MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2021. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3
FROM NEWS SERVICES
AND STAFF REPORTSMired in a disappointing start
and already on the outside of the
Western Conference playoff pic-
ture, the Sacramento Kings fired
Luke Walton on Sunday, making
him the first NBA coach to be let go
this season.
Assistant Alvin Gentry was
named as Walton’s interim re-
placement, becoming the fran-
chise‘s 12th coach since 2006.
The 41-year-old Walton, who
entered the season with limited
job security, leaves Sacramento
with a 68-93 (.422) record over
three seasons. Tasked with return-
ing the Kings to the playoffs, he
was unable to snap their 15-year
postseason drought.
After losing seven of its past
eight games — many of them
against projected lottery teams —
Sacramento is 6-11, good for 12th
in the Western Conference.
Gentry, 67, holds a 510-595
(.462) career coaching record over
17 seasons. Before joining Walton’s
bench in 2020, he coached the
New Orleans Pelicans for five sea-
sons, and he also has served as
head coach of the Miami Heat,
Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clip-
pers and Phoenix Suns.
— Ben GolliverLakers win after James tossed
LeBron James was ejected early
in the third quarter after drawing
blood by hitting Isaiah Stewart in
the face, leaving Anthony Davis
and Russell Westbrook to rally the
Los Angeles Lakers to a 121-116
road victory over the Detroit Pis-
tons on Sunday night.
Davis had 30 points, 10 re-
bounds and two big blocked shots
late on rookie Cade Cunningham.
Westbrook had 26 points, 10 as-
sists and nine rebounds.
Cunningham, the No. 1 overall
pick in the draft, had 13 points,
12 rebounds and 10 assists to be-
come the youngest player with a
triple-double in team history.
James was sent to the locker
room after his left elbow and hand
appeared to make contact with
Stewart’s face when they were tan-
gled up while boxing out for a
rebound. Detroit’s center had to be
held back more than once, and healso was ejected.
Westbrook was assessed a tech-
nical after the officials reviewed
the play and the fallout from it.
James had 10 points and five as-
sists in his second game back in
the lineup. After missing
eight games with an abdominal
strain, he played Friday night in a
130-108 loss at Boston.
l CLIPPERS 97, MAVERICKS
91: Paul George scored 12 of his
29 points in the third quarter, and
Los Angeles ended a two-game
skid with a home win over Dallas.
Reggie Jackson scored eight of
his 23 points in the third, when the
Clippers turned a one-point half-
time deficit into a nine-point ad-
vantage.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 25
and added eight rebounds as the
Mavericks played their third con-
secutive game — all losses — with-
out star Luka Doncic because of a
sprained left knee and ankle.
l SUNS 126, NUGGETS 97:
Cam Johnson had a career-high
22 points, Deandre Ayton added
21, and fast-starting Phoenix ran
its winning streak to 12, routing
shorthanded Denver at home.
Johnson, Devin Booker and Jae
Crowder each hit two three-point-
ers in a 48-point first quarter for
the Suns. It’s their longest winning
streak since the 2006-07 season.
The Nuggets have lost four
straight, the last two coming with-
out forward Nikola Jokic, who has
a sprained right wrist.
l WARRIORS 119, RAPTORS
104: In San Francisco, Jordan
Poole had his second straight 30-
point game with 33 and Andrew
Wiggins added 32 points to lift
Golden State past Toronto.
Stephen Curry scored just
12 points but had eight assists
after sitting out Friday with a sore
hip. Pascal Siakam had 21 points
and Fred VanVleet added 17 points
and seven assists for the Raptors.
l BULLS 109, KNICKS 103:
DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points,
Zach LaVine added 21, and Chica-
go rallied in the fourth quarter for
a win over visiting New York.
Coby White had 14 points, 10 in
the fourth quarter, as the Bulls
won their second straight and
fourth of five. Julius Randle had
34 points to lead the Knicks.
— Associated PressNBA ROUNDUPWalton fired after Kingsstart 6-11 in third seasonASSOCIATED PRESSDefenseman Ryan Lindgren
barely beat the third-period buzz-
er to lift the New York Rangers to a
5-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres
on Sunday night and extend their
home winning streak to five
games.
Lindgren stunned Sabres net-
minder Aaron Dell by taking a
pass from Mika Zibanejad and
rifling the puck into the net for his
second goal of the season at 19:59.
Adam Fox had passed the puck to
Zibanejad after it emerged from a
scrum in the corner as the final
seconds ticked away.
Lindgren’s heroics came after
the teams scored three goals each
in a wild second period, including
four goals in an 82-second span.
