SPORTS
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
East Oregonian
B3
Truex wins second career Monday NASCAR race at Dover
By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press
DOVER, Del. — Mar-
tin Truex Jr. stood next to
the 60-pound metallic gold
Monster trophy on the vic-
tory lane stage and was
uncertain about how many
fi ngers he should fl ash for
his celebratory photo.
“Two for the season or
three for Dover?” Truex
asked.
How about one of each?
Truex solved his snapshot
situation about as effi ciently
as he weaved through traf-
fi c from the back of the fi eld
to win a Monday race at
Dover International Speed-
way for the second time in
his Cup career. Truex won
his fi rst career NASCAR
Cup race on June 4, 2007,
at Dover and 12 years later
used another Sunday rainout
to take the checkered fl ag.
“I’m going to lobby for
all Dover races to be on
Mondays,” Truex said with
a laugh.
He knows how to win
AP Photo/Will Newton
Driver Martin Truex Jr. (19) celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series
auto race on Monday at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del.
on Sundays, too. Truex is
warming up in his fi rst sea-
son with Joe Gibbs Racing
and won in the No. 19 Toy-
ota for the second time in
three races. Truex, the 2017
Cup champion, won at Rich-
mond three weeks ago and
is hitting his stride as the
summer stretch approaches.
“We’ve had some really
strong race cars at a lot of
racetracks,” Truex said.
“For a lot of reasons, we
haven’t been able to show it,
been having issues that set
us back. It’s been tough. The
last couple weeks I just feel
it’s execution. We’re doing
all the little things right.”
Truex and crew chief
Cole Pearn didn’t let rain,
an inspection failure that
dumped the car to the rear or
even a maligned race pack-
age affect their push toward
the fi nish. Truex, who is
from Mayetta, New Jersey,
has long considered Dover
his home track, led 132 laps
and dominated runner-up
Alex Bowman by a breezy
9.5 seconds to win at Dover
for the fi rst time since 2016.
He had no complaints
about the new high drag,
high downforce, 750 horse-
power package that led to
track-record speeds posted
in qualifying.
Kyle Busch, the 2015
NASCAR champion, pep-
pered his comments on
the package with profan-
ity and said his complaints
to NASCAR would fall on
deaf ears. Kevin Harvick
said cars are “hard to race”
under the package. Team
owner Bob Leavine tweeted
he agreed with Busch and
wrote “this package sucks.”
Truex brushed off the
complaints.
“We all had to deal with
the same thing,” Truex said.
“Obviously, we dealt with it
better than everybody else.”
Bowman fi nished sec-
ond for the second straight
week in the No. 88 Chev-
rolet. Kyle Larson, Harvick
and Chase Elliott rounded
out the top fi ve. Elliott gave
Hendrick Motorsports and
Chevrolet their fi rst wins of
the season at Talladega last
week. Bowman and Elliott
made it another solid race
for a manufacturer that was
in dire need of a boost.
“We at least had a shot at
it. It’s really all you can ask
for,” Bowman said. “We had
a miserable start to the rea-
son. We really did a good job
resetting in the off week.”
But all the teams are
chasing Gibbs. JGR has
seven wins in 11 races this
season and has established
itself as the team to beat.
“It’s a big deal for us,”
Gibbs said. “As everybody
knows, in pro sports these
things can go and come very
quick.”
Nuggets even series with Blazers at two with 116-112 victory Sunday
and drew the ire of the Moda
Center fans, Jokic added a
bank shot.
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — The
Denver Nuggets have been
good at bouncing back all
season.
Not even a draining
four-overtime defeat could
keep this team down.
Nikola Jokic had 21
points, 12 rebounds and 11
assists for his second straight
triple-double and fourth of
the playoffs, and the Nug-
gets evened their Western
Conference semifi nal series
against the Portland Trail
Blazers at 2-2 with a 116-112
victory Sunday.
It was less than 48 hours
after Portland’s epic 140-137
quadruple-overtime
vic-
tory to take a 2-1 lead in the
series. It was only the sec-
ond game in playoff history
that went to four OTs. The
other was in 1953.
“I think it’s not quitting.
We have a lot of competitive
guys who don’t want to lose.
I think we don’t want to lose
more than we like to win
— which is weird,” Jokic
said. “We just didn’t want to
have the excuse that we lost
because of four overtimes,
because we were tired.”
Jamal Murray led all
scorers with 34 points and
made all 11 free throws for
the Nuggets, who handed
Portland its fi rst postsea-
son loss at home this season.
The series now heads back
to Denver for Game 5.
CJ McCollum had 29
points and Damian Lillard
added 28 for the Blazers,
who missed out on taking
a 3-1 lead in a conference
semifi nals for the fi rst time
since 2000.
“Our guys are tough.
We’re resilient,” Nuggets
coach Michael Malone said.
“I mean, to come in here and
win this game 36 hours after
losing in four overtimes,
speaks to just how tough we
are.”
Malone cited regular-sea-
Tip-ins
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Portland Trail Blazers forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center, shoots between Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap, right, and
center Nikola Jokic, left, during the fi rst half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series on Sunday in Port-
land.
GAME 5
Trail Blazers
Nuggets
Tuesday, 5 p.m., at Denver
The series is tied 2--2.
son statistics to back up his
claims: Denver was 12-1 in
the second game of back-to-
backs, best in the NBA. The
Nuggets were good in close
games, too: 13-3 in games
decided by three points or
less, he said.
“We just said to our-
selves, ‘If we win today
then the last game doesn’t
really matter that much,’”
Jokic said. “Yes we played
a four-overtime game, it
was exhausting, but we won
tonight so the last game
doesn’t really matter.”
