2B Tuesday, October 30, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
GEORGIA
■ Continued from 1B
are expecting Kentucky to
wilt under the pressure of
its most significant game in
more than four decades.
Going to great lengths to
ensure his team isn’t over
confident, Bulldogs coach
Kirby Smart really laid it on
thick Monday when talking
about the Wildcats.
“When you talk to the
other coaches,
and we all talk to
each other week
to week, every
body talks about
Kentucky’s group
of seniors,” Smart
said. “They’ve got a
really good football
program, a very
physical football
program, one that
in the last two years each
time we played them our
players said, ‘That was one
of the most physical games
we had to play, coach.’
They are tough and they are
physical.”
Never mind that Georgia
routed the Wildcats 42-13 a
year ago on its way to play
ing in the national champi
onship game.
“We’ve got a lot of improv
ing to do to be able to com
plement and to match up
with these guys because they
have a really good football
team,” Smart insisted.
If the Bulldogs can win out
— and the schedule looks
extremely favorable after
Saturday — they might get
another shot at top-ranked
Alabama for the SEC cham
pionship. A victory in that
game would surely send
Georgia to the College Foot
ball Playoff for the second
year in a row, giving the
Dawgs a chance to atone for
last season’s overtime loss
to the Crimson Tide in the
national title game.
No one at Georgia
is looking that far
down the road.
Kentucky has
their full attention.
“They have got
ten better every
year that we have
played them, so
what they have
done this year is
no surprise to me,”
said Isaac Nauta, a junior
tight end. “It’s a tough place
to play, they have a really
good team with a lot of good
players, so it’s going to be a
big game.”
If nothing else, the Bull
dogs are still carrying the
memory of their last big
road game.
After breezing through
the first half of the schedule,
they were humiliated at LSU
36-16.
“Upsets happen all
the time,” receiver Jer
emiah Holloman said.
“We’ve always got to remain
humble and do the things
we have to do to become
victorious.”
The loss in Baton Rouge
certainly drove that point
home. The Bulldogs bounced
back with their most com
plete performance of the
season, blowing out Florida
36-17 at the Cocktail Party to
keep each of their objectives
within reach.
“I feel like we definitely
needed that (LSU) game,”
Holloman said. “We weren’t
playing the way we can play.
I feel like it made us step
up and realize for us to get
where we were last year, we
had to pick up our play. ”
Kentucky’s defense cer
tainly has Georgia attention.
The Wildcats have
allowed just 13 points a game
to lead the nation, and they
have yet to surrender more
than 20 points to any oppo
nent — a figure the Bulldogs
have easily surpassed in
each of their victories.
“They play complemen
tary defense,” Smart said.
“They’re on the same page
at all times. You don’t see
busts. They understand
where each guy is. They
leverage the ball well. They
tackle well.”
He said Kentucky’s expe
rience really shows on that
side of the line.
“It’s a credit to what
they’ve built,” Smart said.
Smart
Football/college
FCS Coaches Poll
Record Pts
Pvs
1. North Dakota State (26)
8-0
650
1
2. Kennesaw State
7-1
623
2
3. James Madison
6-2
597
3
4. Eastern Washington
6-2
566
4
5. Weber State
6-2
545
5
6. Elon
5-2
497
6
7. South Dakota State
5-2
481
8
8. Wofford
6-2
480
7
9. UC Davis
7-1
408
13
10. Jacksonville State
6-2
402
12
11. Colgate
7-0
401
11
12. McNeese
6-2
333
16
13. Illinois State
5-3
307
9
14. Princeton
7-0
304
17
15. Towson
6-2
277
10
16. Delaware
6-2
235
21
17. N.C.A&T
6-2
230
18
18. Stony Brook
6-3
229
15
19. Central Arkansas
5-3
193
14
20. Dartmouth
7-0
167
20
20. Nicholls
5-3
167
22
22. Sam Houston State
5-3
115
22
23. ETSU
7-2
101
25
24. Southeast Missouri State
6-2
32
NR
25. North Dakota
5-3
29
24
Others Receiving Votes: Maine 28, Idaho State
25, Chattanooga 12, Northern Iowa 8, Florida A&M
6, Rhode Island 1, San Diego 1.
College Football Schedule
All Times EDT
(Subject to change)
Tuesday, Oct. 30
EAST
Miami (Ohio) at Buffalo, 8 p.m.
