B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Blazers: Portland fans
look back in time with
author Kerry Eggers
Continued from Page B1
is a very balanced look at a
very interesting time. They
were nationally known.
They had success and con-
troversy. I reached out to
every significant person in
that era. I did not get to talk
to some players. Some did
not want to talk, and some
could not be reached.”
Included in that group
were former Portland gen-
eral manager Bob Whitsitt,
and players J.R. Rider and
Rasheed Wallace.
The book, which came
out Nov. 27, 2018, is more
than 500 pages. With
Chapter 8 being Armaged-
don, Almost Every Week,
it makes you want to skip a
page or two.
Reviews from fellow
authors have been more
than positive.
“One of the great
cult teams in NBA his-
tory deserves its own
book (and, for that mat-
ter, movie). Eggers is the
perfect chronicler and
he delivers with (pardon
the pun) this blunt retell-
ing,” writes Jon Wertheim,
executive editor of Sports
Illustrated.
“It’s nice that I have
gotten
endorsements
from other great writers,”
Eggers said. “I appreciate
that.”
An inside look
Beat writers for teams
get a unique perspec-
tive into the lives of play-
ers and inner workings
of the team, whether it be
high school, college or pro.
When it comes to expos-
ing the dark side of a team,
Eggers said it really isn’t
that hard.
“I have been covering
them for 30 years,” he said.
“You have to play it down
the middle and be impar-
tial. It’s a job. You have
to maintain a professional
distance. But that doesn’t
mean you don’t make rela-
tionships. It was a story
that needed to be told.”
During the height of the
Jail Blazer era, the team’s
attendance went from a
once proud 14,000 down to
8,000.
Issues with players like
Rod Strickland, Donto-
nio Wingfield, Jermaine
O’Neal, Gary Trent, Rider,
Wallace and Cliff Robin-
son, among others, drove
fans away.
“The Blazers lost a lot
respect, and it showed at
the box office,” Eggers
said. “That’s when (owner)
Paul Allen went in a differ-
ent direction and fired Bob
Whitsitt. Paul lived with it
for so long because they
won games. He allowed
that. Bob spent Paul’s
money and never got to the
NBA Finals, and put up
with the other stuff. It was
a change for the better.”
While doing research
for the book, former Blazer
Steve Kerr (2001-02), now
head coach of Golden
State, said the team did not
like the term Jail Blazers.
“Kerr said it was exag-
gerated,” Eggers said.
Coming home
Eggers still has family
and friends in Pendleton,
making next week’s visit
appropriate.
His father, John Eggers,
was an all-state basket-
ball player at Pendleton
High School. His cousin
Tim Hawkins lives locally,
and longtime local sports
enthusiast Dean Fouquette
is a close friend.
“I get back occasion-
ally,” Eggers said. “I talked
to Dean about this, and he
has been arranging every-
thing. We’ll talk about the
book and this year’s team.
It should be a fun night.”
Durant out for Game 2
of NBA Finals; Iguodala
has MRI on leg
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
TORONTO — Golden
State star Kevin Durant
is going to miss Game 2
of the NBA Finals, and
Andre Iguodala’s health
is of at least mild concern
to the two-time defend-
ing champion Warriors
as well.
Iguodala, the 2015
NBA Finals MVP, had an
MRI on Friday on his left
leg after he was hurt late
in Game 1 of the title-se-
ries opener against the
Toronto Raptors. Durant,
the finals MVP in 2017
and 2018 who has been
dealing with a strained
calf, was ruled out by
Warriors coach Steve
Kerr in an expected
move.
“Kevin’s not going
to play Sunday,” Kerr
said. “I guess we’ve been
holding out hope, but
might as well say it now.
... It’s near-impossible for
him to play on Sunday.”
Toronto took Game 1
and will host Game 2 on
Sunday night. Iguodala
expects to play, and the
Warriors said his MRI
came back clean.
“He seems to be doing
well. ... I talked to him
and he said he felt pretty
good,” Kerr said.
Iguodala scored with
just under two minutes
left in Game 1, his left
leg flaring out a bit as he
leaped to take that shot
from the middle of the
lane. He immediately
grabbed the back of the
leg in the hamstring area
after landing, clapped his
hands while grimacing
and hobbled down to the
other end.
