Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, December 24, 1997, Page 9, Image 9

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Vikings Clinch
Playoffs With Win
With disaster avoided, the M inne­
sota Vikings finally have guaranteed
themselves another chance - maybe
their last chance - to get coach Den­
nis Green his first playoff victory.
The Vikings ended a five-game
losing streak and qualified for the
postseason for the fifth lime in
Green’s six seasons Sunday with their
highest-scoring game of the season,
a 39-28 win over the Indianapolis
Colts.
“This is a huge relief," said Randall
Cunningham, who will be the fifth
different quarterback to start a play­
off game under Green. "We were
able to go out and do what we needed
to do to get into the playoffs."
"W e're really excited,” Green said.
"The playoffs for us means a second
chance.”
Cunningham offset three intercep­
tions with four touchdown passes,
three of them to Cri s Carter, who tied
a career high. The Vikings (9-7) also
got 160 yards rushing from Robert
Smith and turned three interceptions,
their most of the season, into 15
points.
It was the first win since Nov. 9 for
Minnesota, which will play either the
New York Giants, Tampa Bay or
Detroit in a first-round playoff game
next weekend. The Vikings are 0-4
in the playoffs during G reen’s ten­
ure.
With the team for sale and his
midsesaon threat to sue foreontrol of
the team still lingering, there is a
good chance the Vikings will have a
new coach next season.
"G uys love playing for coach
G reen,” receiver Chris Walsh said.
"If he’s not the best, he’s one of the
three or four best coaches in the
league.”
With Washington beating Phila­
delphia, the Vikings needed to win to
be assured of giving Green another
chance in the playoffs. They did it by
knocking Jim Harbaugh out of the
e. tie twice, first with a head injury
ilia led to a 22-point second quarter
and again after Harbaugh rallied the
Colts within eight points in the fourth
quarter.
"In and out, hurt all the time, play­
ing with pain. (Harbaugh) gave a
great account of himself out there,”
Colts coach Lindy Infante said.
Harbaugh experienced numbness
on his left side throughout the game
and will be examined for a disk prob­
lem in his neck.
Knicks' Ewing out
for the season
New York Knieks’ All-Star cen­
ter Patrick Ewing had surgery on his
dislocated right wrist on Sunday and
will be out for the season, the team.
Ewing, 35, injured his wrist in a
tall Saturday night in the second quar­
ter of the Milwaukee Bucks' 98-78
victory.
“Losing Patrick for the rest of the
Ewing has been the centerpiece of
the franchise since the Knieks made
him the top overall pick in the 1985
draft.
He sat out 5 1 games in his first two
seasons but just 20 in 10 seasons
since.
Chosen last year as one of the
N BA ’s 50 Greatest Players, Ewing
"Losing Patrick, fo r the rest o f the year is a
definite blow, but injuries, and overcom ing
them, are part o f this game, ”
year is a definite blow, but injuries,
and overcoming them, are part of this
game." said Knieks president and
general manager Ernie Grunfeld.
"While our immediate thoughts
are with Patrick, we have a great
group of guy s and have a tremendous
amount of depth on this team. Every­
one must now step up and help to fill
the void that Patrick’s injury has left."
"A lot of teams have got the job
done with their good players out of
the lineup,” Knieks coach Jeff Van
Gundy said Saturday night in M il­
waukee.
Ewing, an 11-time All-Star, leads
the Knieks in scoring and rebound­
ing.
He signed a four-year, $68 million
contract prior to this season and has
not missed more than six games in
any of his last 10 seasons.
DEC. 24, 1997
Hît» yprtUwô
started slowly this season but had
averaged 24.8 points and 11.7 re­
bounds over the last six games.
E w ing e n te re d the season w ith
c a re e r av e ra g e s o f 23.6 po in ts
and 10.4 reb o u n d s in 9 I 3 gam es.
He re c e n tly ec lip se d 2 2 ,0 0 0 c a ­
reer p o in ts and needs 222 re ­
b o u n d s to becom e ju st the sixth
p la y e r in N B A h is to r y w ith
2 0 ,0 0 0 p o in ts and 10,000 r e ­
bounds.
Even with Ewing, the Knieks were
just 15-1 I, although they had sur­
rounded their center with veterans to
make a run at the NBA champion­
ship, which they have not won since
1973.
T h e p re s id e n t o f the N BA
P lay ers A sso c ia tio n , E w ing had
been c ritic iz e d for his lack of
team lead ersh ip .
POWER LOSES AFTER 4 GAME WINNING STREAK
Adrienne Goodson scored 23
points and grabbed nine rebounds
as the Philadelphia Rage snapped
the Portland Power’s four-game
winning streak with a 68-56 vic­
tory.
