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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Tuesday, May 8, 2018 James, Cavs sweep Raptors to make conference finals By TOM WITHERS Associated Press CLEVELAND — Order has been restored for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Four games with Toronto straightened them out. LeBron James sent the Rap- tors into summer vacation for the third straight season as the Cavs completed another series sweep over the East’s top team with a 128-93 win in Game 4 on Monday night to advance to the conference finals for the fourth consecutive year. James finished with 29 points, 11 assists and spent some of the final 7:38 dancing near the bench during Cleve- land’s 10th straight playoff win over Toronto, which changed its system, its roster and its approach but still can’t beat the game’s best player. Pushed to the max for seven games by Indiana in the first round, the Cavs took care of Toronto quickly. “It was a great series for us,” James said. “We had a lot of challenges to start the series knowing the domination they had in the regular season. We had a great game plan and we just tried to execute it.” Kevin Love added 23 points and J.R. Smith 15 for the Cavs, who can now rest while wait- ing for the Boston-Philadel- phia semifinal series to end. Jonas Valanciunas scored 18 and Kyle Lowry had 10 assists to lead the exasperated Rap- tors. Toronto’s frustration hit its peak late in the third when All-Star DeMar DeRozan was ejected for a flagrant foul. Cleveland will be appearing in its fourth straight conference final despite a turbulent regular season and a bumpy start to the playoffs. The Cavs didn’t stumble and had one of their best all- around games of these play- offs after so many tight ones. Caps drop Penguins in OT, conference finals are next By WILL GRAVES Associated Press AP Photo/Tony Dejak Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (23) strips the ball from Toronto Raptors’ Serge Ibaka in the first half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series, Monday, May 7, 2018, in Cleveland. They won Games 1 and 3 over Toronto by a combined three points, needing a buzzer-beater to outlast the Raptors on Satur- day night. There was no need for such heroics and for a change, James, who came in averag- ing 41.7 minutes per game in the postseason, had plenty of help. All five Cleveland start- ers scored in double figures and Love continued his spring rebirth after struggling against the physical Pacers. The contributions from Cleveland’s supporting cast came two days after “Satur- day Night Live” poked fun at the team in a skit entitled “The Other Cavaliers,” which didn’t air but went viral on social media. “From Game 1, they were wonderful,” James said of his teammates. “I was horrible in Game 1 and they picked it up for me. So I tried to follow their lead going into Game 2 and all the way through Game 4.” Cleveland took control with a 12-0 run over the final 2:12 of the first half. The Cavs didn’t let up, pushing their lead to 30 as their fans finally got a chance to relax and start mak- ing plans for the next round. It’s back to the drawing board for Toronto. The Raptors had the league’s second-best record, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, a deeper bench and in Lowry and DeRozan enough firepower to offset James. But after blowing a big lead and giving away Game 1 on their home floor, the Raptors never recovered and now face an offseason full of questions and second-guessing. “We had a heck of a sea- son,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. “But there’s a different level and you saw it tonight. Everybody called Cleveland out. But as long as they have him (James) they have a chance.” PHILADELPHIA 103, BOSTON 92 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — T.J. McConnell turned a sur- prise start into the save of the season and Dario Saric scored 25 points to help the Philadel- phia 76ers stave off elimina- tion in a 103-92 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 on Monday night. The Sixers still face daunt- ing odds headed into Game 5 and trailing 3-1 in the East- ern Conference semifinals: No NBA team has ever won a series down 3-0. McConnell had a career- high 