Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Pro Basketball
Jones, Thome, Guerrero, Hoffman
elected to Baseball HOF
NEW YORK (AP) — Chipper Jones, Jim Thome,
Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman have been elected
to the baseball Hall of Fame.
Designated hitter Edgar Martinez came close after
a grass-roots campaign to boost him. Barry Bonds and
Roger Clemens, both tainted by the steroids scandal,
edged up but again fell far short.
Jones and Thome made it 54 players elected in their
first year of eligibility by members of the Baseball
Writers’ Association of America.
Jones was an eight-time All-Star third baseman for
the Atlanta Braves. Thome hit 612 home runs, putting
him eighth on the career list, and played mostly for the
Cleveland Indians.
Guerrero was elected in his second try. The nine-time
All-Star slugger played half his career with the Montreal
Expos.
Hoffman was chosen in his third year. The former San
Diego Padres closer had 601 saves, second all-time to
Mariano Rivera’s 652.
The Hall announced the voting results Wednesday.
The four new members will be inducted on July 29 in
Cooperstown, New York.
BMCC doubleheader in Spokane
The Blue Mountain men’s and women’s basketball
teams traveled to Spokane on Wednesday, where both of
the team’s skids continued.
The women were up first, and dropped its game to the
host school 78-52. The Timberwolves couldn’t score more
than 15 points in each of the four quarters and move their
record to 1-17 overall and 0-7 in the conference.
The men also had trouble keeping up with Spokane,
losing its game 107-73. Spokane was up 58-32 at the half
and ending reaching the century mark. The Timberwolves
fall to 3-14 overall and 0-7 in NWAC.
The teams will host a doubleheader Wednesday, when
Blue Mountain welcomes Treasure Valley. The women’s
game will begin at 6 p.m., and the men will follow at 8
p.m.
Comcast hopes for a TV windfall from
Super Bowl, Olympics
NEW YORK (AP) — Comcast’s NBC is airing both
the Super Bowl and the Olympics in February, a double-
whammy sports extravaganza that the company expects
to yield $1.4 billion in ad sales, helping it justify the hefty
price it’s paying for both events.
NBC is banking heavily on these sports events since
traditional TV ratings have slumped in recent years.
Live sports are marquee TV events that draw most of
the largest TV audiences, but even those ratings have
declined. More Americans are dumping their cable
packages — Comcast lost 33,000 video customers in
the fourth quarter and 151,000 for all of 2017 — and
advertisers are following consumers to their phones.
Hot shooting Blazers beat Timberwolves
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
PORTLAND — Damian
Lillard had 31 points a day
after getting his third All-Star
nod and the Portland Trail
Blazers beat the Minnesota
Timberwolves 123-114 on
Wednesday night.
CJ McCollum added 28
points
in
P o r t l a n d ’s
NBA
seventh
straight win
at
home,
longest streak Minnesota
of the season.
Lillard made
six 3-pointers
and
the
Blazers had
Portland
17 3s in the
game, one
shy of their
season high.
Andrew Wiggins had 24
points for the Timberwolves,
who had won seven of their
last nine games but trailed by
19 points during the fourth
quarter.
Lillard was named as an
All-Star reserve Tuesday. He
spoke to reporters before the
game about making the team
after being snubbed in past
years.
“It’s not my first All-Star
game. But I did have to make
this one happen. Everybody
knows that the last two years
I felt like I should have made
it and I didn’t. But I just had
to keep on playing, stay with
it and stay positive,” he said.
Minnesota didn’t have
Jimmy Butler, who missed
a third straight game with a
sore right knee. Jamal Craw-
ford returned after missing
two games with a strained
big toe on his left foot.
The Timberwolves were
coming off a 126-118 victory
over the Clippers in Los
Angeles on Monday night.
Wiggins scored a season-high
40 points in the win that
114
123
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
TOP: Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu
shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves forward Taj Gib-
son during an NBA basketball game in Portland on
Wednesday. BELOW: Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ
McCollum, center, shoots in front of Minnesota Tim-
berwolves forward Andrew Wiggins, left, and center
Karl-Anthony Towns
snapped a four-game road skid.