The Warriors subbed
him out not long after-
ward, and he didn’t
return.
AP Photo/Frank Gunn
Golden State Warriors
guard Andre Iguodala (9)
goes up for a dunk as To-
ronto Raptors guard Kyle
Lowry, left, and forward
Pascal Siakam (43) watch
during the first half of
Game 1 of basketball’s NBA
Finals on Thursday in To-
ronto.
Iguodala started and
played 29 minutes in
Game 1, finishing with
six points, six rebounds
and seven assists. He
was slowed in the West-
ern Conference finals by
a problem with his left
calf, and he missed the
clinching Game 4 of that
series.
Kerr said the team
isn’t going to rush
Durant’s return. The fear
is that if he comes back
before the calf is sound
even the slightest tweak
would mean his season
is over.
Durant hasn’t played
since he was hurt in
Game 5 of the West semi-
finals against Houston.
“The thinking is when
he’s ready to play, he’ll
play,” Kerr said.
Durant traveled with
the team to Toronto,
wanting to be with his
teammates for the start
of the finals and needing
to work with the War-
riors’ medical staff.
“He’s still progress-
ing,” Kerr said.
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Finals: Warriors enter new territory: 1-0 deficit
Continued from Page B1
it’s more about how you
felt, what was your mind-
set then. But it’s impossible
to be the same because it’s
completely different teams.
And although some of us
may have that experience,
others on our team have
not had that experience.”
It bears noting that the
Raptors know a 1-0 series
lead doesn’t mean much.
Orlando had one of
those against Toronto in
the first round, and lost in
five games.
Milwaukee had one of
those against Toronto in
the Eastern Conference
finals — 2-0, actually —
and lost in six games.
“We’ve tried to (have) a
conscious thought process
of not really caring what
the score of the series is,”
Raptors coach Nick Nurse
said. “I think we know that
the games are really hard.
We know that after a win,
the team that gets beat gets
really determined. They try
AP Photo/Frank Gunn
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) reacts during the second half of Game 1 of
the team’s basketball’s NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday in Toronto.
to fix things. They mostly
play a lot harder and more
physical and all those kind
of things.”
The challenge for his
team is to do the same.
That process started with
a long film session Fri-
day, and there was much to
clean up.
“There was plenty
on there that we need to
do better if we want to
win another game in this
series,” Nurse said.
Indy 500 champ aims to stay on top in Detroit
By LARRY LAGE
Associated Press
DETROIT — Simon
Pagenaud saw the wreath
he won less than a week
ago at the Indianapolis
500 and lamented how the
leaves and orchids were
wilting.
During the double-
header weekend in Detroit,
the IndyCar points lead-
ers is looking for a way to
preserve his coveted prize
— perhaps with a spray —
and to stay atop the series.
Pagenaud was in a much
different position a month
ago, with questions swirl-
ing about whether he was
racing for his job with
Team Penske.
“It’s probably true,” he
acknowledged Friday.
After a breathtaking
win at Indy, Pagenaud
earned a public assurance
from Roger Penske that
he “absolutely,” would be
driving for him next year.
Pagenaud, though, will
be behind the wheel of his
Chevrolet at the Detroit
Grand Prix races on Sat-
urday and Sunday think-
ing as if his job is still on
the line.
“If I do a good job, then
I’m back,” he said. “If I
don’t do a good job, then
we need to talk.
“That’s it. It’s normal.
It’s the same for every ath-
lete in the world.”
And like athletes in
all sports at every level,
the 35-year-old Pagenaud
has had slumps. He didn’t
win any of his 17 IndyCar
races in 2018 after win-
ning seven races the previ-
ous two years and becom-
ing the series champion in
2016.
Pagenaud believed, not
long ago, he would eventu-
ally be replaced by Alexan-
AP Photo/Larry Lage
Indianapolis 500 champion Simon Pagenaud looks at the wreath he won less than a week ago
and lamented seeing the leaves and orchids wilting on Friday in Detroit.
der Rossi.
“That was scuttlebutt,”
Penske insisted.
Pagenaud has competed
for Team Penske since 2015
and said he is not interested
in driving for anyone else.
