A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2022
SPORTS
NBA FINALS GAME ONE
Teams that eliminated Baker softball,
baseball teams to play for state title
Celtics rally in 4th to stun Warriors
The teams that eliminated Baker’s softball and baseball squads
from the Class 4A playoffs last month will both play for a state
championship on Saturday, June 4.
The Hidden Valley baseball team, which beat Baker 7-0 in a
first-round game on May 25 at Grants Pass, will take on La Grande
Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
In softball, Marist Catholic of Eugene, which eliminated Baker
10-0 on May 25, will play Cascade at 2 p.m. Saturday in Jane
Sanders Stadium in Eugene.
Both Marist and Hidden Valley were dominant in the playoffs,
including their shutout wins over Baker.
Marist hasn’t allowed a run, beating Henley 8-0 in the quarter-
finals on May 27 and Stayton 6-0 in a semifinal game on May 31.
Hidden Valley also routed all of its playoff foes. The Warriors
beat Junction City 17-0 in a quarterfinal game May 27, and beat
Mazama 10-1 in a May 31 semifinal.
The baseball championship game pitting La Grande against
Hidden Valley features teams that have yielded only a few runs in
the past month.
La Grande, 27-1 on the season, won 12 straight games by shut-
out, including four wins over Baker, a Greater Oregon League rival.
The Tigers beat Pendleton/Griswold 4-3 in their final regular sea-
son game, May 20, then blanked Marshfield 10-0 in a first-round
playoff game May 25. La Grande beat Marist 10-4 in the quarterfi-
nals May 27 and shut out Philomath 8-0 in the semifinals May 31.
Golden State led
by 15 points late
in 3rd quarter
BY JANIE MCCAULEY
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Once
Boston’s balanced roster of
NBA Finals first-timers found
a groove from long range, the
determined Celtics delivered
a memorable comeback and
rallied past Stephen Curry and
the Golden State old guard.
Jaylen Brown fueled the late
charge and scored 24 points,
Al Horford hit six 3-pointers,
and the Celtics rode the most
lopsided fourth quarter in
NBA Finals history to a 120-
108 victory over the Warriors
in Game 1 on Thursday night,
June 2.
Horford finished with 26
points and the Celtics out-
scored the Warriors 40-16 in
the final 12 minutes after trail-
ing by 15 points late in the
third quarter. The 15th-year
big man, who turns 36 Friday,
played in 141 previous postsea-
son games, most ever before
playing in the NBA Finals.
“I felt like the guys kept
finding me time after time.
Also Derrick White hit some
tough shots there, too,” Hor-
ford said. “I was just getting
the looks, knocking them
down. That’s that.”
Boston made its first seven
tries from long distance in the
fourth and wound up 9 of 12
beyond the arc in the period as
almost everybody got involved
in the 3-point flurry. Jayson
Tatum was the lone Celtics reg-
ular who struggled offensively,
finishing 3 for 17, though he
did have 13 assists.
Curry scored 34 points in
his return to the NBA’s big
stage for the first time in three
years, but the Warriors couldn’t
sustain momentum from a
38-point third quarter that put
them ahead 92-80.
“It’s not ideal but I believe
in who we are and how we
deal with adversity, how we
responded all year, how we re-
spond in the playoffs after a
loss,” Curry said. “So learn a lot
from that fourth quarter, obvi-
ously they made a lot of shots.
It seemed like they didn’t miss
’til deep into the fourth. When
you have a team that just finds
a little bit of momentum like
they did and they keep making
shots, it’s tough to kind of re-
gain that momentum.”
Game 2 is Sunday night,
June 5, back at Chase Center.
The Celtics were the first
team to trail a finals game by
10 or more points after three
quarters and win by 10 or
more, according to Sportradar.
They are 8-2 on the road in
these playoffs.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling
just to be here and competing
at this level against such a dy-
namic franchise the last couple
years,” Boston guard Payton
Pritchard said. “I think we’re
all just looking forward to the
challenge to go through the se-
ries and try to get it done.”
