SPORTS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017
1B
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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