2B Thursday, November 8, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
SPORTS
KNICKS 112, HAWKS 107
NASCAR
New York outlasts Atlanta
The loss is Hawks’ sixth in the last seven games
BY GEORGE HENRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Tim Hard
away Jr. scored 27 of his 34
points in the second half,
reserve Enes Kanter added
17 points and 11 rebounds,
and the New York Knicks
beat the Atlanta Hawks 112-
107 on Wednesday night.
In a matchup of rebuild
ing clubs, Allonzo Trier
finished with 16 points and
Noah Vonleh had 11 points
and 13 rebounds to help New
York snap a two-game skid.
Omari Spellman scored
18 points for the Hawks, who
have lost two straight and
six of seven. Alex Poythress’
basket cut the lead to four
with 22.8 seconds remain
ing, but the Hawks blew
their next two possessions
when Poythress dropped
an inbound pass and Tau-
rean Prince missed two free
throws.
Trae Young finished with
15 points and eight assists for
Atlanta, but the NBA’s fifth-
overall draft pick missed 13
of 19 shots and went just 1
for 7 on 3-point attempts.
Hardaway, who had
career highs of 16 free
throws made and 20
attempted, took charge in
the third as one of the few
veteran players on the floor.
He was 5 for 8 from the field
and had 15 points, two steals
and one blocked shot.
The Knicks never trailed
after Emmanuel Mudiay’s
3 made it 65-63 midway
through the third. They took
their biggest lead at 16 on
Ranter’s two free throws
in the final minute of the
period.
Kanter got tangled up
with Hawks reserve center
Miles Plumlee on a rebound
attempt early in the fourth.
He flipped over and landed
on his head after both play
ers fell to the floor. Kanter
stayed in the game.
TIP-INS
Hawks: Coach Lloyd
Pierce said rookie F Kevin
Huerter, the 19th overall
pick, was not with the team
because of a family matter.
Young, Huerter and Spell
man started at Charlotte,
marking the first time since
April 1,2005 that the Hawks
started three rookies, when
Josh Smith, Josh Childress
and Royal Ivey were in the
lineup.
Knicks: Kevin Knox, the
No. 9 overall draft pick, was
0 for 6 from the field and did
not score in nine minutes. It
was his second game back
after missing seven with a
sprained left ankle. He had
two points in five minutes of
Monday’s loss to Chicago.
TECH
■ Continued from 1B
getting better at it.” Still,
Johnson is reluctant to heap
praise on a defense that has
been the Yellow Jackets’
chronic weakness. Despite
the big plays, the Yellow
Jackets rank 78th nationally
with their average of 28.2
points allowed. The unit fal
tered late even in last week’s
win.
One weak spot is the
team’s 13 sacks, good for
only 13th among 14 ACC
teams.
“I think Nate has had a
pretty good history of cre
ating some turnovers with
what they do,” Johnson
said. “So I certainly don’t
want to diminish that, but at
the same time it’s like I can
promise you we’re not doing
anything in practice that
we didn’t do before. I think
it could be a function of
maybe we get a little more
pressure, but still our sacks
numbers are not very good.
We do have way more tack
les for loss.”
Johnson also is looking for
better results on third down.
There is room for
improvement, but the leap
in takeaways is a good start.