“I want to be back,” he
said. “There’s no other
team that I would want
to be with. It’s the best
team in this business. If
you look at the stats, it’s
also the most successful
team in the world. I want
to win Indy 500 another
time. I want to win another
championship.”
Pagenaud,
perhaps
fueled to secure his job,
responded to the scrutiny
by being the first driver to
earn multiple victories this
season, finishing first on
the road course at India-
napolis and becoming the
first Frenchman to win the
Indy 500 since 1914.
“The most memora-
ble moment will always be
the milk on my face and
talking to President Trump,
no matter what your politi-
cal views might be or any-
one’s views might be,”
Pagenaud said. “It’s just
really awesome to talk to
the president of the biggest
country in the world. That
was very special.”
And now, he has a
chance to keep rolling at
an event Penske promotes
in his beloved Motor City.
The 35-year-old Pagenaud
likes his chances because,
so far, the life-changing
effect from winning Indy
has been a boost of energy.
“I feel like I’m actually
younger than I was before
and it’s exciting,” he said.
“I’ve got a whole champion-
ship ahead of me, too. The
funny thing is when you set
goals and when you climb
a mountain like this, you
get to the top and you see
other mountains you want
to climb. I assume that’s
what happens to the peo-
ple when they climb Mount
Everest. They want to
climb the other ones. I feel
the exact same way at the
moment.”Racing in Detroit
might bring Pagenaud back
down to Earth.
The 2.35-mile road
course with 14 turns on
Belle Isle is nothing like the
smooth and wide surface
he just competed on, trad-
ing the lead with Rossi five
times over a frantic final
13 laps.“It is vastly differ-
ent,” Pagenaud said. “The
spectrum is pretty much
opposite. We just drove
on a speedway 230 mph.
Now, we’re going to go
on a bumpy track, break-
ing hard, turning left and
right, wrestling the car
around.
“It’s going to be quite a
physical challenge. I’m up
for it. It’s definitely going
to be tough to do back-to-
back races for sure.”
SCOREBOARD
NBA AT A GLANCE
All Times PDT
FIRST ROUND
FINALS
(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)
Golden State vs. Toronto
Thursday, May 30
Toronto 118, Golden State 109, Toronto
leads series 1-0
Sunday, June 2
Golden State at Toronto, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, June 5
Toronto at Golden State, 6 p.m.
Friday, June 7
Toronto at Golden State, 6 p.m.
Monday, June 10
x-Golden State at Toronto, 6 p.m.
Thursday, June 13
x-Toronto at Golden State, 6 p.m.
Sunday, June 16
x-Golden State at Toronto, 5 p.m.
NHL PLAYOFF GLANCE
All Times PDT
STANLEY CUP FINALS
(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)
Monday, May 27
Boston 4, St. Louis 2
Wednesday, May 29
St. Louis 3, Boston 2, OT, series tied 1-1
Saturday, June 1
Boston at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Monday, June 3
Boston at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Thursday, June 6
St. Louis at Boston, 5 p.m.
Sunday, June 9
x-Boston at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, June 12
x-St. Louis at Boston, 5 p.m.
MLB
National League
All Times PDT
East
W
L
Pct
GB
Philadelphia
33 23 .589
—
Atlanta
30 27 .526
3½
New York
27 29 .482
6
Washington
24 33
.421
9½
Miami
19 35 .352
13
Central
W
L
Pct
GB
Chicago
31 23 .574
—
Milwaukee
32 26 .552
1
Pittsburgh
28 28 .500
4
St. Louis
27 28 .491
4½
Cincinnati
27 30
.474
5½
West
W
L
Pct
GB
Los Angeles
38 19 .667
—
San Diego
29 27 .518
8½
Colorado
28 27 .509
9
Arizona
28 29 .491
10
San Francisco 22 34 .393 15½
———
Thursday’s Games
St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 3
San Francisco 3, Miami 1
Colorado 11, Arizona 10, 10 innings
Milwaukee 11, Pittsburgh 5
L.A. Dodgers 2, N.Y. Mets 0
Friday’s Games
Pittsburgh 9, Milwaukee 4
Cincinnati 9, Washington 3
Detroit 8, Atlanta 2
Baltimore 9, San Francisco 6
St. Louis 2, Chicago Cubs 1
Colorado 13, Toronto 6
N.Y. Mets at Arizona, 6:40 p.m.
