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FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT A5 S PORTS THE BULLETIN • WEdNEsday, dEcEmBEr 14, 2022 bendbulletin.com/sports WORLD CUP NBA Alvarez sends Argentina to final Blazer ‘on a heater’ LUSAIL, Qatar — With surging runs and a strik- er’s instinct, Julián Álvarez carried Argentina into an- other World Cup final. Lionel Messi and the 22-year-old Álvarez were a pair of 5-feet-6 (1.70-meter) predators in a partnership that put to rest any hopes Croatia had of reaching back-to- back finals. The younger of the pair rose to the challenge on soccer’s biggest stage with a huge performance on Tuesday, earning a penalty kick converted by the 35-year-old Messi before scoring twice to maybe even outshine his teammate — one of the greatest players the game has ever seen — in a 3-0 victory at Lusail Stadium. Álvarez became the youngest player to score twice in a World Cup semifinal match since a 17-year-old Pele scored a hat trick for Brazil in 1958. No wonder Messi held Álvarez in a playful head- lock after his first goal and hugged him hard after the second. A tight-fought first half- hour was entirely turned upside down by Álvarez’s runs, barreling at speed into and through chal- lenges in a devastating five-minute spell. When it was over, Croatia’s play- ers had been left strewn behind him on the turf, trailing by two goals, with their hopes of another World Cup final in ruins. Instead, Argentina gave Messi a second chance to play for a World Cup title. He and his team- mates lost to Germany in the 2014 final. Until Álvarez changed the game, Croatia con- trolled much of the play with its usual neat passing in and around midfield, leaving Argentina’s attack little to work with. Álvarez was suddenly alert to creating danger when Croatia midfielder Luka Modric got in a tan- gle and the ball came loose for Enzo Fernández to loop a high pass over the defense. Álvarez was quickly clear and bearing down on goalkeeper Dominik Livaković, an imposing figure at any time and yet more so rushing from his goal. Although a deft shot past Livaković did not reach the goal, Álva- rez drew a foul to earn the penalty which Messi con- verted. Minutes later, Álvarez sparked to life when Ar- gentina cleared a Croatia corner, took the ball in his stride just before halfway and ran directly at the defense. The surging run seemed to surprise Croa- tia’s fullbacks as first Josip Juranović and then Borna Sosa fell backwards while taking swipes at the ball as Álvarez ran through them and once more at Livaković. This time, the Croatia keeper stayed back and Álvarez lashed his shot into the net from close range with a momentum that took him over Liva- ković’s body. Álvarez ran toward the corner to celebrate and Messi chased him down, grabbing him a headlock like a playful big brother. The pair teamed up again in the 69th minute, needing only each other to pass five defenders. Messi joined Kylian Mbappe with a tourna- ment-leading five goals. — Associated Press INSIDE • Morocco hopes to keep World Cup dream alive in semi vs. France, A7 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Damian Lillard dazzles with impressive shooting display during Portland’s win over Minnesota Eric Gay/AP file Then-Texas Tech coach Mike Leach waits as a play is reviewed during the first quarter of a game against Texas in 2009. Mississippi State coach Mike Leach dies at 61 BY RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer point immortality faded. But it did so in a much-needed win that left the Blazers at 15-12 with a six-game trip starting Wednesday at San Antonio. But Lillard, who finished with 38 points, did leave the arena having racked up a list of notable accomplishments: • Lillard matched his career high of 11 made threes (17 attempts) in a game, which he has now done three times. That’s also a franchise record. • His eight threes (10 attempts) in the first half were the most this season in the NBA. • His 11 threes are the most made in an NBA game this season. Lillard’s night certainly left an impres- sion on Minnesota coach Chris Finch. “He was pulling up from 35, 40 and it goes in,” Finch said. “Probably could have gone out and trapped him to get the ball out of his hands a little earlier.” Lillard’s night was helped along by his teammates. Mike Leach, the gruff, pio- neering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with the Air Raid of- fense, has died following com- plications from a heart con- dition, Mississippi State said Tuesday. He was 61. Leach, who was in his third season as head coach at Mis- sissippi State, fell ill Sunday at his home in Starkville, Mis- sissippi. He was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, about 120 miles away. “Mike was a giving and at- tentive husband, father and grandfather. He was able to participate in organ dona- tion at UMMC as a final act of charity,” the family said in a statement issued by Missis- sippi State. “We are supported and uplifted by the outpour- ing