D2 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 , 2022
Finland. The A mericans will play
unbeaten Switzerland on
Thursday....
Czech cyclist Jan Hirt won the
tough 16th stage of the Giro
d’Italia, a 1 26-mile route from
Salo to Aprica that includedmore than 16,000 feet of
climbing, f or his first grand tour
victory. Richard Carapaz kept
the pink jersey with a three-
second edge over Jai Hindley.
— From news services
and staff reportsTELEVISION AND RADIO
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12:30 p.m. Colorado at Pittsburgh » MLB Network
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7:20 p.m. Philadelphia at Atlanta » MLB Network
10:30 p.m. Texas at Los Angeles Angels (joined in progress) » MLB Network
NBA PLAYOFFS
8:30 p.m. Eastern Conference finals, Game 5: Boston at Miami » ESPN
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
8 p.m. Western Conference semifinal, Game 5: St. Louis at Colorado » TNT
GOLF
1:30 p.m. LPGA Tour: M atch Play, first day » Golf Channel
SOCCER
6 p.m. Copa Libertadores, Group F: Alianza Lima at River Plate » beIN Sports
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TENNIS
5 a.m. French Open, second round » Tennis Channel
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COLLEGE BASEBALL — CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
10 a.m. Big 12, first round: Texas vs. Oklahoma State » ESPNU
10:30 a.m. SEC, first round: Auburn vs. Kentucky » SEC Network
11 a.m. ACC, Pool B: Louisville vs. Pittsburgh » MASN2
Noon Pac-12, first round: Arizona vs. Oregon » Pac-12 Network
2 p.m. SEC, second round: Arkansas vs. Alabama » SEC Network
3 p.m. ACC, Pool D: Virginia vs. Florida State » MASN2
3:45 p.m. Pac-12, first round: Arizona State vs. Stanford » Pac-12 Network
5:30 p.m. SEC, second round: Texas A&M vs. Florida » SEC Network
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7:45 p.m. Pac-12, first round: Washington vs. Oregon State » Pac-12 Network
9 p.m. SEC, second round: Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt/Mississippi » SEC Network
10 p.m. Big Ten, first round: Rutgers vs. Purdue » Big Ten Network
11:30 p.m. Pac-12, first round: California vs. UCLA » Pac-12 Network
WOMEN’S COLLEGE GOLF
5 p.m. NCAA team match play, final » Golf ChannelPRO FOOTBALL
NFL is considering
getting rid of P ro Bowl
The NFL is considering the
elimination of the Pro Bowl,
potentially replacing it with
other events to honor all-star
players and showcase their skills.
The issue was discussed by
team owners and league officials
during Tuesday’s quarterly NFL
owners meeting in A tlanta,
according to a person familiar
with the discussions.
According to that person, the
league is dissatisfied with the
quality of play and is
considering alternatives to the
Pro Bowl that could include a
seven-on-seven passing
competition. Such a move would
allow quarterbacks, wide
receivers and defensive players
to compete without any tackling
or blocking.
NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell said later Tuesday that
the issue was being discussed
with the NFL Players
Association.
“I think the conclusion was
that the game itself doesn’t
work,” Goodell said.
Other announcements from
the meetings:
l In a new diversity measure,
the league said the Rooney Rule
will apply to the quarterbacks
coach position. Any team with a
vacancy at that spot must comply
with minority interview
requirements.
l The NFL established a
program to promote diversity
among team physicians and
athletic trainers. The league said
it would partner with the
medical schools of four
historically Black colleges and
universities, including Howard.
The Washington Commanders
are among the eight teams that
will participate in the program’s
first year, the NFL said.
l The league amended its anti-
tampering policy to prohibit in-
person head coaching interviews
with candidates from other
teams until after the first-round
playoff games. The new
approach is designed to slow the
interview process so teams with
head coaching vacancies can
consider a diverse slate of
candidates.
— Mark Maske
Two of the women who
accused Cleveland Browns
quarterback Deshaun Watson of
sexual misconduct during
massage sessions detailed their
allegations to HBO, and one said
he made what sounded to her
like a threat.