The Trail Blazers lost
104-101 in Denver on
Tuesday, snapping a three-
game winning streak.
Minnesota led by eight
points early, but Lillard’s
3-pointer got the Blazers
within 27-25 late in the
opening quarter. Portland
finally caught up with the
Timberwolves at the end of
the half, pulling into a 54-all
tie after Al-Farouq Aminu’s
3-pointer and a pair of free
throws from Lillard.
Lillard and Aminu each
hit 3-pointers to push Port-
land’s lead to 63-60. Aminu’s
dunk extended it to 76-68
midway through the third
quarter. Lillard’s two 3s put
the Blazers up 88-74.
The Timberwolves won
the first two meetings of this
season’s series, both at home.
TIP INS: Timberwolves:
With a 3-pointer and free
throw in the second quarter,
Crawford added to his career
four-point play total with 52,
an ongoing NBA record. ...
Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler
and Karl-Anthony Towns
were also named reserves.
Trail Blazers: Portland has
won 11 of its last 12 games
against the Timberwolves
at the Moda Center. ... Jusuf
Nurkic sustained a left elbow
contusion but returned. ...
Lillard was also the Western
Conference player of the week.
WHAT RUSS SAID:
Lillard also addressed Russell
Westbrook’s
comment
Tuesday night that players
are “Talking about getting
snubbed until they get in.”
Some thought the comments
were directed at Lillard.
“Because he’s played
against me, he’s played against
our team, he knows what I’ve
accomplished,” Lillard said.
“Not just this year, but over
my career. So it was a little bit
disappointing, but I know that
I earned my spot this year.”
Australian Open
Federer advances to Australian Open semifinals, faces Chung
By JOHN PYE
Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia
— Roger Federer accounted
for a long-time rival to set up
a semifinal against Next Gen
champion Hyeon Chung at
the Australian Open.
Defending
champion
Federer’s 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 win
over Tomas Berdych on
Wednesday night extended
his winning streak to 14 in
Australian Open quarter-
finals and to nine in that
personal duel. The 19-time
major winner leads that
head-to-head contest 20-6,
including all five meetings at
Melbourne Park.
The 36-year-old Swiss
star overcame a shaky start,
dropping his opening service
game and uncharacteristi-
cally challenging the chair
umpire because of a techno-
logical fault.
“I had to get a bit lucky.
A bit angry. A bit frustrated
maybe at the umpire,”
Federer said. “Anyway, glad
to get out of that first set. It
was key to the match.
“That first set could have
gone either way. He deserved
it, actually. I stole that one a
little bit.”
AP Photo/Dita Alangkara
Switzerland’s Roger Federer celebrates after defeating
Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in their quarter-
final at the Australian Open tennis championships in
Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday.
Chung became the first
Korean to make a Grand
Slam tennis semifinal when
he beat No. 97-ranked Tennys
Sandgren 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in
the afternoon match on Rod
Laver Arena.
The 21-year-old Chung
hadn’t let up when upsetting
No. 4 Alexander Zverev or
six-time Australian Open
champion Novak Djokovic
en route to the quarterfinals,
but he let his guard down in
the last game and needed six
match points and to fend off
two break points to hold off
Sandgren.
“In last game, I think at
40-love ... if I win one more
point, I make history in
Korea. I have to think about
the ceremony, something,”
he said, explaining how he
got slightly ahead of himself.
“After deuce, break point. I
was like, no, nothing to do
with ceremony. But just keep
playing — keep focused.”
Then he fully embraced
the moment, joking in an
on-court TV interview,
introducing the audience to
his parents and his coach,
and taking the microphone to
speak in Korean to millions
of new tennis fans back
home.
“I think all the people is
watching Australian Open
now because we make
history in Korea,” he said.
The
No.
58-ranked
Chung is the lowest-ranked
man to reach the Australian
Open semifinals since Marat
Safin in 2004. He’s also the
youngest to reach the last
four at a major since Marin
Cilic did it here in 2010.
