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SPORTS Saturday, April 22, 2017 East Oregonian Page 3B NBA Crabbe knows it’s time to step up against Warriors In this April 6, 2017, file photo, Portland Trail Blazers guard Allen Crabbe plays during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Portland. It is clear to Crabbe, and just about everyone else who is watching, that Portland’s bench needs to do more against the Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs. By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press PORTLAND — It’s clear to Allen Crabbe — and just about everyone else who’s watching — that Portland’s bench needs to do more against the Warriors. And Crabbe is pointing to himself as someone who needs to step up. The Trail Blazers’ reserves had a combined 35 points Wednesday night when starters Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum struggled with only 23 points between the two of them, and Golden State won 110-81. The bench sparked a rally for a time in the second quarter but couldn’t match the depth of the Warriors at the end, finishing 13 of 32 from the field and 4 of 18 from 3-point range. That’s not going to be enough to beat Golden State, which got 50 from its bench. Still, it was an improvement over Game 1, when Portland’s backups had a combined nine points in a 121-109 Warriors win. Crabbe has been espe- cially frustrated, with just AP Photo/Steve Dykes, File three points in the opening game of the series and six in the second. “Definitely not playing the way that I wanted to, not really contributing the way I wanted to offensively,” the 6-foot-6 wing said. “So it is kind of frustrating. But that’s the sweet thing about it. It’s a seven- game and we’ve still got more games to play, so I’ve still got time to pick it up.” Now the series moves to Portland for Game 3 on Saturday, giving the Blazers a chance to play catch-up at home. Reserve play will be vitally important for the Blazers, especially if Lillard and McCollum are again held back by the Warriors. Crabbe similarly got off to a slow start in last year’s first- round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers but improved and scored 20 points in Game 5 against Golden State in the second round. Overall, he averaged 9.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 11 playoff games last year. “As a shooter on this team, as somebody who can score off the bench, that’s what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to just keep shooting the ball and wait until it starts falling for me,” he said Friday at the Blazers’ practice facility. “It will pick up from there.” First Round Golden State Portland Warriors Trail Blazers (67-15) (41-41) • Game 3 (ESPN) • Saturday, 7:30 p.m. • at Moda Center • GS leads series 2-0 Crabbe averaged 10.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists overall this season after signing a four-year contract worth $75 million with the Blazers last summer. He had a season-high 30 points in an overtime victory over Detroit in January. He also broke out in a 105-98 victory over the Timberwolves in early March with 25 points, including a career-high eight 3-pointers — just one off the franchise record by a reserve. In his last 10 games of the regular season, he averaged nearly 12 points but he missed Portland’s three final regular-season games with left foot soreness after an MRI revealed inflammation. The Blazers’ bench was an issue during the regular season — they were ranked 26th in the league — but as Portland rebounded after the All-Star break, so did the reserves. With Lillard and McCo- llum resting after Portland clinched a playoff berth, point guard Shabazz Napier scored 32 points in a 99-98 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, who played their starters. Napier was the top player off the bench in Game 2 of the playoffs, with 10 points. Coach Terry Stotts said it’s a whole-team effort if the Blazers want to make some noise. Last season, Portland came back after a 0-2 deficit to beat the Clippers in the opening round. “I think it’s important that all the players on the court — that everybody’s ready to make contributions,” Stotts said. “We made it a compet- itive series last year because it was a team effort. And we need the same team effort.” Crabbe, like many of the other players at the practice facility on the eve of Game 3, characterized it as a must-win. “We know how important this game is,” he said. “We’re locked in and we’re gonna go out there, gotta give it our all.” Westbrook’s triple-double leads Thunder past Rockets in Game 3 Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook scored 32 points in a triple-double, and the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Houston Rockets 115-113 on Friday night to cut their deficit to 2-1 in the first-round Western Confer- ence playoff series. James Harden scored 44 points for Houston, but he missed a 3-pointer that could have won the game just before time expired. Westbrook also had 13 rebounds and 11 assists. It was his second straight triple-double and the seventh playoff triple-double of his