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Monday, January 11, 2021 SECTION B Paul Farmer . Sports Editor . 427.6926

Warriors win despite Curry’s struggles

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

In a game when Stephen Curry had his worst shooting performance of his career, his supporting cast stepped up and the Warriors defeated the Toronto Raptors, 106-105, Sunday night at Chase Center.

Curry, who entered the night as the NBA’s secondleading scorer, was the target of an aggressive Raptors defense that chased, battered and bloodied the two-time MVP. He finished with just 11 points on 2-of-16 shooting (1-of-10 from 3-point range), while Damion Lee’s free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining clinched the win for the Warriors (6-4).

Hounded by guard Fred VanVleet, an assortment of long defenders and a boxand-1 defense, Curry made his first shot of the game but then missed his next 13 field goal attempts until making a key 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter.

All of the attention being paid to Curry created opportunities for his teammates, as six others scored in double digits. Andrew Wiggins finished with 17 points and four assists, Eric Paschall (15 points) and Lee (13 points) contributed off the bench and Draymond Green recorded 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Brad Wanamaker’s 2-pointer gave the Warriors a 16-point lead midway through the second quarter.

But the Raptors (2-7) made a run in the second half and Kyle Lowry scored 16 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Raptors battled back and took a four-point lead with 2:58 remaining.

That’s when Curry made his first shot since the opening period — a 3-pointer to narrow the new deficit to one. Curry helped set up a potential gamewinning opportunity when he helped defend forward Pascal Siakam on the Raptors’ second-to-last possession, forcing Siakam into a tough shot blocked by Kent Bazemore.

With 7.7 seconds left, Lee inbounded the ball to Curry who, after getting swarmed by Toronto’s defense, passed back to Lee. Lee rose for a 3-point attempt and was fouled before the shot, putting him on the line for the game-winning free throws. Siakam’s go-ahead mid-range jumper rimmed out.

For a Warriors team that had previously lost every game this season in which Curry failed to score 30 points, this win serves as an important touch point and proves they can win games when their top player is limited by a defense that sells out to stop him.

Next, the Warriors will wrap up this seven-game w against the Pacers on Tuesday.

nfl wildcard playoffs

Cleveland Browns strong safety Karl Joseph scores the Browns first touchdown on a bad snap against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday,

Peter Diana/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Browns defeated the Steelers, 48-37.

Browns defeat Steelers, win 1st playoff game since 1995

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PITTSBURGH — Browns coach Kevin Stefanski had plenty to cheer about from his basement.

In one fell swoop, the Browns overcame adversity created by their Covid-19 crisis and exorcised countless demons who have haunted them in Pittsburgh.

With Stefanski home because he tested positive for the virus last week, the Browns used a record-setting first quarter to vault themselves to a 48-37 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night in an AFC wild-card playoff game at Heinz Field, where attendance was limited to family and friends of the home team due to pandemic-related restrictions.

The Browns won their first playoff game since Jan. 1, 1995. In other words, it’s the franchise’s first postseason victory since its rebirth as an expansion team in 1999.

With the dominant showing on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” the Browns snapped an eight-game road losing streak in the playoffs. They triumphed on the road in the postseason for the first time since Dec. 28, 1969, when they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 38-14.

The Browns also earned their first playoff win over the Steelers. Cleveland had been 0-2 all time against Pittsburgh in the postseason.

The Browns snapped a 17-game losing streak in Pittsburgh, triumphing there for the first time since Oct. 5, 2003.

See Browns, Page B8

Chicago Bears lose 21-9 to New Orleans Saints

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As the Chicago Bears season ended with a 21-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the question lingers: What next?

A Bears team that finished the regular season 8-8 and got into the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 7 seed because of an Arizona Cardinals loss looked overmatched against the second-seeded Saints.

Now Bears Chairman George McCaskey must decide how to proceed with a franchise that has two playoff berths in the last three years but lost the games in different styles of disappointment.

On Sunday, a Bears offense that had a December resurgence against some of the worst defenses in the NFL was held to 239 yards – 99 of them coming on the last meaningless touchdown drive – and didn’t find the end zone until the final play of the game against a Saints defense that ranks among the top five in the league in several categories.

In potentially his last start in a Bears uniform, quarterback Mitch Trubisky completed 19 of 29 passes for 199 yards and a 19-yard touchdown to Jimmy Graham as time expired. Trubisky is set to become a free agent this offseason.

The Bears converted 1 of

See Saints, Page B8

Ravens rally past Titans for playoff win

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It didn’t look like anyone expected it to, but the Ravens got a playoff win.

With the NFL’s two best rushing offenses kept under wraps in Nashville, the fifthseeded Ravens relied on their defense and Lamar Jackson’s playmaking to hold off the fourth-seeded Tennessee Titans, 20-13, in the wild-card round and earn their first playoff victory since 2014.

Cornerback Marcus Peters’ interception with under two minutes remaining ended the AFC South champions’ hopes of a game-tying drive and capped a dominant day for the Ravens defense.

Titans running back Derrick Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher, was held to 40 yards on 18 carries (2.2 per carry). After a strong start, quarterback Ryan Tannehill finished 18-for-26 for 165 yards, a touchdown and the crucial interception.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson overcame a slow start and a surprisingly stingy Titans defense to finish 17-for-24 for 179 yards. He added 16 carries for 136 yards, including a game-changing 48-yard score in the first half. Overall, the Ravens finished with 35 carries for 236 yards (6.7 per carry), though their running back room combined for just 81 yards.

The win silenced Jackson’s most vocal critics, who’d pointed to his 0-2 record as a starter in the postseason, both times as a favorite. The Ravens also got a small measure of revenge against Tennessee, which ended their Super Bowl dreams last season before adding to their misery with a Week 11 overtime win in Baltimore.

“We finished,” Jackson said in a postgame interview. “We finally finished.”

The Ravens didn’t lead until the third quarter, after their easiest drive all game.

See Ravens, Page B8

Despite all the hurdles, CFP title game has arrived

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There was a point in August where having a season appeared to be greatly at risk, let alone reaching the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Despite several conferences like the Big Ten and PAC-12 originally deciding to cancel their fall seasons before reconsidering and starting in October while others began in September, and countless postponements and cancellations due to Covid-19 along the way, college football made it to its final game.

No. 1 Alabama (12-0) takes on No. 3 Ohio State (7-0) in the College Football Playoff title game in an 8:15 p.m. kickoff on Monday night in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

“I know this has been a challenging year for all teams in college football,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who returns to the site where he coached the Miami Dolphins in 2005 and 2006 as he looks to win his seventh college championship, and sixth with the Crimson Tide,

“I think there’s a lot of folks out there that we need to thank for making the season be what it is. I think it’s been helpful to the players and the opportunity that they have to compete and play, create value for themselves, as well as a lot of fans who have great interest in college football.” For the Buckeyes, they were in the thick of the question marks surrounding the season. Between the delayed start in the Big Ten and cancellations over coronavirus concerns, they only played five regular-season games. The conference had to tweak a minimum-gamesplayed rule it made for the 2020 season just to get them into the Big Ten title game.