The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-02)

MONDAY, MAY 2 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D5

BY JIMMY GOLEN

boston — Giannis Antetokoun- mpo already had picked up his dribble and spent half of a Euro- step when he realized he had nowhere to go with the ball. Instead of attempting an off- balance shot or passing to a well-guarded teammate, the two- time MVP flicked the ball high off the backboard, then followed it to the rim for a slam dunk. “What did I see? I had the ball, and I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I’m going to get stuck,’ ” Antetok- ounmpo said after recording his second career postseason triple- double to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 10 1-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their second-round series Sun- day. “I threw it to the backboard,” he said. “I’m lucky enough that God blessed me with the ability to jump. I had a good jump to go

get it again, and I was able to finish the play.” Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists as the defending NBA cham- pions swiped home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series. (He does not get an assist for passing the ball to himself.) “That’s just pure talent, just pure instinct,” Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He’s a great player. He does things that are unique and special and timely. That’s one of those plays where you’re happy he’s on our side.” Jrue Holiday had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Bobby Portis had 15 points and 11 boards for the Bucks, who are back at T D Garden f or Game 2 on Tuesday night. Jayson Tatum scored 2 1 and Jaylen Brown had 12 points, but the t wo Boston stars combined to shoot 10 for 31 in the game. Al Horford added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics, who fired up 50 three-pointers, making 18 , and shot 33 percent from the field as a team. “Offensively, not our best

night. I thought we guarded well enough,” Celtics Coach Ime Udo- ka said. “To lose a 12-point game when we shot so poorly bodes well for us. In a way it’s good to get this dud out of the way, offensively.” After shutting down Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in a four-game sweep of the B rooklyn Nets, Boston couldn’t stop Ante- tokounmpo — even with green- haired defensive player of the year Marcus Smart shaking off a shoulder injury. Antetokounmpo scored eight straight Milwaukee points at the end of the first half to bring a double-digit lead into the break. Boston was within seven in the final minute of the third quarter before g oing w ithout a bucket for more than four minutes while the Bucks scored 11 of the next 14 points — including the Greek Freak’s freakish a lley-oop t o himself that gave Milwaukee a 94-78 lead. “I can’t do that. I wouldn’t even think a bout trying,” Holiday said. “He’s got a great nickname.” — Associated Press

NBA PLAYOFFS

‘Freak’ dunk helps Milwaukee surge

BUCKS 101, CELTICS 89

port for a pitching staff that again held its own. Right-hander J ordan Lyles kept Boston off balance, allowing just one run on seven hits and three walks through six innings — an appearance that concluded b efore the r ain d elay muddled t he middle innings. Baltimore’s bullpen had thrown 102 / 3 scoreless frames in the series before J.D. Martinez’s grand slam off Tr avis Lakins Sr. in the n inth. — Baltimore Sun

lengthy rain delay. When the Orioles retook the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, their offense had not been dampened by the wait or the weather, and they quickly put five more runs on the board. I t got bad enough that Red Sox catcher Kev- in Plawecki pitched the eighth inning of Baltimore’s series-clinch- ing 9-5 victory. The nine r uns were the most the Orioles have scored this season, providing more than enough sup-

BY ANDY KOSTKA

Between the start and finish of the sixth inning Sunday between the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red S ox, more t han two hours had transpired. The frame began with a thunderous homer from second baseman Rougned Odor before a

Baltimore breaks out for a series win

ORIOLES 9, RED SOX 5

beat Wilmer Flores by a few steps. First baseman Josh Bell held the ball for a second or two, appearing like a statue in the bay breeze, as if he couldn’t believe the play. The Nationals’ defense has mostly been a hindrance. But on Sunday, i f only for a few hours — and certainly before a bullpen lapse in the seventh, when three relievers recorded three outs — all vibes were right and good. “Hey, nice play,” Martinez told reporters of what he said to Franco. “You need a little work on your Michael Jackson steps there at the end.” Here’s what else to know about the Nationals’ win:

Roster reaches 26 After the game, the Nationals optioned left-handed relievers Sam Clay and Francisco Pérez to Class AAA Rochester, where they began the season. Pérez strug- gled to find the strike zone in his first stint with Washington. Clay, who spent much of last year with the club, showed flashes of in- ducing soft contract with his sinker/slider combo. The moves leave Josh Rogers as the lone lefty in a nine-man bullpen. The deadline for MLB teams to go from 28 players to 26 is Monday.

