monday, february 24 , 2020. the washington post eZ m2 d3
with 6:38 left, pulling the Wizards
within 110-103. The rally abruptly
ended, however, as Chicago
poured in more threes and dunks.
The Wizards had lost another
chance to build off their work
before the all-star break, when
they had won five of their previ-
ous seven.
“It’s not embarrassing to lose
against an NBA team,” Brooks
said, “but it’s embarrassing not to
compete like an NBA team.”
Beal, whose career-high scor-
ing night left him with
11,103 points, ahead of malone’s
11,083, described the individual
highlights as blessings. But the
team’s “ soft” play put a damper on
his achievements.
“It’s amazing to see [my
dreams] unraveling right in front
of me, but at the same time, you
know, I’m a winner. You can throw
all 53 of those away if we don’t
have a [win] next to it,” Beal said.
“Just got to keep pushing. I’m just
going to try to win, whatever it
looks like. I’m just going to keep
pushing, keep fighting till the
end.”
[email protected]A couple of possessions later,
LaVine turned into the facilitator.
With the same game plan — drib-
bling inside to draw the defense
before finding the open team-
mate — he hit White in the corner
to expose Washington with an-
other three.
After the late burst, Chicago led
73-58 at halftime.
The Bulls quickly made it 83-58
less than two minutes into the
third quarter. When the Wizards
called a timeout, players returned
to the sideline, sullen and speech-
less. Beal leaned back in his pad-
ded folding chair and stared
across the court. But the Wizards,
to their credit, didn’t stay down
for long. Beal refused to rest in the
fourth — entering with 10:09 re-
maining and staying in the game
until there were 50 seconds left —
and his 21 points in the quarter
helped Washington cut into the
lead.
Beal finished a three-point playwho had surgery in September to
repair stress fractures in both
legs, still displays a bit of the
inconsistency that comes with sit-
ting out for an extended stretch
before his maryland c areer began.
Turgeon called upon nine dif-
ferent players during the opening
10 minutes. freshman guard Ha-
kim Hart checked into the game
early, playing for the first time
since Jan. 10. Sophomore Serrel
Smith Jr. had been maryland’s
fifth guard, but he had scored two
points in his previous seven
games combined. Hart picked up
two fouls during his early three-
minute stint and didn’t return
before the break. He f inished w ith
no points in five minutes.
Even with this loss, maryland is
well positioned in the Big Te n.
Penn State, w hich entered S unday
in second place, lost its second
consecutive game, leaving the
Te rps two games clear of the rest
of the conference with four t o
play.
But the Te rps find themselves
in an unfamiliar spot. They have
lost a game, and they will be
looking for a response their next
time out Wednesday at minneso-
ta.
“We didn’t have a lot go our
way,” Turgeon said. “We hung in
there.”
[email protected]quickly ballooned to a 14-point
margin, forcing Turgeon to call a
timeout.
The Buckeyes, who have the
best three-point shooting per-
centage in the conference, fin-
ished the game 10 for 25 from
behind the arc.
“It’s tough to guard a team
when they’re hitting everything,”
Wiggins said.
The Buckeyes made only five
three-pointers in the teams’ previ-
ous meeting last month, which
the Te rps won, 67-55, at home.
Luther muhammad, who entered
Sunday averaging 6.3 points, led
the Buckeyes with 22 points and
four three-pointers. muhammad
said it seemed as if maryland
wasn’t guarding him on the pe-
rimeter early on. “A nd it hurt
them,” he said with a grin.
When foul trouble became an
issue early, Turgeon turned to con-
tributors outside his top six far
more than usual. freshman cen-
ter Chol marial played 11 minutes,
including eight in the first half,
after Smith and Scott, the Te rps’
starting forwards, both picked up
two fouls during the first 15 min-
utes of play.
marial showed blips of prom-
ise, and with Smith on the bench
for about four minutes, the Te rps
turned an early four-point deficit
into a two-point lead. But marial,break, the Wizards (20-35) have
lost all signs of their previous
momentum. on friday night,
they lost to the Cleveland Cava-
liers, the team with the worst
record in the Eastern Conference.
on Sunday, they trailed by
25 points against the Bulls
( 20-38), who had been heading in
that direction.
