The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-13)

D2 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13 , 2022

SOCCER

In Premier League, it’s

tale of two M anchesters

The gulf between the two
Manchester clubs was at its most
stark in the English Premier
League on Saturday.
A few hours after United’s
latest disjointed display in a 1-1
draw at home to Southampton,
City coped just fine with resting
key players in a 4-0 win at
Norwich — led by a hat trick from
Raheem Sterling — that
extended its lead to 12 points.
Last season, City and United
finished as the top two. This
season, they are separated by 23
points with a third of the season
still to play and United in fifth
place.
Elsewhere, Everton has scored
seven goals in two home games
under new manager Frank
Lampard after Seamus
Coleman, Michael Keane and
Anthony Gordon scored in a 3-0
victory over visiting Leeds in
Liverpool.
Also, Watford lost its sixth
consecutive home match, 2-0, to
Brighton, and Crystal Palace
played to a scoreless draw at
Brentford....
In the Spanish league, the only
positive that Real Madrid could
take away from its scoreless draw
at Villarreal was Gareth Bale,
whose good form belied his
return to the pitch after more
than five months on the sideline.
Bale had not played for Real
Madrid since three appearances
in August. Then injuries and a
covid-19 infection kept him
sidelined.
The stalemate left Madrid four
points clear of second-place
Sevilla as the Spanish league
leader continues to struggle
without injured striker Karim
Benzema.
While Madrid stumbled, an
89th-minute goal by Mario
Hermoso gave 10-man Atlético
Madrid a 4-3 victory over visiting
Getafe in a wild capital derby that
featured a red card, three
penalties and six first-half goals.
In other matches, Cádiz goalie
Jeremías Ledesma saved a late
penalty by Celta Vigo’s Santi
Mina to ensure a 0-0 draw at
home, and Osasuna won, 3-0, at
Rayo Vallecano....
D efending champion Lille
snapped a two-game losing streak
with a scrappy 1-0 win at
Montpellier in the French league
to m ove back into the race for the
European spots.
Lille struggled throughout
against a spirited home side led
by playmaker Teji Savanier, one
of the league’s best players. Lille
goalkeeper Leo Jardim kept his
team afloat with four decisive
saves in the first half.
Lille took the lead with 14
minutes left when Portuguese
midfielder Xeka scored on a
rebound....
C ameroon striker Karl Toko
Ekambi scored in the second half

to help host Lyon post a 2- 0 victory over Nice.... In the German Bundesliga, promoted Bochum stunned visiting Bayern Munich with four first-half goals for a 4- 2 win over the Bavarian powerhouse, preventing the league leader from going 12 points clear. Bayern had not conceded more than three goals before halftime since November 1975.... Edin Dzeko’s second-half equalizer at Napoli secured a 1-1 draw and the Italian Serie A lead for Inter Milan. I nter has a one-point lead over Napoli and a game in hand, with third-place AC Milan one point further back in their three-way battle for the title.

TENNIS Reilly Opelka won the longest tiebreaker in ATP Tour history to finish a straight-sets win over John Isner and reach the final of the inaugural Dallas Open. The second-seeded Opelka sent a winner down the line for a 24-22 tiebreaker victory in the second set to end his 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (24-22) win over third-seeded Isner. Fourth-seeded Jenson Brooksby played Marcos Giron in the other semifinal Saturday night.... In Rotterdam, top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas rallied past a qualifier t o reach his first final since the French Open in June. Tsitsipas ended Czech qualifier Jiri Lehecka’s run, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, and will face Felix Auger- Aliassime in Sunday’s final of the hard-court indoor tournament. Chasing his first ATP Tour title, Auger-Aliassime served 11 aces among 4 1 winners in a 6-7 (7-5), 6- 4, 6-2 triumph over defending champion Andrey Rublev.... Maria Sakkari will face Anett Kontaveit in the final of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy tournament. Top-seeded Sakkari posted a 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4 win over Irina-Camelia Begu, a nd the second-seeded Kontaveit beat Jelena Ostapenko, 6 -3, 6-4.