A suboptimal seventh The Giants scored all five of their runs and sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh inning. Victor Arano faced five batters: single for Thairo Estrada, single for Jason Vosler, strikeout of Jason Krizan, walk for Bart and RBI single for Luis Gonzalez. Kyle Finnegan entered and walked Ruf to force home a run and got Flores to bounce into a fielder’s choice that could have been a double play with a sharp- er feed (from Fox) and turn (by César Hernández) at second. Then Finnegan walked Brandon Crawford to load the bases again, and Martinez called in Steve Cishek. Martinez told reporters after- ward that Finnegan had a cut on one of his fingers, perhaps con- tributing to h is lack of command. Before escaping the mess, and before notching a clean eighth, Cishek was beaten by Mike Ford for a two-run single. Yadiel Her- nandez erased most of the dam- age with a three-run double in the next half. That gave Hernan- dez a career-high five RBI.

Ford drives them in Ford, who started at first base

for the Giants, was claimed off waivers by the Nationals in Au- gust, then non-tendered in No- vember. He played in 29 games for Rochester and never appeared in the majors for Wash- ington. The Giants acquired him from Seattle on Saturday to patch a roster dealing with coro- navirus absences. Ford went 0 for 3 against Gray before slapping C ishek’s fastball t o right in the seventh.

Strasburg, Ross updates Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross are scheduled to start facing hitters Wednesday in West Palm B each, Fla., Martinez told reporters. S trasburg, recov- ering from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome last summer, and Ross, rehabbing after hav- ing a bone spur removed from his elbow in March, have fallen on similar rehab schedules. See- ing hitters in live batting prac- tice typically comes before throwing an inning or two in a simulated or low-level minor league game.

JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Yadiel Hernandez’s double in the eighth drove in, from left, Juan Soto, Josh Bell a nd César Hernández.

NATIONALS ON DECK

at Colorado Rockies

Tomorrow 8:40 MASN2 Wednesday8:40 MASN2

Thursday3:10 YouTube

at Los Angeles Angels

Friday9:38 MASN2

Saturday9:07MASN2 Sunday4:07MASN2

vs. New York Mets

May 10 7:05 MASN May 11 7:05 MASN

May 12 1:05 MASN

Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)

