SPORTS
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
East Oregonian
NBA
Page 3B
Women’s College
Basketball
Lack of defense deterred the All-Star excitement Washington’s
Plum just 78
points away
from NCAA
all-time mark
By TIM REYNOLDS
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — It
was the fourth quarter of the
All-Star Game, and a few fans
started yelling loudly enough for
DeAndre Jordan to hear them
from his spot on the Western
Conference bench.
Their
cry:
“De-fense!
De-fense!”
Jordan’s shout back: “No, no,
no!”
The moment was both hilarious
and fitting. Defense was in short
supply on Sunday night during
the NBA’s showcase game, one
where Anthony Davis smashed a
55-year-old record with 52 points
and the Western Conference beat
the Eastern Conference 192-182.
And it prompted some questions
afterward on whether the glorified
exhibition really needs to see at
least the appearance of defense
return.
“All-Star is about offense and
giving the crowd a show, but if
they want to see a little more
defense as fans and everything —
I mean, nobody wants to go out
here and get hurt,” said Davis, the
game’s MVP in his home arena.
“It’s all about fun. ... I love it. I
don’t really care. I’ll go out there
and have fun. I didn’t play any
defense.”
Few did.
There were 33 steals in the
game, sure, but most of those
were the byproduct of bad passes
than picked pockets. There were
16 fouls, mainly ones players
were taking to stop the clock and
allow substitutions; only four
were of the shooting variety.
Stephen Curry laid down on the
court at one point while Giannis
Antetokounmpo was driving in
for what became one of his 12
dunks.
“I’m going to play hard no
matter what,” Antetokounmpo
said. “That’s the only thing I
know how to do.”
Davis took 39 shots, making
26, both of those now All-Star
records. The game also estab-
lished records for total points
Associated Press
Bob Donnan/USA Today via AP, Pool
Western Conference forward Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans (23 ) slam dunks during
the first half of the NBA All-Star basketball game in New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017.
(384), most field goals (162),
most assists (103), most assists
by one team (West with 60), most
points in one quarter (101, first)
and so on. The East set a rather
dubious record, establishing a
new high score by a losing team
for the third consecutive season.
Put simply, it’s not a real game,
and real-game thinking doesn’t
apply. LeBron James made a shot
from nearly half-court, something
he would never try in a competi-
tive situation.
He loves defense. He wasn’t
missing it on Sunday.
“I think the biggest thing
coming out of the game is that
everybody leaves injury-free,”
James said. “We gave the fans
what they wanted to see and
everyone left injury-free. Another
successful All-Star weekend for
myself and everyone.”
West coach Steve Kerr said
he and East coach Brad Stevens
had jobs on Sunday night akin to
the person who played the role of
the title character in “Weekend at
Bernie’s,” that being a deceased
man who gets dragged from
place to place and propped up to
somehow give others the illusion
that he’s still actually alive.
Kerr’s point: How All-Star
games are played isn’t up to the
coaches, but rather it’ll be the
players who decide if they want
defense back.
“It would be good to possibly
incentivize the guys somehow,”
Kerr said. “I don’t know if you can
maybe get their charities involved
or winner-take-all type thing, but
I think it’s possible to play a lot
harder without taking a charge.
We know what silly is out there, if
you’re undercutting guys, but it’s
almost gone too far the other way
where there’s just no resistance at
all. I think there’s a happy medium
in there somewhere.”
East guard Kyrie Irving expects
that the game will change.
Like many, he said avoiding
injury in the All-Star Game is
paramount and that’s certainly
understandable. But he also
expressed a wish that the games
had a bit more of a competitive
aspect.
“I think going forward, the
All-Star experience will probably
get a little harder in terms of
defense,” Irving said.
Down the stretch, the East
did apparently try to raise the
defensive bar. Stevens said it was
discussed in the fourth quarter,
with hopes of putting the East in
position to win the game.
He almost sounded disap-
pointed in how the flow went.
“We talked about trying to get
back in it at the end and talked
about how, obviously, the one
way to do that is keep people in
front of you,” Stevens said. “But,
no, it probably should have been
a bigger emphasis in retrospect
now.”
LOS ANGELES — Washington
guard Kelsey Plum’s postgame
celebration Sunday consisted of
hugs with family and friends,
pictures with kids, autographs and
then she was headed to ESPN’s
nearby studios for a SportsCenter
appearance, her second in two days.
Such is life for the nation’s
leading scorer.