COLLEGE LACROSSE Logan Wisnauskas had three goals and three assists for the second-ranked Maryland men, who scored 10 goals in the second quarter in a 20-8 win over No. 8 Loyola (Md.) in College Park. Keegan Khan had five points, including four assists, for the Terrapins (2-0), who scored their most goals against the Greyhounds since a 22-4 victory in 1959. Adam Poitras had two goals and two assists f or Loyola (0-1).... Aurora Cordingley tallied five goals — all in the first half — to spark the No. 9 Maryland women to a season-opening 20-6 victory over St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia. Victoria Hensh added three goals and Kate Sites, Libby May and Jordyn Lipkin two each for Maryland. — From news services and staff reports

DIGEST

TELEVISION AND RADIO
BEIJING OLYMPICS, SEE PAGE D8
NFL
6:30 p.m. Super Bowl LVI: Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati »
WRC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch. 11), WJFK (106.7 FM)

NHL
12:30 p.m. Ottawa at Washington » NBC Sports Washington, WJFK (106.7 FM)

NBA
2 p.m. Atlanta at Boston » WJLA (Ch. 7), WMAR (Ch. 2)

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Noon Connecticut at St. John’s » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45)
1 p.m. Maryland at Purdue » WUSA (Ch. 9), WJZ (Ch. 13), WTEM (980 AM)
2 p.m. Nebraska at Iowa » Fox Sports 1
2 p.m. Northwestern at Illinois » Big Ten Network
2 p.m. UAB at Old Dominion » ESPNU
4 p.m. Colorado State at Boise State » Fox Sports 1
4 p.m. Northern Iowa at Loyola Chicago » ESPN2

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Noon Clemson at Georgia Tech » MASN
Noon Duquesne at Massachusetts » CBS Sports Network
Noon Xavier at Providence » Fox Sports 1
Noon Florida State at Miami » ACC Network
Noon South Carolina at Georgia » ESPN2
Noon Vanderbilt at Tennessee » SEC Network
Noon VCU at Dayton » ESPNU
2 p.m. Arizona State at Arizona » Pac-12 Network
2 p.m. North Carolina State at Duke » MASN
2 p.m. Notre Dame at Louisville » ESPN
2 p.m. Central Florida at South Florida » ESPN2
2 p.m. Towson at James Madison » NBC Sports Washington Plus
2 p.m. Syracuse at Pittsburgh » ACC Network
2 p.m. Kentucky at Alabama » SEC Network
2:30 p.m. Connecticut at Marquette » WTTG (Ch. 5), WBFF (Ch. 45)
4 p.m. Virginia at Wake Forest » ACC Network
4 p.m. Mississippi at Mississippi State » SEC Network
4 p.m. Oregon State at Oregon » Pac-12 Network

GOLF

1 p.m. PGA Tour: Phoenix Open, final round » Golf Channel
3 p.m. PGA Tour: Phoenix Open, final round » WUSA (Ch. 9), WJZ (Ch. 13)

SOCCER

7 a.m. French Ligue 1: Lorient at Monaco » beIN Sports
7:30 a.m. Women’s Super League: Manchester United at Manchester City » CNBC
9 a.m. French Ligue 1: Saint-Étienne at Clermont » beIN Sports
11 a.m. French Ligue 1: Bordeaux at Lens » beIN Sports
2:45 p.m. French Ligue 1: Marseille at Metz » beIN Sports

TENNIS
8:30 a.m. ATP: Amro World Tennis Tournament, final;
WTA: St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, final » Tennis Channel
2 p.m. ATP: Amro World Tennis Tournament, Argentina Open and Dallas Open,
finals » Tennis Channel

MEN’S COLLEGE WRESTLING
Noon Illinois at Nebraska » Big Ten Network

WOMEN’S COLLEGE GYMNASTICS
4 p.m. Illinois at Michigan State » Big Ten Network
6 p.m. Penn State at Michigan » ESPN2