Dawn Staley netted
“When
11 points and dished
out seven a s s is ts ,
Markita Aldridge added 11 points
and Taj McWilliams pulled down
12 rebounds for the Rage (10-15),
who shot 43 percent (26-of-61) from
the field.
“W e’ve been waiting for this a
long time,” said Staley. "There
were two good things. We played
together as a team and we did it as
a team.”
“We finally put it together,"
agreed Goodson. “We are starting
to gel a bit and understand what we
need do not go.”
The Power (17-9) hit just 39
percent (25-of-64) of its shots and
wasted a 17 points, 17 rebound effort
from Natalie Williams. Lisa Harrison
scored 12 points for the Power, who
committed 17 turnovers and scored a
meagre nine points in fourth quarter.
you don’t put it in the hole you get beat,
“When you don't put it in the hole
you get beat,” said Portland head
coach Lin Dunn. "The thing that is so
frustrating is that we had so many
open shots and we didn’t hit them. I
don’t think we looked hungry; it
didn't look like it mattered. We
seem ed ho-him when the gam e
started.”
Philadelphia, the last-place team
in the Eastern Conference, took a 9-
6 lead early in the game and never
trailed en route to its first road win
against the Power.
“W e’re making strides,” Rage
The P o rtla n d T ra il B la z e rs
placed forw ard Jerm ain e O 'N e a l
on the injured list S unday w ith a
strained left c a lf m uscle.
O 'N e a l, av erag in g 3.3 p o in ts
and 2.2 rebounds in I 1.4 m in u tes
per gam e, was injured at the end
of p ractice S atu rd ay . He did not
iravel with the team to V ancouver
on Sunday for P o rtla n d 's gam e
against the G rizzlies.
To fill O ’N e a l’s spot on the
roster, the B lazers a c tiv a te d c e n ­
ter A lton L ister, on the inju red
list O ct. 30 w ith an in fectio n in
his right shoulder.
L ister, in his 16th N BA se a ­
son, played only in four e x h ib i­
tion gam es lor the B lazers.
U n d er N B A r u le s , O 'N e a l
w o n 't be able to rejo in the B la z ­
e rs’ roster until th eir Jan 2 gam e
at San A ntonio.
but the RagC
pulled away
down the stretch, with G oodson’s
three-point play with 34 seconds left
finishing off Portland for good.
The Rage scored in spurts through­
out the first half. A 6-0 run gave them
their first lead, another 6-0 run put
them up 15-9 and a 9-0 spurt made
the score 28-19 late in the first half.
Philadelphia led 34-17 at halftime.
P o rtland m anaged to tie the
gam e tw ice, at 17-17 and 19-19,
and got w ithin tw o at 39-37 when
Katy S teding co n verted a layup
w ith 33 seconds left in the third
q uarter. But A ldridge sank a
Katy Steding
th re e -p o in te r
to
p u sh
P h ila d e lp h ia ’s lead back to five,
52-47. P ortland never got closer
than five points the rest o f the
way.
Lions’ Brown Has Surgery On Neck
D e tro it lin e b a c k e r R eggie
Brown’s football career appears to
be over after sustaining a neck injury
during the Lions’ victory over the
New York Jets on Sunday.
Dr. David Collon, the team physi­
cian, said during a Monday news con­
ference that Brown was undergoing
surgery at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hos-
pital to fuse the first and second verte­
bra of his neck. Brown will remain in
a neck brace known as a halo for the
next three months, Collon said.
“At this point, it is hard to say how
serious and how permanent his in­
jury is,” Collon said. “The first 72
hours after such an injury are impor­
tant. The next two weeks also will tell
us a lot.”
Collon was asked if Brow n’s ca­
reer was over.
“I guess you could make that sup­
position,” Collon said.
Brown, 23, who was carried off
the Silverdome field in an ambu­
7 6 ers t r a d e S t a c k h o u s e
Finally putting to rest numerous
rumors over the past few weeks, the
Philadelphia 76ers today traded guard
Jerry Stackhouse to the Detroit Pis­
tons in a four-player deal.
The 76ers a n n o u n c e d th at
Stackhouse and oft-traded center Eric
Montross have been dealt to the Pis-
tons for forward Theo Ratliff and guard
Aaron McKte. Philadelphia also gets
a conditional first-round pick.
“ It brings two quality young men
that are going to fit the way that Larry
(Brown) likes to coach,” Sixers vice
president o f basketball administra­
tion Billy King said.
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lance, regained consciousness at a
Pontiac hospital, Colion said. After
about 45 minutes, Brown was trans­
ported to Henry Ford Hospital.
“ Reggie was very happy that we
won the game,” Ross said. “It w asn’t
a long conversation.”
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O'Neil on
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Sunday's Injury has
him out until Jan. 2
head coach Lisa Boyer said. “Port­
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win for us. We showed team effort
and stuck with the game plan. We
also did better on the boards.”
Portland were within five points
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