Argus-Leader from Sioux Falls, South Dakota • Page 15

Sports Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D. Thursday, May 9, 1991 3B oston- seeks Slow might be top Jazz speed r' I Vt rvv rebound on' home ice Game 1 SCORE: Portland beat mm Utah 117-97 Tuesday in Portland, Ore. STAR BOSTON (AP) The Boston Bruins, reeling from back-to-back blowouts, are happy to be on their home ice again. Now they just have to find the strength to skate on it. Their grueling, seven-game, second-round National Hockey League playoff series against Montreal two games more than Pittsburgh needed to eliminate Pittsburgh outshot Boston 30-15 through two periods, and only the spectacular play of goalie Andy Moog kept the score down.

"It is tough playing from behind," Boston defenseman Garry Galley said. "Your goalie is on the spot all the time. We can't play that way. It isn't our style." Pittsburgh, Clyde Drexler had 20 points, going 3-for-3 on 3-point goals, and 15 rebounds for the Blazers. KEY: Portland had a 24-5 run after leading by two in the third quarter.

QUOTE: "We have to keep them off the boards. If we don't we don't win." Utah's Karl Malone. NEXT: Game 2 is tonight in Portland. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) To beat Portland, the Utah Jazz must play a slow-paced game, shoot well and keep the Trail Blazers off the backboards.

They failed on all three counts in Game 1. Expect Game 2 tonight to be different, Portland coach Rick Adelman said. "That team has too much talent and too strong of character for that to happen again." The Trail Blazers breezed to a 117-97 victory Tuesday night and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 Western Conference semifinal series. But Adelman remembers 1988, when Portland played Utah in the first round of the National Basketball Association playoffs. "We won the first game easily and they came back and got after us," he said.

That was a much different Portland team, though. This team won a league-best 63 games during the regular season, is the favorite to win the NBA championship, and has the homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Portland and Utah each lost at home only five times this season, the best home records in the NBA. And the Blazers know how tough it will be to win playing in the third round of the playoffs for the first time in its 24-year history, got a strong game from goalie Tom Bar-rasso, who stopped 29 of 30 shots. The Penguins had an easier time playing their wide- 'It is tough playing from behind.

Your goalie is on the spot all the time. We can't play that way. It isn't our Garry Galley Boston defenseman wasmngton is taking its toll. The Bruins beat the Penguins twice at home, then played with little spark or offense in losing a pair of 4-1 decisions on the road as Pittsburgh evened the best-of-7 Wales Conference final at 2-2. 4 0f when the series shifts to Salt Lake City over the weekend.

"They play extremely well at home," Buck Williams said. "We don't want to get ourselves in a situation where we have to go into Utah and win two games. We're going to try to take care of business at home and put the pressure back on them." Williams, who guarded Karl Malone most of Game 1, doesn't expect another off-night for the Jazz star. Malone was 8-for-24. AP photo Jerome Kersey of Portland looks for an open teammate while Theodore Edwards plays defense.

Portland beat Utah 117-97 Tuesday night. Pistons enter Game 2 with Thomas hobbling open style on the larger ice surface in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. Getting away from defenders had been much tougher in Boston's smaller rink. Pittsburgh's big guns all unloaded in the two home games. Mario Lemieux had two goals and two assists, Kevin Stevens two goals and an assist, and Mark Recchi three assists.

"We didn't play hard enough to deserve any breaks," Neely said. "And we didn't get any." The larger ice surface makes it tougher for slow-motion skaters to catch up with speeding Penguins. Also, with centers Ken Hodge and Dave Poulin sidelined, Boston has had trouble on faceoffs. The Bruins dominated the first game, then had to battle back from a 4-3 deficit in the final four minutes to force overtime in Game 2. If a Penguin, rather than Vladimir Ru-zicka, had scored the decisive goal, Boston might be facing possible elimination tonight.

"You can credit Montreal for our lack of legs in this series," Boston coach Mike Mil-bury said. The Bruins' busy schedule resumes tonight in Boston with their 18th game in 37 days. They are 7-2 in home playoff games, including 6-3 and 5-4 victories over the Penguins. "We fought all year for the home-ice advantage," Boston's Cam Neely said. "We needed that home-ice advantage for the first two series and we need it again in this series." Pittsburgh coach Bob Johnson said: "They've got the home-ice advantage.

We're still at a terrible disadvantage." That wasn't the case in either of the Penguins' two home games as they took 2-0 leads and never trailed. The Bruins, seeking their third trip to the Stanley Cup finals in four years, were particularly punchless in Tuesday night's fourth game. derson, who came out of retirement Feb. 24 while Thomas was recovering from wrist surgery, would start at point guard. Daly added mat Thomas might miss the entire best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Back spasms forced Bird to miss Tuesday night's opener, and the Pistons capitalized with an 86-75 victory in which they had 15 more rebounds than Boston and kept the tempo to their liking with a patient offense and a swarming defense. Boston coach Chris Ford said he wouldn't know until today whether Bird, who missed 22 BOSTON (AP) Isiah Thomas has replaced Larry Bird as the wounded superstar least likely to play, putting the Detroit Pistons' offense in the hands of a retiree who was running a transportation company three months ago. It's "very, very, very, very, very questionable" whether Thomas, who sustained a sprained right foot in the series opener, will play this afternoon in the second playoff game against the Boston Celtics, Detroit coach Chuck Daly said Wednesday. Daly said that seldom-used Gerald Hen regular-season games with back problems, would play in Game 2. "We're preparing as if they're going to have Bird," Daly said.

And then there are the lesser injuries. For Detroit, forward James Edwards hurt his back and guard Joe Dumars banged knees with Reggie Lewis in the opener. For Boston, center Robert Parish left Game 1 with a turned ankle with four minutes left and Kevin McHale is playing with torn ankle ligaments. World League of American Football expects to add 2 teams for 1 992 EMPIRE MALL SCIKIEEELS SAVE THRU SUN. Possible franchises Here are some cities being mentioned as possible homes for WLAF franchises: Paris; Moscow; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Budapest, Hungary; Madrid, Spain; Seville, Spain; Manchester, England; Birmingham, England; Dublin, Ireland; Milan, Italy; Rome.

Ht'sTiime to Play Bali! EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) The World League of American Football will add at least two teams next season and there is a good chance one will be located in a city with a National Football League team, WLAF commissioner Mike Lynn said Wednesday. The additions would increase teams in the new league to 12, and Lynn said there is a possibility the WLAF might expand to 14 next season. Lynn said the league's board of directors would meet June 8, prior to the World Bowl at Wembley, England, to discuss expansion and the list of potential sites. He hoped the franchises would be awarded by October.

"We have decided we have overcome our major concern, which was the success of the league in major markets," Lynn said. "That was the biggest obstacle we had to overcome." In the United States, 11 of the 15 most populous cities already have NFL franchises: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix, Indianapolis and San Francisco. San Antonio already has a WLAF team. San Jose, Baltimore; and Jacksonville, are the top 15 cities without pro football teams. NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue did not appear concerned about having spring football teams competing in NFL territory.

Tagliabue said there is no such thing as an NFL mm me ats Qoves city, just sports markets. "The real question for the (WLAF) is to look at the markets where there is an interest in World League football and go there," he said. Tagliabue said a spring team in Chicago would not be competing against the Bears. "In the springtime, Chicago is a (National Basketball Association star) Michael Jordan market," he said. Lynn said individuals in Paris; Moscow; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Budapest, Hungary; Madrid, Spain; Seville, Spain; Manchester, England; Birmingham, England; Dublin, Ireland; Milan, Italy; and Rome have shown interest in WLAF franchises.

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