Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co are heavy favourites to clinch the NBA Championship but Sky Bet have HUGE Tyrese Haliburton Finals boost on offer
Oklahoma City Thunder are the big favourites to defeat the Indiana Pacers and win their first NBA Championship since their controversial 2008 relocation.
Sky Bet are offering prices on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy at 1/6, while the Pacers are priced at 9/2. Game One of the contest gets underway in the early hours of Friday morning (UK time).
But aside from the series winner market, Sky Bet are also offering a couple of Price Boosts, including Tyrese Haliburton to win Finals MVP and OKC to win 4-2.
Haliburton, who was slightly unfortunate to lose out to his team-mate Pascal Siakam for the Eastern Conference MVP, has been boosted from 6/1 to 7/1 to take home the biggest individual prize.
Meanwhile, an OKC 4-2 win has been boosted from 4/1 to 5/1.
The Thunder's last Finals appearance came in 2012 when a squad led by Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook were unable to stop the 'Heatles' - famously comprising of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Sky Bet odds for Oklahoma City Thunder v Indiana Pacers:
Series Winner Outright:
Oklahoma City Thunder 1/6
Indiana Pacers 9/2
Sky Bet Price Boosts for Oklahoma City Thunder v Indiana Pacers:
Tyrese Haliburton to Win NBA Finals MVP
WAS 6/1 NOW 7/1
Oklahoma City Thunder To Win 4-2
WAS 4/1 NOW 5/1
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The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Allegory for the times we live in': De Niro and Scorsese reunite for Casino at 30
For this year's Tribeca film festival, the annual New York salute to moviemaking featured a special screening of Casino, the Martin Scorsese-directed drama starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone, timed to its 30th anniversary. But even though the splashy epic premiered in this same city back in November 1995, its themes of power, money, greed and ego are echoing in the modern ethos louder than ever. 'You can go back to the ancient Greek tragedies,' said Scorsese, speaking alongside De Niro and moderated by standup comedian W Kamau Bell on stage at the Beacon Theater before the screening. 'It's a basic story of hubris and pride, with the pride taking us all down.' '[Joe Pesci's character] sort of takes nobody's input,' said Bell to De Niro. 'It's his ideas or the highway, and that ultimately leads to his destruction. It's almost an allegory for the times we live in. I don't know if you guys ever thought about that?' 'Yeah, a little bit,' De Niro snickered back to guffaws from the crowd. 'Do you have a couple hours?' The release of Casino in the mid-90s, which focuses on the tragic exploits of the mafia that controlled Las Vegas and the excess that came with it, arrived at a time when that culture was on a downswing, with the decade seeing crusaders such as Rudy Giuliani bringing down organized crime one-by-one. Zooming out, it also arrived smack in the middle of the Clinton administration, all making the characters in Casino seem like fringe figures. But judging by the constant drumbeat of headlines from the current American political climate, 2025 depicts a starkly different world, and with that a Casino for fresh eyes. Even the style and culture of Vegas is entirely different. Or is it? 'Now you can bring the family!' said Scorsese of its cleaner reputation present-day, as opposed to the era when it was Sin City; a town where anything goes. Still, Bell couldn't help but ask: 'Is Vegas better when it's run by the mafia, or is it better now when it's run by the corporations?' 'Is there a difference?' Scorsese smirked as the crowd roared. 'That's all I'm saying.' 'These days especially,' De Niro chimed in. Adapted from the book by Nicholas Pileggi and based on the true events of Chicago transplant Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal, Casino was born during unique times in Scorsese's filmography. The director had just helmed the lush and quiet Age of Innocence, a subtle love story based on the Edith Wharton novel about 1870s New York. When Casino was released, audiences couldn't help but relate it to the film-maker's other story of mafia and hubris: Goodfellas, which came out five years beforehand and also starred De Niro and Pesci. ' It was compared, I would say, unfairly and lazily to Goodfellas, but in the 30 years since, I think it's grown up quite well,' said Bell. As the years have ticked by, the gap between the two films comparisons have widened, yet again allowing the viewer to watch Casino not thinking of it as a sort-of follow-up, but a standalone film. 'The idea was to take the last 15 minutes before [Ray Liotta's character] Henry Hill gets arrested in Goodfellas and make that one film,' Scorsese said of the memorably manic sequence during which we see Hill stretched thin with nerves frayed, edited together with a series of quick cuts and a pulsating soundtrack. 'In other words, take it even further and just go to the point where we can sustain that style, which really came from (the rhythm) of storytelling on a street corner. Some of the best actors we ever knew were the kids telling the stories on the street.' As a result, the director and actor spoke about weeks of night shoots, loud casinos and the movie's intense violence (they had to tone down a scene when a man's eyes bulge out after his head is put in a vice). Scorsese also recalled trying to finagle having Rosenthal visit the set while the mobster was listed in the state's Black Book; a persona non grata in Nevada. The director went as far as working with former MPAA president Jack Valenti to use his vast connections at the time to lift the ban. 