MIDWEST
Kent St. at Bowling Green, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 31
MIDWEST
Ball St. at Toledo, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 1
SOUTH
Temple at UCF, 7:30 p.m.
MIDWEST
N. Illinois at Akron, 7 p.m.
Ohio at W. Michigan, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 2
EAST
Penn at Cornell, 6 p.m.
SOUTH
Pittsburgh at Virginia, 7:30 p.m.
W. Kentucky at Middle Tennessee, 8 p.m.
FAR WEST
Colorado at Arizona, 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 3
EAST
Air Force at Army, Noon
Columbia at Harvard, Noon
Robert Morris at Sacred Heart, Noon
Bryant at St. Francis (Pa.), Noon
Duquesne at Wagner, Noon
Holy Cross at Lafayette, 12:30 p.m.
Bucknell at Lehigh, 12:30 p.m.
Colgate at Fordham, 1 p.m.
Valparaiso at Marist, 1 p.m.
Charleston Southern at Monmouth (NJ), 1 p.m.
Hampton at NY Maritime, 1 p.m.
James Madison at New Hampshire, 1 p.m.
Dartmouth at Princeton, 1 p.m.
Brown at Yale, 1 p.m.
Delaware at Albany (NY), 3:30 p.m.
Liberty at UMass, 3:30 p.m.
Maine at Towson, 4 p.m.
SOUTH
Texas A&M at Auburn, Noon
Louisville at Clemson, Noon
Memphis at East Carolina, Noon
Butler at Jacksonville, Noon
Michigan St. at Maryland, Noon
South Carolina at Mississippi, Noon
Syracuse at Wake Forest, Noon
Georgia Tech at North Carolina, 12:15 p.m.
Chattanooga at Furman, 1 p.m.
Florida A&M at Howard, 1 p.m.
Norfolk St. at NCA&T.1 p.m.
Morehead St. at Stetson, 1 p.m.
Rhode Island at Elon, 1:30 p.m.
Presbyterian at Gardner-Webb, 1:30 p.m.
Tusculum atVMI, 1:30 p.m.
Savannah St. at Delaware St., 2 p.m.
Texas St. at Georgia St., 2 p.m.
UT Martin at Jacksonville St., 2 p.m.
Campbell at Kennesaw St., 2 p.m.
Edward Waters at NC Central, 2 p.m.
Shorter at North Alabama, 2:30 p.m.
Murray St. at Tennessee Tech, 2:30 p.m.
Texas Southern at Alabama St., 3 p.m.
MVSU at Grambling St., 3 p.m.
Prairie View at Jackson St., 3 p.m.
Georgia Southern at Louisiana-Monroe, 3 p.m.
ETSU at Mercer, 3 p.m.
Villanova at Richmond, 3 p.m.
Marshall at Southern Miss., 3 p.m.
Georgia at Kentucky, 3:30 p.m.
Florida St. at NC State, 3:30 p.m.
Wofford at Samford, 3:30 p.m.
Tulane at South Florida, 3:30 p.m.
Louisiana-Lafayette at Troy, 3:30 p.m.
The Citadel at W. Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
Boston College at Virginia Tech, 3:45 p.m.
Missouri at Florida, 4 p.m.
Bethune-Cookman at Morgan St., 4 p.m.
Charlotte at Tennessee, 4 p.m.
E. Kentucky at Austin Peay, 5 p.m.
Appalachian St. at Coastal Carolina, 5 p.m.
Duke at Miami, 7 p.m.
FAU at FIU, 7:30 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at Mississippi St., 7:30 p.m.
UTSA at UAB, 7:30 p.m.
Alabama at LSU, 8 p.m.
McNeese St. at SE Louisiana, 8 p.m.
MIDWEST
Cent. Michigan at E. Michigan, Noon
Iowa St. at Kansas, Noon
Nebraska at Ohio St., Noon
Rutgers at Wisconsin, Noon
South Dakota at Indiana St., 1 p.m.
San Diego at Drake, 1:30 p.m.
Illinois St. at N. Iowa, 2 p.m.
W. Illinois at S. Illinois, 2 p.m.
Tennessee St. at SE Missouri, 2 p.m.
Missouri St. at S. Dakota St., 3 p.m.
Navy at Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Illinois, 3:30 p.m.
Youngstown St. at N. Dakota St., 3:30 p.m.
Iowa at Purdue, 3:30 p.m.
