The Washington Post - 03.03.2020

d4 eZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAy, MARCH 3 , 2020

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The miami Heat stands alone as the first team to beat the milwaukee Bucks twice this season. Jae Crowder and Jimmy Butler each scored 18 points, and the host Heat beat the Bucks, 105-89, on monday night — m oving to 2-0 against the NBA’s best team. Goran Dragic added 15 points and Bam Adebayo had 14 points and 12 rebounds for miami, which improved to 39-22 and matched its win total from last season with 21 games remaining. Kendrick Nunn added 13 points, and Kelly olynyk had 11. “Collective effort,” Crowder said. “All hands on deck.” It w as a season low in points for the Bucks. The difference was from the three-point line: miami was 18 for 37, milwaukee 7 for 34. Brook L opez led the Bucks with 21 points. Giannis Antetokounm- po tied his season low with 13 points on 6-for-18 shooting. l KnICKs 125, rOCKETs 123: rookie rJ Barrett tied his season high with 27 points as New York snapped Houston’s six-game winning streak and ended a nine- game home skid vs. the rockets. James Harden had 35 points and eight assists for Houston. l BUlls 109, mAVErICKs 107: Coby White scored 19 points and otto Porter Jr. added 18 in his return from a broken left foot for host Chicago, which won when Luka Doncic’s desperation heave bounced off the rim. Tim Hardaway Jr. led Dallas with 26 points. l PACErs 1 16, sPUrs 1 11: malcolm Brogdon scored 26 points, and visiting Indiana ral- lied after blowing a 15-point lead to earn its fourth straight win.

Patty mills scored 24 points to lead San Antonio. l GrIZZlIEs 1 27, HAwKs 88: Gorgui Dieng had 17 points and 10 rebounds, leading nine memphis scorers in double f igures in a rout of host Atlanta. The Hawks, who shot 32.3 percent, were denied their first three- game winning streak of the season. l TrAIl BlAZErs 130, mAGIC 107: C J mcCollum scored 41 points as visiting Portland ended a three-game skid by running away from orlando. Nikola Vucevic led the magic with 30 points and 11 rebounds. l JAZZ 126, CAVAlIErs 113: Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 points as visiting Utah defeated injury-plagued Cleveland, which dressed only nine players and used just seven. Collin Sexton scored a career- high 32 points for the Cavaliers.

Virus memo: Avoid high-fives The NBA told its players to avoid high-fiving fans and taking items for autographs, its latest response to the c oronavirus crisis. The league, in a memo sent to teams Sunday and obtained monday by the Associated Press, offered recommendations to players with hopes of decreasing risks of getting the virus — among them, not taking items such as pens, markers, balls and jerseys from autograph-seekers. l KnICKs: Leon rose has spent years as one of the NBA’s most powerful agents. Now he will try to turn around one of its weakest franchises. New York hired rose as its president, hoping he can sign and draft the k ind of dominant p layers he has been representing. The Golden S tate Warriors and the L os Angeles Lakers found success after handing their basketball oper- ations to an agent, and the Knicks aspire to do the same with rose.

nBA roUndUp

Miami again knocks off

NBA-leading Milwaukee

HEAt 105, BuCKs 89

FROM NEWS SERVICES AND STAFF REPORTS

maCio Te ague hit a three-point-
er after stepping behind the line
and just beating the shot clock
with 1:13 left in overtime, and the
No. 4 Baylor men held on for a
71-68 win over Te xas Te ch on
m onday night in Waco, Te x.
Te ague’s shot put the Bears up
69 -65, but Kyler Edwards then hit
a three f or Te xas Te ch. Shorthand-
ed Baylor (26-3, 15-2 B ig 1 2) sealed
the win with Jared Butler’s steal
and two free throws with 11
s econds remaining.
Butler came away with the ball
in the lane w hen C hris Clarke tried

