SPORTS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2016
NFL
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
NBA
Trail Blazers continue skid
Toronto
Raptors
center
Jonas Va-
lanciunas,
right, and
Portland
Trail Blaz-
ers guard
Evan Turn-
er dive for
the ball
during the
fi rst half
of an NBA
basketball
game in
Portland,
Ore., Mon-
day, Dec.
26, 2016.
AP Photo/John Froschauer
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson
(3) is tackled by Arizona Cardinals’ Sio Moore
as he releases the ball in the second half of an
NFL football game, Saturday in Seattle.
Seattle limping
into playoffs
AP Photo/Craig
Mitchelldyer
Seahawks’ latest loss to
Arizona could prove costly
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
RENTON, Wash. — The end of December is
when the Seattle Seahawks are supposed to be on
a surge, not limping toward the conclusion of the
regular season with questions clouding whether the
Seahawks are true contenders when the NFC play-
offs arrive.
But that is how Seattle (9-5-1) sits after squan-
dering control of the No. 2 seed in the NFC and
continuing a streak of a win, followed by a loss that
has lingered for the past six games.
“I don’t think it’s alarming. I just think it’s what
we’re working with,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said
on Monday.
“Obviously it’s going to be really diffi cult to
expect us to play a great game until we do. You want
to see that. I know that’s what you’re waiting for.
See SEAHAWKS/2B
Lowry, Raptors hand Portland sixth loss in a row
Portland
Trail
Blazers
forward
Maurice
Hark-
less, left,
shoots
over
Toronto
Raptors
forward
Pascal
Siakam
during the
fi rst half
of an NBA
basketball
game in
Portland,
Ore.,
Monday,
Dec. 26,
2016.
By NICK DASCHEL
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Kyle
Lowry scored 27 points and
the Toronto Raptors won
their franchise-best seventh
consecutive
road
game
Monday night with a 95-91
victory over the skidding
Portland Trail Blazers.
Lowry, coming off a
season-high
36
points
last Friday at
Utah, had 20
Toronto
in the second
half as the
Raptors
( 2 2 - 8 )
handed Port-
land its sixth
Portland
consecutive
loss.
Toronto’s
D e M a r
DeRozan nearly had his fi rst
triple-double of the season,
with 20 points, 10 rebounds
and seven assists. Patrick
Patterson scored 15, and Jonas
Valanciunas had 12 points and
12 rebounds.
C.J. McCollum scored
27 points to lead the Blazers
(13-20), who have lost 10 of
11.
Portland guard Damian
Lillard sat out with a sprained
95
Men’s College Basketball
AP Photo/Craig
Mitchelldyer
91
AP Photo/James Crisp, File
In this Dec 3, 2016, fi le photo, UCLA head coach
Steve Alford directs his team during the sec-
ond half of an NCAA college basketball game
against Kentucky.
ankle. Lillard, averaging 27
points per game, was injured
last Friday against San
Antonio.
Mason Plumlee had his
fi fth double-double of the
season with 13 points and 15
rebounds.
Valanciunas gave Toronto
the lead for good at 82-81
on two free throws with 5:50
remaining, but the Raptors
were unable to shake the
Blazers. Toronto fi nally put
the game away at the free
throw line, where Cory Joseph
and DeRozan made four foul
shots in the fi nal 16 seconds.
Neither team could fi nd an
offensive rhythm in the fi rst
half. Toronto grabbed a 43-42
halftime lead on a free throw
by DeRozan with two seconds
left in the second quarter. The
43 fi rst-half points given up by
Portland tied a season low.
Toronto got it going in the
third quarter, hitting seven
3-pointers, but Portland nearly
matched the Raptors point for
point, trailing 73-68 heading
into the fourth.
Neither team led by more
than six points in the game.
TIP-INS
Raptors: DeRozan moved
within 14 points of tying the
franchise record. Chris Bosh
holds the mark with 10,275
points.
Trail Blazers: Lillard
missed his fi rst game since
Jan. 3 last season, when he was
out for two weeks with a foot
injury. During that stretch, the
Blazers went 4-3, including
a 105-76 win over eventual
NBA champion Cleveland.