Ashley Solis and Kyla Hayes,
who are among 22 women who
have filed civil lawsuits against
Watson, spoke on an episode of
“Real Sports With Bryant
Gumbel” that aired Tuesday
night. According to a transcript
provided by HBO, Solis told
reporter Soledad O’Brien, “As
I’m working, he deliberately
grabs himself and put his penis
on my hand.“I pulled my hand away
instantly and I started crying,”
Solis continued. “And I told him
that I’m done. I don’t want to do
this anymore.”
Solis then claimed that
Watson told her, “I know you
have a career to protect,” and
that he added, “I know you don’t
want anyone messing with it just
like I don’t want anyone messing
with mine.”
“To me, that’s when I got really
scared,” she told HBO. Asked
why she felt that way, Solis
replied, “Because that sounded
like a threat to me.”
Watson denied this exchange
occurred, per HBO, and has
steadfastly denied any
wrongdoing with any of the
women accusing him.
A Texas grand jury determined
Watson will not face criminal
charges, but he could be
suspended or face other
punishment from the NFL,
which is conducting its own
investigation. G oodell said
Tuesday that the league was
nearing the end of its probe but
did not provide a timetable for a
ruling.
— Des B ieler
The Baltimore Ravens agreed
to terms with veteran cornerback
Kyle Fuller, who spent last
season with the Denver Broncos.BOXING
Canelo Álvarez and Gennady
Golovkin will complete their
memorable fight trilogy in
September.Álvarez (57-2-2, 39 knockouts)
and Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs)
will resume their rivalry Sept. 17
after a four-year break,
promoter Matchroom Boxing
announced. The site for the bout
was not announced.MISC.
Steve Stricker, who won the
opening major of the PGA Tour
Champions season two weeks
ago, p ulled out of this week’s
Senior PGA Championship in
Benton Harbor, Mich., after
testing positive for the
coronavirus....
The University of California
system announced it will pay
nearly $375 million to more than
300 women who said they were
sexually abused by a UCLA
gynecologist, bringing a record
amount in total payouts to nearly
$700 million b y a public
university in a wave of sexual
misconduct scandals by campus
doctors....
Stanford rallied from an early
hole to beat Auburn, 3-2, a nd
earn a spot in the NCAA women’s
golf championship match
against Oregon in Scottsdale,
Ariz. The Ducks beat Texas A&M,
4-1....
The United States knew it had
qualified for a quarterfinal spot
at the ice hockey world
championship before stepping
onto the ice against Norway,
thanks to Sweden’s 1-0 win over
Latvia earlier Tuesday.
The U nited States then beat
the Norwegians, 4-2, in Tampere,DIGESTglass and on the defensive end.
“Just upping the effort and
everything,” Williams said. “We
felt like last game they destroyed
us, obviously, on the boards, so
we just wanted to build up the
effort all around.”
Another uncomplicated,
reasonable breakdown. And yet,
words cannot properly explain
what’s happening in this series.
It’s the most lopsided level round
of playoff basketball imaginable,
with players sliding in and out of
the lineups, home fans pinging
from delight to despair and the
deficits looking like something
from a forgotten January back-
to-back, not the conference
finals.
It’s utter domination — with
both teams doing the
dominating.Robert Williams III was back in
the lineup after missing Game 3
with knee soreness, and the
Celtics felt his impact. The one
night in this series when
Williams did not step onto the
floor, Heat center Bam Adebayo
played with the force that his
nickname indicates, dominating
with 31 points and 10 rebounds
to go with six assists and four
steals.
In Game 4, however, Bam
went back to bleh as Williams
played no small role in
neutralizing the interior with his
defensive presence. Celtics
teammate Al Horford led the
team with 13 rebounds and four
blocks, but Williams, who
collected nine rebounds and
stuffed a pair of shots, makes
Boston an elite team beneath thesaid, offering his best
explanation for the strangeness
of the series. “Obviously we had
some really bad quarters but had
been overall consistent before
that.... It’s an inconsistent
series from both teams at times,
and it’s an odd one, honestly,
when you look at some of the
numbers tonight, the way we
didn’t shoot or play offense that
great and having a 30-point lead.