“We know if we want to
be a top defense, if we want
to be a good defense and we
want to win games we have
to win the turnover battle,”
Saint-Amour said. “That’s
what we try and do. ”
SCOREBOARD
Football/NFL
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
New England
7
2
0
.778
270
202
Miami
5
4
0
.556
187
225
N.Y Jets
3
6
0
.333
198
213
Buffalo
2
7 0
South
.222
96
241
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Houston
6
3
0
.667
216
184
Tennessee
4
4
0
.500
134
141
Jacksonville
3
5
0
.375
134
170
Indianapolis
3
5 0
North
.375
231
213
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Pittsburgh
5
2
1
.688
227
188
Cincinnati
5
3
0
.625
221
237
Baltimore
4
5
0
.444
213
160
Cleveland
2
6 1
West
.278
190
247
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Kansas City
8
1
0
.889
327
226
L.A. Chargers 6
2
0
.750
220
180
Denver
3
6
0
.333
205
213
Oakland
1
7
0
.125
141
252
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Washington
5
3
0
.625
160
172
Philadelphia
4
4
0
.500
178
156
Dallas
3
5
0
.375
154
151
N.Y. Giants
1
7 0
South
.125
150
205
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
New Orleans
7
1
0
.875
279
218
Carolina
6
2
0
.750
220
180
Atlanta
4
4
0
.500
228
226
Tampa Bay
3
5 0
North
.375
229
275
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
Chicago
5
3
0
.625
235
153
Minnesota
5
3
1
.611
221
204
Green Bay
3
4
1
.438
192
204
Detroit
3
5 0
West
.375
180
210
W
L
T
Pet
PF
PA
L.A. Rams
8
1
0
.889
299
200
Seattle
4
4
0
.500
188
156
Arizona
2
6
0
.250
110
199
San Francisco 2
7
0
.222
207
239
Today’s Game
Carolina at Pittsburgh, 8:20 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
Arizona at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.
Detroit at Chicago, 1 p.m.
Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.
Washington at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
New Orleans at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
New England at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Atlanta at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
L.A. Chargers at Oakland, 4:05 p.m.
Miami at Green Bay, 4:25 p.m.
Seattle at L.A. Rams, 4:25 p.m.
Dallas at Philadelphia, 8:20 p.m.
Open: Minnesota, Denver, Baltimore, Houston
Monday’s Game
N.Y. Giants at San Francisco, 8:15 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 15
Green Bay at Seattle, 8:20 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 18
Houston at Washington, 1 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m.
Dallas at Atlanta, 1 p.m.
Cincinnati at Baltimore, 1 p.m.
Carolina at Detroit, 1 p.m.
Tennessee at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.
Denver at L.A. Chargers, 4:05 p.m.
Oakland at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
Philadelphia at New Orleans, 4:25 p.m.
Minnesota at Chicago, 8:20 p.m.
Open: Buffalo, San Francisco, Miami, New
England, Cleveland, N.Y. Jets
Monday, Nov. 19
Kansas City vs L.A. Rams at Mexico City,
MX, 8:15 p.m.
Football/High School
Class AAAAAAA
1. Colquitt County
2. Parkview
3. Grayson
4. Hillgrove
t5. Walton
t5. North Gwinnett
7. Roswell
8. Archer
9. Milton
10. Westlake
Others Receiving Votes: McEachern 4,
Lowndes 1, Marietta 1.
Class AAAAAA
1. Lee County
2. Creekview
3. Stephenson
4. Harrison
5. Sequoyah
6. Tucker
7. Douglas County
8. Valdosta
9. Dacula
10. Allatoona
Others Receiving Votes: John’s Creek 12,
Coffee 10.
Class AAAAA
1. Rome
2. Buford
3. Warner Robins
4. Wayne County
5. Dutchtown
t6. Stockbridge
t6. SW DeKalb
8. Jones County
9. Kell
10. Ware County
Others Receiving Votes: Carrollton 5.
Class AAAA
1. Blessed Trinity
2. Cartersville
3. Mary Persons
4. Eastside
5. St. Pius X
6. Marist
7. Pickens
8. Flowery Branch
9. Troup
10. Ridgeland
Others Receiving Votes: North Oconee 2,
Cairo 1, Burke County 1.
Class AAA
1. Calhoun
2. Cedar Grove
3. Monroe Area
4. Peach County
5. Greater Atlanta Christian
6. Benedictine
7. Pierce County
8. Dawson County
9. Jefferson
10. Westminster
Others Receiving Votes: North Hall 2, SE
Bulloch 1.
Class AA
1. Hapeville Charter
2. Rabun County
3. Rockmart
4. Callaway
5. Brooks County
6. Dublin
t7. Bremen
t7. Heard County
9. Dodge County
10. Jefferson County
Others Receiving Votes: Washington County
6, Vidalia 1.