White’s 3-pointer over Curry
with 5:40 remaining tied the
game at 103, then Horford hit
from deep the next time down
FRENCH OPEN TENNIS
Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group-TNS
Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (23) gets fouled by Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum (0) in the third
quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, June 2, 2022.
as the Celtics took their first
lead since halftime.
Boston is looking to cap-
ture its record-breaking 18th
title, which would move the
Celtics past the Lakers — and
now is just three wins away
from doing it.
Brown, who starred at
nearby California for one
college season, made con-
secutive baskets that tied the
game at 47 with 5:03 left be-
fore halftime and the Celtics
led 56-54 at the break. Golden
State then used a signature
third-quarter spurt, pour-
ing in 38 points to build a
big lead.
Brown scored five quick
points early in the fourth and
assisted on an alley-oop dunk
to Robert Williams III as the
Celtics pulled back within 92-
87 with 9:35 remaining. The
lead was four midway through
the fourth before Boston blew
past Golden State with a 20-2
run that made it 117-103.
Andrew Wiggins scored 20
points in his finals debut and
Draymond Green grabbed 11
rebounds before fouling out
with 48.3 seconds left. Klay
Thompson contributed 15
points as the Warriors began
their sixth finals in eight years
after making five straight trips
from 2015-19 and winning
three championships.
They’ll have to win this one
from behind after going 21-2
in their previous Game 1s un-
der Steve Kerr.
“It’s a different feeling. You
obviously go into Game 2 with
more of a sense of despera-
tion. That’s all part of this stuff.
We’ve been in this position be-
fore,” Kerr said. “Boston played
a brilliant quarter. They came
in and earned the win.”
Curry scored a smooth 21
points in the opening period
on 7-for-8 shooting, including
6 of 8 made 3s — missing a
half-court heave at the buzzer.
And Boston struggled to keep
up with the Warriors’ snappy
ball movement and shooters at
every spot on the floor.
Otto Porter Jr. returned from
a two-game absence to score
12 points off the bench for the
well-rested Warriors. Golden
State ended its Western Con-
ference final in Game 5 against
Dallas a week earlier at home,
while Boston was pushed to
the limit with a Game 7 vic-
tory at Miami last Sunday.
Golden State dropped to
9-1 this postseason at home,
where a sellout crowd in yel-
low finals T-shirts chanted
“M-V-P!” for Curry at every
chance.
Marcus Smart scored 18
points with four 3s for Boston.
The Celtics star took criticism
from Kerr for what the Golden
State coach called “a danger-
ous play” lunging at Curry’s
left foot on March 16 in a 110-
88 Boston rout that sidelined
the 2021 scoring champion for
a month before his return in
Game 1 of the first round fac-
ing Denver.
PORTLAND — News came
Thursday, June 2 that Nike co-
founder Phil Knight and Los
Angeles Dodgers co-owner
Alan Smolinisky have submit-
ted an offer to buy the Port-
land Trail Blazers for more
than $2 billion.
But the Trail Blazers fran-
chise is “not for sale,” the team
said in a statement to The Ore-
gonian/OregonLive on Thurs-
day afternoon.
“An offer was made by Phil
Knight,” the Blazers said in the
statement. “The team remains
not for sale.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski
was the first to report the offer
from Knight and Smolinisky.
Here is what we know so far
about Knight and Smolinisky’s
bid to buy the Blazers:
• The Blazers are owned by
the Paul G. Allen Trust, which
is managing the estate of the
billionaire co-founder of Mi-
crosoft, who died in October
2018 at age 65.
• Allen’s sister, Jody Allen, is
the executor of his estate and
currently serves as chair of the
Blazers, but it had been ex-
pected that the team would be
sold at some point following
Allen’s death.