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists in only his second start of the season and meshed well in the back- court with Ben Simmons. Joel Embiid had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Simmons had 19 points and 13 boards. Jayson Tatum led the Celt- ics with 20 points and Marcus Morris had 17. Game 5 is Wednesday at Boston. PITTSBURGH — A cathartic celebration 20 years in the making began with a poke of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s stick. It built as the puck that Kuznetsov tapped away from Sidney Crosby made its way to Washington Capitals teammate Alexander Ovechkin. It neared its crescendo as Ovechkin flipped it back to Kuznetsov, who at this point had split two Penguins and was streaking toward the Pittsburgh net. And it culminated jubi- lantly and unexpectedly in the corner moments later, with the puck in the net and Kuznetsov’s teammates mobbing him after he ended two decades of frustration with a flick of the Rus- sian’s wrist. The ghosts of past playoff failures, many of them at the hands of the Penguins, were gone. Dispatched over the course of six games of grit and guile, the last a 2-1 overtime win in Game 6 on Monday night that gave Washing- ton a 4-2 series victory and a spot in the East- ern Conference finals against Tampa Bay. “It’s pretty emotional,” Kuznetsov said after his seventh goal of the playoffs 5:27 into overtime pushed the Capitals into the NHL’s final four for just the third time in franchise history. “I don’t really have a word for it.” Maybe because there aren’t many that can accurately describe the anguish Washington has felt during much of the Ovechkin Era, one filled with postseason failure after postseason failure, many of them coming with the team on the precipice of a breakthrough. Only this time they didn’t crumble. Even with Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky out. Even with a hand- ful of rookies — including Australian Nate Walker — thrust into the lineup. Even on the road against a two-time defending champion with a special knack for torment. “Again, it doesn’t matter what happened (before),” Ovechkin said. “We have to stick together. We knew it was there we just had to battle and we just had to fight through it.” Alex Chiasson scored Washington’s only goal of regulation, a shot from the right circle that gave the Capitals the lead in the second period. Braden Holtby, benched at the start of the playoffs, stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced and received a dash of luck when Pitts- burgh’s Tom Kuhnhackl hit the far post early in the extra period. RACETRACK:Races held every other Saturday night now instead of weekly Continued from 1B start in the sport in the late 1970s when he started driv- ing at the age of 16. Over the course of his career, which he ended in 2006, Walden raced at Hermiston several times. He got into the sport through his father Wayne Walden, who also drove race cars at an early age. Wayne was a businessman that “was always looking for ways to make money,” Greg said, and partnered with three other individuals to take on their hometown Tri-City Raceway when it became available in 1982. Within three years, Wayne became the sole operator of the track. And along with business acu- men and a passion for rac- ing, he developed a knack for promotion and grew the fast half-mile track into a popular one in the Northwest. Greg was in line to take over what had become the family business until the track was sold in 1998. Greg and his family then started a screenprinting and embroi- dery business in Kenne- wick that year, and he used his business as a reason to remain involved at race- tracks in the region, selling souvenir T-shirts at many of them. Being around the track each summer while hold- ing onto his passion for the sport, Greg knew he wanted to get back into track opera- tions. He just had to wait for an opportunity. In only four months oper- ating the Hermiston Race- way, Walden has already made plenty of upgrades to the track that benefit both drivers and fans. Most sig- nificantly, more than $12,000 was spent on fixing the wooden grandstands and making them safe for spec- tators. Upgrades were also made to lighting on the con- course and in the