The Washington Post - USA (2022-02-20)

D4 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20 , 2022

BY BEN GOLLIVER

cleveland — Obi Toppin got
redemption but only after all
three of his slam dunk contest
competitors self-destructed.
In one of the most under-
whelming, anticlimactic and
gaffe-filled contests in NBA his-
tory, Toppin, the New York
Knicks’ second-year forward,
scored a convincing victory after
finishing second last year in At-
lanta.
Toppin, 23, turned in a steady
but unspectacular performance,
beating Golden State Warriors
forward Juan Toscano-Anderson
by a score of 92-69 in the final
round.
“There’s been a lot of legends
to win the dunk contest,” said
Toppin, who attended college at
Dayton, a three-hour drive from
Cleveland. “For my name to be
part of that is something special,
and I don’t take that for granted.

... It means a lot to do it in Ohio.
This is like my second home.”
To seal the win, the 6-foot-9
Toppin, who is one of the season’s
most prolific dunkers, tossed an
alley-oop to himself off the back-
board to set up a clean windmill.
Then, on his last slam, he tapped
the ball off the backcourt before
quickly redirecting it into the
hoop. Those dunks, combined
with a smooth behind-the-back
finish while hurdling over a hu-
man prop in the first round,
made him the clear winner.
Toscano-Anderson, the long
shot in the field, beat out Hous-
ton Rockets guard Jalen Green
and Orlando Magic guard Cole
Anthony to reach the final, but he
quickly ran out of steam. His final
round dunks were both duds: an

apparent unsuccessful attempt to

mimic Vince Carter’s elbow dunk

and a between-the-legs try from

the baseline that he couldn’t

complete on three attempts.

Meanwhile, props and cos-

tumes couldn’t save Green and

Anthony, who thought outside

the box but couldn’t finish effi-

ciently.

Green, the No. 2 pick in the

2021 draft and the contest’s head-

liner, missed a series of dunks to

open his night and never recov-

ered. His attempt to generate

buzz by donning a gold chain

with a phone playing his own

highlights was quickly forgotten.

Anthony tried to get the crowd

going with nods to his New York

roots — donning Timberland

boots and the old Knicks jersey of

his father, Greg, for his first dunk

— but his program also came

undone with repeated misses.

By night’s end, much of the

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

crowd had lost interest, and Top-

pin’s win barely garnered any

applause.

Three-point contest

Earlier in the night, the tallest

man in the three-point contest

went home as champion.

Minnesota Timberwolves cen-

ter Karl-Anthony Towns, who

was at least a half-foot taller than

his seven fellow competitors,

scored 29 points in the final

round to claim his first three-

point contest title. Towns, 26,

edged Atlanta Hawks guard Trae

Young (26 points) and Los Ange-

les Clippers guard Luke Kennard

(26 points) in a tight competi-

tion.

The 6-11 Towns, who said he

woke up at 8 a.m. to practice for

In dud of a dunk contest,

Toppin winds up winner

the event, became the tallest

player to win the competition

since 7-footer Dirk Nowitzki took

home the title in 2006, and he

was the first Timberwolves play-

er to win since Kevin Love pre-

vailed in 2012.

“I’m up there with the best

shooting big men of all time, and

I think this trophy proves it,” said

Towns, who earned his third

all-star selection this season.

Indeed, Towns has been a reli-

able shooter since he was the first

pick in the 2015 draft, shooting

39.6 percent from deep over his

seven-year career.

Kennard blew away the com-

petition in the first round with 28

points, but he couldn’t match

Towns, who shot first in the final

round. Brooklyn Nets guard Patty

Mills, New Orleans Pelicans

guard CJ McCollum, Memphis

Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane,

Toronto Raptors guard Fred Van-

Vleet and Chicago Bulls guard

Zach LaVine were all eliminated

in the first round.

Towns’s victory defied expecta-

tions; oddsmakers listed him as

the longest shot in the eight-man

field. His only regret was that he

didn’t finish with a score of 30.

“It’s great, but I just have such

high standards for myself,” he

said. “There’s no writer, no blog-

ger, no one who can critique and

be more harsh on my game than

me. I was so messed up about not

getting the 30. I tricked the last

two shots.”

Skills challenge

Home-court advantage made

the difference in the NBA’s re-

vamped skills challenge event.