to make a pass inside over the Baylor guard, who was quickly fouled. Davide moretti later took a wild three-pointer that wasn’t close f or Te xas Te ch (18-12, 9 -8). Devonte Bandoo had 18 points and Butler added 17 for the Bears, who followed a Big 12-record 2 3-game winning streak by losing two of their previous three games, which knocked them out of the No. 1 spot in the A P top 25. Jahmi’us ramsey and Kevin mcCullar each had 13 points for Te xas Te ch. l dUKE 88, n.C. sTATE 69: Cassius Stanley had 14 of his 18 points after halftime, and the No. 12 Blue Devils used dominant work on the boards along with some zone defense to beat the Wolfpack in Durham, N.C. — a notable reversal from a blowout loss to N.C. State less than two

weeks earlier. Duke Coach mike Krzyzewski said back-to-back road losses to Wake f orest and reigning national champion Virginia had “knocked back” his players, but they r esponded well. The Blue D evils (24-6, 14-5 ACC) lost the first meeting, 88-66, in raleigh o n feb. 19 for Krzyzewski’s most lopsided loss t o an unranked opponent during his four decades leading t he program. Devon Daniels had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead the Wolfpack (18-12, 9-10), which shot 50 percent in t he first half. l HOwArd 62, mArylAnd EAsTErn sHOrE 60: Wayne Bristol Jr. scored 20 points to lead the Bison (3-27, 1-14 mid-Eastern Athletic) to their first conference win, a defeat of the Hawks (5-25, 4-11) at B urr Gymnasium.

Connecticut women cruise megan Walker s cored 23 points, and the No. 5 Connecticut women completed their seventh consecutive undefeated American Athlet- ic Conference regular season with an 80-39 rout of South florida in Hartford, Conn. Crystal Dangerfield, Christyn Williams and Aubrey Griffin each added 13 points for the Huskies (26-3, 16-0), who improved to 136 -0 against AAC opponents, in- cluding all six conference tourna- ments. Sydni Harvey had 16 points for South florida (18-12, 1 0-6). l mArylAnd EAsTErn sHOrE 7 1, HOwArd 70: A yonna Williams (Ballou) had a game-high 23 points, but the B ison (14-14, 6-9 mEAC) fell to the Hawks (7-21, 4-11) at Burr G ymnasium.

ColleGe BAsKetBAll roUndUp

No. 4 Bears survive challenge from Red Raiders

BAYLoR 71, tEXAs tECH 68 (ot)

mastered the look of a disgrun- tled employee. But later that night — unlike a few others when Beal would duck out of the locker room before reporters entered — he looked unburdened as he spoke about the loss. Beal even hung around, laughing with a friend inside the locker room. In t hat small moment in Chica- go, Beal seemed to understand — or even accept — his place in the Wizards’ season. He can’t single- handedly summon his team into relevance, but he can appreciate the bigger picture. Then, on Sunday night, Beal found some peace. “We’re in a good position,” he said, sharing context about being an NBA player. “I get to play basketball for a living. It’s h onest- ly bigger than basketball for me, and that’s honestly what I credit it to.” [email protected]

games, Beal leads the NBA with 40 points per game and outpaces the second-best scorer, Boston all-star Jayson Ta tum, by six points. “Unfortunately he didn’t get picked, but the players voted him second and that says a lot. Coach- es, we think we know it all and we think we see it all, but the players know it,” Brooks said. “They know he’s impossible to guard.” Then, Brooks added a touch of sarcasm: “Can you imagine if he was an all-star what he would be doing right now?” This kind of lightheartedness has not always reached Beal. After some losses, Beal would shake his head and blame himself for not doing enough. or the frustration would mushroom to meme-able levels. An image of an irate Beal, stewing on the sideline in the waning moments of a feb. 23 loss to the Chicago Bulls, went viral. This season, Beal has

E astern Conference coaches to select Beal as an all-star reserve. Even though there is evidence of lingering resentment — Beal re- sponded with an emphatic “no” when asked whether he tuned in for the feb. 16 showcase game — he has downplayed the snub as the impetus for his scoring surge. Even so, no player in the NBA has scored like Beal since the all-star break. In his past six