pits, to make the experience better for race teams. Walden has also revamped the racing schedule at the track. Races are held every other Saturday night now instead of weekly, in hopes of attracting more cars each night to create a better prod- uct. He also aims to keep the races moving quickly, limit- ing the downtime and creat- ing constant action. Pre-race qualifying was eliminated, and the races will line up based on points stand- ings. And trophy dashes are replaced with heat races prior to the main events. “As long as it’s enter- taining and fast-paced,” Walden said. “We’re a form of entertainment, and if we think we’re just in the rac- ing business, then it doesn’t work. We’re in the entertain- ment business, it’s got to be exciting. We want to deliver a good program for the fans and racers, and with that we’re able to sell it to busi- nesses to bring their people out.” Hermiston Raceway has been open for two races now following Saturday’s West Coast Late Model Series headliner, and Walden is impressed with the early results. The attendance has been solid, with the grand- stands being nearly at capac- ity on Saturday. And the few dozen cars competing has made for good entertainment for the fans. Walden also credits numerous track employ- ees — from pit crew to the flagger to the scorers — that remained from previous regimes as a big part of the early success, too. “The team I inherited want to see it thrive,” Walden said. “They want to be proud of the place where they spend their time and that’s important.” Racing returns to Herm- iston on May 19 with North- west Pro 4 Alliance stock cars, as well as the typical late models, street stocks, super mini and mini stocks, legends, bombers and hornet classes. “I’m just excited there’s hope,” Walden said. “Last night we camped in Herm- iston, in my motorhome at (former) Umatilla Speedway and I told my wife, ‘How in the world did I end up here running this race track?’ I never thought that, but it came available and some- body had to so why not me?” Sunday’s Games Seattle at Portland, 1 p.m. Atlanta United FC at Orlando City, 3 p.m. New York City FC at Los Angeles FC, 5:30 p.m. 20. (16) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 398. 21. (28) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 397. 22. (29) Michael McDowell, Ford, 397. 23. (15) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 397. 24. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 396. 25. (26) Darrell Wallace Jr., Chevrolet, 396. 26. (27) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 395. 27. (32) David Ragan, Ford, 395. 28. (31) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 393. 29. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 392. 30. (35) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 386. 31. (33) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 385. 32. (34) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 382. 33. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 377. 34. (20) Paul Menard, Ford, 354. 35. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Drivetrain, 271. 36. (37) Cody Ware, Chevy, Accident, 244. 37. (36) Derrike Cope, Chevy, Accident, 144. 38. (38) Corey LaJoie, Chevy, Engine, 20. SCOREBOARD Local slate PREP BASEBALL Tuesday Pilot Rock at Elgin (DH), 1 p.m. Union at Weston-McEwen (DH), 1 p.m. Irrigon at Mac-Hi, 4 p.m. Riverside at Dufur, 4 p.m. Hood River at Pendleton, 4:30 p.m. Hermiston at The Dalles, 4:30 p.m. Friday Stanfield at Vale (DH), 1 p.m. Irrigon at Riverside (DH), 1 p.m. Pendleton at Hermiston, 4:30 p.m. PREP SOFTBALL Tuesday Irrigon at Heppner, 4 p.m. Riverside at Weston-McEwen, 4 p.m. Hood River at Pendleton, 4:30 p.m. Hermiston at The Dalles, 4:30 p.m. Thursday Weston-McEwen at Echo (DH), 3 p.m. Riverside at Hermiston JV, 4:30 p.m. Friday Irrigon at Umatilla (DH), 1 p.m. Pendleton at Hermiston, 4:30 p.m. PREP TRACK & FIELD Wednesday Pendleton, Hermiston at CRC Districts (Hermiston), 4 p.m. Thursday Pendleton, Hermiston at CRC Districts (Hermiston), 4 p.m. Friday Weston-McEwen, Stanfield, Pilot Rock, Heppner at Districts (Athena), 11 a.m. Umatilla, Irrigon, Riverside at EOL Dis- tricts (Umatilla) PREP GOLF Tuesday Heppner, Nixyaawii at districts (Pendleton CC), 8 a.m. Pendleton, Hermiston (girls) at Districts (Sunriver), all day Pendleton, Hermiston (boys) at Districts (Emerald Valley GC), all day Mac-Hi at districts, 10 a.m. PREP TENNIS Friday Hermiston, Pendleton (boys) at districts (Hermiston), 8 a.m. Mac-Hi, Umatilla, Riverside, Weston-McE- wen, Stanfield, Ione, Helix at districts (Kennewick), 9 a.m. Hermiston, Pendleton (girls) at districts (Bend), 10 a.m. Saturday Hermiston, Pendleton (boys) at districts (Hermiston), 8 a.m. Mac-Hi, Umatilla, Riverside, Weston-McE- wen, Stanfield, Ione, Helix at districts (Kennewick), 9 a.m. Hermiston, Pendleton (girls) at districts (Bend), 10 a.m. COLLEGE BASEBALL Wednesday BMCC at Treasure Valley CC (DH), 1 p.m. Saturday Big Bend at BMCC (DH), 1 p.m. COLLEGE SOFTBALL Friday BMCC at Columbia Basin (DH), 2 p.m. Prep Standings Through May 2 PREP BASEBALL 5A COLUMBIA RIVER CONFERENCE LG Ovr RS RA Rnk Pendleton 8-2 14-8 164 110 5 Hood River 7-3 13-10 134 110 11 Hermiston 3-7 7-15 92 151 21 The Dalles 2-8 5-16 72 179 24 4A GREATER OREGON LEAGUE Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk La Grande 10-0 16-2 164 46 3 Ontario 6-4 13-9 174 98 10 Baker 4-6 9-12 112 146 26 Mac-Hi 0-10 6-14 87 180 32 3A EASTERN OREGON LEAGUE Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk Stanfield 11-1 18-5 273 150 3 Vale 9-2 13-7 190 113 8 Joseph 7-3 14-5 173 84 5 Irrigon 7-5 12-8 151 137 13 Burns 5-5 7-12 135 162 15 Umatilla 3-9 7-10 126 135 27 Riverside 2-10 6-15 133 220 28 Nyssa 1-10 1-22 50 320 32 2A/1A SPECIAL DISTRICT 6 Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk Sherman 9-0 14-2 175 62 6 Pilot Rock 9-1 14-2 154 39 5 Grant Union 7-5 12-11 158 108 18 Culver 6-3 10-7 122 88 10 Elgin 6-4 6-5 55 47 26 Heppner 3-6 8-12 191 223 27 W-McEwen 2-8 4-16 112 191 32 Union 2-8 3-13 70 170 35 Dufur 0-9 2-15 53 211 38 PREP SOFTBALL 5A COLUMBIA RIVER CONFERENCE Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk Pendleton 10-0 22-1 245 45 1 Hood River 6-4 18-4 189 69 5 Hermiston 4-6 13-9 161 145 8 The Dalles 0-10 7-16-1 132 210 18 4A GREATER OREGON LEAGUE Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk La Grande 10-0 17-4 193 55 3 Mac-Hi 8-2 16-7 180 120 4 Ontario 1-9 11-11 189 110 21 Baker 1-9 6-17 151 257 27 3A SPECIAL DISTRICT 1 Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk Echo 8-2 17-4 255 68 11 Irrigon 6-4 10-12 142 174 15 Riverside 5-4 8-8 100 95 13 W-McEwen 4-5 5-12 158 193 25 Umatilla 0-8 0-12 59 231 36 2A/1A SPECIAL DISTRICT 6 Lg Ovr RS RA Rnk Pilot Rock 9-1 17-2 242 52 4 Union 9-1 17-3 210 95 5 Heppner 2-8 7-11 94 171 16 Culver 0-10 0-21 64 322 28 Basketball NBA PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS Monday’s Games Philadelphia 103, Boston 92 (BOS leads 3-1) Cleveland 128, Toronto 93 (CLE wins series 4-0) Tuesday’s Games Utah at Houston, 5 p.m. (HOU leads 3-1) New Orleans at Golden State, 7:30 p.m. (GS leads 3-1) Wednesday’s Game Philadelphia at Boston, 5 p.m. (BOS leads 3-1) Hockey NHL PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS Sunday’s Games Tampa Bay 3, Boston 1 (TB wins series 4-1) Vegas 3, San Jose 0 (VGK wins series 4-2) Monday’s Games Washington 2, Pittsburgh 1, OT (WAS wins series 4-2) Nashville 4, Winnipeg 0 (Series tied 3-3) Wednesday’s Game Winnipeg at Nashville, TBD (NBCSN) Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE Monday’s Games Texas 7, Detroit 6 Minnesota 6, St. Louis 0 Houston at Oakland, 10:05 p.m. Tuesday’s Games Minnesota (Odorizzi 2-2) at St. Louis (Mar- tinez 3-1), 10:15 a.m. Boston (Pomeranz 1-1) at N.Y. Yankees (Severino 5-1), 4:05 p.m. Kansas City (Duffy 0-4) at Baltimore (Bundy 1-4), 4:05 p.m. Seattle (Paxton 1-1) at Toronto (Stroman 0-4), 4:07 p.m. Atlanta (Newcomb 2-1) at Tampa Bay (Snell 4-1), 4:10 p.m. Cleveland (Kluber 5-1) at Milwaukee (Miley 1-0), 4:40 p.m. Detroit (Fiers 2-2) at Texas (Minor 3-1), 5:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Nova 2-2) at Chicago White Sox (Giolito 1-4), 5:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Heaney 1-1) at Colorado (Gray 3-4), 5:40 p.m. Houston (McCullers 4-1) at Oakland (Manaea 4-3), 7:05 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE Monday’s Games Philadelphia 11, San Francisco 0 N.Y. Mets 7, Cincinnati 6 Chicago Cubs 14, Miami 2 Minnesota 6, St. Louis 0 Washington at San Diego, 10:10 