Plum scored 35 points to move
into
second
place on the
NCAA’s career
scoring
list
and help No.
9 Washington
beat Southern
California
87-74.
Plum needed
Plum
just three points
to tie former
Baylor star Brittney Griner on the
list, and she hit a 3-pointer with
3:35 left in the first quarter to tie for
second. Her free throw with 2:04
left in the first lifted her to second
place behind former Missouri State
star Jackie Stiles.
Stiles had 3,393 points, and
Plum has 3,315. She needs 78
points to tie Stiles.
Asked about the list, she did
what she always does in giving
credit to the Huskies first.
“I was excited to get the win,”
Plum said. “USC had been playing
great. We lost to UCLA on Friday
so we knew we needed to finish
strong this weekend. Any split
in the Pac-12 is a good split. It’s
an honor. I’ve watched a ton of
these amazing women on this list
growing up as a kid. Obviously,
they’re some of the best people to
play. It’s just really cool.”
JENNINGS: Set a personal record in both the 50 yard and 100 yard races
Continued from 1B
East Oregonian photo by Mike Weber
Pendleton’s Jon Jennings, in silver cap on left, dives
from his starting post in the 50 yard freestyle swim at
the OSAA state swim championships on Saturday at
Mt. Hood Community College. Jennings finished sec-
ond in the race.
very efficient swimmer.”
Jennings, the defending 50 yard free-
style champion, had hopes of capturing
a second consecutive state title and he
swam hard while clocking a personal
best time of 21.38 seconds. Jennings
was a close second to Lebanon’s
two-time state champion junior Casey
McEuen, who won with a state record
time of 20.60. The two good friends
swam to a one-two finish again in the
100 free. McEuen won the gold medal
with another new state record time of
45.47 and Jennings took second with a
personal-best of 47.19.
“It feels amazing to be a two-time
state champion,” said McEuen, who
took third in both events of Friday’s
prelims. “I was holding back a little bit
yesterday and I wasn’t too concerned
about where I finished, but I just focused
on making the top-six to reach finals.
“I knew that I would have a good
battle with Jon. He’s such a great
competitor and I have all the respect in
the world for him. I was more surprised
with our times, than I was with the
outcome. I’m proud of how well Jon did
and he really pushed me to have a good
race and I pushed him as well.”
Jennings was glad that the two
enjoyed the camaraderie of the pres-
tigious event as they both swam hard
while competing together in the special
atmosphere of the state meet.
“I love Casey, he’s such a good sport
and I’ve been swimming with him
throughout my Pendleton High School
career,” said Jennings. “Racing with
Casey helped me to get a PR in both
events, so I really couldn’t ask to have
a better performance. I thought that I
might have a chance to stay up with him
in the 100, but he was tough. I thought
that I could do a little better, but I’m
happy with what I got. I’ve had a good
career at Pendleton High and I couldn’t
ask to have better coaches.”
The state meet also capped the
careers for boys team member senior
Avery Madril and girls seniors Oceane
Schreier, Sam Schmitz and alternate’s
MaKayla Lee, Brooke Lapp and Olivia
Broker.
“It was a really good accomplishment
for Jon to reach the finals, especially
when you consider how difficult it is to
do that,” said Pendleton assistant Nick
Lapp. “Jon swam really well and he
performed up to the best of his ability.
I enjoyed working with all the kids and
we had a pretty good season.”
SCOREBOARD
Local slate
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Today
Hermiston at Pendleton, 5:45 p.m.
Echo at Prarie City (Class 1A first round),
7 p.m.
Thursday
Pendleton at Hood River, 7 p.m.
Friday
#9 Horizon Christian, Tualitin at #8 Umatil-
la (Class 3A first round), 6 p.m.
#15 Oakland at #2 Stanfield (Class 2A first
round), 6 p.m.
#13 Irrigon at #4 Salem Academy (Class
3A first round), 7 p.m.
#13 Weston-McEwen at #4 Santiam
(Class 2A first round), 7 p.m.
Hermiston at Hood River, 7 p.m.
Nixyaawii vs. TBD (Class 1A second
round), TBD
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Today
Hermiston at Pendleton, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday
North Clackamas Christian at Arlington
(Class 1A first round), 6 p.m.
Thursday
Hood River at Pendleton, 7 p.m.
Friday
Hood River at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Saturday
#11 Grant Union at #6 Pilot Rock (Class
2A first round), 5 p.m.