With Chung already
through, and Kyle Edmund
playing No. 6 Cilic in the
other half of the draw, it’s
the first time since 1999 that
multiple unseeded players
have reached the Australian
Open semifinals.
Federer said he has been
impressed with the way the
two unseeded players have
progressed,
particularly
Chung’s run.
“To beat Novak on this
court is particularly difficult.
... He’s incredibly impressive
in his movement, reminds me
obviously a lot of Novak,”
Federer said. “He’s clearly
got nothing to lose. I will tell
myself the same and we’ll
see what happens.”
Chung’s big wins over
Zverev and Djokovic have
drawn extra attention to a
player who last November
won the inaugural Next Gen
ATP Finals title.
He was too consistent
for Sandgren, a 26-year-old
American who had never
won a match at a Grand Slam
tournament or beaten a top
10 player until last week.
Sandgren’s unexpected
surge to the quarterfinals
— he beat 2014 champion
Stan Wawrinka and No. 5
Dominic Thiem en route to
the quarterfinals — was over-
shadowed by heavy scrutiny
of his Twitter account and
his follows and retweets of
far-right activists.
Two women who’ve been
to this stage at a Grand Slam
before will meet in the last
four. One has two major
titles, the other still seeks a
breakthrough. Top-ranked
Simona Halep recovered
from an early break to win
nine straight games in a 6-3,
6-2 win over No. 6 Karolina
Pliskova and set up a semi-
final match Thursday against
2016 champion Angelique
Kerber, who routed U.S.
Open finalist Madison Keys
6-1, 6-2.
In the other semifinal,
No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki
will play 22-year-old Elise
Mertens.
Kerber has been the
only Grand Slam singles
champion in the women’s
draw since her third-round
win over Maria Sharapova.
Two-time French Open
finalist Halep has had a
tougher road — having
to save match points in a
third-round win over Lauren
Davis that finished 15-13
in the third — to reach the
semifinals at Melbourne Park
for the first time.
Kerber has had no serious
distractions on a 14-match
winning streak, and is hoping
to emulate her breakout year
in 2016.
She won the Australian
and U.S. Open titles two
years ago and reached the
No. 1 ranking, but slipped
into the 20s last year. She
didn’t win a title between
the 2016 U.S. Open and the
Sydney International earlier
this month.
“I am just trying to find
the feeling back that I had,
like 2016, and just enjoying
my time,” Kerber said.
SCOREBOARD
Local slate
PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Thursday
Umatilla at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Stanfield at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
Culver at Weston-McEwen, 6 p.m.
The Dalles at Pendleton, 7 p.m.
Hermiston at Hood River Valley, 7 p.m.
Pine Eagle at Echo, 7 p.m.
Wallowa at Helix, 7 p.m.
Nyssa at Burns, 7:30 p.m.
Riverside at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m.
Condon/Wheeler at South Wasco County,
7:30 p.m.
Ione at Arlington, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Cover, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Dufur at Ione, 4 p.m.
McLoughlin at Baker, 4:30 p.m.
Echo at Joseph, 5 p.m.
Culver at Pilot Rock, 5:30 p.m.
Heppner at Stanfield, 5:30 p.m.
Arlington at Horizon Christian-Hood River,
5:30 p.m.
Mitchell/Spray at Condon/Wheeler, 5:30
p.m.
Cove at Helix, 5:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Powder Valley, 5:30 p.m.
PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL
Thursday
Umatilla at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Friday
Wallowa at Helix, 3 p.m.
Pine Eagle at Echo, 5:30 p.m.
Nyssa at Burns, 6 p.m.
Riverside at Umatilla, 6 p.m.
Ione at Arlington, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Cove, 6 p.m.
Hood River Valley at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Pendleton at The Dalles, 7 p.m.
Stanfield at Pilot Rock, 7:30 p.m.
Culver at Weston-McEwen, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Dufur at Ione, 2:30 p.m.