Penn St. at Michigan, 3:45 p.m.
Notre Dame at Northwestern, 7:15 p.m.
SOUTHWEST
Oklahoma St. at Baylor, Noon
Northwestern St. at Abilene Christian, 3 p.m.
South Alabama at Arkansas St., 3 p.m.
Nicholls at Houston Baptist, 3 p.m.
Sam Houston St. at Incarnate Word, 3 p.m.
Alabama A&M atArk.-Pine Bluff, 3:30 p.m.
UTEP at Rice, 3:30 p.m.
Kansas St. atTCU, 3:30 p.m.
Lamar at Cent. Arkansas, 7 p.m.
Houston at SMU, 7 p.m.
UConn at Tulsa, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas Tech, 8 p.m.
West Virginia at Texas, 3:30 a.m.
FAR WEST
Sacramento St. at Weber St., 2 p.m.
San Jose St. at Wyoming, 2 p.m.
E. Washington at N. Colorado, 2:05 p.m.
Montana at S. Utah, 3 p.m.
Utah at Arizona St., 4 p.m.
Cal Poly at Montana St., 4 p.m.
Alcorn St. at New Mexico St., 4 p.m.
N. Arizona at UC Davis, 4 p.m.
North Dakota at Idaho, 5 p.m.
Idaho St. at Portland St., 5 p.m.
UCLA at Oregon, 7:30 p.m.
Stanford at Washington, 9 p.m.
Southern Cal at Oregon St., 10 p.m.
BYU at Boise St., 10:15 p.m.
San Diego St. at New Mexico, 10:15 p.m.
Fresno St. at UNLV, 10:30 p.m.
California at Washington St., 10:45 p.m.
Utah St. at Hawaii, 11:59 p.m.
Hockey/NHL
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
GP
W
L
OT Pts
GF
GA
Toronto
12
8
4
0
16
42
37
Tampa Bay
10
7
2
1
15
33
27
Montreal
10
6
2
2
14
33
25
Boston
11
6
3
2
14
34
27
Buffalo
11
6
4
1
13
30
33
Ottawa
10
4
4
2
10
35
39
Florida
9
2
4
3
7
28
35
Detroit
11
2
7
2
6
25
43
Metropolitan Division
GP
W
L
OT Pts
GF
GA
Pittsburgh
9
6
1
2
14
40
26
Carolina
11
6
4
1
13
34
31
Columbus
10
6
4
0
12
36
38
Washington
10
5
3
2
12
39
37
New Jersey
8
5
2
1
11
28
20
N.Y. Islanders
10
5
4
1
11
30
25
Philadelphia
11
4
7
0
8
32
46
N.Y. Rangers
11
3
7
1
7
28
38
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
GP W L OTPts GF GA
Nashville 11 8 3 0 16 38 28
Colorado 12 7 3 2 16 41 27
Winnipeg 12 7 4 1 15 35 32
Chicago 12 6 3 3 15 41 43
Minnesota 10 6 2 2 14 29 27
Dallas 10 5 5 0 10 30 29
St. Louis 10 3 4 3 9 36 39
Pacific Division
GP W L OTPts GF GA
San Jose 11 6 3 2 14 38 32
Edmonton 10 6 3 1 13 29 30
Vancouver 12 6 6 0 12 31 40
Anaheim 12 5 5 2 12 30 34
Vegas 11 5 5 1 11 26 30
Calgary 11 5 5 1 11 36 40
Arizona 10 5 5 0 10 26 20
Los Angeles 11 3 7 1 7 22 39
NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for
overtime loss. Top three teams in each division
and two wild cards per conference advance
to playoffs.
Monday’s Games
Calgary 3, Toronto 1
Minnesota at Vancouver, late
Tuesday’s Games
N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Boston at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
New Jersey at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Vegas at Nashville, 8 p.m.
Minnesota at Edmonton, 9 p.m.
Philadelphia at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Ottawa at Arizona, 10 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Wednesday’s Games
Chicago at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Winnipeg vs. Florida at Helsinki, FIN, 2 p.m.
Pittsburgh at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Toronto, 7 p.m.
New Jersey at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Washington at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Nashville at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Vegas at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Colorado at Calgary, 9 p.m.