BY JESSE DOUGHERTY

For the most part, save a
dismal bottom of the seventh, it
was a hard-to-pick-the-best-mo-
ment sort of Sunday for the
Washington Nationals at Oracle
Park. That it delivered a series
win over the San Francisco Gi-
ants made it that much better.
And that the Nationals did this
after reaching the West C oast on
an eight-game losing streak,
banged-up and punchless on
offense?
Let’s just say the weekend was
needed.
Those moments came quickly
in an 11-5 win for Washington
(8-16). There was Josiah Gray
holding the Giants (14-8) hitless
in the first, second, third and
fourth, then yielding a hit with
two down in the fifth and leav-
ing the bases loaded with a
strikeout of Darin Ruf, punctu-
ated by a fist clench and a
scream. Gray then settled to
pitch a one-two-three sixth, fin-
ishing at no runs, one hit, four
walks and three strikeouts on
93 pitches.
His afternoon ended with a
long hug and a chat with Manag-
er Dave Martinez near the dug-
out steps. Now imagine what
could happen if Gray smooths
out the one inning per start
when his command slips. On
Sunday, that was throwing
23 pitches and issuing back-to-
back two-out walks in the fifth.
He escaped the jam by getting
Ruf to whiff on a sharp slider.
“After not making my pitches
the whole inning, being able to
make that pitch to that kind of
hitter, it’s huge,” Gray told re-
porters in San Francisco when
asked to describe his feelings
after retiring Ruf. “It’s just like
an exclaim for joy and raw
emotion. There’s n othing like it.”
Five innings earlier, before
anyone entertained the possibil-
ity of a no-hitter, there was
Lucius Fox capping a five-run
rally with his first career hit — a
slow-rolling, shift-beating drib-
bler that brought one big sigh of
relief. Fox was 0 for 20 until he
beat out an off-balance throw
from Giants shortstop Brandon
Crawford. In the sixth, he used
his speed for another infield hit,
went first to third on Juan Soto’s
single and scored on a wild pitch
that didn’t trickle far from
catcher Joey Bart.
Earlier in the first, there were
César Hernández and Soto tax-
ing starter Alex Cobb with back-
to-back singles to start the day;
Yadiel Hernandez driving i n two
with a hit through the middle;
and Victor Robles preceding
Fox’s at-bat with a seven-pitch
walk against Cobb, who man-
aged just two outs. Robles
reached in 10 of his 14 plate
appearances in the series, add-
ing a bunt single in the third and
an RBI knock in the seventh.
Soto had three singles, three
runs and a steal in the finale.
And in the bottom of the first,
as Gray e ased into his gem, third
baseman Maikel Franco back-
handed a chopper and made a
leaping throw from deep in the
hole. His momentum took him
well into foul territory. His
throw, though, was on line and

