D8 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, MAY 8 , 2022
Professional BasketballASSOCIATED PRESSSabrina Ionescu had 25 points
and six assists and sparked a late
run to help the New York Liberty
beat the visiting Connecticut Sun,
81-79, on Saturday night in the
season opener for both teams.
Natasha Howard scored 16 points,
Sami Whitcomb had 15 points and
five assists and Jocelyn Willough-
by added 13 points for New York.
Willoughby — the No. 10 overall
selection in the 2020 WNBA draft
— did not play last season after
suffering a torn left Achilles’ ten-
don in a preseason scrimmage.
Ionescu was fouled as she hit a
12-foot jumper and hit the free
throw to give the Liberty a 71-70
lead with 3:51 to play. Jasmine
Thomas answered with a three-
point play to put Connecticut back
in front 10 seconds later, but Io-
nescu followed with a three-point-
er and a driving layup to make it
76-73 with 2:31 remaining. The
Sun trailed the rest of the way.
Alyssa Thomas led Connecticut
with 25 points, seven rebounds
and four steals.
l DREAM 66, WINGS 59:
Rhyne Howard scored 16 points in
her debut for Atlanta, Cheyenne
Parker had 10 points, 10 rebounds
and three blocks, and the Dream
beat Dallas in the season opener
for both teams in Arlington, Tex.
Dallas shot just 24.3 percent (17
for 70) from the field. It marked
the first time the Dream h eld its
opponent below 25 percent shoot-
ing and just the 26th time in
WNBA history.
Marina Mabrey was the long
bright spot for the Wings, scoring
20 points in 24 minutes off the
bench.
WNBA ROUNDUP
For openers,
Ionescu finds
a groove late
for New York
LIBERTY 81,
SUN 79BY BEN GOLLIVERmilwaukee — The stage was set
for Giannis Antetokounmpo to
uncork one of his signature transi-
tion dunks, on which his long
strides eat up hardwood by the
yard and his long arms allow him
to finish from almost any angle.
Before the Milwaukee Bucks’
superstar could elevate, Grant
Williams, the broad-shouldered
Boston Celtics forward, deftly
wrapped him up. The two players
remained entangled for several
seconds, and the aborted three-
on-one fast break ended with a
minor tussle between members of
both teams. Cooler heads pre-
vailed, and the Fiserv Forum
crowd’s calls for a flagrant foul
went unheeded. It wound up be-
ing just another hard foul in an
afternoon full of them.
Energized by the testy ex-
change shortly after halftime, An-
tetokounmpo helped the Bucks
build a 14-point lead late in the
third quarter and stave off a Celt-
ics comeback to eke out a 103-101
Game 3 victory on Saturday. The
defending champions now hold a
2-1 series lead.
Antetokounmpo can play pret-
ty basketball as he did by tossing
an alley-oop off the backboard to
himself in Game 1. But the two-
time MVP is no stranger to playoff
brutality either, having battled
elite defenses designed to slow
him down such as those of the
2019 Toronto Raptors, the 2020
Miami Heat and the 2021 Phoenix
Suns. In this series, Antetokoun-
mpo has confronted a smart, im-
posing and versatile Celtics lineup
without his key sidekick, all-star
forward Khris Middleton, and lit-
tle in the way of reliable second-
ary scoring.
To overcome those challenges
in Game 3, Antetokounmpo re-
peatedly plowed to the basket,
slaloming past two and some-
times three defenders in hopes of
collapsing Boston’s defense. Ante-
tokounmpo bludgeoned the Celt-
ics for several key baskets down
the stretch, finishing with a game-
high 42 points, 12 rebounds and
eight assists.
“The physicality that [Antetok-
ounmpo] takes in the game, the
hits, to still finish and score and
play,” Bucks Coach Mike Buden-
holzer said. “That’s how he’s built.
He’s an incredible player that
plays with his teammates, plays
the right way, competes and plays
through contact and physicality
in a big-time way.”
The second round of these NBA
playoffs has seen exquisite scor-
ing from Ja Morant, masterful
decision-making from Chris Paul
and an inspirational return from
a masked Joel Embiid, but this
highly anticipated matchup be-
tween the Bucks and Celtics has
become a messy dogfight. It was
no great surprise that Saturday
devolved into a barrage of loose-
ball fouls, sprawling bodies and
wayward jumpers: Boston pos-
sessed the NBA’s No. 1 defense in
the regular season, and Milwau-
kee has topped the charts in the
playoffs.