Chicago at Edmonton, 9 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Philadelphia at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
Columbus at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Transactions
BASEBALL
American League
CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Exercised their 2019
option on RHP Nate Jones. Declined their 2019
option on RHP James Shields, making him a
free agent. Reinstated RHP Michael Kopech
from the 60-day DL.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS—Agreed to terms with
executive vice president of baseball operations
Billy Beane, general manager David Forst and
manager Bob Melvin on contract extensions.
National League
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Named Jeff Albert
hitting coach and Stubby Clapp first base coach.
FOOTBALL
National Football League
CLEVELAND BROWNS — Fired coach Hue
Jackson and Todd Haley offensive coordinator.
Named defensive coordinator Gregg Williams
interim head coach and running backs coach/
associate head coach Freddie Kitchens offen
sive coordinator.
DALLAS COWBOYS — Fired offensive line
coach Paul Alexander. Promoted assistant
offensive line coach Marc Colombo offensive
line coach. Named Hudson Houck offensive line
and offensive staff adviser.
MIAMI DOLPHINS — Waived S Maurice Smith
and DT Jamiyus Pittman.
TENNESSEE TITANS — Waived LB Robert
Spillane. Agreed to terms with FB Jalston
Fowler.
HOCKEY
USA HOCKEY — Named Bob Corkum coach
and Joel Johnson and Brian Pothier assistant
coaches of the Four Nations Cup U.S. Women’s
Team.
National Hockey League
DETROIT RED WINGS — Reassigned F Dylan
Sadowy from Toledo (ECHL) to Grand Rapids
(AHL).
NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Assigned G Eddie
Lack to Binghamton (AHL) for conditioning.
Recalled G Cory Schneider from Binghamton.
ST. LOUIS BLUES — Recalled Fs Robby
Fabbri and Nikita Soshnikov, D Carl Gunnarsson
and G Ville Husso from San Antonio (AHL) and
G Evan Fitzpatrick from Tulsa (ECHL) to San
Antonio.
COLLEGE
EAST CAROLINA — Announced the retire
ment of chief operating officer and senior
associate athletics director for administation
Lee Workman, effective Dec. 31.
FLORIDA STATE — Suspended WR Nyqwan
Murray and LB Zaquandre White for the first half
of next week’s game.
ILLINOIS — Announced the resignation of
defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson.
IOWA STATE — Announced sophomore QB
Zeb Noland will transfer.
RICE — Named JP Abercrumbie assistant
athletic director for student athlete develop
ment.
SETON HALL—Announced the resignation of
women’s soccer coach Rick Stainton.
Soccer/MLS
MLS Playoff Glance
All Times EDT
Knockout Round
Eastern Conference
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Philadelphia at New York City FC, 7 p.m.
Portland at FC Dallas, 9:30 p.m.
Western Conference
Thursday, Nov. 1
Columbus at D.C. United, 8 p.m.
Real Salt Lake at Los Angeles FC, 10:30 p.m.
Conference Semifinals
Home-and-home
First leg
Eastern Conference
Sunday, Nov. 4: New York at TBD
Sunday, Nov. 4: Atlanta at TBD
Western Conference
Sunday, Nov. 4: Sporting Kansas City at TBD
Sunday, Nov. 4: Seattle at TBD
Second leg
Eastern Conference
Sunday, Nov. 11: TBD at New York
Sunday, Nov. 11: TBD at Atlanta
Western Conference
Thursday, Nov. 8: TBD at Seattle
Sunday, Nov. 11: TBD at Sporting Kansas City
Conference Championships
Home-and-home
Eastern Conference
First leg
Sunday, Nov. 25:
Second leg
Thursday, Nov. 29:
Western Conference
First leg
Sunday, Nov. 25:
Second leg
Thursday, Nov. 29:
MLS Cup
Saturday, Dec. 8
TBD at TBD, 8 p.m.
TODAY ON TV
Football
■ Miami (Ohio) vs. Buffalo,
8 p.m., ESPN 2
■ Kent State vs. Bowling
Green, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Hockey
■ Golden Knights vs.
Predators, 8 p.m.,
NBC Sports
Basketball
■ Hawks at Cavaliers,
7 p.m., Fox Sports
Southeast
NASCAR | In The Pits
Logano put it all on the line,
as he should have in win
Take a deep breath and
rewatch “Days of Thunder”
a couple hundred times to
put some perspective on
Joey Logano’s latest dustup
with another driver.
