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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2017)
SPORTS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS NBA PENDLETON Portland burns Phoenix Pendleton facing biggest game yet Bucks need win to keep playoff hopes alive By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian AP Photo/Matt York Portland Trail Blazers guard Evan Turner (1) points after a basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns, Wednesday in Phoenix. Trail Blazers hand Suns worst loss ever in season opener By BOB BAUM Associated Press PHOENIX — If the Phoenix Suns were a Broadway show, they’d close for good after opening night. The Suns weren’t just bad in their 124-76 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in their season opener on Wednesday night. They were historically awful. It was the most one-sided season-opening loss by any team in NBA history and the most one-sided loss by the Suns in any game in their 49 years. Suns coach Earl Watson said NBA Opening Night Portland Phoenix 124 76 he was “embarrassed” by what happened. “Portland came in here and basically kicked our butts as bad as they could,” Watson said. “They didn’t have no sympathy.” Damian Lillard scored 27 points and Pat Connaughton added a career-high 24 points, making 4 of 6 3-pointers for Portland. The Trail Blazers outshot, outrebounded and outhustled the Suns from the opening tip. Portland tied the second- largest margin of victory in franchise history. Only a 50-point win against Cleveland (129-79) on Nov. 21, 1982 was larger. “The obvious statement is we played really well,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. The 48-point rout exceeded Denver’s 139-93 (46-point) victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on opening day in 1987. The blowout also topped Phoenix’s 44-point loss to Seattle (151-107) on April 2, 1988. “It’s going to be hard for me to sleep tonight,” the Suns’ Devon Booker said. The Blazers dominated even though they were without one of their best players, guard C.J. McCollum, who was suspended one game for leaving the bench area during a tussle involving the Suns’ Alex Len and Caleb Swanigan in a preseason game a week ago. “That was a great way to start the season,” Stotts said. “I was really pleased with our defense See BLAZERS/3B MLB PLAYOFFS Cubs hit three home runs to stay alive in NLCS By JAY COHEN Associated Press CHICAGO — Alex Wood fi nally returned to the mound Wednesday night. A familiar problem followed him all the way to Game 4 of the NL Champion- ship Series. Wood surrendered three homers in his fi rst start in three weeks, and the Los Angeles Dodgers lost for the fi rst time in this year’s play- offs, falling 3-2 to Jake Arrieta and the Chicago Cubs. “For not pitching in three weeks, I thought he was sharp, competed, and gave us a chance to win,” manager Dave Roberts said. The 26-year-old Wood, who had a career-high 16 wins this season, was lined up for Game 4 of the NLDS, but Los Angeles NLCS - Game 4 Los Angeles Chicago 1 3 swept Arizona in three games. The Dodgers then took the fi rst three against the Cubs, giving the left-hander a chance to pitch the franchise into its fi rst World Series since it won the championship in 1988. He retired the side in order in the fi rst inning, but he made a couple of costly mistakes in the second. After Anthony Rizzo struck out swinging, Willson Contreras drove Wood’s next pitch off the See PLAYOFFS/3B AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast Chicago Cubs’ Javier Baez watches his home run during the second inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday in Chicago. The atmosphere at Pendleton’s midweek football practices this season has normally been lively and busi- ness-like. However, this week it has a different feel. There is more focus, more deter- Football mination, and less procrastination. The Buckaroos know what is at stake this week and know the Pendleton kind of preparation Buckaroos (4-3, 3-2) that needs to happen to be at their best come Friday night when they travel Bend to Central Oregon Lava Bears to take on a tough (5-2, 4-1) Bend squad. • Friday, 7 p.m. “The biggest • at Bend HS focus this week is everything counts,” senior quarterback Nick Bower said at practice on Wednesday. “Every play, every quarter, every snap, every throw, literally everything matters, so we’re just trying to make everything magni- See BUCKS/2B HERMISTON Bulldogs aim to send seniors out with a bang Hermiston hosts Redmond for home fi nale By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian It’s been nearly fi ve weeks since the Hermiston’s last loss. But the 21-point defeat to open league play didn’t bring the Bulldogs down. It did the opposite, and they haven’t played the same since. The winning streak continued after Hermiston was able to Football edge out Bend 35-32 on homecoming night. The winning drive ended with a 27-yard Redmond touchdown pass from Panthers (1-6, 1-4) junior Andrew James to senior Dayshawn Neal. It was fi tting, seeing as how the duo’s Hermiston connected 45 times Bulldogs this season and Neal (5-2, 4-1) has accounted for 10 • Fri., 7 p.m. of James’ 14 passing • at Kennison touchdowns. It’s James’ second Field year starting for the Bulldogs (5-2 overall, 4-1 Special District 1), and his job has been a whole lot easier with the talented senior class — which will be See BULLDOGS/2B Sports shorts Harden, Houston spoil another opener, win 105-100 at Kings SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Beginning the season with a tough back-to-back in Northern California hardly made for an easy start, and Houston is an impressive 2-0. James Harden had 27 points and nine assists, and the Rockets made it a perfect two-game road trip despite playing this one without Paul, beating the Sacramento Kings 105-100 on Wednesday night to spoil another home team’s Harden opener. While he didn’t shoot especially well, Harden hit a trio of dagger 3-pointers with 8:13, 6:00 and 5:13 left — the second of which put Houston ahead 89-79. He also had a key left-handed layup late and fi nished 8 for 21 and 4 of 14 from 3-point range. “I’m going to be all right. It’s hurting me that I can’t be there for the home opener. I want nothing more than to be with my teammates and walk out on that fl oor tonight. But I’ll be supporting you guys from here, and wishing you the best of luck.”“ — Gordon Hayward Celtics forward sent a video mes- sage from his hospital bed before heading into surgery on Wednes- day night — the same night as the team’s home opener Dallas’ AT&T Stadium to host 2018 NFL Draft NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL draft is headed for Dallas. Well, for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which the Cowboys call home. It’s the fi rst time the draft will happen in an NFL stadium. The Cowboys will host the 2018 draft from April 28-30. Virtually every NFL city, plus the Pro Football Hall of Fame site in Canton, Ohio, has expressed interest in holding the draft now that the league moves it around. After decades in New York, the draft was moved to Chicago in 2015 and was held there again in 2016. It drew huge crowds, whetting the NFL’s appetite for taking bids to host it. Last year, the draft was in Philadelphia at the iconic Art Museum steps. It drew 250,000 fans for the fi rst draft held outdoors. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1994 — Duke beats North Carolina 3-2 in women’s soccer to end the Tar Heels’ unbeaten streak of 101 games. 2003 — Isaac Bruce becomes the 18th player in NFL history to top 10,000 yards receiving, catching nine passes for 129 yards as St. Louis beat Green Bay 34-24. 2012 — The National Hockey League announces the cancellation of the 2012-13 regular-season schedule through November 1. A total of 135 regu- lar-season games are now lost from Oct. 11 through Nov. 1. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