Class A
t1. Irwin County
t1. ELCA
3. Athens Academy
4. Prince Avenue
5. Clinch County
6. Pelham
7. Mount Zion-Carroll
8. Fellowship Christian
9. Calvary Day
10. Mount Paran
Others Receiving Votes: Marion County 4,
North Cobb 4, Commerce 2.
Transactions
BASEBALL
American League
BOSTON RED SOX — Promoted Brian
O’Halloran and Eddie Romero to executive vice
presidents/assistant general managers, Zach
Scott to senior vice president/assistant general
manager, Raquel Ferreira to senior vice presi-
dent/major and minor league operations, Brian
Abraham to director/minor league operations,
Joe McDonald to director/baseball analytics,
Mike Regan to director/baseball administration
and special projects, Marcus Cuellar to coordi-
nator/player personnel, Alex Gimenez coordina-
tor/major league operations, Patrick McLaughlin
to coordinator of Florida baseball operations/
minor league video, Justin Horowitz to amateur
scouting crosschecker/special projects, Todd
Claus and Rolando Pino tlo co-director/inter-
national scouting and Brandon Henry to major
league assistant trainer. Named Matt Davis
area scout/Ohio Valley, JJ Altobelli area scout/
southern California, Chris Becerra special assis
tant/international scouting and Mike Silvestri
international crosschecker.
NEW YORK YANKEES — Re-signed LHP CC
Sabathia to a one-year contract.
National League
ATLANTA BRAVES — Named Mike Fast spe
cial assistant to the general manager.
MIAMI MARLINS — Named Adrian Lorenzo
special assistant/baseball operations and
scouting and Nate Adcock, Dana Duquette and
Scott Fairbanks area scouts.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Named Derek Hyde
vice president of information technology and
Sharon McNally vice president of marketing.
SAN DIEGO PADRES — Assigned RHP
Kazuhisa Makita outright to El Paso (PCL).
BASKETBALL
National Basketball Association
NBA — Fined Denver C Nikola Jokic $25,000
for using derogatory and offensive language
during a postgame interview.
DETROIT PISTONS — Assigned F Henry
Ellenson and G Khyri Thomas to Grand Rapids
(NBAGL).
FOOTBALL
National Football League
ARIZONA CARDINALS — Released 0L Kyle
Friend from the practice squad. Signed WR
Montay Crockett to the practice squad.
ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed DE Bruce Irvin
to a one-year contract.
CLEVELAND BROWNS — Placed LB Christian
Kirksey and DB E.J. Gaines on injured reserve.
Waived DB Denzel Rice. Released 0L Jake
Eldrenkamp from the practice squad. Signed
DB Juston Burris from the N.Y. Jets practice
squad and DB Arrion Springs to the practice
squad. Claimed DB Phillip Gaines off waivers
from Buffalo and DB Jermaine Whitehead from
Green Bay.
DETROIT LIONS — Released TE Hakeem
Valles from the practice squad. Signed WR Andy
Jones to the practice squad.
HOUSTON TEXANS — Waived RB Tyler Ervin.
Claimed WR DeAndre Carter off waivers from
Philadelphia.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Claimed RB Ameer
Abdullah off Detroit waivers. Waived RB Roc
Thomas.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Signed 0L Matt
Tobin. Signed RB Josh Ferguson to the practice
squad.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Agreed to terms
with WR Dez Bryant.
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
NHL — Fined Edmonton F Milan Lucic
$10,000 for roughing Tampa Bay F Mathieu
Joseph.
ARIZONA COYOTES — Recalled G Hunter
Miska from Tucson (AHL).
BOSTON BRUINS — Recalled F Joona
Koppanen from Atlanta (ECHL) to Providence
(AHL).
CALGARY FLAMES — Placed F Dillon Dube
on injured reserve, retroactive to Saturday.
Recalled F Anthony Peluso from Stockton (AHL).