Logano sparked a storm
of controversy at Martins
ville Speedway when he
bumped reigning series
champion Martin Truex Jr.
out of the lead to claim vic
tory. It wasn’t any old win,
either; it qualified Logano
for NASCAR’s champion-
ship-deciding race at the
end of the season.
At this stage of the sea
son, a victory is the golden
ticket to Homestead-Miami
Speedway’s winner-take-
all finale. It is really that
simple. There are eight
drivers vying for four spots
— and one was dangling in
front of Truex and Logano
on Sunday.
First things first: Logano
maybe wasn’t expected to
make the final four, not this
season. His only other win
was at Talladega Super
speedway and Team Pen-
ske has been overshadowed
on the track by Ford part
ner Stewart-Haas Racing.
The regular season was so
dominated by Truex, Kyle
Busch and Kevin Harvick
it has just been assumed
the so-called “Big 3” would
gobble up three of the four
championship berths.
So for Logano to make it
to the finale, he needed to
be perfect for three races or
in position to win one.
There he was at Martins
ville, out front for a race-
high 309 of the 500 laps,
raced extraordinarily hard
in the final stretch because
Penske teammate Brad
Keselowski was glued to his
bumper. He had a door-to-
JENNA FRYER
jfryer@ap.org
door battle going with Truex
for much of the final 10
laps. The racing was clean
and Truex was an on-track
gentleman, a sportsman
worthy to be called cham
pion, in taking the lead from
Logano.
But Logano had to have
that win. It was his best and
perhaps only chance to
qualify for the finale, and
that chance came on the
final lap.
He pulled a bump-and-
run and figured he’d let the
chips fall as they may.
The move worked and
Logano punched his ticket
to Miami. An infuriated
Truex must try again this
weekend to return to the
finale.
The bump was a throw
back move to when drivers
used their race cars as mus
cle, and they created racing
that captivated its audience.
It was the jaw-dropping,
white-knuckled bumping
and banging that made
“Days of Thunder” a pop
culture sensation and cre
ated an unrealistic expecta
tion of NASCAR racing.
But it’s quintessential
NASCAR, not all that dif
ferent from what Logano
did to Matt Kenseth to win a
playoff race at Kansas three
years ago.
In this latest instance,
Logano knocked Truex out
of the way, slipped past
him and straightened out
his wiggling car enough to
cross the finish line in first.
Truex’s car went sideways
and Denny Hamlin stole
second place from him.
The consequences were
immediate. Logano was
booed, Truex joined the
jeering from pit road and
the crew chiefs exchanged
angry words.
Truex vowed to prevent
Logano from stealing his
crown: “He may have won
the battle, but he ain’t win
ning the damn war.”
Logano car owner Roger
Penske wasn’t pleased
to learn Truex called the
bump-and-run a “cheap
shot” and he was unusually
feisty in his rebuttal.
“He’s a racer and should
know better than to say
that,” Penske said. “That’s
as clean a shot as you can
have in a race like this. We
want to go to Miami. Joey
ran a great race. As far as
I’m concerned, that’s just a
comment that I don’t think
we deserve. We’ll race him
day after day.”
Everything was on the
line for Logano and he’d
have been lambasted for
not trying something — any
thing, really — to try to win.
The second-guessing if he’d
tried nothing would have
lasted the entire third round
of the playoffs or until
he won a race. If Logano
wasn’t going to put it all on
the line, then what’s the
point of even getting into the
race car each week?
If more drivers raced the
way Logano did on that lap,
people might start watching
again.
NFL
McCourty’s
pick-6 seals
Patriots’ MNF
win over Bills
Devin McCourty returned
an interception 84 yards for
a touchdown, and the New
England Patriots’ defense
smothered the Buffalo Bills’
anemic offense in a 25-6 win
on Monday night.
James White scored on a
1-yard run, and the Patriots
relied more on Stephen Gos-
tkowski’s leg than
on Tom Brady’s
arm for their fifth
straight win, which
improved their
AFC East-leading
record to 6-2. Brady
finished 29 of 45
for 324 yards, but
was held without a
touchdown pass for
the first time this
season.
Gostkowski hit four of five
field-goal attempts, including
two from 25 yards after New
England drives stalled inside
Buffalo’s 10.
McCourty sealed the
win with 5:54 remaining by
intercepting Derek Ander
son’s pass over the middle
intended for LeSean McCoy
and taking it to the end zone.
Two plays before the pick,
Bills tight end Jason Croom’s
diving one-handed touch
down catch was negated
following a video review.
