Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 21, 2017
McCollum scores 28 in Blazers win
By JEFF SKIRVIN
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — If
the first two games are any
indication of the type of team
the Portland Trail Blazers will
be in 2017-18, they’ve put the
rest of the NBA on notice.
Starting its season on the
road, Portland has blown
out its first two opponents
by a combined 68 points,
including Friday night’s easy
win over the Indiana Pacers.
CJ McCollum scored 28
points on 12-of-18 shooting
to lead the Blazers past the
Pacers 114-96.
With Indiana starting
center Myles Turner out with
a concussion, McCollum
teamed with backcourt
mate Damian Lillard to take
advantage of an inexperi-
enced Pacers interior defense.
Lillard did most of his
damage in the paint in the
first half. McCollum picked it
up in the second half, scoring
Portland’s final 12 points of
the third quarter and giving
the Blazers a 91-73 lead.
“Once I see it go in a few
times,” McCollum said, “that
basket gets a little bit bigger
NBA
Portland
Indiana
114
96
for me.”
The Portland pair made
it look easy at times as they
drove to the basket against
rookie T.J. Leaf and second-
year
player
Domantas
Sabonis. Lillard scored 11
of his 18 points in the first
quarter, and the Blazers led
62-52 at halftime.
Evan Turner scored 17
points off the bench, and his
run of eight straight points
in the second quarter helped
the Blazers stay ahead with
Lillard resting. Turner led a
15-3 run that allowed Port-
land to gain control.
Lillard was especially
pleased with Portland’s
defensive effort.
“We knew (the Pacers)
had 140 on opening night,”
he said. “But it’s opening
night, you’re excited, it’s the
first game, you’re on your
home court and a lot of shots
go in. But it’s hard to do that
twice — score 140 points
back-to-back in the NBA. We
came in here ready to guard.”
The Pacers hit seven
of their first nine shots but
finished the first quarter by
making two of their final
12. Leaf and Victor Oladipo
scored 17 points apiece for
the Pacers. Darren Collison
added 14 points.
Oladipo said not having
Turner was a key to Indiana’s
repeated defensive break-
downs.
“It was a little different
today, just because Myles
didn’t play,” Oladipo said. “It
is what it is. We’ll learn from
it and move on.”
BIGGIE’S
HOME-
COMING: Former Purdue
standout Caleb “Biggie”
Swanigan, Portland’s first-
round pick (26th overall),
returned to Indiana in an
NBA uniform for the first
time. Last season’s Big Ten
Player of the Year was intro-
duced to cheers and scored
two points. He had eight
points in Portland’s season-
opening win.
NOT
JUST
A
THROW-IN:
Sabonis,
acquired in the trade that sent
Paul George to Oklahoma
City, earned his first start of
the season. The second-year
player had three points and
eight rebounds in 29 minutes.
He scored 16 points off the
bench in the Pacers’ season-
opening win over Brooklyn.
TIP-INS: Blazers: Port-
land has won eight of its last
10 games against Indiana. ...
McCollum saw his first action
after serving a one-game
suspension for leaving the
bench during the Blazers’
final preseason game.
Pacers: After attempting
34 3-pointers in their season
opener, the Pacers had 18
tries from beyond the arc on
Friday, connecting on just
four. ... The Pacers haven’t
started 2-0 since the 2013-14
season.
UP NEXT: Blazers: Port-
land wraps up its three-game
trip Saturday at Milwaukee.
The Bucks swept the season
series last year against Port-
land.
Pacers: Indiana plays
Saturday at Miami. The
Heat have won their last five
regular-season home games
over the Pacers and 11 of 12
dating to 2010-2011.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum shoots over
Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo during the second
half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Friday.
Oregon offense, UCLA defense: One will solve its problems
By DAN GREENSPAN
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES —
Oregon’s
injury-depleted
offense and UCLA’s battered
defense have to be glad to
be facing one another at the
Rose Bowl on Saturday.
The Ducks have scored
a total of 17 points in two
games since starting quarter-
back Justin Herbert broke his
collarbone. The Bruins have
allowed at least 434 yards in
every game.
One team is going to solve
its struggles. For one week,
anyway.
“That’s the obvious,”
UCLA head coach Jim Mora
said. “How do we fix it?
That’s the job that, you know,
we’re trying to accomplish.”
The issues at UCLA (3-3,
1-2 Pac-12) have centered
PAC-12 FOOTBALL
Oregon
UCLA
Ducks
Bruins
(4-3)
(3-3)
• Saturday, 1 p.m.
• at Rose Bowl, Pasadena
on a run defense that ranks
last among FBS teams in
yards per carry (6.57) and
yards rushing per game
(313). Giving up runs of 10
yards or longer have been
an issue going back to the
season-opening comeback
win against Texas A&M.
Arizona had 11 such plays to
hand UCLA a 47-30 loss last
week, including touchdown
runs of 45 and 71 yards by
quarterback Khalil Tate.
“Our problem is the
explosive runs are just
completely out of control,
unlike anything I’ve ever
seen in my career,” Mora
said. “It kills me. It rips my
guts out.”
Missed tackles have been
frequently cited as a main
cause of those breakdowns,
and it has had an impact on
UCLA’s ability to generate
takeaways.
UCLA has
recovered two fumbles and
intercepted three passes,
and as a longtime defensive
coach Mora understands that
turnovers come from either
pressuring the quarterback
or sound tackling of a ball
carrier.
“Takeaways come in
bunches, but takeaways,
you create takeaways,”
Mora said. “Hell, we’re just
hanging on a lot of times
even trying to make a tackle.”
The absence of Herbert
has
allowed
opposing
defenses to focus their
efforts on stopping the run
and making freshman quar-
terback Braxton Burmeister
do everything for Oregon
(4-3, 1-2). Burmeister is 18
for 35 passing for 178 yards
with one touchdown and four
interceptions in two games as
the starter.
“It’s not that we can’t do
it. We just got to execute and
we can’t beat ourselves,”
Oregon head coach Willie
Taggart said. “We need more
from everyone, coaches and
players.”
Here are some things to
watch for as the Ducks and
Bruins meet for the first time
since 2014:
ROYCE ROLLS: Oregon
senior running back Royce
Freeman needs 140 yards
to pass LaMichael James to
become the school’s leader
in career rushing yards.
Freeman would also pass
James for second place in
Pac-12 history, trailing only
Charles White of Southern
California.
Freeman has rushed for
4,943 yards and 54 touch-
downs at Oregon.
Freeman is also 133
all-purpose yards behind
James for that school record,
while his next touchdown as
a runner or receiver would
break the tie with James
for most touchdowns from
scrimmage by an Oregon
player.
ROSEN REBOUND:
UCLA quarterback Josh
Rosen is coming off his
worst performance of the
season
after
throwing
for 219 yards and three
interceptions against the
Wildcats. Two came in the
red zone, and the third was
returned for a touchdown.
In spite of those struggles,
Mora believes the junior
is finding a better balance
between being aggressive
with the ball and avoiding
unnecessary risks.
“One thing I love about
Josh is that he goes straight
for it. And then you also
have to balance that out with
great decision-making, and
I think he’s really becoming
really good at that,” Mora
said. “I can tell you this, I
would always take a young
man that is aggressive and
has that type of attitude
over somebody that doesn’t
because I think you can
teach them to improve their
decision-making but I don’t
know that you can always
teach competitiveness.”
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