McLoughlin at Baker, 3 p.m.
Culver at Pilot Rock. 4 p.m.
Heppner at Stanfield, 4 p.m.
Mitchell/Spray at Condon/Wheeler 4 p.m.
Arlington at Horizon Christian-Hood River,
4 p.m.
Cove at Helix, 4 p.m.
Echo at Joseph, 4 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Powder Valley, 4 p.m.
PREP WRESTLING
Friday
Mac-Hi, Ontario, La Grande at Mac-Hi,
TBD
Saturday
Echo at New Plymouth Invite (ID), TBD
Heppner at Pine Eagle Invitational, TBD
Hermiston, Irrigon, Riverside at Hermis-
ton, TBD
PREP SWIMMING
Saturday
Hermiston, Pendleton at La Grande, TBD
COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
Saturday
BMCC at North Idaho College, 4 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Saturday
BMCC at North Idaho College, 2 p.m.
COLLEGE WRESTLING
Friday
EOU vs. North Idaho, 7 p.m.
Saturday
EOU Women’s Team vs. Grays Harbor
C.C., 1 p.m.
Football
NFL
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday
New England 24, Jacksonville 20
Philadelphia 38, Minnesota 7
PRO BOWL
Sunday
AFC vs. NFC, 1 p.m. (ESPN/ABC)
SUPER BOWL
Sunday, Feb. 4
New England vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m.
(NBC)
Basketball
NBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W
L Pct
Boston
35 14 .714
Toronto
32 14 .696
Philadelphia
23 21 .523
New York
21 27 .438
Brooklyn
18 30 .375
Southeast Division
W
L Pct
Miami
27 20 .574
Washington
26 21 .553
Charlotte
19 27 .413
Atlanta
14 33 .298
Orlando
14 33 .298
Central Division
W
L Pct
Cleveland
27 19 .587
Indiana
26 22 .542
Milwaukee
24 22 .522
Detroit
22 24 .478
Chicago
18 30 .375
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Southwest Division
W
L Pct
Houston
34 12 .739
San Antonio
32 18 .640
New Orleans
26 21 .553
Memphis
17 30 .362
Dallas
16 32 .333
Northwest Division
W
L Pct
Minnesota
31 19 .620
Oklahoma City
27 20 .574
Portland
26 22 .542
Denver
24 23 .511
Utah
20 28 .417
Pacific Division
W
L Pct
Golden State
38 10 .792
L.A. Clippers
23 24 .489
L.A. Lakers
18 29 .383
Phoenix
17 31 .354
GB
—
1½
9½
13½
16½
GB
—
1
7½
13
13
GB
—
2
3
5
10
GB
—
4
8½
17½
19
GB
—
2½
4
5½
10
GB
—
14½
19½
21
Sacramento
14 33 .298 23½
———
Wednesday’s Games
Indiana 116, Phoenix 101
New Orleans 101, Charlotte 96
Philadelphia 115, Chicago 101
Utah 98, Detroit 95, OT
Toronto 108, Atlanta 93
Houston 104, Dallas 97
San Antonio 108, Memphis 85
Portland 123, Minnesota 114
Boston 113, L.A. Clippers 102
Thursday’s Games
Sacramento at Miami, 4:30 p.m.
Washington at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.
New York at Denver, 6 p.m.
Minnesota at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.
NCAA Men’s Basketball
Top 25 Schedule
Wednesday
No. 8 Xavier 89, Marquette 70
South Carolina 77, No. 20 Florida 72
No. 24 URI 78, Fordham 58
No. 19 Auburn 91, Missouri 73
No. 9 Cincinnati 75, Temple 42
Wyoming 104, No. 23 Nevada 103
Thursday
No. 25 Michigan at No. 3 Purdue, 4 p.m.
(ESPN)
Penn State at No. 13 OSU, 5 p.m. (BTN)
Colorado at No. 11 Arizona, 5:30 p.m.
(FS1)
UCF at No. 17 Wichita State, 6 p.m.