CAROLINA HURRICANES — Assigned F
Nicolas Roy to Charlotte (AHL). Recalled Fs Clark
Bishop and Phil Di Giuseppe from Charlotte.
DETROIT RED WINGS — Assigned C
Christoffer Ehn to Grand Rapids (AHL).
TODAY ON TV
BASKETBALL
■ Rockets at Thunder,
8 p.m., TNT
■ Bucks at Warriors,
10:30 p.m., TNT
FOOTBALL
■ College football:
North Carolina Central
at Bethune Cookman,
7 p.m., ESPNU
■ College football:
Wake Forest at North
Carolina State,
7:30 p.m., ESPN
■ Panthers at Steelers,
8 p.m., Fox
SOCCER
■ Women’s International Friendly Soccer: Portugal vs.
U.S., 1 p.m., ESPN2
■ USL Cup: Louisville City FC vs. Phoenix Rising, 8 p.m.,
ESPN2
■ MLS Soccer Playoff: Sounders vs. Timbers, 10:30 p.m.,
Fox Sports 1
GOLF
■ European Tour Golf: Nedbank Challenge, 3 a.m.,
Golf Channel
■ LPGA Tour Golf: Blue Bay LPGA, 10:30 a.m.,
Golf Channel
■ PGA Tour Golf: Mayakoba Classic, 1 p.m., Golf Channel
■ PGA Tour Champions Golf: Charles Schwab Cup
Championship, 4 p.m., Golf Channel
Harvick suffers
major setback
LARRY PAPKE I Associated Press
Kevin Harvick races into turn one during a NASCAR Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway,
Sunday, Nov. 4, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Driver stripped of berth in NASCAR title
race after winning car failed inspection
BY JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
Kevin Harvick’s bid for a
second NASCAR title suf
fered a massive setback
Wednesday when he was
stripped of his berth in
the championship race
because his winning car
failed inspection after
Texas Motor Speedway.
The discovery of an
illegally modified spoiler,
made during a
detailed post-race
inspection after
the No. 4 Ford
returned to NAS-
CAR’s Research
and Development
Center following
Sunday’s race,
negates the auto
matic berth Har
vick earned into
the final four. The rule
violated states that spoil
ers must be used exactly
as supplied from the manu
facturer and not altered.
On top of losing his spot
in next weekend’s finale at
Homestead-Miami Speed
way, Harvick must also
close out the final two races
of the season without crew
chief Rodney Childers and
car chief Robert Smith.
Both were suspended for
two races, and Childers
also was fined $75,000.
Harvick was docked 40
driver points, and Stewart-
Haas Racing was docked 40
owner points as well. Har
vick enters this weekend’s
race at Phoenix fourth
among the remaining
eight playoff drivers, three
points above the cutline.
Should there be a tie for the
final transfer spot, Harvick
would not be eligible to use
the Texas victory in the tie
breaking procedure.
Greg Zipadelli, vice
president of competition
at SHR, said the team will
not appeal the penalties.
Tony Gibson will be Har
vick’s interim crew chief
and Nick DeFazio will be
interim car chief.
“We work tirelessly
across every inch of
our race cars to create
speed and, unfortunately,
NASCAR determined we
ventured into an area not
accommodated by its rule
book,” Zipadelli said. “We
will not appeal the penalty.
Instead, we will direct our
immediate focus to this
weekend’s event in Phoe
nix and control our destiny
on the racetrack.”
Harvick’s win at Texas
was his series-leading
eighth in 2018 and qualified
him for Homestead along
with Joey Logano. Now,
three spots in the
finale will be up
for grabs Sunday
in Phoenix.
Harvick won the
2014 Cup Series
championship and
went to Phoenix
that season in a
must-win situation
to race for the title.
He pulled it off and
is a nine-time winner at
Phoenix, including earlier
this year.
Harvick has been in
NASCAR’s finale three of
the last four years.