After Milwaukee shot just 3 for
18 from beyond the arc in a blow-
out Game 2 loss Tuesday, a woeful
performance that was the Bucks’
fewest three-pointers in a playoff
game since 2006, Budenholzer al-
tered his starting lineup in search
of more perimeter firepower. Out
went forward Bobby Portis and in
came guard Grayson Allen, who
was promptly held scoreless in
25 minutes. Milwaukee has badly
missed Middleton through three
games. Allen and guard Wesley
Matthews, who scored just three
points on 1-for-5 shooting in
32 minutes, have been unable to
pick up the slack.
Antetokounmpo responded
with 11 points in the final period,dragging Milwaukee across the
finish line with an array of cre-
ative moves. When Boston cut the
lead to five points with under
eight minutes to play, Antetok-
ounmpo drilled a hook shot over
Williams. Two minutes later, Bos-
ton narrowed the margin to four,
only for Antetokounmpo to spin
past Jaylen Brown for a dunk.
Brown, who finished with a
team-high 27 points and 12 re-
bounds, and Al Horford, who add-
ed 22 points, 16 rebounds and five
assists, kept coming, slicing Mil-
waukee’s lead to one point with
three minutes left. Antetokounm-
po responded again, seeking out a
favorable matchup against the
smaller Brown and knocking
down a long hook shot over him.
A pair of Brown free throws
gave the Celtics a one-point lead
with less than two minutes re-
maining, but Antetokounmpo
drove into the paint one last time,
eluding Williams for a go-ahead
layup with 44 seconds remaining.
Jrue Holiday, who added 25 points
and seven rebounds in the win, hit
a timely and tough midrange
floater to provide Milwaukee’s fi-
nal points with 11.2 seconds left.
“Instincts,” Antetokounmpo
said when asked to explain his
takeover performance. “I’m not
going into a game and saying:
‘Today, I’m going to shoot jump
shots. Today, I’m going to drive the
ball or shoot my fadeaways.’
Whatever’s in front of me, if it’s
within my strengths, if it’s some-thing I’ve worked on, I’m confi-
dent and comfortable enough to
do it. I just want to be aggressive.
What that’s going to look like? I
don’t know.”
Undeterred by Antetokounm-
po’s late-game paint dominance,
Boston had one last chance to
force overtime in the closing sec-
onds. With the Celtics down three,
guard Marcus Smart was fouled
by Holiday with 4.6 seconds left.
While Smart argued that he was
in the process of attempting a
three-pointer, the officials dis-
agreed and awarded only two free
throws.
“Smart tried to do the [Kevin]
Durant sweep-through thing,”
Budenholzer said. “We were fortu-
nate it was two free throws. We
were not trying to foul him.”
Smart made the first free throw
and intentionally missed the sec-
ond, flinging the ball off the back-
board and the back of the rim so
that it would ricochet toward him.
Smart claimed the offensive re-
bound and missed a fallaway
jumper that led to a scrum for
control of the ball.
Celtics forward Robert Wil-
liams III rushed a putback that
went over the rim, setting up an
errant tip by Horford. Finally,
Horford attempted another tip
that went in, but video review
confirmed that time had expired
before the ball left his fingertips.
When the dust settled, Milwaukee
had dodged three potential game-
tying shots in the final four sec-
onds.
“It was a long time,” Holiday
said. “Marcus got off the line pret-
ty quick. He caught the ball, shot
it, there was another tip, and Al
had two more tips. Glad it went
our way.”
The Celtics entered the series as
favorites after handily sweeping
the Brooklyn Nets, and they will
need more from all-star forward
Jayson Tatum, who scored just
10 points on 4-for-19 shooting, to
reclaim home-court advantage.
Both teams are bracing for even
more hard-nosed play in Game 4
on Monday, and Antetokoumpo
sounded almost eager at the
thought. Asked whether he want-
ed the referees to exert greater
influence with a tighter whistle,
he smiled and shook his head.
“How much does it cost to make
a comment about the refs?” Ante-
tokoumpo asked. “$20,000? It’s a
lot of money. I should not do it.
Save my money. I’ve got to pay for
diapers. I’ve just got to play
through it.”Antetokounmpo outmuscles Boston
STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES
Giannis Antetokounmpo bulldozed his way to 42 points as the
Bucks stifled a Celtics comeback Saturday to take a 2-1 series lead.BUCKS 103,
CELTICS 101ASSOCIATED PRESSStephen Curry scored
30 points, Klay Thompson had 21
and nine rebounds and the Gold-
en State Warriors shut down Ja
Morant’s supporting cast to em-
barrass the Memphis Grizzlies,
142-112, on Saturday night in San
Francisco for a 2-1 lead in the
Western Conference semifinals.
Morant’s three just before the
halftime buzzer got Memphis
within 64-57 at the break and gave
him 17 of his 34 points after a
47-point performance in Game 2.