• Knight was born in Port-
land, ran track at the Univer-
sity of Oregon and went on
to co-found sportswear giant
Nike. He and wife Penny have
donated hundreds of millions
of dollars to the University of
Oregon, and millions more
around the Northwest. Forbes
lists Knight as one of the
richest people in the United
States, with a net worth of
about $43.7 billion.
• Smolinisky, who made his
fortune in real estate, became
a part owner of the Dodgers
in 2019.
• Forbes listed the Blazers’
value at $2.05 billion as of Oc-
BY HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer
PARIS — Rafael Nadal has
become the second-oldest
men’s finalist in French Open
history after his semifinal op-
ponent, Alexander Zverev,
stopped playing Friday, June
3 because of an injured right
leg. Now Nadal will try to
become the oldest champion
at a tournament he’s already
won a record 13 times.
Playing on his 36th birth-
day at an event he first won
at 19, Nadal emerged to
claim a tight-as-can-be,
draining first set that lasted 1
1/2 hours by a 7-6 (8) score.
The second set also was
headed to a tiebreaker after
another 1 1/2 hours when
Zverev tumbled behind the
baseline while chasing a ball
to his right.
Zverev’s black outfit was
covered in rust-colored clay,
as were his legs and arms,
and he immediately grabbed
his right ankle, screaming
in pain.
A trainer came out to at-
tend to him, and Nadal
walked around the net to
check on Zverev, too.
Zverev then was taken off
the court in a wheelchair.
Several minutes later, he
came back out using crutches
and said he needed to retire
from the match. He shook
the chair umpire’s hand and
then hugged Nadal.
Nadal has been dealing
with chronic pain in his left
foot and was coming off a
pair of victories that each
lasted more than 4 hours —
including against defending
champion Novak Djokovic
on May 31 — but showed
no signs of age, injury or
fatigue against the 25-year-
old Zverev.
Curry’s first quarter
Curry’s six 3s in the opening
12 minutes were the most ever
in any quarter of the NBA Fi-
nals. In addition, the 21 points
were most since Michael Jor-
dan’s 22 in the fourth quarter
of Game 4 vs. Phoenix in 1993.
The Celtics and Warriors
combined for 20 3s by halftime,
an NBA Finals first-half record.
Tip-ins
Celtics: Williams started
after being listed as question-
able with soreness in his sur-
gically repaired left knee and
finished with eight points and
four blocks while playing 24
minutes. Coach Ime Udoka
Blazers ‘not for sale’
though Phil Knight did
make offer, team says
oregonlive.com
expected him to be limited to
about 20 minutes as has been
the recent pattern. ... Boston
and the Warriors were even
on the boards at 39. ... Tatum
scored 12 points.
Warriors: F Andre Iguodala
(injured disc in neck), G Gary
Payton II (broken left elbow)
and Porter (left foot soreness)
all were back though Payton
didn’t play. 2015 NBA Finals
MVP Iguodala checked in
with 2:36 left in the first to
huge cheers after he missed 12
games. ... Golden State is 21-3
in postseason Game 1s dating
to the 2014-15 season when
the Warriors captured the
franchise’s first championship
in 40 years — and they had
won 13 straight playoff series
openers at home, third-lon-
gest streak in NBA history, be-
fore this.
Nadal returns
to finals after
Zverev injured
tober 2021. That ranks No. 13
among NBA franchises, be-
hind the No. 12 Miami Heat
($2.3 billion) and ahead of
the No. 14 Sacramento Kings
($2 billion).
• The Blazers have been
in Portland since 1970, with
their lone NBA champion-
ship coming in 1977. They
made the playoffs for eight
consecutive years from 2014-
21, but the 2021-22 season
became a transitional year
for the franchise, with a new
coach and general man-
ager as well as the departure
via trade of CJ McCollum,
Norman Powell and Robert
Covington. Now led by new
GM Joe Cronin, second-year
coach Chauncey Billups and
superstar veteran guard Da-
mian Lillard, the Blazers
are hoping to turn things
around after a 27-55 season
to become a playoff team in
2022-23.
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