10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Four Loco:
NHL plays 4
OT playoff
games in
crazy night
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Titans, Mariota
being patient as
QB recovers
By TERRY MCCORMICK
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mar-
cus Mariota and the Tennessee
Titans have yet to set an official
timetable for the quarterback’s
return from surgery on his right
leg. The latest benchmark is report-
ing for the start of the offseason
program.
The third-year quarterback now
will finish his recovery from the
season-ending injury at team head-
quarters after doing much of his
rehabilitation at the University of
Oregon this offseason.
“It’s important to be here,
because together, you’re building
the foundations that you’re going
to use throughout the entire year,”
Mariota said Monday. “You’re
building the chemistry and the
camaraderie that’s going to make
this team successful. I’m happy to
be here, and I’m excited to be here.
I’m sure all the guys are.”
Mariota broke his right fib-
ula on Christmas Eve in a loss at
Jacksonville and had surgery a few
days later. That started the recov-
ery process that the Titans initially
said would take up to five months.
Mariota spent the first two months
in a cast.
“It’s kind of building those
foundations back up, and I think
we’re in a good place,” Mariota
said. “I understand that I’ve got a
lot of time to get my body right,
and that’s my goal.”
Umpires may
soon take to mic
for replays
By BEN WALKER
Associated Press
Adrian Gonzalez dives headfirst
into home, seems to beat the tag by
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras,
but is called out. Safe, shout fans
at Dodger Stadium who see replays
on the board.
Umpires go to their headsets
for a video review, and nearly three
minutes later, the signal comes:
Out!
Want to hear exactly how dis-
puted calls get decided, like that
one in last year’s NL Champion-
ship Series?
Soon, we might.
While nothing is set, Major
League Baseball and umps are
expected to discuss a plan — most
prominently used in the NFL — for
crew chiefs to wear a microphone
and explain replay rulings.
Under one possible scenario,
they would start at the All-Star
Game on July 11 in Miami, tweak
the process over the season’s sec-
ond half and then go forward with
the experiment in the playoffs.
People familiar with the talks
spoke to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity because an
agreement has not yet been reached.
Last year, MLB asked for the
plate ump to wear a mic at the All-
Star Game, but there wasn’t enough
time to do it.
The umpires are in the middle
of their five-year labor deal and any
change would involve negotiations,
plus a comfort level on both sides
that the system would be efficient,
accurate and easy.
By JAKE SEINER
Associated Press
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum, left, drives against Golden State Warriors forward Da-
vid West during the second half of Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Oak-
land, Calif., Sunday. The Warriors won 121-109.
Blazers need more than
just Lillard, McCollum
By JANIE MCCAULEY
Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — Damian
Lillard and CJ McCollum made
brilliant playoff debuts, and it still
wasn’t enough for Portland in
Game 1 against Golden State.
The Trail Blazers know that
if they are going to get past Ste-
phen Curry, Kevin Durant and the
mighty Warriors, they’re all going
to have to do more.
Portland’s star backcourt com-
bined for 75 points in a 121-109
loss Sunday, and the Blazers now
are trying to find better ways to
get others involved.
“I think to beat the Warriors,
we’re going to have to maybe
make that extra pass more often
and be able to depend on guys
more often to allow them to have
that type of success so we can
actually beat them,” Lillard said.
“We have a huge game, and I
think that gives us an opportu-
nity to stay in the game. But to
get over that hump and beat them,
we’ve got to make those plays and
give guys more opportunities so
we can have them as well on the
offensive end.”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven
series is Wednesday night at Ora-
cle Arena.
UP NEXT: GAME 2
• Portland Trail Blazers (41-41)
at Golden State Warriors
(67-15)
• Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
TV: TNT, NSBA, KGW
McCollum scored a playoff
career-high 41 points and Lillard
added 34 in another impressive
performance in his hometown.
Yet star-studded Golden State
kept bringing in reinforcements to
back Durant’s 32-point outing and
29 points from Curry. Draymond
Green was perhaps most menac-
ing on both ends to the Blazers,
who missed injured 7-foot center
Jusuf Nurkic. Coach Terry Stotts
wasn’t sure whether Nurkic would
return for Game 2, with each team
taking Monday off from formal
practice. Nurkic missed the final
seven games of the regular season
with a nondisplaced fracture in his
right leg.
Without him, the Warriors had
their way in the paint.
Green finished with quite the
line: 19 points, 12 rebounds, nine
assists, five blocked shots and
three steals in a game featuring 22
lead changes — 15 of those in the
third quarter.
When Curry and Durant sit at
the start of the second and fourth
quarters, Green realizes he and
the second unit must establish a
defensive energy. They did just
that in the fourth quarter, and it
sparked a 15-2 run on the offen-
sive end.
Exactly what Warriors coach
Steve Kerr had in mind.
“He said the defensive inten-
sity of this lineup could change
the game for us,” Green said. “So
we went to it earlier in the year
when KD was still healthy and
it started working for us. Getting
back to it at this point in the sea-
son, we knew the offense was
there. We had 88 points at the end
of the third quarter, but the prob-
lem was they had 88 points. So we
knew we had to come out and get
stops if we were ever going to pull
away in that game.