#13 Weston-McEwen at #4 Faith Bible
(Class 2A first round), TBD
Nixyaawii vs. TBD (Class 1A second
round), TBD
PREP WRESTLING
Friday-Saturday
Hermiston, Pendleton, Mac-Hi, Irrigon,
Riverside, Heppner/Ione at OSAA State
Championships
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Wednesday
Warner Pacific at Eastern Oregon (CCC
Tournament), 7 p.m.
Blue Mountain at North Idaho, 8 p.m.
Saturday
Wenatchee Valley at Blue Mountain, 4
p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Today
Corban at Eastern Oregon (CCC Tourna-
ment), 7 p.m.
Wednesday
Blue Mountain at North Idaho, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Wenatchee Valley at Blue Mountain, 2
p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Friday
Columbia Basin at Blue Mountain, 11
a.m./2 p.m.
Sunday
Blue Mountain at Columbia Basin, 11
a.m./2p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Friday
Eastern Oregon vs. Northwestern Naza-
rene (at Nampa, ID), 2/4 p.m.
Saturday
Eastern Oregon vs. Northwest Nazarene
(at Nampa, ID), 12/2 p.m.
Blue Mountain at Walla Walla, Noon/2
p.m.
Sunday
Walla Walla at Blue Mountain, Noon/2
p.m.
Prep Standings
BOYS BASKETBALL
5A Columbia River Conference
Conf.
Ovr Rank
Pendleton
7-0
12-4 10
Hermiston
5-2
15-6
11
Hood River
1-5
6-12 29
The Dalles
1-7
4-15 27
GIRLS BASKETBALL
5A Columbia River Conference
Conf.
Ovr Rank
Hermiston
6-1
12-9
11
Pendleton
6-1
10-7 12
The Dalles
2-6
7-11 22
Hood River
0-6
6-10 28
Basketball
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W
L
1. Cleveland
39 16
2. Boston
37 20
3. Washington
34 21
4. Toronto
33 24
5. Atlanta
32 24
6. Indiana
29 28
7. Chicago
28 29
8. Detroit
27 30
——
Milwaukee
25 30
Miami
25 32
Charlotte
24 32
New York
23 34
Philadelphia
21 35
Orlando
21 37
Brooklyn
9 47
Pct GB
.709 —
.649
3
.618
5
.579
7
.571 7½
.509 11
.491 12
.474 13
.455
.439
.429
.404
.375
.362
.161
14
15
15½
17
18½
19½
30½
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W
L Pct GB
1. Golden State 47
9 .839 —
2. San Antonio
43 13 .768
4
3. Houston
40 18 .690
8
4. L.A. Clippers 35 21 .625 12
5. Utah
35 22 .614 12½
6. Memphis
34 24 .586 14
7. Oklahoma City 32 25 .561 15½
8. Denver
25 31 .446 22
——
Sacramento
24 33 .421 23½
Portland
23 33 .411 24
New Orleans
23 34 .404 24½
Dallas
22 34 .393 25
Minnesota
22 35 .386 25½
L.A. Lakers
19 39 .328 29
Phoenix
18 39 .316 29½
———
Sunday’s Games
2017 NBA All-Star Game
Western Conference 192, Eastern
Conference 182
Monday-Wednesday
No games scheduled.
Thursday’s Games
Portland at Orlando, 4 p.m.
Charlotte at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Houston at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
New York at Cleveland, 5 p.m.
Denver at Sacramento, 7:30 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s Games
Memphis at Indiana, 4 p.m.
Washington at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.
Boston at Toronto, 5 p.m.
Dallas at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.
Miami at Atlanta, 5 p.m.
Phoenix at Chicago, 5 p.m.
Utah at Milwaukee, 5 p.m.
Brooklyn at Denver, 6 p.m.
San Antonio at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
NCAA
Men’s Top 25
Record
Pts Pvs
1. Gonzaga (29)
28-0
797
1
2. Villanova (3)
26-2
768
2
3. Kansas
24-3
738
3
4. Arizona
25-3
665
6
5. UCLA
24-3
654
5
6. Louisville
22-5
620
7
7. Oregon
24-4
618
8
8. North Carolina
23-5
566
9
9. Baylor
22-5
534
4
10. Kentucky
22-5
493
11
11. Duke
22-5
446 14
12. Florida
22-5
421 13
13. West Virginia
21-6
413 12
14. Purdue
22-5
392 16
15. Wisconsin
22-5
354 10
16. Cincinnati
24-3
331 17
17. Notre Dame
21-7
250 20
18. Saint Mary’s
24-3
211 21
19. Virginia
18-8
196 15
20. Florida State
21-6
195 18
21. SMU
24-4
186 23
22. Butler
21-6
153 25
23. Creighton
22-5
111 22
24. Maryland
22-5
95 24
25. Wichita State
25-4
52
—
Others receiving votes: South Carolina 37,
Southern Cal 26, Northwestern 19, Iowa
State 15, Miami 11, Xavier 11, Middle Ten-
nessee 10, Dayton 6, California 4, Kansas
State 1, VCU 1.