(22-36). Domantas Sabonis had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in his first game as a King. Kyle Kuzma led the Wizards with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Corey Kispert posted a career-high 20 points and a career-high six assists. Seven players scored in dou- ble figures for the Wizards. “I feel much more comfort- able,” Kispert said. “Can get to my spots and know what I want to do. As far as the assists go tonight, the credit goes to everybody else. They were able to knock down shots.... Those guys made it really easy on me. Defense was kind of flooding over, so one more

BY KAREEM COPELAND

The newest member of the Washington Wizards — all 7- foot-3 of him — walked out of the tunnel over an hour before the team was set to host the Sacra- mento Kings. Kristaps Porzingis, clad in all red team gear, entered his new home with a wide smile as he prepared for a short pregame workout. A large group of fans had congregated in the near- by stands by the time he finished, awaiting the former all-star. One man held a New York Knicks jersey with Porzingis’s name on it, tag still on. The pregame session marked the extent of Porzingis’s court time Saturday night at Capital One Arena — the Wizards’ key trade deadline acquisition is still nursing a bone bruise in his knee, which kept him out against the Kings. The Wizards surely missed him in a 123-110 loss, which saw the team’s offense sputter in the second half. Porzingis spent his time on the end of the bench in a gray suit, sitting next to Bradley Beal, who sported a sling on his left arm after he underwent surgery earli- er in the week to repair a tendon in his left wrist. The organization hopes that pairing becomes a dynamic duo for years to come, with the arrival of Porzingis help- ing to persuade Beal to stay with the guard’s free agency looming after the season. Wizards Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said there is no timetable for Porzingis’s return from injury. The team considers him day-to- day. “My only focus is get back on the court as soon as possible,” Porzingis said before Saturday’s loss, “healthy 100 percent and finish the season strong, consis- tent and hopefully make some noise. “Just a bone bruise. I kind of played through it a few games in Dallas, but then I realized something’s not right. Did MRI, bone bruise, nothing serious. You just have to sit out some time and let the bone heal. My feeling is that I’m pretty much there where I need to be to start playing. But I think with these kind of things, you have to be a little bit on the safe side to get enough time to heal and not really re-aggravate it.” Ish Smith, who spent time with the Wizards from 2019 to 2021, saw playing time to start his second tour in Washington. He came back with Vernon Carey Jr. in another deadline deal that sent

Montrezl Harrell to Charlotte. Smith immediately made his mark with a pair of baskets and an assist as the Wizards (25-30) closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 29-24 lead. Smith finished with nine points and five assists in 20 minutes. The Wizards had a 65-59 lead at intermission but were domi- nated in the second half. The Wizards went cold, missed sev- eral good looks and failed to finish around the rim. The Kings shot 56.6 percent for the game, including 42.9 percent from three-point range. They used a 13-2 run in the third quarter to take an 87-82 lead that they never relinquished in the final quarter. “I though the first half was really good [offensively],” Unseld said. “Second half, we started to stagnate a little bit.... Some of that is shot-making. But continue to move the ball in a timely man- ner. Find guys when the ball should find them.... I thought we started holding it a little bit, and that helps the defense quite a bit.” De’Aaron Fox scored a game- high 26 points and Harrison Barnes added 21 for the Kings

pass was natural, and they knocked it down. ” Here’s what else to know from the Wizards’ loss:

Neto is on point The trade deadline saw the Wizards deal Spencer Dinwiddie and Aaron Holiday, effectively pushing Raul Neto into the starting lineup. Barring any unex- pected changes, that will be his role the rest of the way. “We’ve been in constant com- munication along all the way,” Unseld said before the game. “These last couple days, they moved quickly. So I think he’s aware of his role and things he’s responsible for. He’ll have to take on a larger role than usual. But he’s also been in the starting rotation before. He’ll be fine.”

Gafford still sidelined Daniel Gafford missed his third consecutive game while in the NBA’s health and safety proto- cols. Unseld said Gafford is feeling better and the hope was that he would test negative Saturday evening. The Wizards have played just one true center, Thomas Bry- ant, the past two games.

Kings get an overhaul The Kings added six players — Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, Donte Divincenzo, Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles — at the deadline, and they were all available for the first time. Coach Alvin Gentry said he has never coached a team that brought in six players at the deadline but was eager to get them on the floor. “We’ve just got to work the guys in,” Gentry said before the game. “It’s a little bit different.”

