About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2020)
2B Wednesday, February 19,2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS SUNDAY’S NBA ALL-STAR GAME MLB Davis able to carry Team LeBron to 157-155 win Associated Press NAM HUH I The Associated Press LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers dribbles past Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors during the first half of the NBA All-Star game Sunday in Chicago. Manfred owns mistake CURTIS COMPTON I The Associated Press Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred pauses before answering a question about the Houston Astros, during a news conference at the Atlanta Braves’ spring training facility Sunday in North Port, Fla. Commissioner said it was wrong to call World Series trophy just a piece of metal’ Associated Press Players were taking charges, bodies were hitting the floor, calls and non-calls were being screamed about on both ends. The fourth quarter of the NBA All-Star Game was as intense as the final moments of a playoff game, the biggest stars in the league holding absolutely nothing back. And in the end, Anthony Davis was a hometown hero by making a free throw. Kobe Bryant — ever the competitor — would have simply loved the way this night went. “That was pretty damn fun,” a sweat-soaked, exhausted LeBron James said at the end. Davis made a game ending free throw to give Team LeBron a 157-155 win over Team Giannis in the revamped NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night, the format overhauled to put in elements for charity and ensure that someone was going to hit a shot to end the game. That someone was Davis, the Chicago native who missed the first free throw and made the second to end the NBA’s midseason show case that went down as the closest All-Star Game since the Eastern Conference topped the Western Confer ence 141-139 in 2010. Kawhi Leonard, the game’s MVP and the first recipient of the trophy now named for Bryant, scored 30 points for Team LeBron, while James — his team’s captain — and Chris Paul each scored 23, and Davis finished with 20. “This one’s for him,” Leonard said, speaking of Bryant afterward. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who captained his team, led his squad with 25 points, EAGLES ■ Continued from 1B serious matchup problem for a comparatively outsized Riverside Military squad. “They do have a couple players that are really, Racing/NASCAR Daytona 500 Monday’s results At Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Fla. (Starting position in parentheses) 1. (21) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 209. 2. (27) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 209. 3. (19) Chris Buescher, Ford, 209. 4. (30) David Ragan, Ford, 209. 5. (10) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 209. 6. (29) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 209. 7. (39) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 209. 8. (36) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 209. 9. (7) Ryan Newman, Ford, 209. 10. (8) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 209. 11. (23) John Hunter Nemechek, Ford, 209. 12. (13) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 209. 13. (33) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 209. 14. (26) Michael McDowell, Ford, 209. 15. (11) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 209. 16. (34) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 209. 17. (25) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 209. 18. (14) Erik Jones, Toyota, 208. 19. (16) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 207. 20. (1) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 206. 21. (17) Christopher Bell, Toyota, Accident, 205. 22. (5) Aric Almirola, Ford, 205. 23. (37) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 203. 24. (2) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 203. 25. (20) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 201. 26. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 200. 27. (32) Timmy Hill, Ford, Accident, 200. 28. (22) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Accident, 199. 29. (31) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, Accident, 198. 30. (24) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 198. 31. (40) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Accident, 192. 32. (15) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, Accident, 186. 33. (18) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 184. 34. (28) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Engine, 184. 35. (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Accident, 184. 36. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 183. 37. (12) Cole Custer, Ford, Rear End, 174. 38. (38) BJ McLeod, Ford, Accident, 105. 39. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, Accident, 89. 40. (4) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 58. Average Speed of Race Winner: 141.11 mph. Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 42 Mins, 10 Secs. Margin of Victory: .014 Seconds. Caution Flags: 9 for 39 laps. Lead Changes: 23 among 13 drivers. Lap Leaders: R. Stenhouse Jr. 0;R. Stenhouse Jr. 1-23;M. McDowell 24;B. Keselowski 25-28;A. Almirola 29-30;B. Keselowski 31-38;R. Newman 39;A. Almirola 40-43;C. Elliott 44-66;A. Bowman 67;D. Hamlin 68-92;C. LaJoie 93;D. Hamlin 94-135;R. Blaney 136;R. Stenhouse Jr. 137;R. Blaney 138-140;K. Busch 141-148;B. Keselowski 149-163;J. Logano 164-169;J. Johnson 170-172;A. Bowman 173-174;K. Busch 175-180;B. Keselowski 181 -183;R. Newman 184-197;D. Hamlin 198-209. Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Denny Hamlin 3 times for 79 laps; Brad Keselowski 4 times for 30 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2 times for 24 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 23 laps; Ryan Newman 2 times for 15 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 14 laps; Aric Almirola 2 times for 6 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 6 laps; Ryan Blaney 2 times for 4 laps; Alex Bowman 2 times for 3 laps; Jimmie Johnson 1 time for 3 laps; Corey LaJoie 1 time for 1 lap; Michael McDowell 1 time for 1 lap. Kemba Walker had 23 for Team Giannis, Joel Embiid scored 22 and Rudy Gobert added 21. “I think it was really inter esting,” said Team Giannis coach Nick Nurse of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors. The finish was frantic, and then some. James tried a layup that would have put his team one point away — it was blocked by Antetok ounmpo, called a goaltend at first but ruled a clean block after review. Team LeB ron controlled the resulting jump ball and James tried a 40-footer to end it but missed. James Harden then had a chance to win it for Team LeBron, and his 3-pointer went in — but it was waved off by Kyle Lowry taking a charge against the NBA’s scoring leader. James got a dunk not long afterward to make it 156- 153, and Embiid made two free throws to cut Team LeBron’s lead to one. With that, it was next-bas- ket-wins time. “Really cool,” Nurse said. really good,” he said. Scoring will obviously be important for both sides, but Latham said the game really comes down to who can exe cute better on the defensive side of the ball. When the Eagles are at their best, they are chaining together stop after stop and Transactions BASEBALL National League LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Assigned RHP Mitchell White outright to Oklahoma City (PCL). SAN DIEGO PADRES — Agreed to terms with 2B Gordon Beckham and OF Juan Lagares on minor league contracts. BASKETBALL National Basketball Association ATLANTA HAWKS — Transferred F Charlie Brown Jr. to College Park (NBAGL). SAN ANTONIO SPURS — Waived F DeMarre Carroll. NBA G League WESTCHESTER KNICKS — Acquired G Nate Hickman from the available player pool. FOOTBALL National Football League ARIZONA CARDINALS — Re-signed OL D.J. Humphries to a three-year contract. ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed P Ryan Allen and PK Younghoe Koo to one-year contract extensions. CLEVELAND BROWNS — Named Jason Tarver linebackers coach. PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Named Ike Hilliard wide receivers coach. Canadian Football League EDMONTON ESKIMOS — Signed DB Kieron Williams. WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS — Signed LB Micah Awe to a two-year contract and LB Jontrell Rocquemore and DB Josh Miller. HOCKEY National Hockey League NEW YORK RANGERS — Traded D Joey Keane to Carolina for F Julien Gauthier. SAN JOSE SHARKS — Traded D Brenden Dillon to Washington for a 2020 second-round draft pick and a conditional 2021 third-round draft pick. SOCCER Major League Soccer ATLANTA UNITED — Signed F Phillip Goodrum to a short-term agreement.Promoted academy goalkeeper coach Liam Curran to first team goalkeeper coach. CINCINNATI — Announced the resignation of coach Ron Jans. Named Yoann Damet interim coach. DALLAS — Signed D Nkosi Burgess. SEATTLE SOUNDERS — Re-signed D Alex Roldan. TENNIS World TeamTennis WTT — Announced it is adding an expansion franchise to Chicago, to be called the Chicago Smash. COLLEGE CHOWAN — Named Colin Neely defensive coordinator. NEW MEXICO — Named Jordan Salkin quar terbacks coach and Jerome Haywood defensive line coach. Announced defensive coordina tor Rocky Long will also coach linebackers. Reassigned David Howes to safeties coach, Troy Reffett to cornerbacks coach, Brandon Blackmon recdeivers coach and Jordan Somerville to running backs coach. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Named Vic So’oto defensive line coach. TENNESSEE — Named Steve Caldwell assistant director of life skills and character development. Davis was fouled on the next trip, got the free throw to win it, and that was that. “I told my team I was going to miss the first one to put a little more pressure on myself here at home,” Davis said. James’ team wore blue jerseys, all with the No. 2 for Gianna Bryant. Antetok- ounmpo’s team wore red, every player wearing No. 24 on the back for Kobe Bryant. And on their right shoulders was a black circular patch with nine stars, one for each victim of the helicop ter crash that took the lives of Bryant, his daughter and their seven friends on Jan. 26. And with the new rules, the teams went at it in the fourth: Antetokounmpo got out to block a shot by James, Lowry took a charge from his former Toronto team mate in Leonard, elbows got up in collisions for rebound positioning, Paul was screaming encouragement to Team LeBron teammates in a time-out — all adding up to an intensity hardly ever seen in All-Star Games. taking advantage of scoring opportunities in transition. “We’ve just got to get our stops in bunches and play who we