Brooks noted that in the loss to
the Cavaliers, his team fouled on
seven made shots that led to po-
tential three-point plays. The
Wizards continued hacking in-
stead of defending Sunday, g iving
the Bulls nine and-one continua-
tion plays.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been on
a team that gave up 16 and-ones in
two nights. It’s disappointing,”
Brooks said. “We talk about grow-
ing and playing with some tough-
ness. [In the] last two [games
that] just wasn’t the case.”
The term “playing soft” didn’t
rankle Beal. He a damantly agreed
with his coach.
“I put myself in that group, too.
I can be better on the defensive
end and all-around game,” Beal
said. “I think we all could be
better. Coach is absolutely right. I
think the last two games, we
didn’t show any resistance on the
defensive end. None of us. So it
just comes done to how bad we
really want to make this push.”
Before facing the Wizards, Chi-
cago had dropped a season-high
eight straight games, and camer-
as caught star player Zach LaVine
expressing his annoyance Satur-
day night after Coach Jim Boylen
called a late timeout during a loss
to the Phoenix Suns. The Bulls —
with their injuries, youth and
signs of disunity boiling over be-
fore they played the Wizards on
the second night of a back-to-back
wizards from d1
Wizards
lose again
despite
Beal’s 53
— should have afforded Washing-
ton an opportunity to bounce
back from the Cleveland loss.
Instead, a Bulls team that en-
tered with the fourth-lowest scor-
ing average in the NBA went for
73 points in the first half. LaVine
was able to channel any lingering
anger by scoring freely: During a
stretch in the second quarter, he
scored nine points in less than
two minutes and finished with
32 points. And a rookie fresh off a
career high needed less than
24 hours to match his big scoring
total and do LaVine one better.
Coby White scored 33 points
for the second consecutive night,
becoming the first Bulls rookie
since michael Jordan in 1984 and
the only first-year bench player in
league history to score at least
30 points in consecutive games.
“We talked about him this
morning,” Brooks said of White.
“We talked about him before the
game, and we gave him every-
thing he wanted.”
Washington’s i nability to guard
the three-point arc continued
throughout the first half, when
Chicago made 12 of 22 (54.5 per-
cent) from long distance. White
caused so much trouble with his
16-point outburst in the first
quarter that he began to see addi-
tional defenders in the second. In
the final two minutes of the half,
when White skated around Ish
Smith, the Wizards shifted to-
ward him but abandoned ryan
Arcidiacono for an open three
beyond the left wing.paul Beaty/associated press
zach LaVine soars for two of his 32 points for the Bulls. the
wizards fell to 20-35, and scott Brooks said they’re “playing soft.”wizards’ next threevs. Milwaukee Buckstoday7nBcsWvs. Brooklyn netsWednesday7nBcsWat utah JazzFr iday9nBcsWRadio: WFED (1500 AM)ASSOCIATED PRESSKyle Lowry had 16 points and
11 assists, extending his career-
best streak of double-doubles to
six, and the Toronto raptors ham-
mered Indiana, 127-81, on Sunday,
their 13th straight home win over
the Pacers.
Pascal Siakam scored 21 points,
and S erge I baka h ad 15 points and
a season-high 15 rebounds as the
surging raptors led wire-to-wire
in their most lopsided victory of
the season. The raptors won for
the 17th time in 18 games and
extended their home winning
streak t o nine.
To ronto’s largest lead was
49 points, its biggest o f the s eason,
and t he 46-point m argin of victory
surpassed a 36-point win over
Charlotte on Nov. 1 8
Indiana guard Victor oladipo
sat out because of back spasms,
with Aaron Holiday starting i n his
place. oladipo left friday’s road
win over the Knicks after three
quarters because of a sore back
and d idn’t p ractice Saturday.
l nUGGets 128, tiMBer-
wOLVes 116: Paul millsap
scored a season-high 25 points on
9-for-11 shooting, and Denver
bounced back from its first loss in
the Northwest Division to beat
visiting minnesota.
millsap made his first six shots
of the game before missing with
54 seconds left i n the f irst half.