career. Taj Gibson added 20 points and Andre Roberson and Victor Oladipo each scored 12 for the Thunder, who shot 55 percent from the field. The Thunder blew a double-digit lead in the second half of Game 2, and barely hung on this time. Lou Williams scored 22 points and Ryan Anderson added 18 for the Rockets. CLIPPERS 111, JAZZ 106 — At Salt Lake City, Chris Paul scored 34 points and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied for a 111-106 victory over the Utah Jazz on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series. The Jazz led most of the game before Paul took over in the fourth quarter and powered a 15-0 run that gave the Clippers a 103-96 lead with 2:09 remaining. Utah never led again. The win negated a spec- tacular night from Gordon Hayward, who scored a career-high 40 points. But Paul simply dominated the fourth quarter, scoring nine straight himself during the run and getting wherever he wanted on the floor. He iced the game with a pair of free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining and finished with seven rebounds and 10 assists. DeAndre Jordan had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who played without the injured Blake Griffin in the second half. CELTICS 104, BULLS 87 — At Chicago, Al Horford had 18 points and eight rebounds, Isaiah Thomas scored 16 points, and the top-seeded Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 104-87 on Friday night after dropping the first two games of their opening-round series at home. The Celtics pulled away after a 20-point lead shrunk to one early in the third quarter and put themselves in position to tie a series that was in danger of slipping away from them. Game 4 is Sunday in Chicago. Dwyane Wade scored 18 for Chicago. Jimmy Butler had 14 points on 7-of-21 shooting, and the offense simply didn’t click the way it had been, with Rajon Rondo out indefinitely with a broken right thumb. Thomas, grieving the death of his sister in a car accident last week, rejoined the team after spending time with his family in Tacoma, Wash- ington. He scored eight points in the third quarter, helping the Celtics regain control. College Softball NHL T-Wolves left stranded in loss Kuraly’s second goal lifts Bruins past Senators in 2OT East Oregonian PENDLETON — The Blue Mountain softball team started hitting North Idaho starter Kayla Moore right away in Friday’s NWAC East game in Pendleton, but didn’t come away with much to show for it as the Timberwolves stranded six runners in the first three innings and went on to lose 6-2. North Idaho Blue Mountain (10-20, 7-13 East), which pulled within 3-2 with Megan Ulrey’s solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, also left two Blue Mountain runners on in the seventh as it tried to mount a rally. Moore finished with eight hits allowed and two strikeouts to get the win, and BMCC starter Tiffany Snyder took the loss allowing five earned runs on nine hits. Ulrey and Sydney Saxton Siaki each hit 2 for 4 to lead BMCC at the plate, and Kennedy Anderson went 3 for 4 with a double and a home run to pace North Idaho (21-7, 15-5). UP NEXT Blue Mountain plays at Columbia Basin today at 4 p.m. ——— 6 2 R H E NIC 021 100 2 — 6 9 0 BMCC 001 010 0 — 2 8 0 K. Moore and N. Miller. T. Snyder and S. Bonner. W — Moore. L — Snyder. 2B — K. Anderson, M. Schaller (NIC). HR — K. Anderson (NIC); M. Ulrey (BMCC). Boston Bruins swarm teammate Sean Ku- raly (52) to celebrate his goal against the Ottawa Senators during the second overtime of Game 5 of a first- round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series, Fri- day, April 21, 2017, in Ottawa, Ontario. Associated Press OTTAWA, Ontario — Sean Kuraly’s second goal of the game at 10:19 of the second overtime gave the Boston Bruins a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Sena- tors in Game 5 on Friday night, avoiding elimination in the first- round series. David Pastrnak also scored and Tuukka Rask finished with 41 saves to help the Bruins rally from two goals down early in the second period and cut the Senators’ lead to 3-2 in the best- of-seven series. On the winning goal, Charlie McAvoy’s shot from the right point was tipped by David Backes and then hit Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson’s skate in front of goalie Craig Anderson, and Kuraly back- handed it in. Game 6 is Sunday in Boston. Mark Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators, and Craig Anderson stopped 36 shots. The Bruins had the best chances to end the game in the first overtime when they went on a power play on Clarke MacAr- thur’s high-sticking penalty. Then, Noel Acciari’s apparent goal waved off at 14:25 due to goalie interference when Kuraly tripped over Anderson. The Bruins chal- lenged the call to no avail. The Senators had two great Fred Chartrand/ The Canadian Press via AP chances to take the lead in the third as the Bruins took a delay of game and a too many men penalty in the final 6 minutes of the period, but Ottawa managed just two shots on goal. Trailing 2-0, Brad Marchand helped cut the lead in half when he took the puck behind the Senators net and