“That group did it, and then
we were able to knock down
some shots, but it started with our
defense.”
Lillard and McCollum com-
bined to go 28 for 54, the rest of
the team just 12 of 39 — Mau-
rice Harkless 5 for 13 and Allen
Crabbe 1 of 5.
Green, David West and JaVale
McGee made things challeng-
ing most of the afternoon for the
Blazers.
Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Washington Capitals goalie Bra-
den Holtby (70) looks on as the
Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate
the game-winning goal during
overtime in Game 3 of an NHL
Stanley Cup first-round playoff
series in Toronto on Monday.
Cano, Cruz power Mariners past Marlins in Ichiro return
By JIM HOEHN
Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Astoria at Tillamook, 5
p.m.; Seaside at Banks, 5 p.m.; Warren-
ton at Portland Christian, 4 p.m.; Knap-
pa at Nestucca, 4:30 p.m.
Softball — Astoria at Seaside, 5 p.m.;
Warrenton at Portland Christian, 4:30
p.m.; Knappa at Nestucca, 4:30 p.m.;
Ilwaco at NW Christian (2), 3 p.m.
Track — Naselle Comet Invitational,
3:30 p.m.
Girls Golf — Seaside at Quail Valley,
11 a.m.
WEDNESDAY
Track — Astoria/Tillamook at Seaside,
3:30 p.m.
THURSDAY
Baseball — Tillamook at Astoria, 5
p.m.; Banks at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Ilwaco
at North Beach, 4 p.m.
Track — Warrenton at SW Christian
Invitational, 4 p.m.; NWL Meet at Knap-
pa, 3:30 p.m.
In Toronto, Tyler Bozak’s
tip-in put a charge into the Air
Canada Centre. Ditto with Nash-
ville when the Predators scored in
OT for another win over Chicago.
They had some extra fun in
Boston and Calgary, too, before
Ottawa and Anaheim finally
broke through.
There are few thrills quite like
overtime playoff hockey, and the
NHL hasn’t had a night with this
sort of excitement in more than 30
years. All four postseason games
Monday went to OT for the first
time since April 10, 1985, accord-
ing to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The only other time it happened
before that was April 11, 1980.
“Those are the most fun games
to play, definitely” Bozak said.
There’s been fun to go around
in these playoffs.
Eleven of 24 postseason games
have gone to overtime in the first
round, including all three games
between Toronto and Washing-
ton and two between Ottawa
and Boston. All eight first-round
series have included at least one
OT finish. The record for an entire
postseason is 17 overtime games
in 2013.
And with underdogs like
Nashville, Toronto and St. Louis
threatening early upsets, these
playoffs are getting an extra
boost.
“It was a 10,” Predators coach
Peter Laviolette said of the atmo-
sphere Monday. “I’m not sure
there’s another place like it.”
Nashville got its win behind a
backhand goal from 20-year-old
Kevin Fiala 16:44 into OT, the
longest game of the night. Fiala
and teammates Mike Fisher and
James Neal jumped together into
the end boards to celebrate a 3-0
series lead over the top-seeded
Blackhawks.
The quickest end came in Cal-
gary, where Anaheim stunned the
Flames. Perry scored 90 seconds
into extra time, helping the Ducks
rally from three-goals down to
win — a first in the team’s post-
season history. Around the Sad-
dledome, fans in red sweaters
threw up their arms in frustration
before quietly making their way
to the exits.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano rounds the bases after hitting
a two-run home run against the Miami Marlins to score Jarrod
Dyson in the first inning of a baseball game, Monday in Seattle.
SEATTLE — Robinson Cano and
Nelson Cruz hit consecutive first-inning
homers, Ariel Miranda pitched seven
scoreless innings and the Seattle Mar-
iners beat the Miami Marlins 6-1 Mon-
day night in Ichiro Suzuki’s first visit to
Safeco Field as a member of the 3,000-
hit club.
Miranda (1-1) allowed four singles
and only one runner to reach second
base while striking out five. Nick Vin-
cent pitched a perfect eighth before Evan
Scribner allowed Christian Yelich’s third
home run in the ninth.
The Mariners won their fourth straight
after a 2-8 start.
Cano crushed a 2-1 pitch from Tom
Koehler (0-1) 441 feet to right-center for
his second home run, a two-run shot that
UP NEXT: MARINERS
• Miami Marlins (7-6)
at Seattle Mariners (6-8)
• Today, 7:10 p.m. TV: FSFL, RTNW
scored Jarrod Dyson. Cruz followed with
his second homer, lining a 1-1 pitch to
center to make it 3-0.
Suzuki was honored before the game
for getting his 3,000th hit last season,
then got another ovation before his first
at-bat in the third inning.
Suzuki won two batting titles in his
11 1/2 seasons with the Mariners and set
the season record with 262 hits in a 2004.
He grounded out three times Monday,
though, and his average dipped to .067
(1 for 15). Suzuki last played at Safeco
on June 12, 2014, when he was with the
New York Yankees.