Nikola Jokic made all six of his
shots in the first half and went
11 for 14 f rom the field. H e finished
with 24 points, and Jamal murray
had 1 9.
The Timberwolves had only
nine players available. D’Angelo
russell s at o ut for r est, while Karl-
Anthony To wns is out for at least
two weeks w ith a hairline fracture
in his left w rist.l tHUnder 131, spUrs 103:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had
22 points and 13 rebounds, Steven
Adams added 21 points and 14 re-
bounds, a nd oklahoma City r olled
past San A ntonio at h ome.
Luguentz Dort, a rookie who is
on a two-way contract, scored
15 points on 6-for-6 shooting t o
help the Thunder win for the 12th
time in 15 games. E ight oklahoma
City players scored in double fig-
ures — a first for the team since it
moved from Seattle i n 2008.
l traiL BLazers 1 07, pis-
tOns 104: CJ mcCollum had
41 points, a career-high 12 assists
and nine rebounds, Carmelo An-
thony scored a season-high
32 points, and Portland rallied at
home to beat t he D etroit.
It was the first time Anthony
scored more than 30 points since
feb. 25, 2017, when he was with the
New York Knicks. He made a
jumper with Portland up two w ith
21 seconds left.
l peLiCans 115, war-
riOrs 101 : Zion Williamson had
28 points, Jrue Holiday scored 11
of his 23 points in the fourth quar-
ter, and New orleans pulled away
late to beat Golden State in San
francisco for its fifth win in six
games.Lakers sign forward Morris
markieff m orris signed w ith t he
Los Angeles Lakers for the post-
season push.
The Lakers announced the deal
to add the nine-year NBA veteran
immediately after he cleared
waivers. Los Angeles waived in-
jured center Demarcus Cousins t o
clear a roster s pot. morris reached
a buyout agreement with the Pis-
tons on friday. He averaged
11 points and 3.9 rebounds in
44 games with Detroit this season
while hitting a career-best
39.7 percent of his t hree-pointers.
l GrizzLies: forward Jaren
Jackson Jr. will miss at least two
weeks with a sprained left knee
after g etting h urt f riday.nBa roundupToronto drubs Indiana
for 1 7th win in 18 games
raptors 127,
pacers 81“I just thought he was allowed
to be the bully offensively today,”
Turgeon said of Wesson, who fin-
ished with 15 points and nine
rebounds. “I mean, he stuck a
forearm right into [Smith’s] chest
twice. I guess you’re allowed to do
that here in this building. So he
was allowed to be the bully. And if
he’s allowed to be the bully, he’s a
heck of a player.”
Without the usual production
from Cowan a nd Smith, maryland
(22-5, 12-4 Big Te n) had to look
toward others, mainly Wiggins,
who scored 20 points in a career-
best performance that featured
six made three-pointers. Wiggins
hit a corner three with 5:52 left to
cut ohio State’s lead to three, and
he later made two more threes to
twice bring the Te rps within four,
but the Buckeyes (18-9, 8-8) had
an answer each time. fellow soph-
omore guard Eric Ayala added
16 points, with 10 coming in the
second half.
“We were teetering on getting
blown out there,” Turgeon said.
“A nd those guys started to step up
for us.”foul.’... He was frustrated be-
cause he got tackled on a layup
and there wasn’t a call.”
Cowan, who was not available
to reporters after the game,
scored 10 points, with eight com-
ing on free throws, and added
seven assists. But he finished just
1 for 4 from the field and was
unable to provide the late-game
heroics for which he has become
known.