—————
Monday’s Games
No. 12 West Virginia 77, Texas 62
Miami 54, No. 18 Virginia 48, OT
No. 19 Florida State 104, Boston College
72
Tuesday’s Games
No. 9 Baylor vs. Oklahoma, 4 p.m.
No. 11 Kentucky at Missouri, 6 p.m.
No. 13 Florida vs. South Carolina, 4 p.m.
No. 14 Purdue at Penn State, 3 p.m.
No. 25 Wichita State vs. Evansville, 5 p.m.
PAC-12 Standings
Arizona
Oregon
UCLA
California
USC
Utah
Colorado
Arizona St.
Stanford
Washington St.
Washington
Oregon St.
Conf.
14-1
13-2
11-3
9-5
8-6
8-6
6-9
6-9
5-9
5-10
2-13
1-14
Ovr.
25-3
24-4
24-3
18-8
21-6
17-10
16-12
13-15
13-13
12-15
9-18
5-23
Women’s Top 25
1. UConn (33)
2. Maryland
3. Mississippi St.
4. Baylor
Record
26-0
26-1
27-1
25-2
Pts Prv
825
1
788
2
755
3
731
4
5. Notre Dame
25-3
682
7
6. Texas
21-5
608
8
7. South Carolina
22-4
602
6
8. Florida St.
24-4
583
4
8. Stanford
24-4
583 10
10. Oregon St.
25-3
528
11
11. Washington
25-4
494
9
12. Ohio St.
23-5
469 12
13. Duke
24-4
467 13
14. Louisville
23-6
414 14
15. UCLA
20-7
350 18
16. Oklahoma
21-6
340 19
17. Miami
19-7
274 16
18. NC State
20-7
232 15
19. DePaul
22-6
208 17
20. Syracuse
18-9
162 21
21. Drake
22-4
123 25
22. Kentucky
19-8
110
-
23. Temple
21-5
99
-
24. Missouri
19-9
62
-
25. Michigan
21-7
53 20
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 45,
Kansas St 45, Creighton 32, South Florida
27, Tennessee 9, Belmont 7, Green Bay 4,
West Virginia 4, Arizona St. 3, Tulane 2,
Colorado St. 2, Wright St. 1, Marquette
1, LSU 1.
————
Monday’s Games
No. 12 Ohio State 98, No. 2 Maryland 87
No. 4 Baylor 70, No. 6 Texas 67
Tuesday’s Game
No. 16 Oklahoma at Kansas State, 5 p.m.
Wednesday’s Game
No. 1 UConn vs. No. 23 Temple (at XL
Center, Hartford, Conn.), 4 p.m.
Pac-12 Standings
Oregon St.
Stanford
Washington
UCLA
Oregon
Arizona St.
California
Colorado
USC
Washington St.
Utah
Arizona
Conf.
14-2
14-2
13-3
11-5
8-8
8-8
5-11
5-11
5-11
5-11
4-12
4-12
Ovr.
25-3
24-4
25-4
20-7
18-10
17-10
17-11
15-12
14-13
10-17
15-12
13-14
Hockey
NHL
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
GP W
L OT
Montreal
59 31 20
8
Ottawa
57 31 20
6
Florida
58 28 20 10
Boston
59 30 23
6
Toronto
58 27 20 11
Buffalo
60 26 24 10
Tampa Bay 58 26 24
8
Detroit
59 24 25 10
Metropolitan Division
GP W
L OT
Washington 58 39 12
7
Pittsburgh 58 36 14
8
Columbus 58 37 16
5
N.Y. Rangers 58 38 19
1
N.Y. Islanders 58 27 21 10
Philadelphia 59 28 24
7
New Jersey 59 25 24 10
Carolina
55 24 23
8
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
GP W
L OT
Pts
70
68
66
66
65
62
60
58
GF GA
166 153
156 152
149 162
159 156
181 173
147 168
160 166
149 175
Pts
85
80
79
77
64
63
60
56
GF GA
195 126
204 165
187 143
196 152
174 174
154 179
138 170
141 162
Pts GF GA
Minnesota 58 39 13
6 84 195 133
Chicago
59 36 18
5 77 172 151
St. Louis
60 31 24
5 67 170 173
Nashville
58 28 22
8 64 164 159
Winnipeg 62 28 29
5 61 180 194
Dallas
60 23 27 10 56 165 193
Colorado
57 16 38
3 35 113 190
Pacific Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
San Jose
60 35 18
7 77 166 144
Edmonton 59 32 19
8 72 171 152
Anaheim
61 31 20 10 72 156 154
Calgary
59 29 26
4 62 153 167
Los Angeles 58 28 26
4 60 143 145
Vancouver 60 26 28
6 58 142 172
Arizona
58 21 30
7 49 140 183
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for
overtime loss.
