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SPORTS
Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com
Unties
gainesvilletimes.com
Monday, November 26, 2018
JOHN BAZEMORE I The Associated Press
Atlanta United defender Greg Garza, right, controls the ball as
New York Red Bulls midfielder Alex Muyl (19) defends In the
second half of Sunday’s MLS playoff game at Mercedes Benz
Stadium in Atlanta.
MLS I Atlanta United 3, NY Red Bulls 0
Five Stripes dominate
Atlanta 90 minutes away from championship series berth
Associated Press
After the final whistle blew, the
Atlanta players lingered in the middle
of the pitch, doling out hugs and soak
ing up the cheers of more than 70,000
fans.
Everyone knew this was a huge step
toward the MLS Cup.
Everyone knew how much this
meant to a city that has known so
much sporting heartbreak.
Josef Martinez, Franco Escobar
and Hector Villalba scored for Atlanta
United to lead a 3-0 rout of the Sup
porters’ Shield-winning New York Red
Bulls in the opening leg of the Eastern
Conference final Sunday.
“We’ve just raised our game,”
captain Michael Parkhurst said.
“We’ve raised the energy, the desire,
the fight.”
Atlanta has a huge edge heading
into the second leg Thursday night in
Harrison, New Jersey. The winner of
the two-game, cumulative-goals series
will host the MLS Cup final Dec. 8
against either Portland or Sporting
Kansas City.
In just its second season and already
wildly popular, United is hoping to
give Atlanta its first pro sports champi
onship since the Braves won the 1995
World Series. That remains the city’s
lone major title, its history defined
mostly by performance such as the
Falcons squandering a 25-point lead in
the Super Bowl.
United at Red Bulls
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
TV: Fox Sports 1
“Play with passion,” Parkhurst said.
“Play for the city.”
Before a crowd of 70,016 at Mer
cedes-Benz Stadium, United defeated
the Red Bulls for the first time in fran
chise history after three losses and
a draw in their previous meetings.
Atlanta also got a bit of redemption
after losing the Supporters’ Shield to
New York on the final day of the regu
lar season.
Of course, it’s not over yet.
■ Please see UNITED, 2B
GEORGIA
BULLDOGS
Chance to
knock off
the best
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart talks to
his players during Saturday’s game against
Georgia Tech in Athens.
No. 4 Bulldogs gear
up for No. 1 Tide
Associated Press
Hello again, Georgia and Alabama.
For the second time in less than 11
months, the two Southeastern Confer
ence powers are set to meet at Atlanta’s
Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a champion
ship on the line in a mentor-versus-protege
coaching showdown. Tua Tagovailoa’s
back, too, this time as anything but an
understudy.
Kirby Smart’s fourth-ranked Georgia
Bulldogs (11-1, 7-1 SEC) get another crack
at Nick Saban and No. 1 Alabama (12-0,
8-0) on Saturday in the SEC championship
game. They put on quite a show in an over
time thriller with a national title on the line
back in January.
Tagovailoa came off the bench to lead
a second-half comeback
and returns as perhaps
the Heisman Trophy
front-runner.
A rematch almost
seemed inevitable with
both teams clearly the
cream of their divisions.
But Smart says the Ala
bama rematch couldn’t
be a focal point because
“certainly both teams
had to win some football games to get to it.”
That future-oriented mentality wouldn’t
fit The Process, Saban’s acclaimed meth
odology that Smart absorbed as his long
time assistant at Alabama, LSU and the
NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
“I’ve never been around really good
teams that are focused on other teams,”
Smart said. “The good teams I’ve been
around are focusing on whoever they play
that week. And it’s really not been different
for us this year.
“We’ve really tried to hone in on what
we’ve got to do and what we’ve got to do
to get better. Our concern can’t be with
‘Bama all year. We wouldn’t be here. It’s a
concern now because we’ve got to go play
them.”
Both teams dispatched their in-state
rivals with relative ease leading up to this
game. Georgia raced to a 38-7 halftime
lead in a 45-21 win over Georgia Tech. The
Tide struggled in the first half but ran away
from Auburn, 52-21.
■ Please see GEORGIA, 2B
SEC Championship
When: 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Mercedes Benz Stadium,
Atlanta
TV: CBS
Tagavailoa
Watson looking to make it 8
ALEX BRANDON I The Associated Press
Houston Texans quarterback and Gainesville High graduate Deshaun Watson takes the field during the game against the Washington
Redskins on Nov. 18 in Landover, Maryland.
