wednesday, march 11 , 2020. the washington post eZ M2 d3
thunderous dunk that didn’t ex-
actly win style points. The ball
bounced through the rim instead
of slamming home, but Bryant
pounded his chest anyway as he
towered over fans sitting
c ourtside.
Now Bryant must hope there
will still be fans there in the
future.
On Tuesday, the Wizards in-
corporated the NBA’s new rules
temporarily restricting locker
room access as a response to the
coronavirus outbreak.
Bryant, who conducted a pre-
game media session from a dais
inside an interview room, ex-
pressed optimism that the new
restrictions will not extend to
closing arenas and playing
games without fans.
“I hope it isn’t too bad where
they take the fans away,” Bryant
said. “I know me, myself, I love
having the fans there, and I feel
like a lot of players in the NBA
love having the fans as well.”
[email protected]ASSOCIATED PRESSMarcus Smart’s leaning bank
shot in the final minute gave the
Boston Celtics the lead after they
blew a 19-point advantage, and
they held on for a 114-111 victory
Tuesday night over the Indiana
Pacers in Indianapolis to clinch a
playoff spot for the sixth consecu-
tive year.
Jayson Ta tum scored 30 points
for Boston, and Gordon Hayward
added 27 points, 10 rebounds and
five assists in his home state.
Smart put the Celtics ahead for
good at 111-109 with 49.7 seconds
left by scoring in the lane over
Domantas Sabonis, who led Indi-
ana with 28 points, nine
r ebounds and eight assists.
Smart made two free throws
with seven seconds to go for athree-point edge, and Justin Holi-
day missed badly on a contested
three-pointer as time expired.
Victor Oladipo finished with a
season-high 27 points to power a
stunning comeback for the
P acers, who fell into an 85-66 hole
late in the third quarter.
T. J. Warren, who finished with
22 points, hit a three-pointer
from the left corner to complete
the furious rally and tie the score
at 104 with three minutes to play.
Sabonis’s spin move and score
against Daniel Theis pushed the
Pacers in front 107-104, but the
struggling Celtics proved up to
the challenge of recovering.
“We probably needed it,” Coach
Brad Stevens said. “Go down
three and find a way to win is
probably a good thing for our
team in the long run. That was
hard. That was a good thing.”
l ROCKETS 117, TIMBER-
WOLVES 111: James Harden had
37 points, and Houston snapped a
four-game skid with a home w inover Minnesota.
The Rockets trailed early but
used a big run in the third quarter
to take the lead. It was a much-
needed victory for a team that
had called a blowout loss to Or-
lando on Sunday “rock bottom.”
The losing streak, which
matched a season high, came
after the Rockets had won six in a
row. It dropped them to sixth in
the Western Conference.
l SPURS 119, MAVERICKS
109: LaMarcus Aldridge had 24
points in his return from injury,
and San Antonio withstood Luka
Doncic’s 38 points to beat visiting
Dallas and keep its playoff hopes
afloat.
The Spurs m oved four games
behind Memphis for the eighth
seed in their bid to earn an
NBA-record 23rd straight playoff
appearance.
l MAGIC 120, GRIZZLIES
115: Terrence Ross scored 24
points, including fueling a rally
with 18 in the fourth quarter, asOrlando won in Memphis.
Michael Carter-Williams add-
ed a season-high 20 for the Magic.
Memphis led by 17 i n the first half,
but the Magic scored 70 points
over the final two periods.
l BULLS 108, CAVALIERS
103: Coby White scored 20 points
to help offset a career-high nine
turnovers in his first NBA start,
and host Chicago beat Cleveland.
White turned in his ninth
straight game with at least 19
points. That helped make up for
the rookie’s difficulties control-
ling the ball.
The Bulls held off the Eastern
Conference’s last-place team to
win for just the third time in 16
games, even though leading scor-
er Zach LaVine missed his fifth in
a row with a strained quadriceps.
The Cavaliers a nnounced a
multiyear extension for Coach
J.B. Bickerstaff before the game,
then fell to 5-6 since he took over
after John Beilein’s resignation
54 games into his first season.nba roundupBoston clinches playoff spot with win over Indiana
celtics 114,
pacers 111only exception was the 48-game
season in 2 012-13.
Nikita Gusev and Miles Wood
scored for New Jersey, which had
won its previous two games.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 28
shots, and the last-place Devils
dropped to 6-3-2 in their past 11
games.
l MAPLE LEAFS 2, LIGHT-
NING 1: Auston Matthews scored
his 47 th goal of the season, and
Frederik Andersen made 32 saves
as To ronto defeated visiting
T ampa Bay.
William Nylander also scored
for Toronto, w hich returned h ome
following a miserable California
trip in which the Maple Leafs se-
cured one point and registered
just three goals against the West-
ern Conference’s three worst
teams — the San Jose Sharks, Los
Angeles Kings and Anaheim
Ducks.
Mitch Marner and J ohn Ta vares
each had two assists for the Leafs,
who had defenseman Morgan
R ielly back in the lineup for the
first time since he broke his foot
Jan. 12.
l PREDATORS 4, CANA-
DIENS 2: Filip Forsberg scored
twice, and Nashville withstood at
late r ally by host Montreal.
Ryan J ohansen and Calle Jarnk-
rok also scored in the second peri-
od as Nashville built a four-goal
lead.
Artturi Lehkonen and Lukas
Vejdemo had goals in the third
period f or Montreal, which lost i ts
third straight game.
Juuse Saros made 32 saves for
the win. Carey Price stopped 32
shots f or the Canadiens.
l RANGERS 4, STARS 2: Mika
Zibanejad scored his 10th goal in
five games to give him 40 for the
season, impressive rookie Igor
Shesterkin made 31 saves, and
New York w on for t he 10th t ime in
its p ast 11 road games.
l HURRICANES 5, RED
WINGS 2: J ustin W illiams scored
a tiebreaking goal 1:38 into the
final period, and Sebastian Aho
added two goals later in the third
to propel C arolina in D etroit.John McDonnell/the Washington Post
Bradley Beal scored 20 of the Wizards’ 3 3 points in the third quarter Tuesday night as Washington rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit.ASSOCIATED PRESSAfter watching To ttenham go
meekly out of the Champions
League with a 3-0 road loss to
Leipzig on Tuesday, Jose Mourin-
ho said his injury-ravaged squad
was “not even a team” anymore.
To ttenham certainly looked
nothing like the team that
reached last season’s final under
Mauricio Pochettino. Marcel Sa-
bitzer scored twice for Leipzig in
the first half to send the Champi-
ons League’s youngest coach and
club into the quarterfinals.
Sabitzer’s goals helped give
Leipzig a 4-0 win on aggregate
and deepened the gloom over
Mourinho’s Tottenham, which
hasn’t won in nearly a month.
“We are really in trouble. We
are not even a team; we are a
group of players that are available
to play, and we try to build a
team,” Mourinho said, bemoan-
ing To ttenham’s run of injuries to
key players. “We have no attack-
ing players; we don’t hurt oppo-
nents. That’s as simple as that. So
opponents, they feel very com-
fortable to have a go at us, be-
cause they know that we cannot
hurt them.”
To ttenham came back from a
3-0 aggregate deficit against Ajax
to reach last year’s final, but a
comeback never looked likely
Tuesday in Germany.
Instead of the Lucas Moura hat
trick that turned the Ajax game,
To ttenham produced a limp
s econd-half showing against
Leipzig and eventually conceded
another goal.
To ttenham is without a win in
its past six games in all competi-
tions. All that’s left for Mourin-
ho’s team this season is the Eng-
lish Premier League, where his
club is eighth — seven points out
of the Champions League places.
Just 11 years after it was found-
ed by drink giant Red Bull,
Leipzig is in the final eight of the
Champions League. At 32, Julian
Nagelsmann is the youngest
coach to reach that stage.
With Harry Kane, Son Heung-
min and most recently Steven
Bergwijn injured, To ttenham
seemed drained of energy and
devoid of ideas.
American Ty ler Adams made
his Champions League debut as a
56th-minute substitute for
Leipzig after defender Nordi
Mukiele was taken off for treat-
ment after being struck in the
face by the ball.
l ATALANTA 4, VALENCIA
3: Newcomer Atalanta extended
its remarkable Champions
League run thanks to a record-
breaking night by Josip Ilicic in
Spain.
Ilicic became the first player to
score four goals in a road knock-
out match in the tournament,
helping Atalanta reach the quar-
terfinals in its debut season with
a win over Valencia. The match
was played in an empty stadium
because of the coronavirus out-
break.
With Atalanta holding a com-
fortable 4-1 lead after the first leg
in Italy, Ilicic scored twice in each
half at Mestalla Stadium as the
visitors advanced 8-4 on aggre-
gate.
“A talanta aren’t a surprise any
longer,” Ilicic said. “We’re doing
great things and want to carry on.
We w ant to show we deserve to be
here and improve day by day.”
The 32-year-old Slovenian,
who also scored in the first match,
has 17 goals in his past 14 games.uefa Champions league roundup
A fter rout, Mourinho
bemoans run of injuries
leipzig 3,
tottenham 0ASSOCIATED PRESSMatt Grzelcyk and Patrice
Bergeron scored, Tuukka Rask
stopped 36 shots, and the visiting
Boston Bruins beat Philadelphia,
2-0, on Tuesday night to end the
Flyers’ nine-game winning streak.
The Bruins (44-14-12) became
the first team to reach 100 points
this season, and Rask scored his
50th career shutout. Rask became
the s ixth active goalie with at l east
50 shutouts; he has five this
s eason.
“ I’ve been around for many
years. I guess if you play enough
games, those milestones happen,”
Rask said.
Rusk stymied a Flyers offense
that had scored a t least three goals
in each of their nine wins during
the streak. They scored five goals
four times since the s treak started
Feb. 18 against C olumbus.
Wells Fargo Center was just
about packed, even with concern
over the coronavirus outbreak, f or
the most anticipated Flyers game
of the season.
The Flyers had been absolutely
sensational as they shot up the
standings and were fighting with
Washington for first place in the
Metropolitan Division. The Flyers
had d efeated the Bruins in a shoot-
out i n both games of t he series t his
season, i ncluding a bizarre ending
in January when Boston’s Brad
Marchand overskated the puck at
center ice on a shootout attempt.
The Flyers pounded Rask early
on Tuesday n ight, putting 24 s hots
on goal in the first two periods.
Rask stood tall and got the cush-
ion he needed late when
Bergeron’s shot from the circle
appeared to get deflected by a
Flyers stick and went in for a 2-0
lead.
The Bruins broke through on
Carter Hart, the first goalie under
22 in NHL history with a pair of
seven-game winning streaks, late
in the s econd. Grzelyck buried o ne
from the point for his fourth goal
of the year and a 1-0 lead with 1:21
left i n the period.
l PENGUINS 5, DEVILS 2:
Evgeni Malkin scored two goals
and set up another to lead Pitts-
burgh past New Jersey in Newark.
Evan Rodrigues and defense-
men Justin Schultz and Kris
L etang a lso s cored as the Penguins
won for only the third time in 11
games.
Matt Murray made 20 saves to
help Pittsburgh reach 40 wins for
the seventh straight season and
the 13th time since 2006-07. The
nhl roundup
Philadelphia’s streak
ends in shutout at home
BrUins 2,
FlYers 0Capitals’ next t hreevs. detroit red wingstomorrow 7nBcsWvs. Chicago blackhawkssaturday7nBcsWvs. edmonton oilersMonday7nBcsW+Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM),
WFED (1500 AM)took over the game.”
Beal, talented e nough t o swing
momentum back to the Wizards
on his own, changed everything
in the third quarter. Although he
started the second half by com-
mitting a turnover, Beal steadied
his team with those 2 0 third-
quarter points, including an in-
dividual 8-0 r un t hat brought t he
Wizards within 83-78.
“Honestly, it was tough, be-
cause I was a little frustrated and
I knew I was frustrated because I
started turning the ball over and
I kind of started sinking into our
slump a little bit,” Beal admitted.
“It took Shabazz to tell me:
‘We’ve got plenty of time. Relax.
It’s a long game. We’re going to
close it out.’ Immediately I shift-
ed my focus. We bear down, got
stops, and we took over the
game.”
Beal tied the score at 87 with
37.5 seconds remaining in the
third quarter, hitting a pullup
three-pointer to e nsure Washing-
ton would be on even ground
with New York entering the
fourth. The Wizards eventually
took over with a 10-0 run that
gave them a 110-97 lead with 5:13
to play.
Earlier, when the Wizards
looked adrift at the lowest points
of their evening, Bryant tried
clapping some intensity into his
teammates.
So it was fitting that when the
Wizards finally found a lifeline
and put away the Knicks, Bryant
got the last scream.
During the decisive fourth-
quarter run, Bryant attempted asummer. Any movies or shows
you guys [know] — hit me.”
Without the theatrics,
S habazz Napier added 21 points
and six assists for the Wizards,
and Thomas Bryant finished
with 14 points and nine
r ebounds.
The Wizards also got a boost
from rookie forward Rui
Hachimura, who bounced back
from a recent tough stretch.
After going 0 for 14 over his
previous two games, Hachimura
needed just 15 seconds to snap
out of his funk. Before the game,
Coach Scott Brooks revealed
plans to go to Hachimura early.
On a designed play, Hachimura
cut to t he rim and received a pass
from Bryant for an easy dunk. By
the end of the first quarter, he
had made three shots from the
paint. Hachimura finished with
12 points and seven rebounds.
“Rui’s going to be fine,” Brooks
said. “It’s about competing and
growing and getting better, game
by game. It’s always a learning
curve for everybody in this
league. A s for a rookie, to me, he’s
done just a terrific job of really
picking up things as fast as we
want to give it to him.”
The rest of the Wizards also
breezed around Knicks defend-
ers and scored effortlessly in the
early going. Washington shot
11 for 18 from the field in the first
quarter while cruising to an 18-4
lead before the Knicks began
their comeback. The game’s wild
swings were only just beginning,
though, and the Knicks out-
scored the Wizards 39-18 in the
second quarter to take a 70-54
halftime lead.
As the Knicks surged, forward
Julius Randle bulldozed his way
into the paint. Rookie guard RJ
Barrett worked without restraint
around the perimeter. And re-
serve forward Bobby Portis
played as though he had a ven-
detta against his former team,
scoring 16 of his 20 points in the
first half.
“It was a strange game,”
Brooks said. “We’re up 14, all of a
sudden we’re down 18, and then
we’re up again 14. It was just a
weird game, but I thought BradBY CANDACE BUCKNERCarrying an NBA franchise
can be a heavy burden, and on
Tuesday, Bradley Beal looked as
though he needed a break.
During his nightly takeover, as
he gracefully hoisted three-
pointers and powered into the
paint for dunks, Beal absorbed
the brunt of fouls and reacted
several times as if he had been
hit by the New York Knicks’
charter bus. The impact left the
Washington Wizards corner-
stone sprawled out on the court
at Capital One Arena, but ever
the ironman — or showman —
Beal popped right back up and
continued his offensive display.
Beal was tired, sure, but help-
ing the Wizards beat the Knicks,
122 -115, and scoring a game-high
39 points buoyed his spirits.
“I’m exhausted sometimes. I
try to catch a break,” said Beal,
who shot 11 for 25 from the field
and added seven assists. “It just
keeps the game fun at the same
time. Whenever I’m on the floor,
I’m playing dead for five
s econds.”
When the Wizards (24-40) dug
themselves an 1 8-point hole, B eal
wasn’t laying down. He resusci-
tated the team with a strong
showing in the third quarter,
scoring 20 of Washington’s 3 3
points in the period.
And proving that he wasn’t
that beat up, Beal jogged off the
court after logging nearly 39
minutes. Refreshed by a victory,
Beal extended an open palm and
closed fists to fans on his way to
the locker room. Now, if only a
Hollywood studio needed a
breakout basketball star in its
next blockbuster.
“I definitely got to shore up my
acting skills,” Beal joked about
his habit of faking fatigue. “I’m
trying to look for some roles thisBruised but unbowed, Beal fuels rally
wizards 122,
knicks 115Guard scores 39, sparks
second-half comebackwizards’ next threeat boston CelticsFr iday7nBcsW,
nBa tVvs. o klahoma City thundersunday 6nBcsWat philadelphia 76 ersMonday7nBcsWRadio: WFED (1500 AM)wizards 122, Knicks 115
new York ............................ 3139172 8— 115
washington ........................ 3618333 5— 122
new York Min Fg Ft o-taPFPts
Harkless 11:34 2-3 0-0 1-110 4
Randle 26:07 5-11 6-6 2-5 2616
Gibson 17:29 4-4 2-2 1-3 0310
Barrett 29:37 5-15 5-7 1-6 1116
Payton 18:18 1-6 1-4 0-244 3
Ntilikina 29:42 6-9 5-6 0-2 10 520
Bullock 28:24 4-6 1-2 0-2 3210
Portis 26:49 9-15 1-2 1-6 5120
M.Robinson 24:51 4-5 2-2 2-3 0310
Ellington 16:04 2-6 0-0 0-421 6
Knox II 11:05 0-1 0-0 0-223 0
totals 240 42-81 23-31 8-36 30 29 115
Percentages: FG .519, FT .742. 3-Point goals: 8-21, .381
(Ntilikina 3-5, Ellington 2-6, Bullock 1-2, Portis 1-2,
Barrett 1-5, Knox II 0-1). team rebounds: 9. team
turnovers: 1. Blocked shots: 3 (Bullock, Gibson, Portis).
turnovers: 18 (Barrett 5, Randle 4, Bullock 3, Ntilikina 2,
Ellington, Gibson, Payton, Portis). steals: 10 (Barrett 4,
Ntilikina 2, Ellington, Gibson, Payton, Randle). technical
Fouls: Ntilikina, 2:23 third.
washington Min Fg Ft o-taPFPts
Hachimura 28:35 4-6 4-4 0-7 2112
J.Robinson 14:12 0-2 0-0 1-111 0
Bryant 24:15 5-9 3-4 4-10 2214
Beal 38:31 11-25 14-16 0-3 7239
Napier 38:14 6-12 6-6 0-2 6321
Bertans 29:12 3-9 2-3 0-2 3511
Brown Jr. 23:32 2-4 3-4 1-611 9
Wagner 21:11 3-4 4-4 3-3 1410
Payton II 10:27 0-0 0-0 0-303 0
Mathews 8:33 1-3 2-2 0-002 5
Pasecniks 2:34 0-0 0-2 0-001 0
Schofield 00:44 0-0 0-0 0-000 0
totals 240 35-74 38-45 9-37 23 25 122
Percentages: FG .473, FT .844. 3-Point goals: 14-35, .400
(Beal 4-10, Napier 3-7, Bertans 3-9, Brown Jr. 2-2,
Bryant 1-2, Mathews 1-2, Hachimura 0-1, J.Robinson
0-2). team rebounds: 11. team turnovers: 3. Blocked
shots: 4 (Hachimura 2, Beal, J.Robinson). turnovers: 16
(Beal 5, Napier 4, Brown Jr. 3, Bertans, Hachimura,
Payton II, Wagner). steals: 8 (Beal 3, Napier 3, Bryant,
Payton II). technical Fouls: Wizards, 1:19 second.