A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
Friday’s game between
the Portland Trail
Blazers and the Los
Angeles Lakers was the
first in which fans were
allowed to attend at the
Moda Center in Portland
since the coronavirus
pandemic began.
Craig Mitchelldyer/AP
Portland Trail Blazers
Fans arrive just in time
to see Nurkic hit his stride
BY AARON FENTRESS
The Oregonian
J
usuf Nurkic felt nervous Friday night
before the Portland Trail Blazers took
the court at the Moda Center for what
turned out to be an all-important win
over the Los Angeles Lakers.
That night marked the first time Nur-
kic played in front of fans at the Moda Cen-
ter since March 2019, when he broke his leg
during a home game.
“It was a special feeling,” Nurkic said after
the team’s win Saturday over San Antonio. “I
know it’s like 10% of capacity, but I know how
this place can get loud and you can feel that no
matter how many fans are in a building.”
Fans being permitted to watch Blazers
games at 10% capacity happened just in time
for those in attendance to catch Nurkic at
his best. He returned to action March 26 af-
ter missing 32 games with a broken wrist, but
truly returned to playing like his old self on
April 23.
Nurkic over the past 10 games has bumped
his production up to 15.1 points and 11.9 re-
bounds per game. In his first 11 games back,
he averaged 8.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per
outing.
The Blazers are 7-3 over their last 10 games,
which began with two losses at home to Mem-
phis. Since, the Blazers have won seven out of
eight.
Even more encouraging for the Blazers is
that Nurkic, who missed three other games be-
cause of knee inflammation and management
of that injury, just put together two good per-
formances on back-to-back nights.
In 31 minutes against the Lakers on Friday,
Nurkic made 5 of 8 shots for 10 points and also
had 13 rebounds and five assists. Against the
Spurs on Saturday, Nurkic saw only 21 minutes
Derby champ faces
DQ; Churchill bans
trainer Baffert
Tony Dejak/AP
Portland Trail Blazers’ Jusuf Nurkic (27) swats the ball away from Cleveland Cavaliers’ Isaac Okoro (35) on
Wednesday in Cleveland.
in the 124-102 blowout, but put up 17 points,
nine rebounds and five assists.
The season hasn’t been easy for Nurkic, nor
the team, given the intense schedule that he
called “ridiculous.” But the Blazers are playing
well right now and that’s largely because Nur-
kic is back to performing at a high level at both
ends of the court.
“It’s a grind,” Nurkic said of the season. “Ob-
viously, people just see the success, but the
grind, the injuries, the bad days, are all the
stuff we go through as a human being, I think,
people kind of look at that and just forget that
we’re not super-human sometimes.”
Not only is Nurkic performing well as an
individual, but his chemistry with Damian Lil-
lard is starting to pick up. They form one of the
best pick-and-roll tandems in the NBA. That
was evident on Saturday, especially in the third
quarter.
Lillard had nine points and four assists in
the quarter. Nurkic put up 13 points with three
assists and five rebounds. Two of Nurkic’s as-
sists went to CJ McCollum and the other to
Lillard, who made three assists Nurkic’s way.
See Nurkic / A6
Martin Truex Jr.
dominates at
Darlington for
3rd win of year
McIlroy ends 18-month drought
with victory at Quail Hollow
See NASCAR / A6
There were more eyes
than usual watching the
USA Track & Field Golden
Games Sunday afternoon
with NFL star DK Met-
calf entered in the men’s
100-meter race.
What they saw was a
breakout performance
from Cravon Gillespie.
The former Oregon star
won in a season-best time
of 9.96 seconds, giving
Gillespie a boost of confi-
dence with five weeks to
go until the U.S. Olympic
Track & Field Trials at Hay-
ward Field.
“I didn’t like how I per-
formed a couple weeks
ago in Oregon,” Gillespie
told NBC after his race, ref-
erencing his 10.35, sixth-
place finish during the
Oregon Relays on April
24. “Making those adjust-
ments is what being a
professional is all about. I
came out here, put it to-
gether and got the win.”
Gillespie set Oregon
school records in the 100
(9.93) and 200 (19.93) in
2019.
He also ran 10.11 to
win his semifinal heat
Sunday at Hilmer Lodge
Stadium in Walnut, Calif.