With stars in seats, Wizards fall short

KINGS 123, WIZARDS 110

Porzingis, Beal take in defeat from the bench

JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST New arrival Kristaps Porzingis, all 7-foot-3 of him, joined Bradley Beal in street clothes Saturday.

WIZARDS’ NEXT THREE

vs. Detroit Pistons

Tomorrow 7NBCSW

at Indiana Pacers

Wednesday7:30 NBCSW

at Brooklyn Nets

Thursday7:30 NBCSW

Radio: WTEM (980 AM) or WJFK (106.7 FM)

BY CHELSEA JANES

With mere days remaining until Major League Baseball’s on- going lockout forces the first labor-related interruption of spring training in nearly three decades, MLB’s negotiating team presented a 130-page proposal to leaders from the players union Saturday in hopes of rallying negotiations in time to limit the damage. The comprehensive proposal is MLB’s first to cover the full scope of a potential collective bargain- ing agreement, according to a person familiar with the deal, who said it included multiple changes to prior proposals MLB has made. Whether the players union believes those changes qualify as significant concessions will be crucial to the fate of the regular season: To this point, the union has largely disparaged MLB’s moves as incremental shifts rather than good-faith shifts toward the union’s stated goal of paying younger players more, discourag- ing service time manipulation and incentivizing competitive- ness. As recently as Thursday evening, attendees at a Major League Baseball Players Association gathering in Tampa told report- ers that they were skeptical that MLB’s new offer would be any- thing more than a much-hyped codification of the status quo. Commissioner Rob Manfred, meanwhile, refused to announce an official postponement of

spring training before MLB made this offer, suggesting that the sides would assess the calendar Saturday. As of late Saturday afternoon, no formal delay had been announced. Manfred said Thursday that once a deal is reached, camps could probably open within a few days. Given that timeline, a delay seems almost certain; a person familiar with the union’s thinking said the players were “underwhelmed” with the offer, though it does include more changes on key issues than what MLB has previously offered. Most significantly, perhaps, it offers a reduction in non- -monetary penalties for teams that outspend the competitive balance tax threshold, which has emerged as a key sticking point. Instead of losing a draft pick for exceeding the first surcharge threshold, teams would pay only the prescribed tax on their overages until a second, higher threshold is reached. At that point, teams would concede a draft pick as well as a 75 percent tax on their overages. Under that plan, a team exceeding the lowest threshold by, say, $2 million would owe 50 percent or $1 million in tax, a number MLB believes is less of a deterrent to exceeding the threshold than previous proposals. The players union believes the threshold itself is too low and has proposed raising it to $245 million. MLB’s newest offer increas- es that threshold more over the five-year life of the CBA than its previous offers, with it ultimately landing at $222 million in the final year. But while MLB’s new offer reduces some non- -monetary penalties, the new proposal still includes an increase in tax rates from the previous CBA, something people fa-

miliar with the union’s thinking said is still a major problem for players. MLB’s offer also makes changes to the framework by which it is trying to meet the union’s desire to pay younger players — who are relied upon for an increasing proportion of teams’ production — more in keeping with their performance. First of all, the offer introduces a new choice for the minimum salaries for players with less than three years of service time, who therefore do not qualify for arbitration: MLB is offering hard minimums of $615,000 for first- year players, $650,000 for second-year players, and $725,000 or the choice of a universal soft minimum of $630,000 that al- lows teams and players to negoti- ate for higher numbers if they wish. Secondly, the offer includes an increase in MLB’s proposed fund- ing for a pre-arbitration bonus pool to be dispersed among the highest-achieving players with less than three years of service time. MLB has upped that number to $15 million, while the players union still seeks $100 million. But MLB’s goal in making this proposal, according to a person familiar with its thinking, is to shift the negotiations from the realm of rules and regulations to that of dollars and cents — the kind of thing it believes can be negotiated more quickly than issues such as when players qualify for free agency or whether the current revenue-sharing system should continue. The players union has dropped its request for change on the former issue but maintains its request to reduce shared money in the latter, something on which MLB says it sim- ply will not budge.

