SPORTS
6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2021
Lillard’s last-second free throws Memphis nips
lift Trail Blazers past Miami Heat
NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT
Boise State, 59-56
By Tim Reynolds
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI — CJ McCollum got Portland
started, and Damian Lillard provided the
fi nish.
Lillard made three free throws with one
second remaining for the fi nal margin,
and the Trail Blazers survived a wild end-
ing to beat the short-handed Miami Heat
125-122 on Thursday night, March 25.
Lillard was fouled by Miami’s Trevor
Ariza on a 3-point attempt, which the
Heat argued to no avail. He coolly sank all
three foul shots, and the Blazers snapped
a two-game slide.
“Sometimes I might have it going, but
he’s the closer,” McCollum said of Lillard.
Miami didn’t have a time-out remain-
ing to advance the ball and couldn’t get
a desperation attempt to tie the game off
before time expired.
McCollum had 21 of his game-high 35
points in the fi rst quarter for Portland,
which got 22 points from Lillard, 20 points
from Carmelo Anthony and 18 points to go
along with 16 rebounds from Enes Kanter.
Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro each
had 29 points for Miami, which dropped
its fi fth straight and fell to 22-23. Kendrick
Nunn scored 22 for the Heat.
“I was happy with the way we fought
out there,” Herro said. “That was a great
game, down to the end and they came
down with a couple more free throws.”
A combination of trades, illness, injury
DENTON, Texas (AP) — Lester Quinones made a
putback with 32.5 seconds remaining to give Memphis
the lead en route to a 59-56 win over Boise State in the
NIT on Thursday night, March 25.
Memphis (18-8) advances to play Colorado State in
the semifi nals on Saturday.
Quinones’ offensive rebound and basket ended Boise
State’s 10-0 run, and gave Memphis a 56-55 lead. After
a Boise State miss, DeAndre Williams made two free
throws to give the Tigers a three-point lead at 13.2.
Memphis had made just 3 of 11 free throws until Wil-
liams’ makes.
Boise State’s Derrick Alston Jr. went to the line with
3.6 seconds left, and made the fi rst before intentionally
missing the second. Landers Nolley II made 1 of 2 to
regain the three-point lead and Boise State’s heave at
the buzzer did not hit the rim.
Tribune New Service
Portland’s Damian Lillard, shown here in an earlier game, sank three free
throws with one second left on Thursday, March 25, to break a tie with Mi-
ami.
Blazers trade for Powell
and virus-related issues left the Heat with
nine players for the game.
Victor Oladipo and Nemanja Bjelica
have yet to join the club after being
acquired earlier Thursday in moves that
sent Kelly Olynyk and Avery Bradley
to Houston, plus Chris Silva and Moe
Harkless to Sacramento. The other Heat
absences: Jimmy Butler was sick, Goran
Dragic has a back issue and Udonis Has-
lem and KZ Okpala remain in the league’s
health and safety protocols.
PORTLAND (AP) — The Portland Trail Blazers have
acquired shooting guard Norman Powell in a trade with
the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Gary Trent Jr. and
Rodney Hood.
Powell, 27, is averaging a career-best 19.6 points per
game this season and is shooting 43.5% from beyond the
arc. He scored a career-high 43 points earlier this month.
“We are a three-point shooting team. He’ll get good
looks. And I think that really fi ts in with our style of play
in some ways,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.
Powell was the 46th overall pick in the 2015 draft out
of UCLA.
Portland took a 100-99 lead with 7:57
left on a 3-pointer by Anthony. To that
point, neither team had been up by more
than eight all night.
Miami then went on an 11-0 run to take
a 110-100 lead, with Gabe Vincent, Andre
Iguodala and Herro all making 3-pointers
on consecutive possessions and Herro add-
ing a pair of free throws to cap the spurt.
Portland answered with an 11-0 run of
its own, taking the lead back on a layup by
Lillard with 3:48 left.
Gratified to see local students competing again
In the crisp cold of a recent
Wednesday evening, I found
myself driving to the Baker Sports
Complex to cover a Baker girls
soccer match. Halfway through
the match, someone mentioned
something to a friend, a bit of con-
versation I overheard. I suddenly
realized that what the person said
was true.
We have reached the one-year
mark since COVID-19 not only
became part of our communities,
but began to disrupt sports at every
level.
It’s crazy to think that little more
than 365 days ago, we saw playoffs
poned. Gyms were closed. Little
League, club play and recreational
leagues canceled their seasons.
COREY
This past year has been diffi cult
KIRK
for everyone. The most important
group that was deeply affected is the
kids. The social element of making
in winter sports suddenly being
memories with their friends and
halted. Spring sports were up in the teammates was immediately ripped
air, and eventually canceled. Sud-
away from them. We saw seniors
denly we were in treacherous waters who compete in every season who
unlike any we had seen.
never had a chance to fi nish their
The old saying is “what a differ-
athletic careers on their own terms.
ence a year can make.”
They didn’t even get to walk across
Well, 2020-21’s response was “you a fi eld or a stage to receive their
haven’t seen anything yet.”
diplomas.
Professional sports were post-
Then there are the coaches, people
passionate about teaching young
people and showing them what they
are truly capable of. In every conver-
sation I’ve had with a coach the past
year, although they missed serving
as leaders, they couldn’t stop think-
ing about the players. They knew,
from their own experiences as stu-
dents, how pivotal these years were,
and what the kids were missing.
Although the usual goal for a high
school team or athlete is a state title,
the pandemic has brought a new-
found perspective.
Win or lose, simply being able
to play the sports they love has re-
minded athletes that they shouldn’t
take for granted the opportunity.
They’re playing in front of limited
audiences rather than full bleachers.
But to be back playing sports, that’s
all that matters.
This is a small step in the right
direction. Now they will be able
to create the memories with their
teammates, compete to the best of
their abilities, and most of all enjoy
sports they are passionate about.
We’re not back to normal. But
it’s nice to have sports return to our
daily lives.
Corey Kirk is sports editor
for the Baker City Herald.
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