The Washington Post - USA (2022-06-09)

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SPORTS

THURSDAY, JUNE 9 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

It’s obvious, after

what he tweeted

Monday night

and what he said

Wednesday, that

Jack Del Rio is

out of touch with

what his

employer and his

league are presenting as an

important social issue, that he

doesn’t understand the weight

his words and actions could

have and that he is frighteningly

dismissive of an attack on the

U.S. Capitol that cost five lives

and permanently scarred so

many others. That galling

package is enough to question

his fitness for his job, which is

defensive coordinator for the

Washington Commanders.

Where to start? It’s tempting

to go right to the Jan. 6, 2021,

insurrection at the Capitol, what

with the House committee

investigating those events

holding a prime-time hearing

Thursday. That sad day was a

deadly threat to our democracy.

Del Rio reduced it to “a dust-up.”

We’ll get to that.

But what stands out about Del

Rio’s words and deeds is the tit-

for-tat line he wants to draw

between the protests that roiled

the country two summers ago

because police officers continue

to kill Black people and the

protests at the Capitol that were

fueled by baseless claims of a

stolen election. It’s hard to link

the two, but Del Rio managed.

To review: On Monday night,

he replied to a tweet about a

Brookings Institution report

that professed to tell “the whole

story” about what happened

Jan. 6 with the following tweet

of his own: “Would love to

SEE SVRLUGA ON D4

Del Rio’s

comments

suggest he’s

unfit to lead

Barry

Svrluga

GYMNASTICS

A group of 90 women — including former U.S. Olympians

— are suing the FBI for its handling of the Nassar case. D2

KEVIN B. BLACKISTONE

Oklahoma’s restrictive abortion laws should preclude it

from hosting the Women’s College World Series. D3

PRO FOOTBALL

On an eventful day at Commanders OTAs, a collision

leaves a player down and Coach Ron Rivera steaming. D4

BY BEN GOLLIVER

boston — Al Horford took a

one-step drop, cocked the basket-

ball behind his right ear and fired

a cross-court laser that hit Jaylen

Brown in stride, with nothing but

daylight between the all-star

guard and the rim.

On a night that saw the Golden

State Warriors mount a furious

rally in an attempt to steal a game

they had no business winning,

Brown’s uncontested dunk was

one indication, among many,

that the Boston Celtics had the

requisite focus and opportunism

to reclaim control of the NBA

Finals.

TD Garden had waited 12 years

since it last hosted the Finals,

and the crowd’s pent-up energy

was evident from before tip-off.

Celtics legends Bill Walton, Paul

Pierce and Antoine Walker

cheered on their former team

and egged on the crowd, which

donned green T-shirts that read

“It’s all about 18” — the fran-

chise’s drive for a record 18th

championship — and spent good

chunks of the evening chanting

profanities at Warriors forward

Draymond Green. Though Gold-

en State made things interesting

with another signature third-

quarter push, Brown and Jayson

Tatum powered Boston to a 116-

100 Game 3 victory on Wednes-

day to take a 2-1 series lead.

The Celtics and Warriors have

SEE NBA FINALS ON D4

Boston

shows its

poise to

pull away

CELTICS 116,

WARRIORS 100

BY ANDREW GOLDEN

miami — Jazz Chisholm Jr.
sprinted around third base and
toward home as the throw from
Juan Soto came in from right
field, then used every last inch as
he dived, reaching toward the
plate Wednesday night. The um-
pire offered no call as Chisolm
slid, so Washington Nationals
catcher Keibert Ruiz tagged him
out.
Upon review, the call was over-
turned because Ruiz hadn’t given
Chisholm a lane to the plate,
tying the score. Jesús Aguilar
singled three pitches later, giving
the Miami Marlins a wild 2-1
victory in 10 innings when his
grounder up the middle bounced
off second base and caromed into
center field, allowing Willians
Astudillo to score after he had
moved up to second one play
earlier.
SEE NATIONALS ON D6

Nats break

through first,

but Marlins

get last word

MARLINS 2,

NATIONALS 1 (10)

BY KAREEM COPELAND

The scene on the floor before

tip-off Wednesday night at Enter-

tainment and Sports Arena was a

welcome one for the Washington

Mystics: The layup line extended

all the way out to half court. At last,

Coach/General Manager Mike

Thibault had his full complement

of players, the first time his team

was at full strength in more than

two years.