'Jack called me and he said: 'Martin, I've never had so many doors closing my face so fast in my life,'' impersonating Valenti's Texas drawl. 'This man is a member of the ma-fia.' De Niro was reliably quieter while Scorsese discussed the film, a hallmark of their relationship. When asked about his memorable wardrobe in the film; his flashy suits a trademark of the character, De Niro said an archive of his costumes are stored at the University of Texas at Austin. 'I was collecting all of this stuff for years and it started getting expensive,' said De Niro, who realized that after he filmed Scorsese's musical New York, New York, all of his wardrobe was being pilfered and he realized he should preserve them 'When I was getting fitted for my shoes for Godfather II, I think they were the shoes Warren Beatty wore in Bonnie and Clyde.' When asked about advice to the young film-makers in the audience, De Niro offered rallying words. ' I just say follow through on what you want to do. It might not be easy, but the only person you have is yourself to keep going. You just gotta keep doing it and believing in yourself. God helps those who help themselves.' Scorsese echoed those sentiments, noting it's never easy when it comes to the craft, even at his high level '[People will say:] 'Oh, you have money and everything working for you' and that's never really the case. Often if you get a bigger budget, it's worse in terms of the production. The more money, the more risk and therefore the pressure is on to take less chances aesthetically and artistically.' 'One thing [the director] Arthur Penn told me when I was a young film-maker was: 'Remember, don't lose your amateur status.' He was right. You struggle feeling like an amateur, but it's amator, in Latin, which means love. That's the thing you gotta hold on to.' However, Scorsese left the audience with this: ' The time is now to take advantage of whatever you can say,' said Scorsese. 'Who knows what's gonna happen. You have to really utilize what supposedly is called free speech.'
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: China issues rare earth licenses to suppliers of top 3 US automakers, sources say
BEIJING/WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - China has granted temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers of the top three U.S. automakers, two sources familiar with the matter said, as supply chain disruptions begin to surface from Beijing's export curbs on those materials. At least some of the licenses are valid for six months, the two sources said, declining to be named because the information is not public. It was not immediately clear what quantity or items are covered by the approval or whether the move signals China is preparing to ease the rare-earths licensing process, which industry groups say is cumbersome and has created a supply bottleneck. China's decision in April to restrict exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has tripped up the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. China's dominance of the critical mineral industry, key to the green energy transition, is increasingly viewed as a key point of leverage for Beijing in its trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. China produces around 90% of the world's rare earths, and auto industry representatives have warned of increasing threats to production due to their dependency on it for those parts. Suppliers of three big U.S. automakers, General Motors, (GM.N), opens new tab, Ford (F.N), opens new tab and Jeep-maker Stellantis ( opens new tab got clearance for some rare earth export licenses on Monday, one of the two sources said. GM and Ford each declined to comment. Stellantis said it is working with suppliers "to ensure an efficient licensing process" and that so far the company has been able to "address immediate production concerns without major disruptions." China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment. China's critical-mineral export controls have become a focus on Trump's criticism of Beijing, which he says has violated the truce reached last month to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. On Thursday, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a lengthy phone call to iron out trade differences. Trump said in social-media post that "there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products." Both sides said teams will meet again soon. U.S. auto companies are already feeling the impact of the restrictions. Ford (F.N), opens new tab shut down production of its Explorer SUV at its Chicago plant for a week in May because of a rare-earth shortage, the company said. The approval for the auto suppliers follows a green light granted to a U.S. electronics firm's suppliers last week and another one issued earlier this week to suppliers of a U.S. non-auto company, the first person said, declining to name the companies. "We have to give the Chinese the benefit of the doubt that they're working through this. It's up to them to show that they are not weaponizing it," said the person. Reuters reported on Wednesday that China has introduced a tracking system for its rare earth magnet sector in a move to improve its control over the sector and crackdown on smuggling.