p.m. Tuesday’s Games Minnesota (Odorizzi 2-2) at St. Louis (Mar- tinez 3-1), 10:15 a.m. San Francisco (Holland 1-3) at Philadelphia (Nola 4-1), 4:05 p.m. Atlanta (Newcomb 2-1) at Tampa Bay (Snell 4-1), 4:10 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Vargas 0-2) at Cincinnati (Castillo 1-4), 4:10 p.m. Cleveland (Kluber 5-1) at Milwaukee (Miley 1-0), 4:40 p.m. Miami (Urena 0-5) at Chicago Cubs (Dar- vish 0-3), 5:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Nova 2-2) at Chicago White Sox (Giolito 1-4), 5:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Heaney 1-1) at Colorado (Gray 3-4), 5:40 p.m. Arizona (Godley 4-2) at L.A. Dodgers (Hill 1-1), 7:10 p.m. Washington (Hellickson 0-0) at San Diego (Richard 1-4), 7:10 p.m. Soccer MLS Wednesday’s Games Philadelphia at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Seattle at Toronto FC, 4:30 p.m. Sporting Kansas City at Atlanta United FC, 4:30 p.m. Montreal at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Minnesota United at Los Angeles FC, 7 p.m. Friday’s Game Houston at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games San Jose at Minnesota United, 11 a.m. Philadelphia at Montreal, 12 p.m. LA Galaxy at FC Dallas, 12:30 p.m. Chicago at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Toronto FC at New England, 4:30 p.m. D.C. United at Real Salt Lake, 6 p.m. New York at Colorado, 6 p.m. Golf PGA Tour WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP Sunday At Quail Hollow Club Charlotte, N.C. Purse: $7.7 million Yardage: 7,554; Par: 71 Final Leaderboard Jason Day 69-67-67-69—272 Nick Watney 72-67-66-69—274 Aaron Wise 68-68-70-68—274 Bryson DeChambeau 75-65-66-70—276 Paul Casey 69-68-69-71—277 Phil Mickelson 72-72-64-69—277 Peter Uihlein 72-72-62-71—277 Patrick Reed 71-71-67-69—278 Emiliano Grillo 68-71-71-69—279 Luke List 70-72-67-70—279 Sam Saunders 70-69-68-72—279 Charl Schwartzel 70-67-70-72—279 Talor Gooch 71-72-66-71—280 Kyle Stanley 67-72-71-70—280 Notables Rory McIlroy 68-76-66-71—281 Rickie Fowler 72-69-68-73—282 Justin Thomas 73-69-70-70—282 Tiger Woods 71-73-68-74—286 -12 -10 -10 -8 -7 -7 -7 -6 -5 -5 -5 -5 -4 -4 -3 -2 -2 +2 Auto Racing NASCAR CUP SERIES AAA 400 Drive for Autism Results Sunday At Dover International Speedway Dover, Del. Lap length: 1 mile (Starting position in parentheses) 1. (2) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 400. 2. (12) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 400. 3. (7) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 400. 4. (3) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 400. 5. (9) Kurt Busch, Ford, 400. 6. (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400. 7. (10) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400. 8. (14) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 400. 9. (19) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400. 10. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400. 11. (13) Aric Almirola, Ford, 400. 12. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 400. 13. (18) Joey Logano, Ford, 400. 14. (17) William Byron, Chevrolet, 399. 15. (5) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 399. 16. (23) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 399. 17. (25) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 399. 18. (11) Erik Jones, Toyota, 399. 19. (22) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 398. HERMISTON RACEWAY Saturday Results Top Five Finishers (Car number in parentheses) Hornets Main Event 1. (77) Devin Taylor 2. (11) Joe Dunn 3. (77X) David Knowles 4. (7R) Ryan Rodabaugh 5. (23) Steve Owen Street Stocks Main 1. (18) Adam Baker 2. (68) Bart Hector Sr. 3. (75) Terry Lydell 4. (19) Mikey Denton 5. (55) Justin Gage Bombers Main 1. (123) Jeremy Erb 2. (2) Arlen Calley 3. (55) Justin Gage 4. (N21K) Carlton Leggett 5. (17) Kedric Preston Mini Stock Main 1. (49) Angel Oseguera 2. (60) Jeff Mullins 3. (29) Andy Pierce 4. (43) Joe Blackburn Super Mini Main 1. (8) Bradd Arneson 2. (27) Ron Wilbur 3. (11) Chris Kohler Legends Main 1. (24z) Jose Zumudio 2. (13) Donnie “Rabbit” 3. (3) Neena Kirk 4. (34) Shane Page 5. (54) Trace Thompson West Coast Late Models Main 1. (42) G. Huffines 2. (12) R. Girard 3. (15) Dan Nelson 4. (72) B. Tidrick Sr. 5. (3) A. Beanman