(ESPN2)
Utah at No. 21 Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.
(PAC12)
BYU at No. 16 Saint Mary’s, 8 p.m.
(ESPN2)
No. 15 Gonzaga at Portland, 8 p.m.
(ESPNU)
Pac-12 Schedule
Wednesday
USC 69, Stanford 64
Thursday
Colorado at No. 11 Arizona, 5:30 p.m.
(FS1)
Utah at No. 21 Arizona State, 6:30 p.m.
(PAC12)
Cal at UCLA, 7:30 p.m. (FS1)
NCAA Women’s Basketball
Top 25 Schedule
Wednesday
No. 1 UConn 93, Memphis 36
No. 20 West Virginia 82, Texas Tech 52
No. 24 TCU 68, Kansas State 63
Iowa State 78, No. 19 Oklahoma State 69
Thursday
No. 4 Louisville at Miami, 8 a.m. (ACCNE)
Arkansas at No. 9 South Carolina, 3:30
p.m. (SECN)
No. 11 Missouri at No. 21 Georgia, 4 p.m.
(SECN+)
Ole Miss at No. 10 Tennessee, 4 p.m.
(SECN+)
No. 6 Texas at No. 3 Baylor, 4 p.m.
(ESPN2)
Boston College at No. 18 Duke, 4 p.m.
(ACCNE)
No. 5 Notre Dame at Pitt, 4 p.m. (ACCNE)
No. 12 OSU at Iowa, 5 p.m.
No. 14 Maryland at Northwestern, 5 p.m.
Flordia at No. 2 Miss. State, 5 :30 p.m.
(SECN)
Pac-12 Schedule
Wednesday-Thursday
No games scheduled.
Hockey
NHL
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
GP W
L OT
Tampa Bay 48 33 12
3
Boston
46 28 10
8
Toronto
50 27 18
5
Detroit
47 19 20
8
Montreal
48 20 22
6
Florida
46 19 21
6
Ottawa
46 15 22
9
Buffalo
48 13 26
9
Metropolitan Division
GP W
L OT
Washington 48 28 15
5
Pts
69
64
59
46
46
44
39
35
GF GA
170 124
153 114
158 145
125 141
124 150
130 154
122 163
110 163
Pts GF GA
61 146 136
New Jersey 47 24 15
8 56 144 143
Philadelphia 48 24 16
8 56 140 136
Columbus 48 26 19
3 55 129 136
Pittsburgh 50 26 21
3 55 145 150
N.Y. Rangers 49 24 20
5 53 147 146
N.Y. Islanders 49 24 20
5 53 170 179
Carolina
48 21 19
8 50 131 149
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Winnipeg 49 29 13
7 65 161 132
Nashville
46 28 11
7 63 142 123
St. Louis
50 29 18
3 61 145 129
Dallas
49 28 17
4 60 154 130
Colorado
47 27 17
3 57 156 136
Minnesota 48 26 17
5 57 141 134
Chicago
48 22 19
7 51 141 135
Pacific Division
GP W
L OT Pts GF GA
Vegas
47 32 11
4 68 163 126
San Jose
47 26 14
7 59 138 127
Calgary
48 25 16
7 57 134 131
Los Angeles 49 26 18
5 57 139 121
Anaheim
49 23 17
9 55 137 138
Edmonton 48 21 24
3 45 131 154
Vancouver 48 19 23
6 44 127 155
Arizona
49 12 28
9 33 117 170
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for
overtime loss.
———
Wednesday’s Games
Toronto 3, Chicago 2, OT
Los Angeles 2, Calgary 1, OT
Thursday’s Games
Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.
Minnesota at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m.
Nashville at New Jersey, 4 p.m.
Boston at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m.
Chicago at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Washington at Florida, 4:30 p.m.
Carolina at Montreal, 4:30 p.m.
Colorado at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Toronto at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
Columbus at Arizona, 6 p.m.
Calgary at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
Buffalo at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Vegas, 7 p.m.
Winnipeg at Anaheim, 7 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.