline in Minute Maid Park’s center field will be removed at the end of this year’s baseball season. Tal’s Hill is named for the Houston Astros’ former president, Tal Smith.
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Matthew Dellavedova (right) of the Cleveland Cavaliers handles the ball against Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter during Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2015 NBA Playoffs, May 26, 2015. Jason Miller/Getty Imageshide caption
itoggle caption Jason Miller/Getty Images
The spotlight is about to shine on one of the more unlikely starting players in the NBA Finals.
Australian native Matthew Dellavedova is expected to start for the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday night, in game 2 of the NBA finals against the Golden State Warriors. He will replace injured all-star point guard Kyrie Irving, who had season-ending surgery Saturday to repair a broken kneecap.
Dellavedova is an undrafted 24-year-old, who played Division 1 basketball at St. Mary’s — a small liberal arts college near Oakland, Calif. Among those who’ll be cheering on Dellavedova is his adviser and psychology professor at St. Mary’s, Mary True.
True remembers seeing great things from Dellavedova in his four years playing for the Gaels; he finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in scoring, assists and three-point shots. True says one of those three-pointers beat rival BYU and was immortalized as the “Dellavedagger.”
But True says “Delly” was a standout in the classroom as well. And it’s his performance there, and his fascination with psychology, that makes her believe he’ll be fine when he finds himself on the global stage of the NBA Finals.
‘The Real Deal’
“What really caught my eye was, at the first test in my psychology class, Matthew stayed longer than anybody else,” True says, as she sat in the sun-splashed living room of her Oakland home this week. “I used to do that. I’d read over my answers over and over again, and he did too. And I thought, ‘This is a serious student.’ “
Soon, she says, a nice connection started between them. True was on a plane reading the book How We Decide, and flagged a part about football quarterbacks and how you can’t really know who’s going to be a good quarterback or not. True knows little about basketball, but she grew up in hoops-crazy Indiana, and she says something must have stuck.
“I thought, ‘I think that’s what Matthew does, because isn’t the point guard a basketball quarterback?’ ” she says.
Dellavedova later confirmed that was the case and True gave him the book to read. He thanked her and said he had a book for her, too — one that had a lot to do with work ethic being as important if not more important than talent. A book, she says, Dellavedova studied when he attended the Australian Institute of Sport.
True says after that, they began trading books and “almost every time he’d see me, he’d ask, ‘What are you reading?’ ” He also emailed her his favorite TED Talks and video clips related to psychology. True was impressed by Dellavedova’s curiousity and “voracious” reading.
“He’s the real deal,” she says.
The Importance Of Gratitude
Much of Dellavedova’s interest in psychology dovetailed with his athletic development. True says he was interested in concepts about motivation and perseverance — what makes and keeps people high achievers.
“He could teach a course on motivation,” True says, adding, “I don’t mean that lightly. He has read almost everything I’ve read about it.”
But she notes Dellavedova’s curiousity took him outside the world of sports as well. She says he sent her a TED Talk about new research by social psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, on productivity and happiness and how the two are linked. The research focused on gratitude.
True recalls the talk’s message: “If every night you remember three things you’re thankful for, you’ll train your brain not to look for what scares you, but to look for what you’re grateful for all day long.”
Getting The Whole Picture
A day before he was expected to start in the NBA Finals, Dellavedova grinned when asked about his connection to Professor True and psychology.
“I think it helps a lot,” he says of his continued reading: “Definitely on the court and life in general.”
Of course, having an interested and active mind isn’t always the best thing in high-level sports. Elite athletes have the ability to turn off the mind, or at least keep it from interfering with peak physical performance.
“It’s something all people need to learn,” says Dellavedova. “I think it’s something you get better at [over time].”
Not surprisingly, Mary True is among his defenders.
“As a scientist, I think it’s unethical to cherry pick the data,” she says, adding, “it sure seems to me that’s what [his detractors] did.”
Painting a negative picture of Dellavedova because of isolated incidents “is not good science,” True says. “Would you like someone to go over your life, pick [a few] moments and define you that way?”
True prefers to define Matthew Dellavedova in broader terms: Yes, the tenacious and motivated basketball player, but also the voracious student whose curiosity didn’t end when classes finished. She last saw Dellavedova in February, during the NBA’s All-Star break. He brought his parents to campus and took them around, obviously to see the basketball coach, but also to see True.