But Morant couldn’t do it alone
for the Grizzlies, and he was done
after rubbing his tender right
knee and limping off with 6:19 to
play before heading to the locker
room.
Still bothered by Dillon
Brooks’s hard foul in Game 2 that
sidelined Gary Payton II, Dray-
mond Green and Golden State
kept cool from the opening tip —
methodically running away with
it. Instead, Memphis forward
Kyle Anderson got ejected with
6:19 left for arguing an offensive
foul.
Brooks was suspended for his
flagrant-two foul in the first quar-
ter Tuesday when he pounded the
head of a driving Payton, who
landed awkwardly and fractured
his left elbow. He will be sidelined
indefinitely, also with ligament
and muscle damage.
Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said
the play was “dirty” and broke an
NBA “code” injuring someone
and threatening his career, while
Grizzlies Coach Taylor Jenkins
and his players defended their
hard-nosed style of play.
Brooks will be back for Game 4
on Monday night at Chase Center,
where the raucous sellout crowd
included two women holding
signs of Payton’s face insisting
that Golden State “Win it for
Gary.”
The Warriors did so with a
balanced attack and energy on
both ends after Green called for
the offense to do more to better
the defense.
Jordan Poole scored 27 points
off the bench and Andrew Wig-
gins added 17 for Golden State,which used a 10-0 run coming out
of halftime to take command for
good.
Rookie Jonathan Kuminga
provided a spark starting in Pay-
ton’s place, scoring 18 points on
8-for-10 shooting, while Ziare
Williams was in for Brooks.
Morant hit a 31-foot three-
pointer midway through the first,
and Williams dunked shortly af-
ter for a 21-8 lead. But after mak-
ing 6 of 9 shots to start the game,
Memphis went cold and hit just 3
of its next 12 to let the Warriors
close the quarter with an 18-7
burst.
Curry missed his first two shots
in the first quarter, then got on the
board by making a big three with
0.9 seconds remaining to narrow
Golden State’s deficit to 28-26.
Thompson shot 8 for 13 with
four three-pointers in a solid
night. He had been 11 for 38 from
the field, including 5 for 22 from
beyond the arc, in the series be-
fore finding a better groove. Kerr
figured it would happen soon
enough.
“Klay has been in a little bit of a
rush. He’s trying too hard to get
himself going, and he just needs
to be a little more patient,” Kerr
said before the game. “He’s had
some good looks, but he’s also
forced some others. He hasn’t
really gotten into a good rhythm.”
Grizzlies center Steven Adams
was available to play for the first
time this series after coming out
of the league health and safety
protocols, but the big man didn’t
enter until the game was out of
hand.
Meanwhile, Memphis guard
Desmond Bane’s back, which was
sore during Game 2, has im-
proved. He notched 16 points in
29 minutes.Embiid’s return costs 76ers
The NBA fined the Philadel-
phia 76ers $50,000 for violating
league injury reporting rules in
failing to disclose Joel Embiid’s
participation status in an accu-
rate and timely manner.
Embiid returned Friday night
after missing the first two games
of Philadelphia’s Eastern Confer-
ence semifinals series against the
Miami Heat because of a right
orbital fracture and a mild con-
cussion. He had 18 points to help
the 76ers win, 99-79, and cut their
series deficit to 2-1.NBA PLAYOFFS ROUNDUPGolden State blows pastMemphis, takes 2-1 leadWARRIORS 142,
GRIZZLIES 112BY KAREEM COPELANDEric Thibault had wrapped up
hours of workouts this week,
including a team practice, when
the Mystics assistant coach was
approached by one last player.
This one had an ego and even
told a nearby cameraman to keep
the camera rolling.
Thibault was officially being
challenged by a 6-year-old in the
middle of the Entertainment and
Sports Arena practice court.
That wasn’t the first time the
pair had met on the court. Eman-
uel Hawkins became the darling
of the franchise two seasons ago
when the WNBA was confined to
the bubble in Bradenton, Fla., as
the coronavirus pandemic tore
through the country. Mystics for-
ward Tianna Hawkins brought
him along, and he became one of
the stars of the encampment.
That may have been where he
learned to love the camera; he
was featured on social media
pages and broadcasts.
“I wasn’t going anywhere
without my child,” Hawkins said.
“Ever since he was born, every-
where I go, he comes right along
with me.
“We didn’t have much to do, so
each day it was someone new
that was embracing him, that
was taking him to play and stuff
like that. Like I remember him
and Ariel [Atkins] were painting
one day. They were in the swim-
ming pool. They were trying to
catch lizards. It’s great. Just to
have a profession where he’s
embraced because it just gives
you that peace of mind that it’s
okay to be a mom. It’s okay to
have your family around me.”