“It was sloppy in the second,
but we found a way to get two
points at the end,” Rangers Coach
Gerard Gallant said. “We were
putting pucks to the net.”
Lindgren’s goal — just the
fourth of his career — ignited a
frenzy among fans at Madison
Square Garden, where overtime
seemed all but a certainty against
the Sabres.
“It seemed like there was a
battle in the corner, and the puck
got to Foxy, who kicked it out to
Mika, and obviously a great play
by him,’’ the 23-year-old Lindgren
said. “It was a great win.”
Chris Kreider, Jacob Trouba,
Kaapo Kakko and K’Andre Miller
all scored for the Rangers. Alexan-
dar Georgiev had 14 saves and was
replaced by Igor Shesterkin, who
had four saves in the third.
“Just a coach’s decision,’’ Gal-
lant said about switching goalies.
Shesterkin earned the win to im-
prove to 9-3-2 on the season.
The Sabres have lost eight of
their last 10 games. Rasmus As-
plund, Vinnie Hinostroza, Tage
Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin all
scored for Buffalo, and Dell had 31
saves.
“Great atmosphere, great en-
ergy in the building and lots of
momentum swings,’’ Sabres
Coach Don Granato said. “We did
a good job until about two seconds
left. We didn’t react well enough,
and that’s disappointing.”
l LIGHTNING 5, WILD 4
(SO): Steven Stamkos scored the
lone shootout goal and Brian El-
liott stopped three shootout shots
to give Tampa Bay a w in over
Minnesota after it blew a late
two-goal lead in Tampa.
Minnesota rallied in the third
period to tie it at 4 on goals by
Kevin Fiala and Joel Eriksson Ek
over a 2:09 stretch with goalten-
der Kaapo Kahkonen pulled for
an extra skater. But the Wild
couldn’t score in overtime during
a power play that lasted about a
minute and half.
Tampa Bay g ot two goals from
Anthony Cirelli and one each
from Pat Maroon and Alex Barré-
Boulet. Elliott made 28 saves in
regulation.
l FLAMES 4, BRUINS 0: For-
mer Boston goalie Dan Vladar
stopped 27 shots for his second
career shutout, Andrew Mangiap-
ane scored a shorthanded goal
early in the third period, and Cal-
gary beat host Boston.
Johnny Gaudreau and Noah
Hanifin, who both played col-
legiate hockey nearby for Boston
College, each had a goal for the
Flames, who posted their third
straight win and improved to 9-
2-2 on the road. Mikael Backlund
also scored for Calgary, and Mat-
thew Tkachuk had two assists.
l MAPLE LEAFS 3, ISLAND-
ERS 0: Mitch Marner scored
twice and Joseph Woll stopped 20
shots for his first career shutout as
visiting Toronto beat New York.
Ondrej Kase also scored as To-
ronto improved to 11-2-0 in its last
13 games in the opener of a four-
game road trip that includes the
next three games in California.
Woll, a 2016 third-round draft
pick, picked up his second career
win in two starts.
l BLACKHAWKS 1, CA-
NUCKS 0: Marc-Andre Fleury
stopped 40 shots to collect his
first shutout of the season as C hi-
cago blanked Vancouver.
Brandon Hagel scored the
game’s lone goal with a third-peri-
od tip-in, while Fleury earned his
68th career shutout and im-
proved his recent record against
Vancouver to 13-0-2.NHL ROUNDUP
Lindgren lifts New York
with a last-second goal
RANGERS 5,
SABRES 4a Martin Fehervary dump-in in
the second period Saturday, but
he never missed a shift.Something different
Trevor van Riemsdyk played
wing and defense Sunday night.
With his team missing two for-
wards, van Riemsdyk filled in as
the team’s 12th option up front.
He played mainly on the right
wing with Connor McMichael
and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby. In all,
he played 12:36.
Most of the questions about
van Riemsdyk entering the sea-
son were tied to whether he was
comfortable playing on his defen-
sive off side, but Sunday his versa-
tility had no choice but to shine
through.Ex-Kraken players return
Washington had two players in
its lineup Sunday who were se-
lected by the Kraken in the expan-
sion draft but never played for the
organization: Vanecek and de-
fenseman Dennis Cholowski.
Vanecek was dealt back to the
Capitals in July for a 2023 second-
round pick after Seattle signed
Grubauer in free agency.
It was Cholowski’s debut with
the Capitals after he was claimed
off waivers from Seattle onthe 4-0 win.
Saturday brought Oshie’s first
game since Oct. 27; he was in-
jured when he took a shot off his
right foot. He was not made avail-
able to reporters after Saturday’s
game; the team said he was get-
ting medical treatment. But Lavi-
olette said after Sunday’s game
that Oshie suffered the injury
Saturday and that it is unrelated
to his previous one.