are,” Latham said. “We’re going to press. We’re going to mix it up on them. We’re going to show some zone and then jump into man.” Basketball/NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pet GB Toronto 40 15 .727 — Boston 38 16 .704 1 1 / 2 Philadelphia 34 21 .618 6 Brooklyn 25 28 .472 14 New York 17 38 .309 23 Southeast Division W L Pet GB Miami 35 19 .648 — Orlando 24 31 .436 11 1 / 2 Washington 20 33 .377 14 1 / 2 Charlotte 18 36 .333 17 Atlanta 15 41 .268 21 Central Division W L Pet GB Milwaukee 46 8 .852 — Indiana 32 23 .582 14 1 / 2 Chicago 19 36 .345 27 1 / 2 Detroit 19 38 .333 28 1 / 2 Cleveland 14 40 .259 32 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pet GB Houston 34 20 .630 — Dallas 33 22 .600 1 1 / 2 Memphis 28 26 .519 6 San Antonio 23 31 .426 11 New Orleans 23 32 .418 11 1 / 2 Northwest Division W L Pet GB Denver 38 17 .691 — Utah 36 18 .667 1 1 / 2 Oklahoma City 33 22 .600 5 Portland 25 31 .446 13 1 / 2 Minnesota 16 37 .302 21 Pacific Division W L Pet GB L.A. Lakers 41 12 .774 — L.A. Clippers 37 18 .673 5 Phoenix 22 33 .400 20 Sacramento 21 33 .389 20 1 / 2 Golden State 12 43 .218 30 Today’s Games No games scheduled. Thursday’s Games Milwaukee at Detroit, 7 p.m. Miami at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Brooklyn at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. Charlotte at Chicago, 8 p.m. Memphis at Sacramento, 10 p.m. Houston at Golden State, 10:30 p.m. Friday’s Games Cleveland at Washington, 7 p.m. Dallas at Orlando, 7 p.m. Indiana at New York, 7:30 p.m. Phoenix at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. Boston at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Denver at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. San Antonio at Utah, 9 p.m. Memphis at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m. New Orleans at Portland, 10:30 p.m. Basketball/college Men’s Top 25 schedule Today’s Games No. 6 Duke at N.C. State, 9 p.m. No. 11 Louisville vs. Syracuse, 7 p.m. No. 12 Villanova at DePaul, 9 p.m. No. 13 Auburn at Georgia, 7 p.m. No. 16 Seton Hall vs. No. 21 Butler, 6:30 p.m. No. 22 Houston vs. Tulsa, 9 p.m. Thursday’s Games No. 2 Gonzaga vs. San Francisco, 11 p.m. No. 14 Oregon at Arizona State, 9 p.m. No. 18 Colorado vs. Southern Cal, 9 p.m. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred apologized Tues day for what he called a disrespectful reference to the World Series trophy as a “piece of metal.” Even before being asked about it, Manfred said he made a mistake with those comments while trying to deliver a rhetorical point in an interview two days earlier. “I referred to the World Series trophy in a disrespect ful way, and I want to apolo gize for it,” Manfred said. “There’s no excuse for it. .. It was a mistake to say what I said.” MLB players, already upset with Manfred’s han dling of the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and some of his comments in try ing to explain it, became fur ther infuriated by his “piece of metal” comment during a lengthy interview with ESPN on Sunday, the same day he spoke in Florida. Even NBA superstar LeBron James joined the anti-Astros chorus, voicing his anger on social media Tuesday. While speaking at the Cactus League media day in the Arizona desert, Manfred also pledged Tuesday to pro tect Oakland right-hander Mike Fiers, the ex-Astros pitcher who became the whistleblower when he went public in November to The Athletic. “We will take every pos sible step to protect Mike Fiers wherever he’s playing, BRAVES ■ Continued from 1B rebuild, averaging 159 games played his first four seasons. In 2018, Markakis finally made his first All-Star Game. A year earlier, had had become the 10th active player to reach 2,000 hits (he currently has 2,355). These doubts, born of encroaching age and a search for more pop in the lineup, may be more diffi cult to address. When the Braves imported Marcell Ozuna to play leftfield and to fill the lineup hole left by the departure of Josh Donald son, that further muddied the water for Markakis. Last season, after missing 43 games with a fractured wrist, he appeared in 116 games, hitting .285 with nine home runs and 62 RBI. This season, the Braves LeBron gives raw opinion on Astros cheating scandal LeBron James is stepping to the plate for ballplayers furious over baseball Com missioner Rob Manfred’s handling of the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scam. The four-time NBA MVP and star with the Los Ange les Lakers unleashed in two tweets Tuesday, echoing calls for harsher punish ments made by baseball stars Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, among others. “Listen I know I don’t play baseball but I am in Sports and I know if some one cheated me out of win- whether it’s in Houston or somewhere else,” Manfred said. “Mike did the industry a service.” The Astros play their first road game of the regular season March 30 at the A’s, who won 97 games each of the past two years to finish second to Houston in the AL West both times. Cubs lefty Jon Lester, a three-time World Series champion — with the Bos ton Red Sox in 2007 and 2013, and Chicago in 2016 — had some choice words for the commissioner earlier Tuesday. “That’s somebody that has never played our game. You play for a reason, you play for that piece of metal. I’m very proud of the three that I have,” Lester said at Cubs camp in Mesa, Arizona. “If