Replays clearly showed
Croom never had possession
in attempting to make the
25-yard catch, which would
have made it a one-score
game.
Buffalo lost its third
straight and dropped to 2-6
for its worst start since open
ing the 2010 season with
eight losses.
Browns part ways
with Hue Jackson
Browns owner Jimmy
Haslam finally tried the
patient approach with his
head coach.
That didn’t work either.
Haslam made his fourth
coaching change since 2012
by firing Hue Jackson, who
won just three of 40 games
over two-plus seasons and
then lost his job because of
a feud with offensive coor
dinator Todd Haley
that went public and
threatened to turn
a promising season
into another one
of those Cleveland
catastrophes.
Haslam fired
Jackson and Haley
within hours of
each other on Mon
day, a day after the
Browns (2-5-1) lost their 25th
consecutive road game —
one shy of the NFL record.
Defensive coordinator
Gregg Williams is Cleve
land’s interim coach, and
running backs coach Fred
die Kitchens will take over
for Haley.
NBA
Hawks can’t
stop Simmons in
second half, fall to
Philadelphia
After yet another slow
start by the 76ers, Ben Sim
mons gave restless fans and
a slumping team a needed
reminder of just good they
can become in the East.
Simmons had 21 points, 12
rebounds and nine assists,
and turned the game around
in the decisive third quar
ter to lift Philadelphia to a
113-92 win over the Atlanta
Hawks on Monday night.
Simmons made 5 of 6 shots
in the third and hit all five
free throws for 15 points and
helped the 76ers outscore
Atlanta 31-13 in the third.
Without a major roster
addition, the Sixers had
played little like a team that
won 52 games and a playoff
round a year ago. Simmons
and Joel Embiid have been
solid and are making early
cases for All-Star berths. But
Philly’s distinguished duo
had little help and the Six
ers had won their last two
games by one and two points,
respectively, and needed this
win just to move above .500
(4-3).
Here’s how much expecta
tions have soared in Philly:
The Sixers were booed by
fans, who showed nothing but
love in the early days of “The
Process,” as they trudged off
the court tied at halftime.
Simmons turned everyone
around.
He got some help in the
third from the oft-maligned
Markelle Fultz. Fultz, desper
ately trying to join Simmons
and Embiid as a cornerstone
trio, had a sweet stretch dur
ing which he buried an open
3, crushed a one-handed
dunk in transition and had an
assist on an Embiid jumper
for a 78-60 lead.
Fultz had season-highs
with seven baskets (on 16
attempts) and 16 points in 23
minutes.
That was enough to help
send Atlanta to its second
straight loss. Kent Bazemore
led the Hawks with 18 points.
Associated Press
Brady
UNITED
■ Continued from 1B
on March 3.
“We did all this work start
ing Jan. 15 and we should
have had a different perfor
mance today,” Martino said.
“In a sense, we betrayed
ourselves and threw away
everything that we worked
for this season.”
To get back its form, goal
keeper Brad Guzan said the
players need to take the
next few days and mentally
regroup.
Guzan was criticized by
some Atlanta United sup
porters for his performance
against Toronto, but there
wasn’t much he could have
done to stop any of the first
three goals because the
scorers were left wide open
by a defense that lacked
discipline.
“We got to find a way,”
he said. “Luckily for us we
have a few days to get things
sorted and look back at this
game and make sure this
doesn’t happen because you
can’t go into the first leg of
a playoff game and concede
four goals. You don’t give
yourself a fighting chance
to go back home and play
for the home leg. We got to
figure it out. Nowhere near
good enough.”
Captain Michael
Parkhurst said that though
the team missed out on the
Supporters’ Shield, which
was an important goal, the
fact that there is still an
MLS Cup to play for should
be more than enough
motivation.
Plus, the team seems
likely to have Miguel
Almiron return from a ham
string injury suffered three
weeks ago. He didn’t play
in the win against New Eng
land or the loss at Toronto.
Atlanta United is a differ
ent, more dangerous team
with Almiron as an attacking
midfielder. His speed, pass
ing and shooting can unlock
defenses.
“It will take a day or two
but the season is not lost,”
Parkhurst said.
“We have another Cup to
play for. We missed out on a
couple this year but the big
gest one is in front of us. We
have a first round bye and
we know we are guaranteed
two more games so that’s an
opportunity to correct it.”
