Page 18 - aruba-today-20180421

A18 SPORTS
Saturday 21 april 2018
Pacers erase 17-point deficit to take 2-1 lead over Cavs

By MICHAEL MAROT After the Pacers cut the since James returned in
AP Sports Writer 57-40 halftime deficit to 69- 2015. ... Love finished with
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The 63 at the end of three, the 19 points and six rebounds
Indiana Pacers kept insist- Pacers continued to apply despite playing with an in-
ing this team was different. pressure and eventually jured left thumb. ... George
Anyone who doubted Bogdanovic finally broke Hill scored nine points in the
them coming into the play- through with a four-point first quarter and finished
offs understands now. play that gave Indiana an with 13. ... James has 12
On Friday, the one-year 81-77 lead with 6:10 left. straight double-doubles
anniversary of a historic It was Indiana’s first lead against the Pacers. He also
playoff collapse against since midway through the played in his 221st career
Cleveland, Indiana flipped first quarter. playoff game to move past
the script by rallying from He was far from finished. Kobe Bryant for No. 6 on
a 17-point halftime deficit Bogdanovic knocked the career list.
and held on for a 92-90 vic- down another 3 to make it Pacers: Have won only two
tory over the Cavaliers to a seven-point game. of their last seven playoff
take a 2-1 lead in the best- Then, after James coun- games against the Cavs.
of-seven series. They can tered with seven straight to ... Indiana is now 12-3 in
take command of the se- tie the score, Bogdanovic games decided by three
ries by winning Sunday on scored on a layup and hit or fewer points this season.
their home court. his final 3 before Young’s ... The Pacers have rallied
“Last year’s team, I don’t layup made it 91-84 with 53 from deficits of 15 or more
know if we would have seconds to go. points nine times. ... Bog-
gone down 17, I don’t know James and Kevin Love danovic tied the Pacers’
if we would have over- made back-to-back 3s to playoff record for 3s made,
come it,” forward Thad- make it 91-90, and Cleve- which was done four other
deus Young said. “But this land got one more chance times.
team, we’ve been resilient after Darren Collison missed TEMPERS FLARE
all year. We’ve overcome Indiana Pacers’ Victor Oladipo (4) shoots in front of Cleveland the second free throw with Indiana’s fans booed the
adversity.” Cavaliers’ LeBron James during the second half of Game 3 of a 5 seconds left. refs loudly throughout the
And on Friday they did it first-round NBA basketball playoff series Friday, April 20, 2018, in But J.R. Smith’s 38-foot first half. Then they really
against a Cavaliers team Indianapolis. Indiana won 92-90. heave came up short. got upset after watching
that was 39-0 in the regular Associated Press “It’s great to be on the oth- Oladipo crash hard to the
season when leading after joined Michael Jordan as “We were more aggres- er end,” Myles Turner said. floor on the final play of the
three quarters. the only players in league sive in the first half. We had “You never want to get half.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored history with 100 double- tempo, they didn’t,” James down that far and have to No foul was called and
19 of his playoff career-high doubles in the postseason. said. “Then they were more try and come back. To be Oladipo slapped the floor
30 points in the second half, Jordan had 109. James al- aggressive in the second down in that position is not before getting up and
finishing 7 of 9 on 3-point- most single-handedly ral- half, they had tempo, and ideal. The resiliency of this complaining.
ers. Victor Oladipo added lied his team twice from we didn’t.” team, it’s unbelievable.” If that wasn’t enough to up-
18 points, six rebounds and seven-point deficits in the Young is one of the few TIP-INS set the crowd, Larry Nance
seven assists. Bogdanovic final 3½ minutes. players still around from the Cavaliers: Have lost five of Jr. walked over and started
also spent most of the The three-time defend- record-breaking, 26-point seven to the Pacers and yelling at Oladipo. That’s
game defending LeBron ing Eastern Conference collapse last year, which are 0-3 in Indianapolis this when Young stepped in
James, who finished with 28 champs were outscored is one reason coach Nate season. ... Cleveland is and tried to peacemaker.
points, 12 rebounds, eight 52-33 over the final 24 min- McMillan has continually 37-7 in the playoffs against Nobody was called for a
assists and six turnovers. He utes. opted not to discuss it. Eastern Conference teams technical foul.q

Touchdown Bucks!

Packers’ Rodgers buys

into NBA team

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Green team.
Bay Packers quarterback Sitting next to girlfriend
Aaron Rodgers has joined Danica Patrick and Bucks
the ownership group of the co-owner Wes Edens, Rod-
NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks as gers received a warm wel-
a limited partner. come from the sold-out
The Bucks made the an- crowd when his face was
nouncement Friday night shown on the video board
between the first and sec- at the Bradley Center.
ond quarters of Game 3 of Rodgers in a statement
their Eastern Conference says the opportunity is a
playoff series against the “dream come true” for him.
Boston Celtics. The Bucks A big fan of the NBA, Rodg-
Danica Patrick talks to Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers during the first half of Game 3 of an
NBA basketball first-round playoff series between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics say that Rodgers is the only ers has also cheered on the
Friday, April 20, 2018, in Milwaukee. active NFL player to be a Wisconsin Badgers in the
Associated Press limited partner of an NBA NCAA Tournament.q