In past years, the skills chal-

lenge was a timed obstacle course

that required players to dribble,

pass and shoot. Those basic el-

ements carried over into the new

and expanded format, which fea-

tured three teams: the Rooks, the

Antetokounmpos and the Cava-

liers.

Three 2021 lottery picks —

Oklahoma City Thunder guard

Josh Giddey, Detroit Pistons

guard Cade Cunningham and

Toronto Raptors forward Scottie

Barnes — played on the Rooks.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee Bucks su-

perstar Giannis Antetokounmpo

and two of his brothers — Thana-

sis, who plays on the Bucks, and

Alex, who plays for the Toronto

Raptors’ G League affiliate —

filled out the second team, while

TIM NWACHUKWU/GETTY IMAGES

Knicks forward Obi Toppin, who played collegiately at Dayton, won Saturday’s event in Cleveland.

Darius Garland, Evan Mobley

and Jarrett Allen of the host

Cleveland Cavaliers rounded out

the field.

In the new format, the three

teams competed in shooting,

passing and relay racing rounds

before the top two advanced to a

championship round featuring

half-court shots.

To advance, Garland hit a

three-pointer to break a tie with

the Antetokounmpos, drawing a

huge ovation from the crowd.

Then, in the final, Mobley hit

from half court on his first at-

tempt — just 5.5 seconds into the

round — to seal the win for the

hometown team.

“It was amazing,” Mobley said.

“The crowd was showing a lot of

love.”

The Cavaliers have been one of

the most pleasant surprises of the

NBA season, racing out to a 35-23

start to claim the East’s No. 4

seed heading into the break. The

22-year-old Garland and the

2 3-year-old Allen both earned

their first all-star selections this

year, while the 20-year-old Mob-

ley is the rookie of the year

favorite.

“I think the camaraderie that

we have on and off the court

helped us win,” Allen said. “We

had to go up against some broth-

ers, so obviously they have a

tighter bond than us. But I still

give us credit for how we com-

pete for each other.”

WIZARDS’ NEXT THREE

vs. San Antonio Spurs

Friday7NBCSW

at Cleveland Cavaliers

Saturday8NBCSW

vs. Detroit Pistons

March 17 NBCSW

Radio: WTEM (980 AM)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Premier League title race
really is back on.
And it’s all because of Harry
Kane.
The striker Manchester City
wanted to sign in the offseason
last year consigned the leaders to
their first league loss in nearly four
months by scoring twice for Tot-
tenham in a dramatic 3-2 win on
Saturday.
His second — the winning goal
— came in the fifth minute of
stoppage time. Kane celebrating
scoring goals at Etihad Stadium
was something City fans thought
they would enjoy seeing this sea-
son.
They weren’t this time.
Tottenham completed an im-
probable double over City, having
beaten the champions, 1-0, in the
opening round, and the London
team continues to cause City pain.
It was Spurs, after all, who elim-
inated City from the Champions
League three seasons ago follow-
ing an even more dramatic game
in the quarterfinal second legs and
also beat Pep Guardiola’s team last
season.
City appeared to have done
enough to earn a point when Ri-
yad Mahrez converted a penalty in
the second minute of stoppage
time, canceling out Kane’s first
goal. Earlier, Dejan Kulusevski
scored in the fourth minute before
Ilkay Gundogan’s equalizer.
Kulusevski set up Kane’s win-

ner, with the England striker di-

recting his header into the corner

to cap a superb all-around per-

formance that saw him cause

City’s defense all sorts of prob-

lems, mainly by dropping deep

and slipping balls through....

By Wednesday, City could find

its lead over Liverpool down to

just three points.

Liverpool trimmed the gap to

six courtesy of a come-from-be-

hind 3-1 victory over visiting Nor-

wich and plays Leeds at home

Wednesday.

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane

and exciting January signing Luis

Diaz scored in the comeback win

for Liverpool, which still has to go

to City in April....

Chelsea played its first league

game in nearly a month and, after

winning the Club World Cup in

Abu Dhabi, posted a lethargic 1-0

win over host Crystal Palace, se-

cured by Hakim Ziyech’s 89th-

minute volley....