“It was tough for him all game,”
sophomore guard Aaron Wiggins
said. “They were denying him the
ball.”
maryland’s struggles were
compounded b y Smith not having
his best game, either. for the first
time since Jan. 14, the date of the
Te rps’ previous loss, Smith didn’t
record a double-double. matched
up against Wesson, Smith fin-
ished with only eight points and
seven rebounds. The Buckeyes
outrebounded maryland 36-27
and scored 14 second-chance
points compared with maryland’s
five.
terrapins from d1
Cowan and Smith falter,
and T erps’ streak ends
After maryland didn’t make a
basket f or the final five minutes of
the first half, ohio State led 40-33
at halftime. on the Buckeyes’ first
possession after the break, Wes-
son hit a three to give his team its
first double-digit advantage. ThatDonta Scott (10 points) also
reached double figures, but the
strong performances from those
complementary players perhaps
only strengthen the argument
that maryland needs Cowan and
Smith to win.Jay laprete/associated press
Maryland’s Jalen smith, left, had eight points and seven rebounds in
the loss to Ohio state, ending his nine-game double-double streak.superstars at times, leading
them to settle for three-pointers
or to force tough shots.
With the playoffs getting
closer, the Lakers’ clutch play is
bound to face even greater
scrutiny. In truth, Sunday’s
endgame was no picnic: James
and Davis both missed free
throws, Davis missed two layups
around the basket, and James
missed an open three. If not for
a few favorable calls and some
strong defensive stands against
Celtics forward Jayson Ta tum,
who scored just four of his
41 points in the fourth quarter,
the Lakers would have gone
home frustrated.
Despite his textbook
“heroball” moment Sunday,
James said the Lakers’ path to
improved execution doesn’t lie
in isolation scoring. Quite the
opposite.
“Just continue to share the
ball and get the ball popping,”
James said of his ideal
prescription going forward. “We
don’t have to rely on myself and
AD to bail us out. We have two
guys who can go get a bucket or
get a look at it, but it’s always
better when the defense can’t
key in on one person.”
[email protected]person responsible for the
Lakers’ choppiness in tight
contests. Anthony Davis, who
scored 32 points and hit a key
late three-pointer against the
Celtics, has shot 39 percent from
the field in clutch situations
compared with 51 percent
overall. And guard Danny
Green, who won a title with the
To ronto raptors last season, has
shot 30 percent in the clutch
compared with 42 percent
overall.
faltering offense has
contributed to several high-
profile losses. on opening night,
the Lakers were outlasted by
Kawhi Leonard and the Los
Angeles Clippers. on Christmas,
they struggled to execute and
gave up a double-digit
comeback to the Clippers. on
the night of their tribute to
Bryant last month, they had no
answer for Portland Trail
Blazers guard Damian Lillard’s
scoring heroics down the
stretch.
It’s worth noting that James
and Davis rank in the top 20 in
minutes per game and that the
35-year-old James ranks in the
top 10 in usage rate. Those
heavy burdens have appeared to
catch up with the Lakers’59 percent from the free throw
line in clutch situations. Those
marks are down from
49 percent from the field,
35 percent from three and
69 percent from the line overall.
James is hardly the onlyregulation, its clutch offensive
rating ranked 20th — behind
lottery teams such as the
Phoenix Suns and Chicago Bulls.
What’s more, James has shot
just 32 percent from the field,
15 percent on three-pointers andmy fadeaway.”
The go-ahead jumper was
typical James: a mix of
intellectual planning and
precise, well-honed technique.
To see his smile seconds before
the ball hit the net was to
witness a chess master sensing
checkmate three moves ahead of
his opponent.
Sunday’s victory was sweet
for James and the Lakers for
obvious reasons. It came against
the Celtics, their oldest rivals,
on national television and with
Hall of famer Bill russell sitting
courtside wearing a Kobe
Bryant jersey. It avenged their
worst loss of the season, a
humbling 139-107 defeat Jan. 20
in Boston. And it extended their
winning streak to five, keeping
the Lakers’ cushion over the
Denver Nuggets for the top seed
in the Western Conference at
five games.
The most welcome
development, though, was
James’s clutch delivery. The
Lakers have cruised to a 43-12
record, but they haven’t always
been at their best in the biggest
moments. Although Los Angeles
has a 16-8 record in games that
were within five points or less in
the final five minutes ofLOS ANGELES —
The slightest hint
of a smile crept
across LeBron
James’s face as he
backed down
Jaylen Brown, his shoulders and
hips pivoting to set up the type
of turnaround jumper that
michael Jordan and Kobe
Bryant made famous.
