SPORTS
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
HERMISTON
NBA
Blazers fall in home fi nale
Portland fi nishes
regular season .500
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Photo courtesy of Kari Christiansen
The Hermiston lacrosse team piles up after beating
Selah 21-2 on Tuesday at Kennison Field in Hermiston.
Bulldogs lacrosse
wins 2nd straight
East Oregonian
The Hermiston Bulldogs
lacrosse team hosted Selah
(WA) on Tuesday evening,
and made Selah’s 222-mile
round trip a disappointing
one as Hermiston pummeled
the Vikings by a score of
21-2 at Kennison Field.
It’s the second straight
victory for Hermiston (2-5),
who has found its scoring
touch with a combined 35
goals in both wins. Herm-
iston beat Cleveland 14-4 on
Saturday for its fi rst win of
the season.
103
100
Bradlee Giusti, Luke
Walchli, Tucker Salinas and
Calvin Giesen each tallied
hat tricks in the game for
Hermiston, while Brady
Christiansen scored two
goals. Arden Calderon,
Hunter Thompson, Elias
Sandoval, Ian Bush, Ryan
Arnold, Omar Garcia and
Kaden Smith each scored
one goal in the game.
Hermiston will next travel
to a pair of High Desert
League schools, fi rst at
Ridgeview (4-1) on Friday
night and then at Sisters (2-3)
on Saturday.
Hermiston
goalie Josh
Hasty brings
the ball out
during a la-
crosse game
against
Selah on
Tuesday at
Kennison
Field in
Hermiston.
PORTLAND — Jordan
Crawford had 15 points and the
New Orleans Pelicans snapped
a fi ve-game losing streak with
a 103-100 victory over the play-
off-bound Portland Trail Blazers
on Wednesday night.
Cheick Diallo had 12
points and 16 rebounds for the
Pelicans, who
fi nished 34-48
and out of the
playoffs for the
New Orleans second straight
season.
Shabazz
Napier had 25
points for Port-
land in the loss,
Portland
which snapped
a three-game
winning streak.
The Blazers,
who will face Golden State
in the opening round of the
playoffs, rested starters Damian
Lillard and CJ McCollum.
The Pelicans pulled ahead
94-93 on Diallo’s layup with
4:01 left, then stretched the lead
on Crawford’s jumper and a
3-pointer.
Meyers Leonard closed the
gap to 99-95 for the Blazers
with a long jumper. Following
free throws, Noah Vonleh’s
hook shot got the Blazers within
101-100.
Quinn Cook made a pair of
free throws for New Orleans
before Tim Quarterman missed
a pair for Portland on the other
end to end it.
Portland clinched the eighth
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
New Orleans Pelicans center Alexis Ajinca, left, looks for a shot as Portland
Trail Blazers forward Meyers Leonard defends during the fi rst half of an NBA
basketball game in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, April 12, 2017.
See BLAZERS/2B
Bulls, Pacers grab last 2 playoff spots
Contributed photo
courtesy of Kari
Christiansen
NBA playoffs set to start on Saturday
By TIM REYNOLDS
Associated Press
Dwyane Wade is going
back to the playoffs. The
Miami Heat aren’t going
with him.
The fi eld for the NBA
postseason is set, with
Wade and the Chicago
Bulls claiming one of the
last two available spots on
the fi nal night of the regular
season. The other went to
the Indiana Pacers, who
downed the Atlanta Hawks.
The Bulls and Pacers
winning eliminated the
Heat, who fi nished 41-41
after beating Washington.
Miami was 11-30 in the
fi rst half of the season, then
30-11 in the second half of
the season.
And Wade, in his fi rst
season with the Bulls, is
going to the playoffs for the
12th time.
“Now the fun begins,”
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg
said.
So now the matchups are
set.
Boston wrapped up the
No. 1 seed with a win over
Milwaukee. The Celtics are
the sixth different franchise
to grab the No. 1 seed in the
East in the past six seasons
See NBA/2B
MLB
Mariners pitching struggles as Astros run away with victory
Seattle’s 5-0 lead
evaporates as
Astros rally
By JIM HOEHN
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Jose Altuve
hit three singles and drew two
walks, helping the Houston
Astros overcome an early
fi ve-run defi cit and rally past
the Seattle Mariners 10-5 on
Wednesday night.
Four Houston relievers
combined for fi ve scoreless
innings after starter Mike
Fiers got knocked around.