That can be a daunting ques-
tion for professional athletes try-
ing to decide whether to become
moms while still competing.
How will it affect their careers?
For those in team sports, will
their organizations be support-
ive?
Before cuts this week, 12 wom-
en were moms in the WNBA,
according to the league, includ-
ing pregnant Lynx forward
Napheesa Collier.
That hasn’t been an issuewith the Mystics. Emanuel basi-
cally took over the practice
facility this past week before
heading to lacrosse practice.
Sporting an orange shirt, gray
sweats and purple LaMelo Ball
sneakers, he challenged Thiba-
ult and later practiced dribbling
two balls at the same time. He
told stories about getting money
from the tooth fairy and how his
savings have eclipsed $100. Ev-
eryone that walked by stopped
to chat.
The attention is great, but
Emanuel still needs more from
mom. He injects, “You’re talking
about me!” while she sits on the
sideline fulfilling media respon-
sibilities. He has plenty of obser-
vations, too. He tells Tianna,
“Your feet stink!” before getting
introspective with the question,
“Mommy, do you trust me?”
Emanuel’s presence is part
necessity, part intentional. Tian-
na’s fiance teaches in the Balti-
more County school system, and
they don’t have a nanny. Familyhelps most days, but there are
occasions when Tianna must
bring him to the facility. Things
can be hectic, but she wants him
around the team.
“I want him to see how hard
Mommy works,” Hawkins said.
“He sees the adversity. He sees
the good. He see the bad. He sees
the ugly. I just want to him to see
for himself so when he gets in
situations growing up, he knows
not to give up.
“In addition to all that, he’s
around so many beautiful Black
women. It gives him a raw per-
spective, a raw view of how
strong and powerful we are. And
in turn it will force him to grow
up to respect us. And that’s a big
thing for me.... We stand for
what we want. We stand for
social justice, and we know what
is right and just.”
The days are long. The alarm
goes off at 6:30 a.m. for Tianna.
The first-grader is a night owl
who never wants to go to bed, so
most mornings are a bit of abattle. The bus arrives at
7:30 a.m., and Tianna is wide
awake afterward, so there’s no
going back to sleep. She’s at the
gym well before practice starts at
11:30, lunch is at the facility, and
the woman with aspirations to
be named the league’s most im-
proved player is back home for
the bus drop-off. Snack time
precedes homework, and on
Tuesdays and Thursdays Emanu-
el has lacrosse practice. Tianna
was worried about him playing
football, so they tried lacrosse at
the suggestion of Mike and Eric
Thibault.
Her mom, sister, godmother,
fiance and cousins all help to
keep up with the always evolving
schedule, including road trips.
Tianna wasn’t kidding about tak-
ing Emanuel everywhere, and he
took his first steps in France.
“It’s amazing,” Atkins said. “E’s
such a good kid. He’s such a
sweet kid. He acts so much like
her, it’s hilarious. Even the way
he trips over random things.“It’s been fun watching her
grow because she’s not only a
great mom, she’s an amazing
person. So I’m super happy for
her.”
Assistant coach LaToya Sand-
ers is on the same page as
Hawkins when it comes to travel-
ing with her son. She played her
last season in 2019 as a starter on
the Mystics’ championship team.
Thibault quickly put her on staff
after her retirement, and she left
the squad late last season right
before giving birth to her son,
Semih.
Neither Sanders nor Hawkins
want to diminish the role played
by fathers, who are also profes-
sional athletes, but both note
there are differences — starting
with the physical act of birthing
a child and getting back into elite
physical condition. Both breast-
fed, so that adds another dimen-
sion that can’t be replicated by
fathers.
“I couldn’t imagine even as a
coach, let alone as a player, my
son not traveling with me right
now,” said Sanders, who was
taking her son on the road to
scout at 4 months old. “Even my
husband knows, wherever I’m at,
that’s where he’s going to be at.
“It is different for women. We
have to be around our babies....
I don’t see men saying, ‘Wher-
ever I’m at, my son is going to be
at!’... I don’t know when I’m
going to get over that.”
The balance can be delicate for
all moms trying to pull double-
duty as professionals in the
workforce. Professional athletes
have their own circumstances,
with a limited window of how
long they can compete on top of
the physical requirements it
takes at that level.
Still, there are no regrets.
“Just finding time to spend
time with him is the most diffi-
cult thing right now, especially
with school,” Hawkins said. “We
just try to take our moments
when we can.”
Sanders added: “Motherhood,
woo! It is the best, but it is tiring.”Hawkins plays a double role: Mystics forward and momMARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST
“Everywhere I go, he comes right along with me,” Tianna Hawkins said of h er 6-year-old son, Emanuel.Mystics at Lynx
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