James pounded a hard
dribble four times, the tension
at Staples Center rising with
each one, before deking over his
left shoulder and, finally, fading
away to his right and releasing
his shot from just inside the free
throw line. The shot swished
through, giving the Los Angeles
Lakers a one-point lead over the
Boston Celtics with 30.4 seconds
left — and giving James the
victory in his mano-a-mano
matchup.
“I had been setting [Brown]
up all night with the back-down
to the drop step to the baseline,”
James said after finishing with
29 points, nine assists and eight
rebounds in the Lakers’ 114-112
victory. “I figured he would sit
on it and that I would try it
again. I gave him a little ‘Dream
Shake’ to the baseline and was
able to open up the middle for
James burns the Celtics late, a sign of hope amid the Lakers’ endgame struggles
on
the NBa
Ben
Golliver
Katelyn mulcahy/agence France-presse/getty images
LeBron James’s fadeaway over Jaylen Brown with 30 .4 seconds left
put the Lakers in front during their 114-112 victory over the Celtics.Bulls 126, wizards 117
Washington ........................ 3127273 2— 117
chicago ............................... 3538282 5— 126
Washington Min Fg Ft o-taPFPts
Bonga 15:11 1-3 0-0 1-203 2
Hachimura 28:30 4-8 2-2 0-8 4310
Mahinmi 8:08 0-0 1-2 0-011 1
Beal 39:22 15-27 18-20 2-5 4553
Smith 27:17 3-5 2-3 0-3 5210
Bertans 37:02 7-15 3-3 1-4 1622
Brown Jr. 21:19 3-4 1-2 1-133 7
Napier 16:59 1-1 0-0 0-041 2
Robinson 16:13 1-5 0-0 1-401 2
Wagner 15:01 0-2 4-4 0-221 4
Bryant 14:08 2-2 0-0 1-501 4
Payton II 00:50 0-1 0-0 0-000 0
totals 240 37-73 31-36 7-34 24 27 117
Percentages: FG .507, FT .861. 3-Point goals: 12-30, .400
(Beal 5-11, Bertans 5-11, Smith 2-3, Bonga 0-1,
Hachimura 0-1, Payton II 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Wagner
0-1). team Rebounds: 6. team turnovers: None. Blocked
shots: 3 (Beal, Smith, Wagner). turnovers: 24 (Beal 7,
Bertans 6, Hachimura 4, Napier 3, Brown Jr. 2, Bonga,
Smith). steals: 15 (Napier 4, Beal 2, Brown Jr. 2, Smith 2,
Bertans, Bryant, Hachimura, Mahinmi, Robinson). tech-
nical Fouls: Bryant, 4:04 second
chicago Min Fg Ft o-taPFPts
Satoransky 39:20 6-10 2-4 0-3 13 115
Young 30:24 8-14 2-3 0-6 2423
Gafford 21:42 5-6 0-4 1-2 0510
Arcidiacono 21:13 1-5 2-2 0-351 5
LaVine 36:01 11-20 4-6 1-4 3432
White 33:47 11-18 6-7 1-6 2233
Felicio 23:16 2-3 2-2 3-604 6
Mokoka 18:26 0-2 0-0 1-224 0
Harrison 15:51 1-3 0-0 3-503 2
totals 240 45-81 18-28 10-37 27 28 126
Percentages: FG .556, FT .643. 3-Point goals: 18-37, .486
(LaVine 6-12, Young 5-7, White 5-9, Satoransky 1-3,
Arcidiacono 1-4, Mokoka 0-2). team Rebounds: 10. team
turnovers: 3. Blocked shots: 4 (Gafford 2, LaVine,
White). turnovers: 26 (LaVine 9, White 5, Gafford 3,
Harrison 3, Felicio 2, Young 2, Arcidiacono, Mokoka).
steals: 15 (Satoransky 4, LaVine 3, Young 3, White 2,
Arcidiacono, Felicio, Harrison). technical Fouls: Bulls,
2:13 first