It didn’t last long. Elena Delle

Donne started but left midway

through the second quarter and

never returned. The Mystics held

on for an 84-82 win over the Chica-

go Sky, but the state of their star

loomed large after the two-time

WNBA MVP missed all but three

games the past two seasons amid a

pair of back surgeries.

Delle Donne set a screen on the

Sky’s Allie Quigley before a turn-

over, then immediately signaled to

the sideline that she needed to

come out. Not long after, she

walked to the tunnel, and though

the Mystics listed her as question-

able with back tightness, she nev-

er returned to the bench.

“Wasn’t any of the symptoms

from a year ago,” Thibault said.

“Wasn’t any of that. Just uncom-

fortable more than anything.”

For Thibault, who just came

back from the WNBA’s coronavi-

rus health and safety protocols,

juggling an ever-changing roster

has been one of his biggest chal-

lenges with the Mystics (8-5). He

has used nine starting lineups in

13 games, with Wednesday’s start-

ing five of Delle Donne, Shakira

Austin, Alysha Clark, Ariel Atkins

and Natasha Cloud deployed for

just the second time.

“We’re so used to people being

in and out of our lineups,” Cloud

said. “But obviously the concern

about Elena is not even about bas-

ketball — it’s just our teammate

and someone that we consider our

family.”

The Mystics got a strong night

from Clark, their big free agent

signing of a year ago who missed

the 2021 season with a foot injury.

Clark missed the start of 2022 as

she continued to rehab but has

started to find a groove once she

returned — despite missing two

games with a stint in the health

and safety protocols and another

while getting her conditioning

back.

Clark delivered her best game

with Washington by posting

18 points on 7-for-9 shooting and

adding three rebounds and two

assists. She had 10 points during

an 11-3 run to close the first half

that gave Washington a 45-40

lead.

SEE MYSTICS ON D2

Delle Donne exits early, but Mystics hold on late

MYSTICS 84,

SKY 82

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST

Mystics rookie Shakira Austin, who finished with 14 points and six

rebounds, shoots around the Sky’s Candace Parker on Wednesday.

H

aji Wright received the call from U.S. na-

tional soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter

about six weeks ago — a call that, until this

spring, was far from warranted. ¶ For years,

while many of his peers excelled overseas, the Ameri-

can striker had drifted around the European club

scene without fulfilling the great promise he had

shown at the youth national team level. ¶ There were

spells with clubs in Germany, the Netherlands and

Denmark, but without a breakout season, he had

become lost in the mix of young U.S. hopefuls overseas.^

¶ Then last year, Wright moved to Turkey, and by the

end of a sterling 2021-22 campaign in which he

finished among the Super Lig’s top scorers, the

2 4-year-old forward had caught Berhalter’s eye. ¶ In a

World Cup year — and in need of scoring options as

roster decisions neared — Berhalter placed the call to

invite Wright to a training camp that included four

matches this month. SEE WRIGHT ON D3

BY STEVEN GOFF

For the U.S.,

the prodigal

striker is back

After stellar season in Turkey, Wright,

an ex-junior star, has shot to make roster

JEFF DEAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Haji Wright, left, and Christian Pulisic shined as youth

players, then Wright struggled to m eet expectations.

Concacaf Nations League: Grenada at United States

Tomorrow, Austin, 10 p.m., ESPN Plus, TUDN

Mystics at Lynx

Tomorrow, 8 p.m.

Nationals at Marlins
Today, 6:30 p.m., MASN

NBA Finals, Game 4

Warriors at Celtics

Tomorrow, 9 p.m., ABC