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
Trump and Musk: The 10 days that unravelled their relationship
The pairing of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the leader of the richest country in the world with the richest person in the world, seemed a perfect the last 10 days have seen the pair move from gentle disagreement to bitter acrimony. These are the public moments which brought their relationship crashing down. Wednesday 28 May Speaking to CBS News, Musk criticises Trump's plans for a new bill on tax and spending - saying the planned legislation left him "disappointed".Trump later admits to reporters that he is "not happy about certain aspects" of the bill while at the same time being "thrilled" about some aspects, such as tax doesn't comment directly on Musk's remarks, however. Thursday 29 May Musk announces he will be leaving the Trump administration after his scheduled time as a special government employee reaches its end. He had led a cost-cutting mission known as the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). Friday 30 May Trump praises Musk as the latter appears with a black eye in a press conference on his last day at the White is "not really leaving", the president says, and will continue to be "back and forth" to the White House. Monday 2 June Trump defends his "big, beautiful bill" in a post on Truth Social, claiming "many false statements" are being made about his landmark economic policy. Tuesday 3 June Musk again attacks Trump's planned bill, calling it "massive, outrageous, pork-filled" and "a disgusting abomination" in a post on US politics, "pork" refers to spending on projects in lawmakers' marks the start of an escalation in comments from Musk on social media. Wednesday 4 June, 13:57 local time (18:57 BST) Musk calls for a new spending bill "that doesn't massively grow the [US government budget] deficit and increase the debt ceiling". Wednesday 4 June, 14:50 Musk urges his followers to call their representatives to oppose Trump's bill. Thursday 5 June, 11:20 Musk quotes a series of old post on X by Trump, from 2012 and 2013, in which Trump criticises government spending. Thursday 5 June, 12:00 Speaking in the Oval Office alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump says he and Musk "had" a great relationship but "I don't know if we will anymore".He also says Musk is "upset" that subsidies for electric vehicles would be cut in his planned bill, affecting the billionaire's Tesla and SpaceX businesses. Thursday 5 June, 12:19 Musk responds in real-time to the broadcast from the Oval Office, dismissing Trump's assertions. Thursday 5 June 12:24 Back at the White House, Trump tells reporters Musk knew "every aspect of the bill" and says he is "very disappointed in Elon". Thursday 5 June, 12:25 "False," replies Musk on X. "This bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no-one in Congress would even read it!" Thursday 5 June, 12:44 Musk resurfaces old Trump posts on X, highlighting moments when the president criticised America's budget deficits. "Where is this guy today??" he asks. Thursday 5 June, 12:46 Replying to another user on X, Musk says: "Without me, Trump would have lost the election." He goes on to say: "Such ingratitude". Thursday 5 June, 13:44 Still going, Musk claims on X that "the Big Ugly Bill will INCREASE the deficit to $2.5 trillion". Thursday 5 June, 13:49 Musk continues to quote old Trump posts on X about government spending. He asks: "Where is the man who wrote these words? Was he replaced by a body double!?" Thursday 5 June, 13:57 "Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?" Musk asks in a poll on X. Thursday 5 June, 14:37 Trump starts posting on his Truth Social platform, saying Musk had been "wearing thin" so he asked him to leave the White House, and alleging that Musk "went CRAZY".Musk calls this "an obvious lie"."The easiest way to save money in our Budget," Trump continues in another post, "is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts". Thursday 5 June, 15:10 Musk alleges, without providing evidence, that Trump appears in the "Epstein files", referring to court documents and evidence collected by investigators into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Thursday 5 June, 16:06 Posting on Truth Social, Trump says he doesn't mind "Elon turning against me" and continues to defend his bill. Thursday 5 June, 16:09 Responding to Trump's suggestion that he could terminate government contracts with Musk's companies, Musk says he will "immediately" decommission the Dragon spacecraft - a craft that is capable of travelling to the International Space Station. Thursday 5 June, 16:11 Musk appears to endorse impeaching Trump while quoting a conspiracy theorist who shared his Epstein files claim about the president. Thursday 5 June, 16:26 Musk attacks another of Trump's signature policies - his trade tariffs - by posting on X to say these "will cause a recession in the second half of this year". Thursday 5 June, 21:27 Musk appears to soften, replying on X "you're not wrong" to another billionaire Trump backer, Bill Ackman, who had called for the pair to "make peace for the benefit of our great country". Friday 6 June, 08:05 Trump describes Musk as "the man who has lost his mind" in an interview with ABC News and says he is "not particularly" interested in speaking to White House tells the BBC Trump does not intend to talk to the tech billionaire today, after reports they would speak on the phone is also reported by CBS, the BBC's US partner, that Trump is considering selling his Tesla car - which he had purchased when he was trying to help Musk promote his company.