Gainesville High grad behind all the
sustained success for Houston Texans
Associated Press
Gainesville High graduate
Deshaun Watson is one of the
leading catalysts behind the
Houston Texans’ seven-game
winning streak heading into
tonight’s matchup against the
Tennessee Titans.
Behind the second-year
quarterback Watson, the Tex
ans have matched a franchise
record for most consecutive
wins and are the first team
since the 1925 New York
Giants to win seven straight
games after opening a season
0-3. Despite this impressive
streak, they’re far from sat
isfied and know they’ll have
to continue to improve to get
their eighth win in a row when
they host the Tennessee Titans
on Monday night.
“We understand that it’s
going to be tough each and
every week, and we under
stand that all 31 other teams
don’t really care what we’ve
done in the past,” Watson said.
“It’s about what we do this
week. We don’t believe in the
hype. We just grind and go out
there and prepare and try to
play our hardest to get a win.”
Coach Bill O’Brien agreed
with Watson and said he
stresses to his players that
things could go downhill
quickly if they focus on what
they’ve already done instead
of worrying about their next
opponent.
“You’re always looking to
improve. No doubt about it,”
he said. “I think that’s what
the league’s all about. Who can
get better the fastest, who can
be the team that improves the
fastest as the year goes on? I
think every game there’s going
to be chances for improve
ment, and we definitely have
to improve.”
The Texans, who lost to Ten
nessee in Week 2, have a two-
game lead in the AFC South
over the Titans and Colts, who
are both 5-5.
Houston beat the Redskins
23-21 last week for its second
straight two-point win after
downing the Broncos 19-17
on Nov. 4 before its bye. The
Titans have had an up-and-
down two weeks after beating
New England 34-10 on Nov.
11 before Indianapolis routed
them 38-10 last week.
I Texans vs. Titans
When: 8:15 p.m. tonight
TV: ESPN
“The Houston Texans are
a true example of handling
adversity and moving forward.
They lost 3 in a row early
on, everybody thought their
season was over and all of a
sudden they’re on top of the
division and might be fighting
for a bye depending on where
they’re going,” Tennessee
linebacker Brian Orakpo said.
“They’re on our schedule now.
We lost one, chance to redeem
ourselves.”
Some things to know about
Tennessee’s Monday night
visit to Houston:
PROTECT THE QB
Marcus Mariota was sacked
four times in the first half
alone before being knocked
■ Please see WATSON, 3B
NBA
Hawks snap losing
streak with 124-123
win against Hornets
John Collins had 23 points
and 11 rebounds and blocked
Kemba Walker’s runner as time
expired, helping the Atlanta
Hawks snap a 10-game losing
streak with a 124-123 victory
over the Charlotte Hornets on
Sunday night.
Walker, the NBA’s second-
leading scorer, hit a jumper to
put Charlotte up by one with
47.5 seconds remaining, but he
committed a shot-clock
turnover on the next
possession and finished
7 for 23 from the field
for 22 points.
Kent Bazemore
scored 20 points and
hit the go-ahead bas
ket for Atlanta, taking
an inbound pass and
driving down the left side past
Dwayne Bacon for a layup with
4.6 seconds to go.
Malik Monk tied a career
high with 26 points, and Marvin
Williams added a season-high
13 rebounds and chipped in 20
points for the Hornets.
Collins had three
hard dunks in the
fourth, the last one
coming in front of
Walker to make it
122-119 with 1:26
remaining.
His athletic putback
with 2:46 left kept the
Hawks leading by two,
but his biggest play was stop
ping Walker in the lane to help
the rebuilding Hawks to a rare
victory.
The Hawks began the game
with NBA’s worst record and
had the league’s worst defense
its 10-game skid, allowing an
averaging of nearly 117 points.
Charlotte was the ninth oppo
nent to score at least 40 in the
first quarter against Atlanta.
Trae Young finished with 18
points, and the Hawks got 16
each from Taurean Prince and
De Andre’ Bembry.
Charlotte took its biggest
lead at 13 on Bridges’ layup in
the first minute of the second
quarter.
The Hawks tied it at 60-all on
Prince’s 3 at the 2-minute mark.
The Hornets were up one enter
ing the third.
Walker was just 3 for 14 when
he hit a 3 to make it 82-73.
Bazemore
