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.”