Arsenal eased to a 2-1 win at

Emirates Stadium thanks to goals

by Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo

Saka, with Brentford’s consolation

coming from virtually the last kick

of the game from Christian Nor-

gaard.

Arsenal moved a point behind

fourth-place Manchester United

in the race for Champions League

positioning.

Brentford is winless in seven

games and dropped within six

points of the relegation zone....

The relegation fight is heating

up.

Norwich’s loss to Liverpool end-

ed up sending it to the bottom of

the standings because of rare wins

for Burnley (3-0 at Brighton, just

its second of the season), and Wat-

ford (1-0 at Aston Villa on Emman-

uel Dennis’s 78th-minute header,

its first in three months in all

competitions).

Also, with Newcastle drawing

at host West Ham, 1-1, and Everton

losing, 2-0, at Southampton, only

five points separate the bottom

five.

l ITALY: Serie A leader AC Mi-

lan dropped crucial points in the

title race, managing a 2-2 draw at

last-place Salernitana only after

Ante Rebic’s powerful strike from

outside the penalty area in the

77th minute.

Milan is two points ahead of

defending champion Inter Milan,

which has played two fewer

games, and three points ahead of

third-place Napoli, which has one

game in hand.

Inter hosts midtable Sassuolo

on Sunday, and Napoli goes to play

Cagliari on Monday....

Jose Mourinho’s seventh-place

Roma earned a 2-2 home draw

with Verona after trailing 2-0 in-

side the first 20 minutes, and

Sampdoria beat midtable Empoli,

2-0, at home to move further away

from the relegation zone.

l GERMANY: Anthony Mod-

este, sidelined since Feb. 5 by ill-

ness, came off the bench in the

61st minute and scored in the 84th

to give host Cologne a 1-0 win over

Eintracht Frankfurt in the

Bundesliga....

Relegation-threatened Stutt-

gart was on the verge of claiming

its first league win since Decem-

ber when it conceded a penalty in

the third minute of injury time to

draw, 1-1, with visiting Bochum....

Danish forward Jonas Wind’s

first Bundesliga goal for Wolfs-

burg wasn’t enough, as visiting

Hoffenheim rallied to win, 2-1....

Also, Union Berlin slumped to a

1-0 loss at Arminia Bielefeld for its

third consecutive defeat, and

Freiburg won, 2-1, at Augsburg,

which remains in the relegation

playoff place.

l FRANCE: Runaway leader

Paris Saint-Germain slipped to

only its second Ligue 1 defeat of

the season, falling, 3-1, at an in-

spired Nantes.

PSG still has a big lead and will

be 10 points clear even if second-

place Marseille wins Sunday....

In Saturday’s other match,

striker Tino Kadewere grabbed

his first goal of the season to help

Lyon draw at Lens, 1-1.

l SPAIN: Struggling like never

before under Diego Simeone, Atlé-

tico Madrid got the convincing

win it needed.

The class of João Félix and Luis

Suárez — combined with some

team defending finally living up to

Simeone’s standard — gave Atlé-

tico reasons to feel better about its

upcoming Champions League

clash with Manchester City after a

3-0 win at Osasuna in the Spanish

league....

Karim Benzema, Marco Asen-

sio and Vinícius Júnior all scored

in the second half to give league

leader Real Madrid a 3-0 win over

visiting Alavés.

Second-place Sevilla trails Ma-

drid by seven points before it visits

Espanyol on Sunday....

In other matches Saturday, Vil-

larreal’s Arnaut Danjuma record-

ed a hat trick in a 4-1 win at

Granada, and Cádiz recorded a 1-1

draw at home with Getafe.

SOCCER ROUNDUP

Kane and Spurs inject drama into race

TOTTENHAM 3,

MANCHESTER CITY 2

CARL RECINE/ACTION IMAGES/ REUTERS

Tottenham’s Harry Kane scores the winning goal — his second of the game — against Premier League leader Manchester City on Saturday.

BY STEVEN GOFF

carson, calif. — In his team’s

final preseason test Saturday, D.C.

United Coach Hernán Losada

used a lineup that, with probably

one exception, will start again

next weekend against expansion

Charlotte FC at Audi Field.

Several large matters, though,

remain unsettled. And as United

boarded a charter shortly after

the 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles

Galaxy, it was clear the roster —

and the starters — will continue

to evolve through the spring and

into the summer.