Miami at San Diego, 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia at L.A. Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
Milwaukee (Woodruff 7-1) at Pittsburgh
(Kingham 1-1), 1:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Anderson 0-1) at Balti-
more (Hess 1-6), 1:05 p.m.
Detroit (Norris 2-3) at Atlanta (Soroka
5-1), 1:10 p.m.
Washington (Fedde 1-0) at Cincinnati
(Roark 4-3), 1:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Quintana 4-4) at St. Louis
(Flaherty 4-3), 4:15 p.m.
Toronto (Stroman 3-6) at Colorado (Gray
4-4), 6:10 p.m.
Miami (Urena 3-6) at San Diego (Mar-
gevicius 2-5), 7:10 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (deGrom 3-5) at Arizona (Gre-
inke 6-2), 7:10 p.m.
Philadelphia (Irvin 2-1) at L.A. Dodgers
(Kershaw 5-0), 7:10 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
San Francisco at Baltimore, 10:05 a.m.
Washington at Cincinnati, 10:10 a.m.
Detroit at Atlanta, 10:20 a.m.
Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, 10:35 a.m.
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, 11:15 a.m.
Toronto at Colorado, 12:10 p.m.
N.Y. Mets at Arizona, 1:10 p.m.
Philadelphia at L.A. Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
Miami at San Diego, 3:10 p.m.
MLB
American League
All Times PDT
East
W
L
Pct
GB
New York
37
19
.661
—
Tampa Bay
35
20
.636
1½
Boston
29
28
.509
8½
Toronto
21
35
.375
16
Baltimore
18
39
.316
19½
Central
W
L
Pct
GB
Minnesota
38
18
.679
—
Cleveland
28
28
.500
10
Chicago
27
29
.482
11
Detroit
22
32
.407
15
Kansas City
19
37
.339
19
West
W
L
Pct
GB
Houston
37
20
.649
—
Oakland
29
27
.518
7½
Texas
27
27
.500
8½
Los Angeles
27
29
.482
9½
Seattle
24
35
.407
14
———
Thursday’s Games
Boston at N.Y. Yankees, ppd.
Tampa Bay 14, Minnesota 3
Kansas City 4, Texas 2
Chicago White Sox 10, Cleveland 4
L.A. Angels 9, Seattle 3
Friday’s Games
Baltimore 9, San Francisco 6
N.Y. Yankees 4, Boston 1
Minnesota 5, Tampa Bay 3
Detroit 8, Atlanta 2
Texas 6, Kansas City 2
Chicago White Sox 6, Cleveland 1
Colorado 13, Toronto 6
Seattle 4, L.A. Angels 3
Houston at Oakland, 7:07 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
Minnesota (Gibson 5-2) at Tampa Bay
(TBD), 10:10 a.m.
Cleveland (Rodriguez 1-5) at Chicago
White Sox (Nova 3-4), 11:10 a.m.
Kansas City (Bailey 4-5) at Texas (Lynn
6-4), 1:05 p.m.
San Francisco (Anderson 0-1) at Balti-
more (Hess 1-6), 1:05 p.m.
Detroit (Norris 2-3) at Atlanta (Soroka
5-1), 1:10 p.m.
Boston (Porcello 4-4) at N.Y. Yankees
(German 9-1), 4:15 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Heaney 0-0) at Seattle
(Milone 1-1), 4:15 p.m.
Toronto (Stroman 3-6) at Colorado (Gray
4-4), 6:10 p.m.
Houston (Verlander 8-2) at Oakland
(Anderson 6-3), 7:07 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
San Francisco at Baltimore, 10:05 a.m.
Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 10:10 a.m.
Detroit at Atlanta, 10:20 a.m.
Cleveland at Chicago White Sox,
11:10 a.m.
Kansas City at Texas, 12:05 p.m.
Toronto at Colorado, 12:10 p.m.
Houston at Oakland, 1:07 p.m.
L.A. Angels at Seattle, 1:10 p.m.
Boston at N.Y. Yankees, 4:05 p.m.