“It’s been a back-and-forth
series even in the same game at
times, 39-18 quarter, 39-14
quarter when they really hurt us.
So we want to be more consistent
overall, move the ball and
understand how they’re
guarding us but maintain our
defensive identity that we had all
year.”
On Monday night, centerone will deliver a crushing blow
to knock the other into the
offseason? Nope, that simple
logic doesn’t necessarily hold,
either. Boston, the team that has
not been whole throughout the
postseason while its two best
players vacillate between
consistency and uncertainty, has
controlled much of this round,
winning or tying 13 of the 16
quarters played.
And although neither Jayson
Tatum (1 for 7) nor Jaylen Brown
(1 for 6) had it working from the
three-point arc Monday night —
reflecting the Celtics’ broader
struggles in missing 26 deep
looks — Boston still opened a
3 2-point lead at one point.
“I would say the urgency from
the team that’s coming off that
loss,” Celtics Coach Ime Udokasituations,” Lowry continued.
“They came out and they played
better than us tonight. They
protected their home court. We
didn’t do what we wanted to do
tonight.”
A simple conclusion, indeed.
But that kind of rational talk has
no place in this loopy series.
They’re all tied up, and yet
somehow the winner of each
game has held a lead of at least
20 points at some point during
the action. The Heat led by 21
after the first quarter of Game 3.
The Celtics led by 18 after the
first quarter of Game 4. Four
Heat starters finished in double
digits in Game 3. None did in
Game 4.
So does that mean the
heavyweights have been trading
haymakers and that, eventually,Game 5 coming up Wednesday
night in Miami. Beneath it all,
however, this playoff round
cannot be summed up so easily.
And please forgive the
participants for trying to do so.
“There’s always concern about
how the game went, but we can’t
dwell on what happened,” Heat
point guard Kyle Lowry said,
attempting to explain how his
team went from making Boston
fans boo their own during low
moments in Game 3 to watching
them dance during the Gino and
American Bandstand montage
they love to play at TD Garden
when the home team is winning
big.
“We have to figure out how to
get better, move on to the next
BUCKNER FROM D1
CANDACE BUCKNER
This Eastern Conference finals is ‘ an odd one’ — a nd that’s an understatement
BY BEN GOLLIVERdallas — The video board went
dark, the crowd hushed, the
teams stood motionless, and the
public address announcer’s voice
wavered as the show went on, just
a few hours after and a few
hundred miles away from a mass
shooting at Robb Elementary
School in Uvalde, Tex.
That senseless act of violence,
which left at least 19 children
dead, loomed over the NBA’s
Western Conference finals, leav-
ing Golden State Warriors Coach
Steve Kerr to dread the night’s
proceedings against the Dallas
Mavericks.
“We can’t sit here and just read
about it and go, ‘Well, let’s have a
moment of silence,’ ” Kerr said at
his pregame news conference be-
fore taking his spot alongside his
fellow coaches and players as the
victims and their families were
acknowledged shortly before tip-
off. “ ‘Yay, go Dubs. Come on,
Mavs; let’s go.’ That’s what we’re
going to do. We’re going to go play
a basketball game.”
Kerr’s rage as he excoriated
politicians for their inaction on
gun control and his dismay over
repeated mass killings in recent
weeks gave way to a flat showing
from the Warriors, whose minds
seemed to be elsewhere. With a
chance to complete a sweep,
Golden State instead sleepwalked
through a 119-109 Game 4 loss
Tuesday night.
“As coaches or players, we have
kids,” Mavericks Coach Jason
Kidd said. “People in this room
have kids. Elementary school.
You just think about what could
take place with any of your family
or friends at a school. This is
on-the-run job training. We’re go-
ing to try to play the game. We
have no choice. The game is not
going to be canceled, but we have
to find a way to be professional
and find a way to win.”
The Mavericks did just that for
the first time in the series by
getting their perimeter attack on
track, building a 17-point lead in
the second quarter. After a poor
offensive outing in Game 3, the
Mavericks hit 11 of 23 three-point
attempts in the first half, with
Dorian Finney-Smith, Reggie
Bullock and Maxi Kleber each
connecting multiple times. Dallas
finished 20 for 43 from deep —
hitting twice as many three-
pointers as Golden State (10 for
28) — to win going away.