“I was most impressed [he brought them] to see his professors,” she says. “We all sat around for an hour and talked.”
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Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka (left) hugs Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (in orange) after Wawrinka won the men’s final of the French Open tennis tournament. His win brougth an end to Djokovic’s 28-match winning streak. David Vincent/APhide caption
itoggle caption David Vincent/AP
Stan Wawrinka won the French Open by beating No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the final Sunday, thwarting Djokovic’s bid to complete a career Grand Slam.
The eighth-seeded Wawrinka, so long in the shadow of his Swiss Davis Cup teammate and pal Roger Federer, collected his second major title after last year’s Australian Open.
In doing so, Wawrinka put a stop to Djokovic’s 28-match winning streak and left the 28-year-old Serb ruing another close call at Roland Garros. This was the third time in the last four years that Djokovic lost in the final at the clay-court tournament, the only major title he has never won.
This one ended, fittingly, with a down-the-line backhand winner from the 30-year-old Wawrinka. That’s his best stroke and considered among the best in the game. He tossed his racket overhead, then met Djokovic at the net for a hug.
Wawrinka, who earned 1.8 million euros (about $2 million), was making his 11th French Open appearance, equaling Federer and Andre Agassi for most attempts before winning it.
This was also Djokovic’s 11th French Open, and he has so far been unable to clutch the trophy he so dearly desires. He has won eight Grand Slam titles, with five at the Australian Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the U.S. Open.
He’s made quite clear how much it would mean to him to become the eighth man in tennis history with a full complement of at least one title from each major tournament. Djokovic has now lost in the semifinals or final seven times, including the last five years.
In 2012 and 2014, losses in the final came against nine-time champion Rafael Nadal. And while Djokovic finally managed to clear the considerable hurdle that Nadal presents by defeating him in the quarterfinals, this time it was Wawrinka who stood in the way.
And he was too good, using the same brilliant one-handed backhand and booming serves that eliminated Federer in the quarterfinals.
After Djokovic appeared to be climbing back into the match by racing to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set, Wawrinka reeled off six of the last seven games. He broke to within 3-2 when Djokovic netted a forehand on a 31-stroke exchange, one of many lengthy points in a terrifically played match.
Wawrinka got another break, the final one he’d need, for a 5-4 edge, with — yes, of course — a down-the-line backhand winner, then served out the victory.
He had lost 17 of his past 20 matches against Djokovic but was better on this sunlit afternoon.
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American Pharoah #5, ridden by Victor Espinoza, comes out of the paddock during the 147th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday in Elmont, N.Y. Al Bello/Getty Imageshide caption
itoggle caption Al Bello/Getty Images
On Saturday, race horse American Pharoah won the first Triple Crown in 37 years. Laura Hillenbrand, acclaimed author of Seabiscuit, Unbroken and other bestselling novels, wrote this reflection on the win:
Be thankful for defeat. Be thankful for failure. Be thankful for frustration, for heartbreak, for foolish mistakes, for frailty, for hard luck, for doubt, for longing.
These are the things that gauge the robustness of the challenges we choose, that sound the depths of our bravery and fortitude, that measure our worth. Only those intimate with the pain of loss feel in full the sweet euphoria of triumph.
I am grateful that I waited 37 years, since I was a little girl, for this day. I am grateful for all the brave horses who tried and failed and scattered our hopes. When American Pharoah bent his exquisitely beautiful body into the homestretch at Belmont today, scorching fractions faster and faster as his jockey sat taut-armed on his back and 90,000 fans shouted him home, it was those horses, and those 37 years, that made his staggering, unbelievable accomplishment meaningful. They were the leavening of this overwhelming joy, as essential to it as this magnificent creature.
Thank you to the star-crossed Spectacular Bid, to the crying jockey Chris Antley, to the gallant little Smarty Jones, to all the others. American Pharoah, welcome to greatness.
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The Women’s World Cup got underway with a last-minute victory by host Canada in the opening game against China. The Netherlands beat New Zealand 1-0 in the second game.
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This weekend is a veritable sportstravaganza! Slate’s Mike Pesca talks Stanley Cup, NBA Finals and Belmont Stakes with NPR’s Rachel Martin.
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