Jazz wins NBA’s emotional return
The 2019-20 NBA season is officially back. On Thursday night, the Utah Jazz opened the action with an impressive 106104 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Down by as much as 16, the Jazz battled back in the second half and held on for the win after Brandon Ingram’s late attempt from beyond the arc didn’t fall.
But while basketball is important, the action off the court is as well. As expected, everyone from both teams kneeled for the national anthem before the game.
As the sound of New Orleans musician Jon Batiste playing the “Star-Spangled Banner” on the piano filled the arena, the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz knelt along the sideline behind the words “Black Lives Matter” printed on the court.
Players wore shirts with the same message. Coaches, team staff and the referees joined them as well. They put their arms around each other’s shoulders through the length of the song.
It was a movement led by NBA players who entered the league’s restart wanting to find ways to speak about and discuss messages of social justice and racism. The Jazz and Pelicans were the first team to play in a nationally televised doubleheader ahead of the Lakers and
Clippers.
Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to lead the Jazz with 23 points. His energy and ability to get into the paint was key to getting Utah back into the game. Donovan Mitchell and
Mike Conley each added 20 points. The Pelicans were led by
Brandon Ingram, who went for 23 points and eight rebounds.
Zion Williamson was in the Pelicans’ starting lineup just two days after practicing for the first time in two weeks; he scored 13 points in 15 minutes.
Elsewhere: Tom Thibodeau, a former Coach of the Year Award winner, became the latest in the revolving door of Knicks coaches, whose hiring was announced at a Zoom news conference Thursday. Thibodeau will become the team’s eighth coach since 2011.
ETC.
Golf: Defending champion Brooks Koepka made it look easy in the first round of the World Golf ChampionshipsFedEx St. Jude Invitational, displaying the bravado that brings out his best when conditions are toughest. Koepka matched his career-low round with a 62 Thursday at TPC Southwind. It gave him a twoshot lead over Rickie Fowler and Brendon Todd. Koepka has just one top-10 this season and has finished outside the top 60 in his past three starts. His irons were impeccable Thursday as he missed just four greens.
“I never felt like I had to work too hard today, which is different than it has been,” Koepka said.
Fowler birdied seven holes to shoot a 6-under 64 to sit in a tie for second with Todd. Sung Kang is fourth after a 5-under 65, and Justin Thomas, Max Homa and Chez Reavie are tied for fifth after 4-under 66s. Among the group at 3-under are
Bryson DeChambeau and
Phil Mickelson.
Soccer: The LA Galaxy has suspended training and the team is undergoing additional COVID-19 testing after 11 members of its USL Championship affiliate tested positive for the coronavirus. The Galaxy was quarantined in an Orlando hotel and tested several times a week during its 19 days in Florida. No member of the team’s traveling party had a positive test reported. … Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund withdrew its bid to become the latest foreign owner in England’s Premier League, pulling out of an agreement to buy Newcastle United after a tumultuous takeover process and significant pressure on the league to block the sale.
Obituary: Ben Jipcho ,a Kenyan distance runner who set a torrid pace in the 1,500-meter race at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City to help his countryman, Kip Keino, defeat
Jim Ryun, the American favorite, died July 24 at a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya. He was 77.