Nats enjoy good vibes by Bay

NATIONALS 11, GIANTS 5

Nationals 11, Giants 5 NATIONALS AB RHBI BB SO AVG C.Hernandez 2b.............. 421021 .272 Soto rf............................ 533001 .262 Cruz dh........................... 410100 .148 Bell 1b............................ 310021 .351 Y.Hernandez lf............... 423510 .340 Thomas lf....................... 000000 .200 Franco 3b........................ 500000 .264 Ruiz c.............................. 411010 .239 Robles cf......................... 402112 .259 Fox ss............................. 512101 .080 TOTALS 38 11 12 876— GIANTS AB RHBI BB SO AVG González cf..................... 411112 .276 Ruf rf.............................. 401111 .181 Flores dh......................... 410110 .267 Crawford ss.................... 400011 .224 Ford 1b........................... 401200 .250 Estrada 2b...................... 411001 .235 Vosler 3b........................ 411000 .286 Krizan lf.......................... 301012 .125 Bart c.............................. 210021 .205 TOTALS 33 56 578 — WASHINGTON........ 500 002 130 —11120 SAN FRANCISCO.... 000 000 500 —561 E: Vosler (1). LOB: Washington 8, San Francisco 8. 2B: Y.Hernandez 2 (6). RBI: Y.Hernandez 5 (12), Fox (2), Cruz (12), Robles (9), González (7), Ruf (4), Flores (13), Ford 2 (2). SB: Fox (1), Soto (2), Ruf (2). SF: Cruz. NATIONALS IP HRER BB SO NP ERA Gray ............................. 610043 93 3.12 Arano..........................^1 / 3 34411 20 4.76 Finnegan.....................^1 / 3 01120 16 5.19 Cishek....................... 11 / 3 10002 15 6.00 Rainey.......................... 110002 13 0.00 GIANTS IP HRER BB SO NP ERA Cobb ...........................^2 / 3 45130 40 5.40 Long.......................... 21 / 3 10021 38 1.00 García........................ 12 / 3 10001 23 0.00 Marte........................ 11 / 3 22201 25 7.04 Beede........................... 121100 13 3.24 McGee.......................... 123320 22 5.87 Doval............................ 100003 14 2.61 WP: Gray (3-2); LP: Cobb (1-1). Inherited runners- scored: Finnegan 3-2, Cishek 3-2, Long 3-0, Marte 1-0. IBB: off McGee (Bell). WP: Gray, Long, Marte. T: 3:37. A: 38,451 (41,915). HOW THEY SCORED NATIONALS FIRST Cesar Hernandez singles. Juan Soto singles. Cesar Her- nandez to second. Nelson Cruz reaches on a fielder’s choice, advances to second. Juan Soto to third, Cesar Hernandez scores. Fielding error by Jason Vosler. Josh Bell grounds out. Yadiel Hernandez singles, Nelson Cruz scores, Juan Soto scores. Maikel Franco flies out. Keibert Ruiz walks. Yadiel Hernandez to second. Victor Robles walks. Keibert Ruiz to second. Yadiel Hernandez to third. Balk, Victor Robles to second, Keibert Ruiz to third, Yadiel Hernandez scores. Lucius Fox singles, Vic- tor Robles to third, Keibert Ruiz scores. Cesar Hernan- dez walks. Juan Soto strikes out swinging. Nationals 5, Giants 0 NATIONALS SIXTH Lucius Fox singles. Cesar Hernandez lines out. Juan Soto singles. Lucius Fox to third. Wild pitch, Juan Soto to third, Lucius Fox scores. Nelson Cruz out on a sacri- fice fly, Juan Soto scores. Josh Bell flies out. Nationals 7, Giants 0 NATIONALS SEVENTH Yadiel Hernandez doubles. Maikel Franco grounds out. Keibert Ruiz grounds out. Yadiel Hernandez to third. Victor Robles singles, Yadiel Hernandez scores. Lucius Fox grounds out. Nationals 8, Giants 0 GIANTS SEVENTH Thairo Estrada singles. Jason Vosler singles to center field. Thairo Estrada to second. Jason Krizan called out on strikes. Joey Bart walks. Jason Vosler to second. Thairo Estrada to third. Luis Gonzalez singles, Joey Bart to second, Jason Vosler to third, Thairo Estrada scores. Darin Ruf walks, Luis Gonzalez to second, Joey Bart to third, Jason Vosler scores. Wilmer Flores reaches on a fielder’s choice, Darin Ruf out at second, Luis Gonzalez to third, Joey Bart scores. Brandon Crawford walks. Wilmer Flores to second. Mike Ford singles, Brandon Crawford to third, Wilmer Flores scores, Luis Gonzalez scores. Thairo Estrada lines out. Nationals 8, Giants 5 NATIONALS EIGHTH Cesar Hernandez walks. Juan Soto singles. Cesar Her- nandez to third. Nelson Cruz grounds out. Josh Bell is intentionally walked. Yadiel Hernandez doubles, Josh Bell scores, Juan Soto scores, Cesar Hernandez scores. Maikel Franco pops out. Keibert Ruiz flies out. Nationals 11, Giants 5

BY BEN GOLLIVER

memphis — Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr stared at the three ref- erees in disbelief as Draymond Green hopped around the court behind them, hyping up his Gold- en State Warriors teammates and egging on the crowd after being informed that his night was over before halftime. Losing their defensive captain so early was not how the Warriors had hoped to open their second- round playoff series against the young and athletic Memphis Griz- zlies, and this was the type of controversial call that had the po- tential to swing Game 1. While defending a layup attempt by Brandon Clarke, Green appeared to hit the Grizzlies forward in the face with his right hand and then yanked him down by pulling on the front of his jersey. Clarke fell awkwardly to the court, prompt- ing the FedEx Forum crowd to chant for Green’s dismissal — “Throw him out! Throw him out!” — and roar when its request was fulfilled with a flagrant-two foul ruling. “It’s a tough call on the road, trying to start a series,” Curry said. “Nobody wants to see that. It’s n ot good for the game. I don’t think it deserved that, obviously.” Golden State’s core trio of Cur- ry, Green and Klay Thompson are the most accomplished stars left in the playoffs, and they have had plenty of recent experience pick- ing up the slack for one another. Curry scored seven straight p oints to restore order early in t he second half and Thompson drained a go- ahead t hree-pointer w ith 3 6.6 s ec- onds left to lead the Warriors to a 117-116 v ictory Sunday. “I just thought we were determined,” Kerr said. “We knew that was a tough break that didn’t go our way. We were all kind of shocked by the decision. We were confident and determined, and the g uys stayed with it.” Golden State’s thrilling l ast-second victory opened a series that reprises a 2015 second- round matchup, except with the roles reversed. Seven years ago, a young Curry, Thompson and Green took an important step toward their f irst title by outfoxing a physical and veteran Memphis team led by Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Fast-forward to the present, and a retired Randolph was seated courtside Sunday to watch the rising Grizzlies, led by Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. To earn their stripes, the 2015 Warriors had to prove they

