CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — World champion Breezy Johnson was relieved to complete the first training session for the women’s Olympic downhill on Friday but the American was still not about to let down her guard.

Cortina’s Olimpia delle Tofane piste, a gleaming streak down the mountain but shrouded in low cloud on Friday as skiers waited their turn, holds painful memories for the 30-year-old Alpine skier from just before the last Games.

Having qualified for the U.S. team to compete at Beijing 2022, Johnson fell in a training session for a World Cup downhill in Cortina weeks before and suffered a right knee injury that dashed her Olympic dream.

“Because of what happened last time I don’t trust that the Olympics is here until I’m in the finish of the downhill,” she said.

“There’s still a whole other training run and everything else that can happen in between.”

Johnson, eighth in the downhill standings, won her world championship gold on Feb. 8 last year and will be going for Olympic gold again on Sunday. She said there was no temptation to play safe and skip the second training run on Saturday.

“You definitely need to feel out this hill,” she said. “The speeds were definitely low today. You know 1:38, you can look up what the times were last year. I think they were probably 1:34. To be five seconds faster on race day, you’re going to be scared.”

Johnson — sixth fastest in the session with teammate Jacqueline Wiles fastest and 0.66 quicker than Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff-Lie — said the piste was very soft and even slushy on the bottom and would need more preparation overnight.

Thursday’s first training had to be canceled due to heavy snow and Friday was the first opportunity to scope out the course.

“They definitely need to do a lot more slipping and working on some of the terrain as well, because some of it at really low speeds with the soft snow was kind of on the limit,” said Johnson.

“I think they know what they need to do but we’ll definitely hope that they continue to do that work on the slope before the race.”

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

The San Antonio Spurs stood pat at the trade deadline and look to continue to show why they are happy with the progress they’ve made as they host the swooning Dallas Mavericks on Saturday in the second of a home-and-home miniseries between the teams.

The Spurs took the first game 135-123 in Dallas on Thursday as Victor Wembanyama dominated with 29 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots, with one swat coming in the final minutes when the Mavericks were making a last-gasp push.

“We had some possessions where I thought we had good multiple efforts but our initial game plan execution or physicality wasn’t there,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We did a really good job, especially at the end, of shoring it up a little bit more than we were throughout the game.”

Harrison Barnes had 19 points for the Spurs, including a pair of free throws in the deciding stretch. Stephon Castle hit for 18 points, De’Aaron Fox tallied 17, Julian Champagnie added 14 and Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell had 12 each as San Antonio won its third straight game.

“We stayed pretty solid on defense,” Wembanyama said. “Everything could have been better. We went back to what we know offensively, because at some point, we’re just doing whatever.”

With 35 wins, the Spurs have already exceeded their total from last season.

Dallas dropped its sixth straight game despite a season-high 32 points from Naji Marshall and 32 from 19-year-old rookie Cooper Flagg.

Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history to record four consecutive 30-point games. He is the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1985 with four consecutive 30-point, five-rebound games.

“I think me and Naji have played a lot of minutes together this year and have been together for a long time,” Flagg said. “It’s just a relationship we built out there. We trust each other. Part of it is he plays the right way. I play the right way. So, it’s kind of easy to gel together and mesh with other groups out there.”

Max Christie added 20 points and Daniel Gafford scored 16 with 10 boards for the Mavericks in the loss. Dallas had just 10 players suited up for Thursday’s game as they await the four reinforcements obtained from the Washington Wizards in Wednesday’s Anthony Davis trade.

“There’s a lot to learn,” Flagg said about the loss to the Spurs. “We’ll watch the film, we’ll look at what worked and what didn’t. But I think there’s a lot to clean up.”

Before Flagg’s performance on Thursday, Jalen Green was the most recent rookie to score at least 30 points in four straight games, accomplishing that feat during the 2021-22 season when he collected five in a row while playing for Houston.

“Cooper’s had an incredible start to his NBA career,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s learning to play the game at a high level and accepted all the challenges. We’ve got a long runway with him and some of the other players in that locker room.”

Saturday’s contest is the first of a six-game road trip for the Mavericks that will be split by the All-Star break.

–Field Level Media

After yet another close call, No. 23 Miami (Ohio) looks to continue its perfect season when it steps out of Mid-American Conference play to battle Marshall of the Sun Belt Conference on Saturday afternoon in Huntington, W. Va.

Miami (23-0) is one of only two unbeaten teams in Division I men’s basketball, joining No. 1 Arizona. Marshall (15-8) rallied in its last game for an 81-77 home win Wednesday over Southern Miss.

The RedHawks escaped their latest challenge from Buffalo on Tuesday night when Luke Skaljac scored 15 of his career-high 19 points after halftime in a 73-71 road win. It was Miami’s fourth in five games that came down to the last possession of regulation or overtime.

“Luke’s a terrific player,” Miami head coach Travis Steele said. “He can go get his own shot; he can make plays for others. We knew that when we recruited him out of high school. I thought he was the best guard in the state of Ohio in that class of 2024, and I think he’s (been) able to showcase that here during MAC play.”

Miami built up a 12-point lead in the second half, 52-40, before Buffalo rallied to tie the game, 64-64. But it was Skaljac, who took over at point guard after Evan Ipsaro went down with a torn ACL, who stepped up for Miami and led the RedHawks to a 23rd straight win.

The sophomore guard had a career-high five steals, all after intermission, and added three assists.

“The ball was in my hands towards the end of the game, and I made a few big shots down the stretch,” Skaljac said. “We keep finding ways to win, and (Tuesday) was just another example of that.”

Brant Byers had 11 points for the RedHawks while Peter Suder added 10 points and eight assists.

Marshall rallied from a four-point halftime deficit Wednesday to post its fourth win in five games. Wyatt Fricks had 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range.

Fricks nailed a go-ahead three with 11:34 left and gave Marshall its first lead of the second half at 52-51. The veteran forward also anchored the defense with seven rebounds and a game-best three blocks, leading the team in scoring for the sixth time.

Noah Otshudi had 17 points while Jalen Speer added 15 and drove the offense with a game-high eight assists for a second straight game. Erich Harding posted a career-high 11 points.

The Thundering Herd saw a 10-point lead with three minutes left trimmed to one in the closing seconds but managed to hold on, thrilling the crowd at the on-campus Cam Henderson Center.

“That was fun,” Marshall coach Cornelius Jackson said. “That was a fun game to coach, a fun game to be a part of.”

A capacity crowd of more than 9,000 is expected on campus as Marshall hopes to end the unbeaten run of the RedHawks in the Mid-American/Sun Belt Challenge.

“Our crowd was awesome,” Jackson added. “I don’t care… we have the best fans. They were into the game. I’m emotional. I’ve coached and played that way, and that’s who I am. When I see these guys out there making plays, I’m fired up for them.”

–Field Level Media