Former Blazers star Brandon
Roy, the sixth pick of the 2006
NBA draft and a three-time
All-Star, returns to Portland
this week as a fi rst-year high
school coach. Roy’s team,
Nathan Hale of Seattle, plays
in the Les Schwab Invita-
tional, one of the country’s top
holiday high school basketball
tournaments.
Alford’s Bruins
roll into Pac-12 Gophers go back to work against Cougars
After short boycott,
season undefeated
Minnesota to play
College Football
League play begins Wednesday
WSU in Holiday Bowl
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
By BERNIE WILSON
Associated Press
PHOENIX — Coach Steve Alford’s best
recruiting class for this season was expected to get
UCLA back on track following the Bruins’ fourth
losing season since 1948.
Few could have expected they would be this good
this quick.
Led by freshmen Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf, UCLA
is up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and one of six
remaining undefeated teams as the Bruins head into
the Pac-12 season.
See PAC-12/2B
SAN DIEGO — The
Minnesota Golden Gophers are
as ready as they can be to play
a bowl game they considered
skipping just 10 days ago.
As 10-point underdogs, the
Gophers will have their hands
full against Luke Falk and
Washington State (8-4) in the
Holiday Bowl tonight.
The Golden Gophers (8-4)
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File
In this Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015 fi le photo, Washington
State quarterback Luke Falk passes during the fi rst
half of an NCAA college football game against UCLA
in Pasadena, Calif.
are trying to regroup after
backing down from their threat
to skip this game if 10 team-
mates suspended after a sexual
assault investigation weren’t
reinstated. Their boycott lasted
less than 36 hours, with univer-
sity leadership never blinking.
The players backed down
amid pressure from many who
read details of the allegations.
Once they arrived in San
Diego, the Golden Gophers
tried to put that behind them
and focus on playing in a bowl
that has a tradition of wild
fi nishes.
“We have practiced well,
so that hasn’t been an issue,”
See COUGARS/2B
Sports shorts
Mariota will need surgery for leg
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee
Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota will have
surgery Wednesday for his broken right leg, and
coach Mike Mularkey says the recovery process
will take four to fi ve months.
Mularkey said Monday that
Mariota will have a plate inserted
over the break by Dr. Bob
Anderson in Charlotte, North
Carolina.
The Titans coach didn’t share
any other details, but Mularkey
has had Anderson repair his feet
Mariota
and says there’s no other doctor he
trusts for this surgery.
Mariota was hurt Saturday when sacked
during a 38-17 loss to Jacksonville. Trainers
placed an air cast on his leg before he was
carted off the fi eld. This is the second straight
season Mariota has missed the season fi nale
because of an injury.
“We had noticed on fi lm
that the kicker kind of did
line drives. All that was
going through my head
was get your hands up as
quick as you can.“
— Nelson Adams
Mississippi State defensive tackle on
blocking a fi eld goal in the closing
seconds to preserve a 17-16 win
over Miami (OH) in the St. Peters-
burg Bowl on Monday.
NBA: Two calls were missed in
fi nal moments of Cavs-Warriors
NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA says
two calls were missed in the fi nal moments
of Cleveland’s win over Golden
State on Sunday, and both aided
the Cavaliers in what became their
one-point victory.
The league said Cleveland
star LeBron James should have
been assessed a technical foul for
deliberately hanging on the rim
after his dunk with 1:43 remaining, and that
Cavaliers forward Richard Jefferson should
have been called for fouling the Warriors’
Kevin Durant on the game’s fi nal play.
Jefferson’s feet appeared to get tangled with
Durant’s on that last play . Durant tumbled to
the fl oor, and could only manage a one-handed
fl ing toward the basket as time expired.
Cleveland won the NBA Finals rematch
109-108.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1987 — Steve Largent of
the Seattle Seahawks becomes
the NFL’s all-time reception
leader in the Seahawks’ 41-20
loss to Kansas City. Largent’s
six catches gives him 752,
surpassing the 750 by San
Diego’s Charlie Joiner. Gayle
Sierens announcing the game
for NBC becomes the fi rst
female play-by-play announcer
in NFL history.
2000 — Mario Lemieux
makes a remarkable comeback
after 3 1/2 years of retirement,
scoring a goal and assisting on
two others one on his fi rst pass
on his fi rst shift, no less as the
Pittsburgh Penguins beat the
Toronto Maple Leafs 5-0.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com