Denver outscored the
Blazers 27-14 in the third
quarter to take an 84-77
lead into the fourth. Malik
Beasley kicked off the fi nal
period with a 3-pointer for
the Nuggets.
Rodney Hood’s 3-pointer
got the Blazers within 110-
107 with 52 seconds left and
Lillard’s layup got the Blaz-
ers even closer at 112-110
with 7.7 seconds to go.
But Murray’s free throws
gave Denver a four-point
lead. McCollum hit a long
jumper that after a video
replay was ruled a 2 and
Denver prevailed.
“It is disappointing. You
go up 3-1 and you have a
lot of momentum and obvi-
ously that would be a great
position to be in. But they’re
a good team, they came out
Nikola Jokic showing off all his skills
By PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
DENVER — Earlier in
the playoffs, he was draw-
ing comparisons to Wilt
Chamberlain. This week,
it’s Magic Johnson.
As fans are fi nding out,
Denver Nuggets big man
Nikola Jokic has no direct
comparison.
The All-Star center is
turning the NBA playoffs
into his own grand stage
with each triple-double he
piles up.
“Nikola Jokic is a great
player, because you know
why? He makes every one
of his teammates better,”
said Nuggets coach Michael
Malone, whose team is tied
at 2 games apiece with the
Blazers heading into Game
5 on Tuesday in Denver.
“He’s a basketball purist, if
you will. He’s always going
to make the right play.”
The “pudgy” body and
that awkward gait hardly
fools anyone anymore. The
7-footer sees the court like
a point guard, scores every
way imaginable and is help-
ing turn the Nuggets into
legitimate contenders.
The player nicknamed
Joker recorded his fourth
triple-double of the postsea-
son Sunday night.
His name may be a
tongue-twister — pro-
nounced ni-KOLA YO-kitch
— but it’s his game that
truly ties teams up in knots.
“It’s really tough to stop
him because he’s not out
there running super-fast, not
jumping super-high,” Blaz-
ers guard Damian Lillard
said. “Just a smart, crafty
player.”
He has MVP-caliber
skills — passing, shoot-
ing, rebounding, and deci-
sion-making. And he’s put-
ting up numbers that has
him in select company.
On Sunday, he helped
Denver to a 116-112 win at
Portland with 21 points, 12
rebounds and 11 assists.
He’s the seventh player to
register four triple-doubles
in a single postseason, join-
ing Chamberlain, Johnson,
Oscar Robertson, LeBron
James, Rajon Rondo and
Jason Kidd, according to
Elias Sports Bureau.
There’s more: Jokic had
14 assists in his playoff
debut against San Antonio
on April 13 to join Cham-
berlain as the only two cen-
ters with 14 or more assists
in a postseason contest.
And more still: Jamal
Murray and Jokic are the
fi rst teammates to regis-
ter a 30-point game (Mur-
ray) and a triple-double
(Jokic) in back-to-back play-
off contests since Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson
in 1980, according to Elias.
and played well,” Blazers
coach Terry Stotts said. “We
had a bad third quarter and
that kind of made the dif-
ference. We made a good
comeback, but now it’s a
three-game series.”
Jokic played 65 minutes
in the quadruple-overtime
loss, the fourth-most min-
utes in NBA playoff history
and just two short of the
record. McCollum led the
Blazers with 60 minutes.
Fatigue was more of
a concern for the sec-
ond-seeded Nuggets, who
had just one day off after
their seven-game, fi rst-
round series against San
Antonio. The Blazers dis-
patched of fi rst-round oppo-
nent Oklahoma City in fi ve
games, clinching their fi rst
trip to the conference semi-
fi nals since 2016 on Lillard’s
buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Enes Kanter started
for Portland despite ongo-
ing concerns about his left
shoulder, which he injured
in Game 5 against the Thun-
der. He and Jokic have been
physical adversaries through
the fi rst three games, and
Kanter said after Friday’s
game that the shoulder sepa-
ration was worse and wasn’t
sure he could play.
Seth Curry made three
straight 3-pointers — all in
the space of a minute — to
put Portland up 53-46 in the
second quarter. Curry added
a 3 at the buzzer to send
Portland into halftime with
a 63-57 lead. Curry had 14
of his 16 points in the sec-
ond quarter.
The Nuggets opened the
second half with an inspired
10-2 run to go up 67-65.
Paul Millsap’s 3-pointer
gave Denver a 78-72 lead,
and after a couple of calls
that went against Portland
Nuggets: Torrey Craig,
who got a bloody nose in
Game 2 and wore a mask
in Game 3, didn’t wear it
on Sunday. ... The Nuggets
fi nished 3-1 in the regu-
lar-season series against the
Blazers.
Trail Blazers: Jusuf
Nurkic, who broke his leg
late in the season, was at
the game and got an ova-
tion when he showed up
courtside late in the open-
ing quarter. Kanter, who
signed with the Blazers just
before the All-Star break
after he was waived by the
Knicks, replaced Nurkic in
the starting lineup. Nurkic
was awarded with the Mau-
rice Lucas Award for the
player that best represents
Lucas’ indomitable spirit
both on the court and in the
community.
Murray makes the
difference
Malone praised Murray,
who also had 34 points in
the 4OT loss. Murray has
been tasked with guarding
Lillard.
“You think about how
young we are and what
we are doing, going on the
road and winning a tough
game in a hostile environ-
ment, and for Jamal to be
the centerpiece of that has
been phenomenal,” Malone
said.
Scare
Jokic went to the bench
late in the game holding his
right knee, but later came
back and appeared fi ne.
Asked about it later, he said
it was a bit numb. “I just got
hit on the side of the knee
but it’s OK,” he said.
Up next
The series moves to Den-
ver for Game 5 on Tuesday.