The penalty is disas
trous for SHR, which went
into the third round of the
playoffs with all four of
its drivers eligible for the
championship. Logano
grabbed the first spot,
which meant the best SHR
could do was qualify three
cars for Homestead. Now,
SHR could wind up locked
out of the finale outright if
Harvick doesn’t advance
past Phoenix. Aric Almi-
rola, Kurt Busch and Clint
Bowyer are all below the
cutline and likely need to
win at Phoenix to advance.
The penalty against Har
vick also closes a rough
race for NASCAR, which
erroneously penalized
Jimmie Johnson moments
before the race began.
Johnson was sent to the
back of the field because
NASCAR believed his car
failed inspection three
times, but he had failed
only twice.
NASCAR announced the
mistake during the race
and said Monday it has
updated its procedures to
prevent a similar mistake
moving forward. Later in
the same event, Bowyer
was penalized for a crew
member being over the pit
road wall too early. The
crew member was sitting
on the wall with his feet
touching the asphalt on pit
road, which was a violation,
even if it seemed extreme.
Now Harvick’s team has
been rocked by a penalty
that may change the com
position of the final four
drivers racing for the title.
Harvick, along with Kyle
Busch and Martin Truex
Jr., is part of NASCAR’s so-
called Big Three that domi
nated the season through a
stretch of summer racing.
All three were expected
to race for the champion
ship, and none is qualified
for Homestead yet with one
race remaining.
“It is not our desire to
issue any penalties, but
we’ll do so when necessary
to ensure each race and
championship is contested
on a level playing field,”
said NASCAR senior vice
president of competition
Scott Miller. “We will now
return our focus to Phoe
nix, and the battle for a
championship.”
Also Wednesday, NAS
CAR penalized the teams
of Ryan Blaney and Erik
Jones, who already have
been eliminated from the
playoffs.
Blaney crew chief Jer
emy Bullins was fined
$50,000, and car chief Kirk
Almquist was suspended
for the next two races.
Jones crew chief Chris
Gayle was fined $50,000
and car chief Jason Over-
street was suspended the
next two races.
It took until Wednes
day for the penalties to be
announced because the
cars were in transit Mon
day from Texas to North
Carolina. Inspection was on
Tuesday, and the teams do
the actual teardown them
selves. Once the Harvick
violation was discovered
late Tuesday, NASCAR had
to examine whether the
violation was correct and
didn’t release its findings
until the next day.
Harvick
RED
■ Continued from 1B
the first time since 2015.
It’s a team that has a pen
chant for playing mistake-
free football, according to
Webb.
“They don’t turn it over,”
he said. “The quarterback’s
a solid football
player. He doesn’t
throw the ball up
for grabs. All of
his throws are
calculated.”
The Semi
nole’s combine
their clean style
of offense with a
hyper-aggressive
defense, and both
Webb and Williams empha
sized the important role
the Gainesville offensive
line will have to play in the
contest.
Williams said Creekside
often brings all-out blitzes,
opening up the potential
for the Red Elephants to hit
on explosive plays if they
can get the ball out quickly.
Any confusion among the
team’s trench players
could be catastrophic.
“Every offensive line
men, or every other person
we have back there help
ing block, we have to block
every single per
son, because they
blitz everybody,”
Williams said. “So
if one dude messes
up, that could eas
ily mess up the
whole play.”
Defensively,
Gainesville will
focus on stopping
the run and forc
ing Creekside to beat them
through the air. Webb —
who believes his defensive
line stacks up well against
just about any other unit
in the classification — said
the onus will be on the sec
ondary to keep the score
low. In his words, “the ball
is going to be in the air a
good bit.”
Webb said that if his
squad is going to have a shot
at advancing, the Red Ele
phants must avoid careless
turnovers and milk time of
possession whenever they
have the ball. After com
ing away with zero points
on two drives inside of
Lanier’s 20-yard line last
week in a four-point loss,
capitalizing whenever
they have chances will be
hugely important for the
Red Elephants.
“If we’re going to beat
them, we’ve got to take care
of the football, because
they are going to take care
of the football, and we’re
going to have to be able to
make one-on-one plays,”
Webb said. “That’s going to
be the key.”
Webb