Luka Doncic, free from carry-
ing the full burden of Dallas’s
offense following a pair of 40-
point performances, finished
with 30 points, 14 rebounds and
nine assists. Six Mavericks scoredin double figures.
Before the game, Kerr made his
feelings about the day clear.
“When are we going to do
something?” he said. “I’m tired.
I’m so tired of getting up here and
offering condolences to the dev-
astated families that are out
there. I’m tired of the moments of
silence. Enough. There’s 50 sena-
tors, right now, who refuse to vote
on H.R. 8, which is a background
check rule that the House passed
[last year].... There’s a reason
they won’t vote on it: to hold on to
power.
“I ask you, Mitch McConnell,
and ask all of you senators who
refuse to do anything about theviolence, the school shootings,
the supermarket shootings, I ask
you, ‘Are you going to put your
own desire for power ahead of the
lives of our children, our elderly
and our churchgoers?’ Because
that’s what it looks like.”
Warriors star Stephen Curry
shared a clip of Kerr’s comments
and added, “Watch this as much
as you watch the game tonight.”
For Curry, who spent the first
three games spearheading Gold-
en State’s balanced attack, it was a
night to reverse roles with his
rival headliner. This time, Curry
felt Doncic’s burden, finishing
with a team-high 20 points to go
with five rebounds and eight as-sists in just 32 minutes as none of
his fellow starters had it going.
Adding a layer of complexity to
a challenging night, the arena’s
roof began leaking at halftime
amid a fierce rainstorm, causing
water to pool near the Warriors’
bench. Though the ensuing 16-
minute rain delay postponed the
start of the second half, it didn’t
slow Dallas, which scored on its
first four possessions after half-
time.
“We’ve been there before,” Kidd
said. “We’ve had the basket tilted.
We’ve had a rain delay before.
We’ve been able to execute in both
those scenarios. This group
doesn’t let anything faze them.”The Mavericks’ surge to start
the second half was the surest
sign that the Warriors were off.
Golden State had made a habit of
dominating after halftime, out-
scoring the Mavericks in the third
quarter by 10 in Game 1, by 12 in
Game 2 and by nine in Game 3.
Dallas won the period 37-23 in
Game 4, opening a 29-point lead
that prompted Kerr to rest Curry
and the rest of his starters for
almost the entire fourth quarter.
In their absence, the Warriors’
reserves cut the Mavericks’ lead
to eight with a little more than
three minutes remaining, but
Doncic snuffed Golden State’s
momentum with a driving dunk
to restore order. Rookie forward
Jonathan Kuminga led Golden
State’s last-gasp rally, posting 17
points and eight rebounds.
The Warriors are one win from
their sixth NBA Finals appear-
ance in eight years, but they have
struggled to close out opponents
in this postseason. In the first
round, the Denver Nuggets avoid-
ed a sweep with a 126-121 Game 4
victory. In the conference semifi-
nals, the Memphis Grizzlies em-
barrassed the Warriors in a
1 34-95 Game 5 laugher.
After both of those losses, the
Warriors returned home to San
Francisco’s Chase Center, where
they are 8-0 in the playoffs, and
took care of business. They will
hope for a similar outcome in
Game 5 on Thursday — and for a
few days to process everything
that happened in Texas on Tues-
day.
“It was sort of an unspoken
awareness of what happened to-
day,” Kerr said afterward. “It was
a very quiet locker room before-
hand. It was difficult to keep
perspective on a day like today.
But that’s the shock, the grief, the
anger. It’s there from all of our
guys and I’m sure from everybody
in the building.
“I don’t even know how to
express the grief that those fami-
lies are feeling. It’s too much to
fathom.”In a somber setting, the Mavericks stave o≠ elimination
RON JENKINS/GETTY IMAGES
Luka Doncic scored 30 points to go along with 14 rebounds and nine assists as Dallas extended the Western Conference finals to a Game 5.MAVERICKS 119,
WARRIORS 109Western Conference finals
Game 5: Mavericks at Warriors
Tomorrow, 9 p.m., TNT