A preseason that’s just beginning for some players is already ending for others.
James Harden suited up in Houston for only the second time, with newcomer Christian Wood getting his first — and only — action in a strong debut. The Rockets’ 128-106 victory over San Antonio on Thursday was the finale of their four-game exhibition slate, so the rest of their preparation for the regular season will have to come in practices.
That’s not ideal for a rookie coach such as Stephen Silas, but it isn’t much easier even for a veteran like the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, whose team was playing its last of three games.
“I would think any coach would say he’s said he was more ready in the past,” Popovich said.
The Rockets looked more ready Thursday, with Wood finishing with 27 points and 10 rebounds in his first action since leaving Detroit for Houston. Harden had 20 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and a pretty between-the-legs pass to his new big man, and Eric Gordon scored 23 points.
It was Wood’s first game action since March but he’s not worried about needing more time to get ready.
“I’m ready right now,” he said.
Before, there was more time between the opening of training camps and the start of the regular season, more opportunities to schedule games. This time, with everything shortened because of the coronavirus pandemic, four tune-up games is all anyone could get, and some opted for only half that.
Popovich said that’s prevented coaches from putting in all the schemes they want, and Silas was more concerned with keeping his players healthy than strategy, anyway. He rested newcomers DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall.
Wall’s old team, the Washington Wizards, got Bradley Beal on the floor for the first time but are still waiting to see Russell Westbrook, who was swapped for Wall.
Preseason play ends Saturday after barely a week of action. Coaches will then have just a couple days from there to finalize rosters before real games begin.
“Fortunately everybody’s in the same boat, so there’s nobody ahead of anybody else,” Popovich said.
Thursday’s games:
ROCKETS 128, SPURS 106
At Houston, Bruno Caboclo chipped in 12 points off the bench as Houston finished 3-1. The Rockets led by as much as 34 points.
DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points for the Spurs, who finished 0-3. Rookie Devin Vassell had 18 points off the bench, Dejounte Murray added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Patty Mills scored 16 points.
LaMarcus Aldridge shot 3 for 12, missing all five 3-point attempts, and had six points for the Spurs.
WARRIORS 113, KINGS 109
At Sacramento, Stephen Curry scored 16 of his 29 points in the third quarter.
Curry was 6 for 13 from 3-point range and added six assists, while Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 22 points for the Warriors (2-1).
Harrison Barnes scored 19 points for the Kings (2-2). Hassan Whiteside had 12 points and nine rebounds, but De’Aaron Fox endured a 3-for-17 shooting night en route to his eight points and 13 assists. He missed all seven 3-point attempts.
PISTONS 97, WIZARDS 86
At Washington, Josh Jackson scored 17 points off the bench for Detroit.
Jerami Grant scored 15 points and Delon Wright added 13 as the Pistons (2-1) led by as much as 26 points.
Beal scored 10 points in 16 minutes. Troy Brown Jr. led Washington (0-2) with 14 points.
JAZZ 125, CLIPPERS 105
At Salt Lake City, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson each made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Jazz.
Donovan Mitchell had 15 points and eight assists, while Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley each added 12 points for Utah (3-0).
Paul George scored 16 points and Kawhi Leonard had 13 for the Clippers (0-3).
GRIZZLIES 128, HAWKS 106
At Atlanta, Ja Morant had 18 points and 13 assists for the Grizzlies (3-0). Dillon Brooks led Memphis with 24 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Kyle Anderson had 11 points and seven rebounds as Memphis made 19 3-pointers.
De’Andre Hunter scored 22 points for the Hawks (1-2). Trae Young shot 4 for 15 and finished with 15 points and six assists, and Clint Capela had 13 points and nine rebounds.
HORNETS 123, MAGIC 115
At Orlando, Terry Rozier scored 20 points and rookie LaMelo Ball came off the bench to add 18 more.
Devonte’ Graham also had 18 for the Hornets (1-2), while Miles Bridges finished with 17. Charlotte made 18 3-pointers, with Ball and Graham knocking down four apiece.
Nikola Vucevic had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic. Markelle Fultz added 14 points, six rebounds and six assists.
TIMBERWOLVES 129, MAVERICKS 127, OT
At Dallas, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 20 points and long afterward the Timberwolves held on to win when 7-foot-4 centre Boban Marjanovic missed a potential winning 3-pointer.
Malik Beasley had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves (1-2), who also got 18 points from Jarrett Culver. No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards came off the bench for 17 points.
Luka Doncic had 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Mavericks, though he missed all six 3-point attempts and went 6 for 18 overall. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 18 points in the first preseason loss for Dallas (2-1).
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