made a cross- crease pass to Pastrnak, who beat Anderson short side at 8:40 of the second. Kuraly tied it with his first- ever NHL goal on a bank shot from the side of the net with 2:55 left in the middle period. Ottawa scored just 30 seconds into the period to push their lead to 2-0 when the Bruins defense was caught flat-footed. Pageau was able to break in alone and beat Rask through the legs. The Senators took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Mike Hoffman made a great pass to Stone, who slipped behind the Bruins defense and beat Rask on the backhand. An already depleted Bruins lineup took another hit as David Krejci left the game late in the first after a collision with Chris Wideman. CAPITALS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 1, OT — At Wash- ington, Justin Williams scored the overtime winner as Wash- ington beat Toronto to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series. The Capitals survived a scare when captain Alex Ovechkin left the game late in the first period with an apparent left leg injury, but he returned in the second. Thanks to Williams’ goal 1:04 into overtime, the Presidents’ Trophy winners go to Toronto for Game 6 on Sunday with a chance to advance to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. Braden Holtby made 24 saves for the Capitals, who got a goal from T.J. Oshie on the power play that came from Nazem Kadri’s hit that injured Ovechkin. Rookie of the year finalist Auston Matthews scored the only goal for the Maple Leafs, and Frederik Andersen made 26 saves before being beaten in overtime. NASCAR Busch and Gibbs team hoping for breakthrough at Bristol Motor Speedway By JENNA FRYER Associated Press BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Joe Gibbs Racing had three victories at this point last season, including back-to-back wins by Kyle Busch. Then Carl Edwards reeled off consecutive victories and the organization was easily the best in NASCAR. Now? The team is winless through the first seven races of the season and looking to break the drought at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I would have to say that obvi- ously we’re not as strong this year out of the gate,” Busch said Friday. “I feel as though we’re competitive and we’re close, but we’re not there. I don’t think there’s any reason for cause for concern yet.” The speed chart Friday indicated JGR may be on the right track. Toyota drivers took five of the first six spots in practice, three from JGR and two from sister team Furniture Row Racing. Denny Hamlin and Busch had the best 10 consecutive lap averages, the true indicator of who has the strongest cars. It was an important showing because the weather forecast for Bristol this weekend calls for rain and no one is certain when the cars will next be on track. So most of the field treated Friday as if it was their only time to prepare for Sunday’s race. Qualifying was canceled because of early rain at the track, and the field was set by points. It gave Kyle Larson the pole with Chase Elliott right next to him. The JGR cars will start seventh (Busch), 16th (Hamlin), 22nd Food City 500 • Race Sunday, 11 a.m. • TV: FOX Starting Grid 1. Kyle Larson (42) 2. Chase Elliott (24) 3. Martin Truex, Jr. (78) 4. Brad Keselowsi (2) 5. Joey Logano (22) 6. Ryan Blaney (21) 7. Kyle Busch (18) 8. Jamie McMurray (1) 9. Clint Bowyer (14) 10. Kevin Harvick (4) (Matt Kenseth) and 23rd (Daniel Suarez). Busch is a five-time winner at Bristol, but hasn’t been to victory lane in his Cup car since 2011. He thinks the drop-off is a combina- tion of changing track conditions, team issues or unexpected failures. “A couple other runs that we’ve had here we’ve been OK, maybe third or fourth, and I try something and I lose the nose,” he said. “It’s just been frustrating the last few times of coming here and not really having the speed in order to run up in the lead and lead a lot of laps like I used to. ... We were pretty domi- nant force and that’s kind of gone away and it would be nice to get those days back in the 18 camp.” He’ll certainly have compe- tition. He listed Larson, Elliott, and Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano as the biggest threats, but noted that he goes into the race certain he will be the victor. “There are a few races track I go to where I would say there’s nothing acceptable except winning,” he said. “Bristol, this is one of my best wheelhouses and I really enjoy coming here. There’s also going to be the Kyle Larsons that come to Bristol and nothing is going to be acceptable except winning for them, too. “That’s why the competition is tough because there’s five guys, maybe even seven guys that can walk in here this weekend thinking this is our weekend to get a win. We have to fight those guys in order to go out there and get the win for ourselves.” Larson, the points leader, loves his chances. He’s already got one win this season and his front-row starting spot has him certain he can have a strong race. “It’s nice to be the point leader and be starting up front, I always race really well here,” he said. “I just don’t qualify well.”