Tony Sipp, Brad Peacock
(2-0), Luke
Gregerson
and
Jandel
Houston
Gustave
allowed just
three hits.
Carlos
Beltran drove in three runs
for Houston, which trailed
5-0 after three innings.
The Astros scored three
times in the seventh off Dan
Altavilla (1-1) for a 6-5 lead,
with Alex Bregman’s RBI
double putting them ahead.
Carlos Correa capped the
comeback by scoring on a
wild pitch.
Houston added three more
in the eighth on a sacrifi ce fl y
by Josh Reddick and two-run
10
Seattle
5
double
by
Beltran.
F i e r s
lasted
just
four innings,
allowing fi ve
runs and six
hits.
The Mariners scored twice
in the fi rst and then made it
3-0 when Mike Freeman,
called up from Triple-A on
Tuesday, opened the second
with his fi rst homer.
Seattle extended the lead
to 5-0 in the third on Taylor
Motter’s fi rst homer, a
two-run shot.
Mariners starter Yovani
Gallardo walked three in the
fourth to begin Houston’s
rally. Reddick and Altuve
opened with walks and
Correa singled to load the
bases. Gallardo struck out
Beltran and Bregman before
walking Brian McCann to
force in a run.
Yuli Gurriel followed
with an RBI single up the
middle, but second baseman
Robinson Cano made a
diving stop on the grass
and fl ipped the ball home,
catching Correa off third,
and he was tagged out in a
rundown to end the inning.
UP NEXT
Mariners:
Felix
Hernandez makes his third
start of the season on Friday
tagainst Texas.
Houston’s
Carlos
Correa
(1) runs
toward
the tag
on him at
home by
Seattle
pitcher
Yovani
Gallardo
to end a
rundown
during
the fourth
inning of
Wednes-
day’s
game in
Seattle.
AP Photo/Elaine
Thompson
Sports shorts
Oregon’s Brooks declares for NBA
EUGENE (AP) — Oregon junior forward
Dillon Brooks says he is entering the NBA
draft.
Brooks announced his decision, which was
widely anticipated, in a video posted on www.
positionless.com .
Brooks praised Oregon’s
coaches in the video, saying, “I
was not highly recruited and they
believed in me from the jump.”
The Pac-12’s Player of the Year
has hired an agent, which ends his
eligibility with the Ducks.
Brooks
Brooks averaged 16.1 points
per game this season for Oregon, which went to
the Final Four. Known as clutch performer, he
scored game-winners against Tennessee, UCLA
and Cal this season.
Brooks is the second Oregon player to say he
will leave school for the NBA after sophomore
Tyler Dorsey declared on Monday.
City of St. Louis sues NFL over
loss of Rams to Los Angeles
“People are looking
to move up and we’re
listening.“
— Ruth Riley
San Antonio Stars general man-
ager as the WNBA prepares to
hold its draft. The Stars hold the
No. 1 and No. 5 picks in tonight’s
draft. Washington’s Kelsey Plum is
considered the consensus choice
for the No. 1 pick.
ST. LOUIS (AP) The city of St. Louis
and that region’s sports authority are suing
the National Football League
over the Rams’ relocation to Los
Angeles.
The lawsuit fi led Wednesday
in St. Louis Circuit Court also
names the NFL’s 32 teams as
defendants and seeks unspeci-
fi ed damages and restitution.
The lawsuit alleges the Rams failed to
meet league relocation rules when leaving for
Los Angeles before last season, constituting a
contractual breach with St. Louis.
The lawsuit alleges that St. Louis has lost
an estimated $1.85 million to $3.5 million
each year in amusement and ticket tax
collections, as well as roughly $7.5 million in
property taxes. In total, the city will have lost
more than $100 million in net proceeds.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1957 — The Boston Celtics
capture their fi rst NBA cham-
pionship as rookie Tommy
Heinsohn scores 37 points and
grabs 23 rebounds in a 125-123
double OT victory over the St.
Louis Hawks in Game 7.
1984 — Pete Rose of the
Montreal Expos collects the
4,000th hit of his career with a
double in the fourth inning.
1997 — Tiger Woods wins
the Masters by a record 12
strokes at Augusta National.
Closing with a 69, Woods
fi nished at 18-under 270, the
lowest score in the Masters
and matching the most under
par by anyone in any of the
four Grand Slam events.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com