that’s the way he feels, then he needs to take his name off the trophy.” Lester said the first thing he shows visitors at his house is the displayed tro phies he has won. “I’m proud of them. That’s a lot of years, a lot of hard work. You can’t just bring it down like that,” the five time All-Star said. Manfred, after meeting with the general managers and managers of teams that train in Arizona, said he has taken great pleasure in pre senting the past five World Series championship tro phies since he became the commissioner. James sent a two-part tweet Tuesday imploring Manfred to listen to the upset players. The three- declined his option and then re-signed him. He made $11 million last season. Between a buyout and salary, he’ll make $6 million this season. A big cut, but he’s still not likely to need government assistance. Markakis says he begrudges neither the Braves nor Ozuna one little thing. “They’re trying to do everything to make this team win as many ball- games as they can and go as deep as you can in the post season,” he said Tuesday. “No hard feelings. (Ozuna’s) a teammate, he’s here to help us win and we’re happy to have him. I didn’t like him last year in the playoffs (as he abused the Braves in the NLDS), but we’re glad to have him.” As for his own spring plans, when not discovering all that untapped power of his voice, “I’m just going to do my thing,” he said. “Snit’s going to make the ning the title and I found out about it I would be .. irate!” James tweeted. “I mean like uncontrollable about what I would/could do! Listen here baseball commissioner listen to your.... players speaking today about how disgusted, mad, hurt, bro ken, etc etc about this.” James’ tweets included the hashtag #JustMyThoughtsCom- ingF rom ASportsJ unkieRe- gardlessMyOwnSportlPlay” Manfred issued a report last month detailing Hous ton’s cheating scheme dur ing its 2017 World Series championship season involv ing a video monitor and a trash can located near the team’s home dugout. Man ager AJ Hinch and general time NBA champion and four-time MVP said he would be irate and uncon trollable if he found out he had been cheated out of a championship, punctuat ing his comment with an asterisk-filled expletive, and adding the hashtag #JustMyThoughtsComing- FromASportsJunkieRegard- lessMyOwnSportlPlay. “Listen here baseball commissioner listen to your. ...players speaking today about how disgusted, mad, hurt, broken, etc etc about this,” James wrote in part, adding, “you need to fix this for the sake of Sports!” Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis spoke out earlier Tuesday, saying he believed the commissioner had completely mishandled the situation with the Astros and that “every single guy over there deserves a beating.” Manfred suspended Hous ton manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luh- now for one season for the team’s actions in using video to steal catcher’s signs in 2017 and 2018, and the pair were fired by Astros owner Jim Crane. Manfred fined the Astros $5 million and stripped them of their next two first- and second-round draft picks. Players were not disci plined and their 2017 World Series title remained intact. Dozens of big leaguers have criticized the penal ties as being too lax, includ ing Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout, NL MVP Cody Bellinger, and All-Star pitch ers Yu Darvish of the Cubs and Trevor Bauer of the Reds. Manfred said he’s never seen so much “commentary from players about other players.” lineup every day. I just got to worry about helping this team out any way I can to win as many ballgames as I can. Whether it’s being in there every day or getting a lot more days off, that’s up to them. We’ll go from there and I’ll go about my business like I always do.” Snitker is careful about how he casts Markakis’ potential role here at the start of camp. He is going to get a full springtime to show what he has left. The team has made it clear to him that its doesn’t see him as a regular. But at the same time, the manager says, “Is he capable (of play ing every day)? Absolutely. No doubt in my mind. I look at him I don’t know if that guy ever ages. But the situations have changed and that’s what we’re going to use spring training for to try to decide how we’re going to go. A lot of things can happen.” manager Jeff Luhnow were banned for one year by the league and subsequently fired by Houston. The only player mentioned in the report was since-retired Carlos Beltran, who lost his job managing the New York Mets in fallout from the scandal. No other play ers have been punished because Manfred promised them immunity as part of the league’s investigation. The Astros staged a team wide apology last week at the start of spring training, but many players from the 29 other clubs say Hous ton’s remorse felt insincere. Rather than opening spring camps with sunny optimism as usual, baseball. Associated Press TODAY ON TV BASKETBALL ■ Butler at Seton Hall, 6:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 ■ Syracuse at Louisville, 7 p.m., ESPN ■ Auburn at Georgia, 7 p.m., ESPN2 ■ UCF at Cincinnati, 7 p.m., ESPNU ■ Providence at Georgetown, 8:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 ■ Duke at North Carolina State, 9 p.m., ESPN ■ Kansas State at Texas Tech, 9 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Tulsa at Houston, 9 p.m., ESPNU