of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for shar- ing in the joy of our beloved husband and father’s life.” In 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washing- ton State and Mississippi State, Leach went 158-107. Leach fought through a bout with pneumonia late in this season, coughing uncon- trollably at times during news conferences, but seemed to be improving, according to those who worked with him. See Blazers / A6 See Leach / A7 Sean Meagher/The Oregonian via TNS Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard executes a reverse layup in traffic against the Minnesota Timberwolves Monday night in Portland. BY AARON FENTRESS The Oregonian D amian Lillard said he “I think it’s one of those situations where you start seeing the ball going, I think you just gotta let it ride. And that’s what I was doing. Each opportunity where I felt like there was a window where I could get a three off, I was shooting it.” had a feeling he was — Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers guard within striking distance But not close enough to expect a shot at the record with the Blazers leading 106-84 entering the fourth quarter and on their way to a 133-112 victory. “I’ve been around long enough to know I wasn’t going back in that game,” Lillard said with a smile. “So, I got a heat back on my thigh and that was it.” And he was cool with that. Reentering the game to chase a record is not Lillard’s style. “I knew that would be the thirsty thing to do,” Lillard said. “So, I didn’t even think that Chauncey would even consider that.” He was correct. Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said he had no inten- tions of putting Lillard back in the game to chase a record, both out of respect for the Timberwolves and to preserve his star. “He was on a heater and it was fun to watch,” Billups said. “But he could always use some rest as well.” With that, Lillard’s brush with three- of the NBA’s record for three pointers made in a game Monday night against Minnesota at the Moda Center. But that didn’t drive the Portland Trail Blazers point guard even as he poured in three after three to reach 11 through three quarters with Golden State guard Klay Thompson’s all-time record of 14 within reach. “I knew I was close,” he said. NBA The Jordan Trophy: NBA rebrands, redesigns its MVP award BY TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Michael Jordan was mo- ments away from hoisting his third of what would be- come five NBA Most Valuable Player awards, and then-Com- missioner David Stern greeted him at the midcourt ceremony with words that were both simple and profound. “You are simply the stan- dard,” Stern said that night in 1992, “by which basketball ex- cellence is measured.” That’s never been more true. The NBA MVP award has been renamed The Michael Jordan Trophy, the league an- nounced Tuesday. Jordan is a five-time MVP so he has five trophies named for Maurice Podoloff — the league’s first commissioner. But after six decades of the award bearing Podoloff’s name, the NBA decided the time was right to rebrand. The Jordan trophy will stand 23.6 inches tall and weigh 23.6 pounds — nods to his jersey number and six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls — but is not a depiction of him. The chairman of the Charlotte Hornets approved the design, one that symbol- izes someone reaching for ex- cellence, but did not want the statue to be of himself. He also declined a request for com- ment through the NBA. “Anybody should be able to see this and see themselves in it,” said Mark Smith, a long- time designer at Jordan Brand and the person who oversaw the trophy’s design. “They should feel the excellence of Michael Jordan and his pur- suit. It’s got his name on it, but it isn’t him. It’s everybody. It could be a shipbuilder or it could be a teacher or a lawyer or a writer who looks at it and says, ‘That’s what I’m trying to do.’” The league has rebranded almost all its trophies in the last two seasons, even adding some new ones. As part of Tuesday’s announcement, the league revealed that The Jerry West Award is being intro- duced and will be given to the NBA Clutch Player of the Year — which, like almost all other league awards, will be voted on by a media panel. NBA coaches will nominate players for the clutch award. Also, the Defensive Player of the Year will now receive The Hakeem Olajuwon Tro- phy; the Rookie of the Year will receive The Wilt Cham- berlain Trophy; the Sixth Man of the Year will now receive The John Havlicek Trophy; and the NBA’s Most Improved Player will receive The George Mikan Trophy. “Our new collection of tro- phies celebrates some of the greatest and most impactful players in the history of the NBA,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. See NBA / A6 Charles Bennett/AP file Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan holds the Maurice Podoloff Trophy awarded to the NBA basketball Most Valuable Player for the 1995-96 season in Northbrook, Illinois.