Sheary’s absence came after he
scored twice at San Jose. He
played his usual minutes and
finished the game. He also was
not made available to the media
afterward because he was getting
medical treatment.
Sheary appeared to get hit withW ashington made it interesting
in the third. Alex Ovechkin scored
his 15th goal of the season — and
the 745th of his career — at 3:09
of the final period to make it 4-2.
Ovechkin has 15 goals and 15
assists in 19 games.
But the Capitals could get no
closer despite emptying the tank
as the third period unfolded,
eventually putting 23 shots on
goal. Seattle’s Yanni Gourde
found the empty net in the final
minute to snuff Washington’s
hopes.
“There was a stretch in the
second period that didn’t go our
way, and then from there we were
chasing the game,” Coach Peter
Laviolette said. “Third period I
thought we could have won the
game. We had enough chances to
definitely put up six or seven
goals.”
Washington’s Tom Wilson
scored the first goal of the night
3:34 in. It was his third in five
games. Evgeny Kuznetsov set up
the play, stealing the puck from
Jeremy Lauzon to the right of the
net before he set up Wilson in the
right circle for the shot past Seat-
tle’s Philipp Grubauer, the former
Capitals backstop.
The Kraken tied the score at 1
with 4:02 left in the first on Jared
McCann’s backhanded power-
play goal past Vitek Vanecek. It
was the first goal the Capitals had
allowed in 135 minutes 58 sec-
onds — Ilya Samsonov had re-
corded back-to-back shutouts in
the previous two games — and the
first power-play goal they had
yielded in nine games.
Seattle scored twice in 43 sec-
onds in the second period to take
a 3-1 lead. Jaden Schwartz scored
on a delayed penalty call with
13:43 left in the second. On the
next shift, Adam Larsson scored a
backdoor goal off the rush. Not
long after, Calle Jarnkrok
notched Seattle’s fourth straight
goal at 13:51.
“I think we had chances to win
that game if we didn’t let it get
away early,” center Nic Dowd
said.
Here is what to know from the
Capitals’ loss:Injury updates
Oshie’s absence came a day
after he was activated from in-
jured reserve and played against
the Sharks, notching an assist inCAPITALS FROM D1Capitals end road trip with loss to expansion KrakenCAPITALS’ NEXT THREEvs. Montreal CanadiensWednesday7NBCSW Plusvs. Florida PanthersFr iday5NBCSWat Carolina HurricanesSunday1NBCSWRadio: WJFK (106.7 FM),
WFED (1500 AM)LINDSEY WASSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Calle Jarnkrok scored the third of three Seattle goals in the second period of the win over Washington.“Maybe because of the
situation he was in. I could feel
that. But here he [has] a lot to
prove. He wanted to play last
year, and he had an
opportunity,” Caldwell-Pope
continued. “Now he has the
opportunity.”
With the Wizards, Harrell can
be his authentic self. At the end
of shoot-arounds, when he’ll
curse and bang his fist against
the wall if he misses a shot. On
the sideline during games,
where he’ll walk past the
coaches to be within shouting
distance of the starters. And
when he checks into the action,
where his motor (his mouth and
his game) keeps running and
has powered his candidacy for
the Sixth Man of the Year award,
which would be his second in
three seasons.
On some nights, however, that
honor seems too puny for
Wizards fans’ liking. It has been
Harrell, not resident all-NBA
performer Bradley Beal, who has
heard more “M-V-P!” chants at
Capital One Arena. The
overzealous serenade says more
about their appreciation than
anything else, because while
Beal may still be the best player,
he doesn’t have to play like an
MVP for the Wizards to win.
In different games this
season, Dinwiddie has already
taken the last shot in regulation
without the ball even swinging
Beal’s way (Oct. 22 against
Indiana). Kuzma has won a
game with his shooting (Nov. 10
at Cleveland). Caldwell-Pope has
sealed a victory with his defense
(Oct. 30 against Boston). And
Harrell, who just might be the
most popular player in a
Wizards jersey, has collected five
double-doubles, the most of any
bench player in the NBA.
Here, these players have
discovered a land of
opportunity. It’s a start. At least
there’s something to build upon
now rather than whatever the
team called “culture” during the
decade before President and
General Manager Tommy
Sheppard’s promotion to lead
basketball executive. And it’s
working.
[email protected]For more by Candace Buckner,
visit washingtonpost.com/buckner.feel like here it’s different. We’re
players that can play. We want to
show it. We want to have that
opportunity, and so far, so good
here.”