“The roster is still incomplete,”

Losada said. “We’re still looking,

and I really hope those pieces are

coming because that is the differ-

ence between playoffs or not.

That’s the difference between ar-

riving in the playoffs and being

competitive and arriving in the

playoffs and getting kicked out in

the first round. We still need that

extra piece of quality.”

Still undetermined is whether

United will end up trading striker

Ola Kamara, MLS’s co-leading

scorer last season who is in the

final year of his contract. He

missed all four preseason match-

es because of health and safety

protocols, though he has been

training on his own and is sched-

uled to rejoin the group Tuesday.

Trading Kamara would free

considerable resources for acqui-

sitions, including another attack-

er and an experienced defensive

midfielder. Russell Canouse and

Moses Nyeman, 18, are the start-

ers in defensive midfield, but af-

ter cutting ties with veterans Fe-

lipe Martins and Júnior Moreno

after last season, D.C. is light in

that position.

The big-ticket signing, Greek

forward Taxiarchis Fountas, will

not join the team until halfway

into the 34-game season — unless

United strikes a deal with Rapid

Vienna for an early departure

from Austria.

United officials say they plan to

sign a third designated player

sometime this year.

A goalkeeping slot remains

empty, one that Losada said he

would like to use on someone who

could push longtime starter Bill

Hamid for playing time

The trade and transfer window

closes May 4, then reopens for a

month starting July 7.

Saturday did mark the formal

introduction of Michael Estrada,

an Ecuadoran national team for-

ward who arrived on a season-

long loan from Mexican club To-

luca. With the score tied at 1 in the

58th minute, he headed in Julian

Gressel’s sensational free kick

from 35 yards.

“Amazing timing with Julian

and Michael,” Losada said. The

other goal also came off Gressel’s

set-piece delivery — a first-half

corner kick that captain Steven

Birnbaum smacked in.

United created a wealth of op-

portunities in open play, but like

last year, “efficiency was not

there,” Losada said.

Estrada started at the point of

the attack. He received support

from 19-year-old Griffin Yow and

Edison Flores, the high-priced

Peruvian World Cup player who

has fallen well short of expecta-

tions through two seasons.

When Fountas arrives, wheth-

er in four weeks or four months,

Losada will need to find the right

place and combinations for his

highest-paid player.

Amid the roster variability,

Nyeman has received a golden

opportunity to solidify a starting

job. Last year, his second as a

full-time pro, the 5-foot-5,

1 35-pound homegrown product

made 19 appearances and 10

starts but wasn’t in the mix down

the stretch.

On Saturday, in his third con-

secutive start, Nyeman set up an

early scoring chance by driving a

long ball behind the defense to

Gressel.

Another homegrown on the

spot Saturday was Yow, who start-

ed in place of Adrien Perez (minor

injury). Yow is seeking a break-

through season after making six

starts in his first three campaigns.

In the second half against the

Galaxy, Yow’s open bid from

12 yards was touched off the

crossbar by goalkeeper Jonathan

Bond. He had two other promis-

ing chances.

While questions remain about

the front, the back has remained

consistent through preseason:

Hamid in goal; Birnbaum and

Andy Najar flanking center back

Brendan Hines-Ike; and Gressel

and Brad Smith at wing backs.

United (2-0-2 in preseason)

conceded one goal in the first

three preseason matches — victo-

ries over Miami and Los Angeles

FC and a draw with the New York

Red Bulls — but couldn’t hold two

leads against the Galaxy (4-1-2).

Mexican star Javier “Chicharito”

Hernandez scored the equalizers

in the 26th and 74th minutes.

Losada stuck with his starters

past the 70th minute, then made

eight changes, including French

midfielder Sofiane Djeffal for

Nyeman. The second-round draft

pick from Oregon State has per-

formed well in training camp and

seems likely to receive a first-

team contract. Djeffal almost won

the game in the 85th minute with

a tight-angled bid that slithered

wide.

“We’re in a good place mental-

ly,” Birnbaum said. “Everyone’s

buying in. Everyone’s working.

Guys are just eager to get back

home and play the first game.”

In its final M LS tuneup,

United looks incomplete

D.C. UNITED 2,

GALAXY 2

Charlotte FC at D.C. United

Saturday, 6 p.m., NBCSW Plus