————
Monday’s Games
Florida 2, St. Louis 1
Arizona 3, Anaheim 2
Tuesday’s Games
Ottawa at New Jersey, 4 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Carolina, 4 p.m.
Montreal at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m.
Edmonton at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m.
Winnipeg at Toronto, 4:30 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Calgary at Nashville, 5 p.m.
Chicago at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
Los Angeles at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Auto Racing
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500 Qualifying
Sunday
At Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Lap length: 2.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 192.872
mph.
2. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet,
192.864 mph.
3. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 192.691
mph.
4. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 192.571 mph.
5. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 192.308
mph.
6. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 192.213
mph.
7. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 192.189 mph.
8. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 192.090
mph.
9. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 192.016
mph.
10. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet,
191.996 mph.
11. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 191.767 mph.
12. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 191.453 mph.
13. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford,
192.004 mph.
14. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet,
191.898 mph.
15. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 191.877
mph.
16. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 191.804
mph.
17. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 191.779 mph.
18. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 191.746 mph.
19. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 191.718 mph.
20. (77) Erik Jones, Toyota, 191.693 mph.
21. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 191.534
mph.
22. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford, 191.420 mph.
23. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet,
191.396 mph.
24. (10) Danica Patrick, Ford, 191.318
mph.
25. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 190.990 mph.
26. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 190.973
mph.
27. (34) Landon Cassill, Ford, 190.335
mph.
28. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet,
190.283 mph.
29. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 190.054
mph.
30. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet,
189.721 mph.
31. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet,
189.422 mph.
32. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 189.402 mph.
33. (75) Brendan Gaughan(i), Chevrolet,
189.294 mph.
34. (72) Cole Whitt, Ford, 189.107 mph.
35. (15) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 189.080
mph.
36. (7) Elliott Sadler(i), Chevrolet, 188.561
mph.
37. (55) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 187.332
mph.
38. (96) DJ Kennington, Toyota, 186.819
mph.
39. (23) Joey Gase(i), Toyota, 185.843
mph.
40. (83) Corey LaJoie, Toyota, 185.246
mph.
Failed to Qualify
41. (33) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet,
184.767 mph.
42. (51) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 184.102
mph.
Golf
PGA Tour
Upcoming Schedule
Feb. 23-26 — Honda Classic, PGA
National (Champion GC), Palm Beach
Gardens, Fla.
March 2-5 — WGC-Mexico Champion-
ship, Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico
City
March 9-12 — Valsapr Champion,
Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead), Palm
Harbor, Fla.
March. 16-19 — Arnold Palmer Invitation-
al, Bay Hill Golf Club and Lodge, Orlando,
Fla.
World Golf Rankings
Through Feb. 19
1. Dustin Johnson
2. Jason Day
3. Rory McIlroy
4. Henrik Stenson
5. Hideki Matsuyama
6. Jordan Spieth
7. Adam Scott
8. Justin Thomas
9. Sergio Garcia
10. Alex Noren
11. Patrick Reed
12. Justin Rose
13. Danny Willett
14. Rickie Fowler
15. Bubba Watson
USA
AUS
NIR
SWE
JPN
USA
AUS
USA
ESP
SWE
USA
ENG
ENG
USA
USA
10.28
9.77
9.13
8.64
8.59
8.47
5.80
5.52
5.18
5.07
5.07
4.83
4.61
4.54
4.36
LPGA Tour
Upcoming Schedule
Feb. 23-26 — Honda LPGA Thailand, Siam
Country Club (Old Course), Chonburi
March 2-5 — HSBC Women’s Champions,
Sentosa GC (New Tanjong Course),
Singapore