The Sports Report: Galaxy will be minus one Dos Santos

Howdy everyone, and welcome to the Saturday edition of the Los Angeles Times daily sports newsletter. My name is Houston Mitchell and I’m your host for the festivities. Subscribe to this newsletter by clicking here.

Let’s get to it.

Galaxy

The Galaxy had a choice to make by Friday, a choice that involved parting ways with a player they probably would have liked to keep. They had four designated-player contract, one over the limit. But who to drop? They certainly weren’t going to drop Zlatan Ibrahimovic, so that left them to choose among Giovani Dos Santos, Jonathan Dos Santos or Romain Alessandrini.

The Galaxy decided to part ways with Giovani Dos Santos, buying out the final year of his contract for more than $6 million.

“It’s obviously a difficult decision,” Galaxy general manager Dennis te Kloese said. “He’s very talented. But in the end I think it’s the best decision for all parties involved…. “It’s something done with consensus and with thought. We create a lot of opportunities to strengthen our roster and go in a direction that our coaching staff is comfortable with.”

Also, Ibrahimovic sat down for a lengthy interview with Kevin Baxter that you can read here. And a David Beckham statue will be unveiled by the Galaxy before their MLS season opener.

Lakers

The Lakers have been able to surprise a lot of top teams this season, and they almost surprised the Milwaukee Bucks before the Bucks pulled away for a 131-120 victory.

The Lakers led by as many as 12 points, but stalled late in the fourth quarter. They committed three turnovers in the game’s final 2:36.

Brandon Ingram, LeBron James and Milwaukee’s Eric Bledsoe each scored 31 points. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 16 points with 15 rebounds.

With the loss the Lakers fell to 30-32 while the Bucks improved to 48-14.

Clippers

The Clippers pulled out a 116-109 victory over a stubborn Sacramento Kings team Friday night. It took seven Clippers scoring in double figures to stop the Kings from winning and it took the Clippers collecting a season-high 58 rebounds to keep the Kings at bay.

“They played the game like they were going to win the game,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “Every time out they were yelling, ‘Win!’ I thought that was on their mind. They didn’t know how we were going to win, but they wanted to win and we played like that.”

Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke writes about a high school basketball coach who is fighting Stage 4 cancer while leading his team to their first title. An excerpt:

“The Titans were nonetheless crushed. Long after the final buzzer, O’Fallon remained in his seat with his head in his hands. Behind him, his wife and his senior co-captain Rauda hugged and cried.

“But the pain didn’t last long. If you think this is going to have a sad ending, you’ve come to the wrong story.

“O’Fallon walked off the court to a standing ovation from the remaining fans of both teams. He stopped to say that the final score was not the measure of this team, that victory over this season had long since been achieved, that no scoreboard could tally the inspiration that had been given and received. He said, incidentally, that he would use that inspiration in another chemotherapy session the following morning.

“I’m not going to show fear, I’m going to beat this, I’m going to win,’’ he said. “I’m not going to flinch, I’m not going to blink, I’m not going to call timeout when you think I have to call timeout.’’

Odds and Ends

LZ Granderson talks to Trayvon Martin’s mom, who applauds Steph Curry and Colin Kaepernick for taking a stand…. Mike Trout is not ruling out contract talks with the Angels…. Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling continues to make the most of his opportunities…. Chargers’ Philip Rivers has a connection with N.C. State quarterback prospect Ryan Finley…. David Sills, once a teenage quarterback prodigy, now focused on being NFL receiver…. Jon Jones isn’t the only fighter facing a day of reckoning at UFC 235…. USC’s Velus Jones Jr. and Greg Johnson intend to transfer…. Roadster adds to trainer Bob Baffert‘s Kentucky Derby hopefuls…. Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price consoles boy who lost his mother…. The Ducks lost to the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0.

Today’s local major sports schedule (all times Pacific)

Lakers at Phoenix, 6 p.m., Spectrum Sportsnet, 710 ESPN

Clippers at Sacramento, 7 p.m., Fox Sports Prime Ticket, AM 570

Dodgers vs. Arizona, noon, Sportsnet LA, AM 570

Angels vs. