MONDAY, AUGUST 3 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D5
can play,” Brooks said. “The odds
are against us, but we’ve got to
keep fighting. We come in here,
and we don’t want moral victo-
ries. We want to keep fighting.
We’ve got some tough games
coming up. These next six games
are against some of the best
teams in basketball.”
[email protected]offensive momentum late.
Brown chipped in 22 points,
and three other Wizards finished
in double figures. LeVert finished
with a game-high 34 points for
Brooklyn, and Joe Harris added
27.
The Wizards, who are without
John Wall, Bradley Beal and Da-
vis Bertans and entered the NBA’s
restart with the worst record of
the 22 teams, saw their path to
the playoffs get significantly
more difficult with the loss. Sun-
day’s defeat locked them into
ninth place in the Eastern Con-
ference and dropped them seve n
games behind the Nets and Or-
lando Magic. Washington must
narrow the gap to four games to
trigger a play-in round, but it will
be tough with games against four
East powers — the Indiana Pac-
ers, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwau-
kee Bucks and Boston Celtics —
remaining on the schedule.
“We played about as hard as weincidentally, received a full-force
head butt from Bryant in the
fourth quarter after he earned a
trip to the foul line.
“[Bryant] brought the juice,”
Brooks said. “He gave us some
offense. He committed on both
ends. We need him to do that
consistently. That’s how he has to
play. I t hought he was outstand-
ing.”
There was a stability to Wash-
ington’s play against Brooklyn, if
not always grace and spot-on
execution. The Wizards effective-
ly toggled into zone defense for
stretches of the second quarter,
goading the Nets into launching
three-pointers. Yet Jerome Rob-
inson carelessly fouled LeVert on
a three-point attempt with less
than three minutes to play that
helped Brooklyn ice the win. Bry-
ant, the man of the night, earned
a brief rebuke from Brooks for
forcing a contested turnaround
jumper as Washington lost itson the playoff roster seeing ice
time, Reirden said he is going to
evaluate that decision day-by-
day.
On Saturday, all 31 players
practiced for the Capitals. Carl-
son, who got more treatment
Saturday night, was expected to
practice again Sunday.
“So much can change, and, you
know, a f ew more injuries [could
happen] at the beginning of the
tournament than expected, with
a shorter training camp, so I
think you got to be prepared for
that,” Reirden said. “... We will
do what is right for our team and
give our players every chance
they can to reach their peak as
we start to get into round one of
the playoffs.”
[email protected]Bruins.
Teams could take different
approaches to round-robin play
after so much time off the ice, but
the Capitals are focusing only on
themselves. Similar to their ap-
proach in Wednesday’s exhibi-
tion win over the Carolina Hurri-
canes, the Capitals want to make
sure they shore up their flaws
before the first round.
“I think everything matters so
much at that point where it can
be both,” said defenseman John
Carlson, who left Wednesday’s
game after falling awkwardly but
returned to practice Saturday.
“You’re worried about what your
game’s going to look like and
how you’re going to stack up
right off the start, but they mean
too much, and seeding means a
lot. I guess the home ice probably
isn’t really a thing anymore, but
CAPITALS FROM D1
Capitals
focused on
themselves
in restart
ASSOCIATED PRESSCarter Hart stopped 34 shots,
and the Philadelphia Flyers
opened the NHL expanded play-
offs seeding round with a 4-1 win
over the Presidents’ Trophy-win-
ning Boston Bruins on Sunday in
Toronto.
Hart is 11 days shy of his
22nd birthday in becoming the
youngest goalie in Flyers history
to win a playoff game. Michael
Raffl had a goal and assist, while
Nate Thompson, Philippe Myers
and Scott Laughton also scored
for the Flyers.
With 16 teams competing in
best-of-five elimination series,
the top four teams in each confer-
ence are playing a round-robin
series to determine seeding en-
tering the first round of the play-
offs. Philadelphia finished fourth
in the Eastern Conference stand-
ings and Boston first.l AVALANCHE 2, BLUES 1 :
Nazem Kadri scored a buzzer-
beating power-play goal to give
Colorado a comeback victory over
Stanley Cup champion St. Louis
in Western Conference round-
robin play in Edmonton.
Kadri’s shot crossed the goal
line with 0.1 seconds on the clock.
The NHL reviewed the play for
several minutes before calling it a
goal.
Kadri’s goal ruined a 36-save
performance from Jordan Bin-
nington, who was as sharp as he
was during the 2019 playoffs.
l BLUE JACKETS 2, MAPLE
LEAFS 0: In Toronto, Joonas
Korpisalo stopped 28 shots in his
first playoff start, Cam Atkinson
scored early in the third period
and Columbus shut out Toronto
in Game 1 of their q ualifier series.
l COYOTES 4, PREDATORS
3: In Edmonton, Oliver Ekman-
Larsson scored the first of Arizo-
na’s three first-period goals, a
healthy Phil Kessel had two as-
sists and the Coyotes held on to
beat Nashville to open their Stan-
ley Cup qualifier series.NHL ROUNDUPHart, Philadelphia get started
by stopping league’s top team
FLYERS 4,
BRUINS 1WIZARDS’ NEXT THREEvs. I ndiana PacersToday4NBCSW+vs. Philadelphia 76ersWednesday4NBCSW,
NBA TVvs. New Orleans PelicansFriday8NBCSWAll games in Kissimmee, Fla.
Radio: WFED (1500 AM)BY DAVE SHEININStill under self-isolation at
their Milwaukee hotel amid a
weekend’s worth of postponed
games, the St. Louis Cardinals
were bracing Sunday for more
positive tests for the novel coro-
navirus as baseball’s worst cur-
rent outbreak deepens, potential-
ly threatening more games in the
coming week.
Multiple reports said the Car-
dinals were expecting additional
positives when the latest results
of testing arrive. It would be the
latest in a string of new positive
tests for the Cardinals, whose
three-game series against the
Milwaukee Brewers was post-
poned; they are next scheduled to
play Tuesday in Detroit against
the Tigers.
The number of confirmed posi-
tives for the Cardinals is un-
known and complicated by the
fact the team is running rapid
tests for its personnel at a h ospi-
tal, in addition to the saliva tests
being run through MLB’s labora-
tory, and the results reportedly
have not always agreed.
“The team is still awaiting
additional results from recent
covid-19 testing, and based on the
timing of those test results, we do
not anticipate having any up-
dates until [Monday],” the Cardi-
nals said in a statement Sunday
night. “The team will remain in
Milwaukee tonight as planned.”
The Cardinals confirmed Sat-
urday night that one player and
three staff members tested posi-
tive but said an additional player
and three additional staff mem-
bers received results that were
inconclusive. The infected per-
sonnel were heading back to
St. Louis in cars, while the rest of
the team’s traveling party re-
mained at the Milwaukee hotel.
The Cardinals’ outbreak ap-
pears to be the second biggest in
baseball, with the season only a
week and a half old. The Miami
Marlins had 18 players and two
coaches test positive last week,
forcing a week’s hiatus for both
the Marlins and Philadelphia
Phillies — who had hosted the
Marlins for three games at the
time of the outbreak — and a
juggling of the schedules of four
other teams.
All told, 19 games have been
postponed. The Phillies are
scheduled to resume their season
Monday at the New York Yankees,
while the Marlins are due to
resume Tuesday in Baltimore
against the Orioles.
The Marlins’ and Cardinals’
outbreaks have led to a rash of
new opt-outs from players — the
latest being New York Mets out-
fielder Yoenis Cespedes on Sun-
day — and a renewed effort from
MLB both to strengthen its health
and safety protocols and to em-
phasize the need for all personnel
to adhere to the existing ones.
“I think that if everybody does
what they are supposed to do, we
can continue to play, have a
credible season and get through
the postseason,” Commissioner
Rob Manfred told the Associated
Press on Saturday. “I don’t think
it’s realistic to think we’re not
going to have any more positive
tests. We’re going to be fluid. We
think it’s manageable.”
[email protected]
Cardinals
are bracing
for more
positives
Holtby during the round-robin
games. Backup Vitek Vanecek is
expected to see some game ac-
tion, similar to the plan for
rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov
before he suffered an off-ice
injury in Russia before the NHL’s
restart and did not travel with
the team to Toronto. Pheonix
Copley is still No. 3 on the depth
chart.
Reirden said Sunday that
Holtby will start Monday’s game
against Tampa Bay, with Vanecek
as the backup.
As far as the young prospectswe want to win every game
regardless of how much it does
mean standings-wise, and that’s
how we’ll attack those games.”
“What is important is that our
team plays well leading into the
playoffs,” center Nic Dowd said.
“I think if we were in a regular
season, you want to play well and
finish the season off well, and
that rolls right into playoffs; the
same things for these three
games in the round robin.”
Coach Todd Reirden has made
it clear he wants to see other
goaltenders besides No. 1 BradenANDRE RINGUETTE/FREESTYLE PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
As the Capitals prepare to play thr ee games for postseason seeding,
center Nic Dowd, left, emphasized the importance of momentum.Nikola Vucevic had 23 points and
11 rebounds, Aaron Gordon scored
19 of his 22 points in the first half,
and Orlando won a s eason-best
fifth straight game going back to
before the pandemic-forced shut-
down in March.
The Magic lost Jonathan Isaac
again when he appeared to rein-
jure the left knee he hurt Jan. 1
that kept him out until the restart.
l SUNS 117, MAVERICKS 115:
Devin Booker scored 30 points,
and Phoenix erased a double-digit
deficit while the all-star was on the
bench with foul trouble, rallying
to win its second game in the
restart after coming in with the
worst record in the Western Con-
ference.Butler misses practice
Jimmy Butler was not with the
Miami Heat for practice. The Heat
said only that Butler had “an ex-
cused absence.”points for Westbrook, who led
Houston’s offense on a night
James Harden scored 24.
Houston tied an NBA record for
most three-point attempts in a
regulation game with 61, making
21 of them.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had
36 points, 18 rebounds and eight
assists for the Bucks. He joined
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only
players to have 15 games with at
least 30 points, 15 rebounds and
five assists in a s eason in the last
50 years.
l SPURS 108, G RIZZLIES
106: DeMar DeRozan made two
free throws with a second to pla y,
giving San Antonio a w in over
Memphis to move into ninth place
in the Western Conference.
The Spurs built an 11-point lead
in the fourth quarter but needed a
bunch of big plays down the
stretch a fter the Grizzlies rallied.
l MAGIC 132, KINGS 116:Russell Westbrook scored 31
points and Houston used strong
defense down the stretch for a
victory over Milwaukee. It was the
36th straight game with at least 20and 16 assists for Portland. Jusuf
Nurkic added 30 points in his sec-
ond official game back after break-
ing his leg in March 2019.
l ROCKETS 120, BUCKS 116 :ASSOCIATED PRESSJayson Tatum scored 34 points,
Jaylen Brown added 30, and the
Boston Celtics built a big early
lead before holding on for a
1 28-124 victory over the Portland
Trail Blazers on Sunday in Kissim-
mee, Fla.
“That was a playoff-level energy
that we had to play with at the end
of the game,” Bo ston Coach Brad
Stevens said. “This is a great expe-
rience.”
Tatum, who added a career-
high eight assists, rebounded
from a terrible performance in a
loss to Milwaukee on Friday when
he scored just five points on 2-for-
18 shooting.
Damian Lillard had 30 pointsNBA ROUNDUP‘Playo≠-level energy’ fuels Boston late in victory over Portland
CELTICS 128,
TRAIL BLAZERS 124MIKE EHRMANN/GETTY IMAGES
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum had a g ame-high 34 points and a
career-high eight assists in a w in over the Trail Blazers on Sunday.Nets 118, Wizards 110
Washington ........................ 2133312 5— 110
Brooklyn ............................. 2430293 5— 118
WASHINGTON MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS
Bonga 25:58 1-4 2-3 1-6 134
Hachimura 32:13 2-6 5-6 1-4 439
Bryant 36:35 12-20 2-3 2-13 3430
Brown Jr. 38:08 8-17 5-6 2-10 8322
Napier 25:04 2-9 0-1 1-3 225
Robinson 27:55 4-12 3-3 2-5 2312
Smith 27:53 5-12 3-4 0-4 5514
Grant 15:33 4-5 1-1 1-1 1510
Wagner 6:56 1-2 0-0 0-0 012
Pasecniks 3:45 1-1 0-0 0-0 022
TOTALS 240 40-88 21-27 10-46 26 31 110
P ercentages: FG .455, FT .778. 3 -Point Goals: 9-31, .290
(Bryant 4-6, Grant 1-2, Brown Jr. 1-4, Robinson 1-5, Smith
1-5, Napier 1-6, Wagner 0-1, Bonga 0-2). T eam Rebounds:- Team Turnovers: 1. B locked Shots: 6 (Bryant 2, Smith 2,
Grant, Hachimura). T urnovers: 12 (Napier 4, Bonga 2,
Hachimura 2, Robinson 2, Bryant, Pasecniks). S teals: 6
(Brown Jr., Bryant, Hachimura, Napier, Smith, Wagner).
Technical Fouls: None..
BROOKLYN MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS
Harris 36:51 10-13 1-3 2-7 1227
Thomas 10:21 0-3 0-0 0-2 110
Allen 38:08 6-1010-10 5-15 2322
Johnson 29:01 0-7 2-2 2-6 552
LeVert 39:12 11-2510-13 3-7 3234
Temple 28:39 2-10 5-5 0-3 139
Chiozza 21:01 6-8 0-0 0-2 6214
Luwawu-Cabar-
rot 19:55 3-10 1-2 1-3^028
Kurucs 16:52 0-4 2-2 0-3 442
TOTALS 240 38-90 31-37 13-48 23 24 118
P ercentages: FG .422, FT .838. 3 -Point Goals: 11-33, .333
(Harris 6-7, Chiozza 2-2, LeVert 2-6, Luwawu-Cabarrot
1-6, Kurucs 0-1, Thomas 0-2, Johnson 0-4, Temple 0-5).
Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: None. B locked
Shots: 4 (Allen, Harris, Johnson, Luwawu-Cabarrot).
Turnovers: 11 (Chiozza 4, Kurucs 2, Allen, Harris,
Johnson, LeVert, Thomas). S teals: 5 (Temple 2, Allen,
Chiozza, Johnson). T echnical Fouls: None..
s horthanded Nets (31-35), who
were without Kevin Durant, Kyrie
Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie and
DeAndre Jordan because of inju-
ries and positive tests for the
novel coronavirus, the Wizards
look ed engaged and provided
stiffer resistance. Brooklyn did
not find much breathing room
until the closing minutes when it
took control of a hard-fought
game between two playoff hope-
fuls.
Bryant deserved most of the
credit, finishing with a season-
high 30 points and 13 rebounds
while doing a little bit of every-
thing along the way. His seven
early points and multiple defen-
sive stops keyed an 11-2 Wizards
lead before the first timeout, and
his third-quarter scoring flurry
kept things close as Rui Hachimu-
ra and Washington’s starting
guards struggled to get going. He
threaded a nice backdoor pass to
Troy Brown Jr. from the high post
in the fourth quarter, and he
tracked Brooklyn’s big men out to
the three-point line all night.
“I try to bring this energy to the
team day in and day out,” Bryant
said. “It was a very important
game for us, so I wanted to make
sure that my teammates know
that I’m out there with them, that
I’m going to leave it all out there
no matter what.”
High-effort play such as Bry-
ant’s stands out in this bubble
environment. HP Field House is
the size of a high school gym, and
most of the 50 or seats set up for
the early 1 p.m. tip were empty.
With no fans in the stands, teams
such as the Wizards are responsi-
ble for manufacturing their own
energy, which can lead to funny
moments.
As Washington took the court
for warm-ups, fewer than a dozen
people were in attendance. One of
those observers clapped enthusi-
astically, prompting Ian Mahinmi
to smile and point at her as he
jogged toward the layup line.
After Bryant hit two quick bas-
kets to force Brooklyn to take a
timeout at the start of the third
quarter, he aggressively flexed his
biceps as if there were fans in the
baseline seats looking on. His
only audience was the camera
mounted to the nearby basket
stanchion. That same stanchion,WIZARDS FROM D1Wizards’ c hances for the postseason slipping away
KIM KLEMENT/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wizards center Thomas Bry ant is exuberant after one of his four three-point baskets. Bryant
scored a s eason-high 30 points and added 13 rebounds in Sunday’s loss to the Nets in Florida.CAPITALS’ NEXT THREEvs. T ampa Bay LightningToday4NBCSN,
NBCSWvs. Philadelphia Flye rsThursdayTBA TBAvs. Boston BruinsSundayTBA TBAAll games in T oronto
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)