MLB also altered its proposed plan to encourage teams to call up elite young players when they are ready, rather than at the last possible moment to delay starting the free-agency clock. Previ- ously, MLB’s negotiators offered to institute a policy by which teams that call up young players who then perform well enough to finish near the top of voting for awards such as rookie of the year would receive one draft pick as a reward for that move. MLB’s new proposal gives teams a chance to receive two compensatory picks: If a player is called up one year and finishes near the top of awards voting, then does the same in either of his next two years of service, his team can receive up to two picks. In other words, if an eligible player wins rookie of the year in his first season, then finishes near the top of MVP voting in his second, his team would receive another pick. The new proposal also includes a limit on the number of times a player can be optioned in one season, initially setting that number at five. It sticks to previous proposals on issues such as creating a draft lottery (MLB wants a three-team lottery, as opposed to union’s eight), imple- menting a universal designated hitter and expanding the playoffs. To this point, individual negotiating sessions and new proposals from one side to the other have been narrower, focused on a couple issues here and a few tweaks there. But with time run- ning out, MLB officials hope that putting everything in one place will allow the sides to move more quickly. But progress has been so slow so far that even “quickly” will almost certainly still be too slow to salvage a full spring training schedule.

Major League Baseball pitches another proposal

Players union said to be ‘underwhelmed’ with spring training looming

Kings 123, Wizards 110 Sacramento ........................ 2435333 1— 123 Washington ........................ 2936232 2— 110 SACRAMENTO MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS Barnes 33:10 7-9 7-9 1-5 2321 Harkless 30:05 5-5 4-5 0-8 0217 Sabonis 33:42 7-9 2-2 1-11 7416 Fox 38:14 10-21 6-7 0-2 4426 Holiday 29:51 4-8 0-0 1-2 2112 Mitchell 19:36 3-9 0-0 2-5 51 8 DiVincenzo 19:24 2-9 2-2 1-2 51 7 Metu 19:00 3-3 2-2 0-7 2110 Holmes 16:56 2-3 2-2 0-0 03 6 TOTALS 240 43-7625-296-4227 20 123 Percentages: FG .566, FT .862. 3-Point Goals: 12-28, .429 (Holiday 4-6, Harkless 3-3, Metu 2-2, Mitchell 2-5, DiVincenzo 1-7, Barnes 0-1, Fox 0-4). Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 2 (Harkless, Holmes). Turnovers: 14 (Fox 3, Mitchell 3, Holmes 2, Metu 2, Sabonis 2, Barnes, Harkless). Steals: 4 (Barnes, DiVincenzo, Holiday, Mitchell). Technical Fouls: None. WASHINGTON MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS Caldwell-Pope 29:03 5-9 0-0 1-4 0211 Kuzma 35:08 7-14 6-8 2-8 7122 Bryant 21:54 6-10 0-0 2-5 1213 Kispert 35:47 7-16 2-2 1-3 6020 Neto 28:24 3-9 3-4 1-2 4310 Avdija 28:19 3-9 3-4 0-3 2310 Hachimura 21:50 5-11 1-1 0-2 0113 Smith 19:36 4-7 0-0 1-2 52 9 Gill 18:34 1-3 0-2 2-3 15 2 Carey Jr. 1:23 0-0 0-0 0-0 00 0 TOTALS 240 41-8815-2110-3226 19 110 Percentages: FG .466, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 13-38, .342 (Kispert 4-11, Hachimura 2-3, Kuzma 2-6, Smith 1-1, Bryant 1-3, Caldwell-Pope 1-4, Avdija 1-5, Neto 1-5). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 3 (Avdija, Kuzma, Smith). Turnovers: 9 (Hachimura 2, Kispert 2, Kuzma 2, Bryant, Gill, Smith). Steals: 11 (Hachimura 3, Smith 3, Bryant 2, Avdija, Caldwell-Pope, Kuzma). Technical Fouls: Neto, 5:17 third. A: 14,169 (20,356).

The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-13)

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