Before offering that
explanation, Caldwell-Pope had
to catch himself. He was asked
whether other personalities had
the space to flourish on that
Lakers roster, inside that locker
room. He offered an “umm” and
then slightly laughed to himself.
Words escaped him in that
moment, but according to
Caldwell-Pope, words had eluded
Harrell throughout his lone
season with the Lakers last year.
“He’s speaking a lot,”
Caldwell-Pope said of Harrell in
Washington. “Last year I
probably heard two words from
Trez on the court. Off the court,
we talk a lot, but on the court, I
probably didn’t hear nothing
from Trez.who had struggled at the foul
line this season, steeled up to hit
four clutch free throws.
While elucidating the
difference between playing with
the Lakers and playing with the
Wizards, Caldwell-Pope made
plain why they work so well
here.
“You had to adapt to the
culture over there and be willing
to play your role,” he said. “But Ipreaching about getting
incrementally better every single
day, the Wizards are building a
bedrock that welcomes just
about anyone while providing a
space for on-court growth.
This culture first appeared a
few seasons back for Thomas
Bryant and Davis Bertans. They
were afterthoughts with their
original franchises but received
big roles and — after playing one
season in D.C. — even bigger
deals to stay here.
It has continued for players
such as Daniel Gafford. Last
season, the Chicago Bulls sent
him away at the trade deadline.
But because he had performed
so well in less than half a season
with the Wizards, Washington
signed him to a three-year, $40
million extension. This summer,
the welcome mat was extended
to Spencer Dinwiddie and the
trio of Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl
Harrell and Kentavious
Caldwell-Pope.
Dinwiddie was a free agent
rehabilitating after ACL surgery,
and the Wizards wanted him
anyway. They also wanted the
three former Los Angeles
Lakers, who were the tertiary
characters in the blockbuster
trade that involved superstar
Russell Westbrook. In Los
Angeles, they might have been
serviceable yet ultimately
replaceable teammates to
LeBron James. But here they are
the reason behind Washington’s
early-season takeoff.
“It’s very fun, obviously, from
an individual standpoint,”
Kuzma, a fixture in the Wizards’
starting unit and the team’s
leading rebounder, said in an
interview with ESPN. “This is
kind of what I wanted: an
opportunity just to not be in
someone’s shadows or have that
type of logjam on a roster.”
Kuzma and Caldwell-Pope,
remember, are only 13 months
removed from winning the 2020
NBA championship. Though
they might have been in
LeBron’s shadow, they still know
how to win and they’ve brought
that mentality to D.C. On
Saturday night, Caldwell-Pope
and Dinwiddie took turns
hitting three-pointers late in the
fourth quarter, while Kuzma,
BUCKNER FROM D1
CANDACE BUCKNER
Wizards’ new culture gives role players room to thrive
WIZARDS’ NEXT THREEvs. Charlotte HornetsToday7NBCSWat New Orleans PelicansWednesday8NBCSWat Oklahoma City ThunderFr iday8NBCSW PlusRadio: WTEM (980 AM)NICK WASS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope joined the Wizards in a trade from the
Lakers this summer and has praised the culture in Washington.Oct. 14. Cholowski’s previous reg-
ular season game came May 8 of
last season when he was with
Detroit. He was a last-minute
addition to the lineup when
Sheary was unavailable, playing
the game despite not taking part
in line rushes during warmups.
He ended up skating 9:57 but took
just one shift in the third period.
Laviolette has repeatedly com-
mended the effort of the six de-
fensemen ahead of Cholowski in
the lineup. All six have played in
all 19 games to start the season.
Out of necessity, Sunday was the
first time that the pairings had to
be shuffled.
[email protected]Kraken 5, Capitals 2
WASHINGTON ......................... 1 01 —2
SEATTLE .................................. 1 31 —5
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1, Washington, Wilson 6 (Kuznetsov), 3:34. 2,
Seattle, McCann 7 (Schwartz, Geekie), 15:58 (pp).
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3, Seattle, Schwartz 4 (Soucy, Blackwell), 6:17.
4, Seattle, Larsson 1 (Gourde, Jarnkrok), 7:00. 5, Seattle,
Jarnkrok 1 (Schwartz), 13:51.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 6, Washington, Ovechkin 15 (Orlov, Wilson),
3:09. 7, Seattle, Gourde 5 (Tanev, Schwartz), 19:31 (en).
SHOTS ON GOAL
WASHINGTON ....................... 115 23 —39
SEATTLE ................................ 1498 —31
Power-play opportunities: Washington 0 of 4; Seattle 1
of 1. Goalies: Washington, Vanecek 4-3-4 (30 shots-26
saves). Seattle, Grubauer 5-8-1 (39-37). A: 17,151
(17,100). T: 2:36.