That race included Met-
calf, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound
wide receiver for the Seat-
tle Seahawks.
Metcalf ran 10.37 in his
professional track debut
to finish in ninth place
and out of contention for
the finals.
“These are world-class
athletes,” Metcalf told
NBC. “It’s very different
from football speed, from
what I just realized.”
HORSE RACING
PGA TOUR | WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Martin Truex Jr.
got nervous in a hurry near the end of his
dominating drive at Darlington Raceway.
Barely pushed much of the race, the Joe
Gibbs Racing driver suddenly saw Kyle Lar-
son catching up in the closing laps.
Truex, though, called on his steady de-
meanor and track focus to pull away for his
third NASCAR Cup Series victory this sea-
son.
Not that it was easy.
When Truex noticed Larson right behind
him inside of 30 laps left, he thought, “Oh,
man, he’s right behind me.
“You’re heart rate goes up,” he continued,
“You’re anxiety goes up.”
Very quickly, Truex was back to his steady,
powerhouse driving at the track “Too Tough
To Tame.”
“Hopefully, we can keep this rolling,”
Truex said.
Oregon sprinter
steals spotlight
from DK Metcalf
—The Register-Guard
NASCAR | GOODYEAR 400
BY PETE IACOBELLI
Associated Press
TRACK & FIELD
BY DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory
McIlroy finally won when he least
expected it, and it was as sweet as he
could have imagined.
Only after he hung on for a one-
shot victory in the Wells Fargo
Championship, his first title in
18 months, did he reveal his neck
locked up during his final practice
session and if not for a late tee time
Thursday, he would have had to
withdraw.
And when he seized control Sun-
day afternoon with back-to-back
birdies from the bunker down the
stretch, he started to get ahead of
himself thinking how cool it would
be to see his wife and 8-month-old
daughter waiting to celebrate with
him on their first Mother’s Day.
The finishing stretch at Quail
Hollow snapped him back to reality.
He hit a 7-iron safely over the water
on the 17th, and caddie Harry Dia-
mond wisely talked him into taking
a penalty drop from a dangerous lie
in a hazard on the closing hole. He
Jacob Kupferman/via AP
Rory McIlroy throws his ball into the crowd on the 18th green after winning the
Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow on Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
two-putted from 45 feet for bogey,
a 3-under 68 and a one-shot victory.
The moment with Erica and lit-
tle Poppy was what he imagined. So
was that trophy.
“It’s tough to get over the line,
especially if you haven’t done it in
a while,” McIlroy said, a winner at
Quail Hollow for the third time.
“It’s such a funny week, knowing
my game was pretty good and then
having my neck lock up on the
range and sitting here Sunday night
with the trophy.
“Just glad I got through it.”
See PGA / A6
Medina Spirit’s victory
in the Kentucky Derby is in
serious jeopardy because
of a failed postrace drug
test, one that led Chur-
chill Downs to suspend
Hall of Fame trainer Bob
Baffert on Sunday in the
latest scandal to plague
the sport.
Baffert denied all
wrongdoing and prom-
ised to be fully transpar-
ent with the Kentucky
Horse Racing Commission
during its investigation.
Baffert’s barn received
word Saturday that Me-
dina Spirit had tested
positive for an excessive
amount of the steroid
betamethasone, which is
sometimes used to treat
pain and inflammation.
Medina Spirit’s win over
Mandaloun in the Derby
stands — for now.
The track said failure
to comply with the rules
and medication protocols
jeopardizes the safety of
horses and jockeys, the
sport’s integrity and the
Derby’s reputation.
Medina Spirit is ex-
pected to run in the Preak-
ness on Saturday, barring
some abrupt change in
plans or a decision from
officials at Pimlico or Mary-
land’s racing commission
that would prevent him
from entering the second
jewel of the Triple Crown.
Medina Spirit is Baffert’s
fifth horse known to have
failed a drug test in just
over a year.
If Medina Spirit is dis-
qualified, his connections
will not receive the $1.86
million winner’s share of
the Derby purse money.
But for bettors, anything
that happens next won’t
matter — those who
cashed in on Medina
Spirit still win, those who
didn’t still lose and those
who backed Mandaloun
missed out on a winning
ticket.
—Associated Press