In october, when Beal came to
the biggest decision of his career
and signed a two-year, $72 mil-
lion maximum contract exten-
sion despite the forecast of a
trying 2019-20 season, he chose
to be the center of a rebuilding
franchise. At that time, Beal men-
tioned how “honored” he was
because “you don’t get that type
of position, that type of power”
with just any franchise.
With the power of being the
foundation of an organization,
however, came great burdens.
The Wizards relished their victo-
ry lap when Beal re-signed, but
then the games started and inju-
ries and surgeries sidelined team-
mates. With the expanding injury
list, it became clear that Washing-
ton could offer little in talent and
depth to support its star.
Surrounded with inexperi-
enced players or past-their-prime
veterans, Beal faced nightly dou-
ble teams and even gimmick de-
fenses he hadn’t seen since he
was the No. 1 high school recruit
coming out of missouri. During
this 18-game stretch, allies have
marveled at Beal’s consistency,
and opponents have plotted an
“anybody-but-Brad” defensive
scheme.
“We throw a lot of stuff at him,”
Brooklyn Nets Coach Kenny At-
kinson said Wednesday after his
team forced Beal to share the ball
late in a Wizards win. “I think the
fourth quarter, he took over, and
that’s what great players do. He’s
really become a great player in
this league, you know? I know
you guys all know it and see him
all the time. You know, great,
great player.”
Even on the historic Sunday
night, after Beal went for 22
points in the first quarter, the
Warriors aggressively sent an ex-
tra defender his way the moment
he touched the ball. At times it
worked — with about three min-
utes to play in the first half, Beal
had to give the ball up to Thomas
Bryant, who then launched a
missile of a pass to the Wizards’
sideline for a turnover — and
other times, Beal swiftly attacked
and drew a foul before the
d efense could clamp down.
“They were double-teaming
him right away, and it seemed like
it was a box-and-one with a
double team,” Coach Scott Brooks
said of the Warriors. “He finds a
way. He finds a way to get buck-
ets. He finds a way to get his
teammates open. The level of
consistency that he plays with to
me is what keeps him at t hat level
— special.”
But this stability — which
started near the end of January
and peaked in february, when he
averaged 36.2 points per game,
the highest total for a calendar
month in franchise history, ac-
cording to Elias Sports Bureau —
wasn’t enough to convince

wIZArds from d1

In a losing season, Beal finds purpose

wIzArds’ next tHree

at sacramento Kings

Today10nBCsW

at portland trail Blazers

Tomorrow 10 nBCsW

vs. Atlanta Hawks

Fr iday7nBCsW

Radio: WFED (1500 AM)

KATHerIne FreY/THe WAsHIngTOn POsT wizards guard Bradley Beal has scored 25 or more points in a franchise-record 18 consecutive games.

from now until the end of the season, but how the Te rps’ bench players perform in their limited minutes could tip the outcome of a game. Hart’s impact against michigan State was never going to be significant, but it’s something he can hold on to moving forward. He played well against a tough opponent i n a matchup that fea- tured high stakes. A game such as that “can help him a lot,” Jalen Smith said, “because I remember last year, it helped me a lot, going into that type of game. Just having him know the coach trusts him in that type of game, it’s a big confidence boost for him.” [email protected]

rotation, Smith totaled two points over 52 minutes. While Hart went more than a month without playing, he said he focused on staying positive and listening to his coaches. old- er guards such as Wiggins, Ayala and Darryl morsell offered guid- ance, too. “Hakim started trying hard, really hard, in practice” in early february, Turgeon said. “A nd he’s talented enough. Hakim’s a smart player, so what I want our bench to do is go in and play smart.” Around that time, Hart s aid, he told himself, “I’m going to go harder each and every day from now on.” The makeup of this team won’t experience any major changes

second half. “We’ve got to be a deeper team if we’re going to beat a team like that,” Turgeon said. for months, Turgeon has ex- pressed a similar objective, hoping that players such as Hart continue to make strides. Turgeon tinkered with his rotation during the nonconference slate, playing both Serrel Smith and Hart. Turgeon seemingly had settled on Smith and praised the way he had approached practice once the team returned from win- ter break. But Smith, who played 12 minutes per game and averaged 3.4 points last season, never found much of a rhythm offen- sively. for a seven-game stretch just before Hart returned to the

another basket. The stars from maryland and michigan State finished with nearly equal production. Cowan and forward Jalen Smith com- bined to score 33 points. michigan State point guard Cassius Winston and forward Xavier Tillman scored 34 points. The stark difference came in the teams’ help from their supporting cast. maryland’s complementary players didn’t offer much. Wig- gins finished with four points on 1-for-7 shooting after totaling 36 points in maryland’s previous two outings. fellow sophomore Eric Ayala struggled even more, missing all four of his shots and playing just eight minutes in the