couldn’t b e bullied by the Grizzlies and that their outside-in attack was a workable formula in the playoffs. The current Grizzlies face a different dilemma: After surviving a c haotic first-round series against the Minnesota Tim- berwolves with several second- half comebacks, they will need to remain d isciplined and prove that they can execute in late-game situ- ations to overcome the Warriors’ significant advantage in postseason experience. “The effort that they gave to- night was phenomenal,” Grizzlies Coach Taylor Jenkins said of his players. “There was definitely some mental lapses we had. We’ll easily c lean that stuff up.” Memphis’s speed and length posed problems for Golden State, and Morant and Jackson looked more comfortable than they had for much of the first-round series. Morant posted a game-high 34 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, finding seams to the basket and going 4 for 11 from b eyond the arc as the Warriors dared him to shoot. Jackson, who was in con- stant foul trouble against Minne- sota, added 33 points and hit six three-pointers. To c ounter Morant, Kerr altered his starting lineup by replacing guard Jordan Poole, who excelled early in a first-round series victory over the Denver Nuggets, w ith defensive stopper Gary Payton III. Without Green to hold d own their back line, the Warriors closed the game with a lineup that included five perimeter players and no power forwards o r centers. That u nusual gambit worked as the Grizzlies fell short at the end, losing track of Thompson on his go-ahead three-pointer and then coming up empty on their final two possessions. First, Morant drove into traffic, only to be stripped by Curry. Then, coming out of a timeout with only 3.4

seconds left, Morant raced from the backcourt toward the hoop, only to settle for a wild shot after he was greeted in the paint by a waiting Thompson, who said later that he knew the designed play was coming. “I missed a layup I normally make,” Morant said. “It’s on to the next.” Curry scored 24 points and hit five three-pointers, playing through foul trouble to bring home the win. Thompson added 15 points, w hile Poole came off the bench to score a team-high 31 points; he made five three- pointers to go with nine assists and eight rebounds. For Thompson, who returned this year after suffering back-to- back s eason-ending injuries, the final stand provided a measure of redemption for missing a pair of free t hrows with 6.7 seconds to play. He c elebrated the victory by pump- ing his fist and running to center court as the building fell into a hush for the first time all night. “I g ot a great l ook [at the three], and that felt good to make that,” Thompson said. “Unfortunately, missing two free throws is very uncharacteristic for me. I’m hu- man. I ’ve learned from experience that y ou have t o move forward. We still had the lead. I’m proud of myself for turning that page. Big sigh of relief. I know it’s not a championship, but it’s still a huge win for us.” Kerr was proud that the under- sized Warriors managed to out- rebound the Grizzlies 51-47 and that they had held up defensively despite Green’s e arly exit. Ironical- ly, Golden State seized h ome-court advantage by channeling Mem- phis’s signature qualities from years p ast. “This was a huge game to win with [Green] going out early,” Poole said. “We had to find that grit and grind.”

Warriors grab tight Game 1

BRANDON DILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS Klay Thompson, who scored 15 points, hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 36.6 seconds remaining to guide Golden State past Memphis.

WARRIORS 117, GRIZZLIES 116

Golden State survives Green’s early ejection

The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-02)

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