Even though the Te rps never mustered much of a rally against michigan State, Hart had a help- ful role in sparking some of maryland’s best pushes. He hit a three- pointer with 14:31 to go for his first basket since Dec. 4. on that play, the ball nearly flew out of bounds, but Aaron Wiggins sal- vaged the play, batting the ball toward Hart in the corner. With- out hesitation, Hart launched a three-pointer that cut michigan State’s lead to 13. With 2:41 to play, H art’s driving layup in transition off a long pass from Anthony Cowan Jr. trimmed the deficit to 10. maryland forced turnovers on michigan State’s next three possessions, but the Te rps couldn’t manage to score

In the following game, Hart
had three missed shots and made
a free throw in nine minutes
against minnesota.
Hart’s 10 minutes against the
Spartans were the most he has
played against a Big Te n oppo-
nent. He had double figures in
minutes just three other times
this season, all wins by at least 19
points. But with maryland eyeing
its chance to clinch at l east a share
of the Big Te n title Tuesday at
rutgers, Hart h as replaced sopho-
more Serrel Smith Jr. in the Te rps’
rotation for three straight games.
“Gaining [Turgeon’s] trust and
respect shows your hard work is
paying off,” Hart said.

mArylAnd from d1

After spending weeks on the bench, Hart works his way into the Terps’ rotation

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Leon Draisaitl had the first four-goal game of his career m onday night as the Edmonton oilers routed the host Nashville Predators, 8-3, t o sweep the s eason series. Connor mcDavid scored the go- ahead goal in the third period and added four assists. Kailer Yama- moto and Josh A rchibald each had a goal and an assist, and ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse h ad three assists a piece. Edmonton broke open a tie game by scoring three of its five third-period goals i n 2:21. roman Josi, Calle Jarnkrok a nd Nick Bonino scored for Nashville. l AVAlAnCHE 2, rEd wInGs 1: Gabriel Landeskog took a hard hit but sprung Logan o’Connor for a breakaway goal in the second period, and host Colo- rado beat Detroit for its seventh straight v ictory. Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Avalanche, which extended a franchise record with its n inth straight road w in. Antho- ny mantha s cored for D etroit.

Goalie rule unlikely to change NHL general managers seem unlikely to suggest changes to the league’s emergency backup goal- tender policy, even after 42-year- old Zamboni driver David Ayres became one of the biggest stories of the season by winning a game

for Carolina last month. The issue was among the dis- cussion points monday, t he first of three days of Gm meetings in B oca raton, fla., but the apparent con- sensus was that emergency goal- tenders are called upon so rarely that any change now would feel like an overreaction. “We’re comfortable with the way that it is,” Vegas General m anager Kelly mcCrimmon s aid. Ayres became a sensation when he was called on by the Hurricanes in a game at Toronto after injuries to Carolina goalies Petr mrazek and James reimer. Ayres stopped eight shots and became the first emergency goalie in NHL history credit- ed w ith a win. Under NHL rules, when a team’s two goalies are hurt or oth- erwise incapacitated, the club “shall b e entitled t o dress and play any available goalkeeper who is eligible.” In Carolina’s case, that was Ayres, who often gets on the ice at maple Leafs practice when the t eam needs a n extra goalie.

nHl roUndUp

Draisaitl scores four times

as Edmonton dominates late

oILERs 8, PREDAtoRs 3

CApItAls’ n ext tHree

vs. philadelphia Flyers

Tomorrow7nBCsn

at n ew York rangers

Thursday 7nBCsW

at p ittsburgh penguins

saturday1nBCsW, nHL network

Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM)

The Washington Post - 03.03.2020

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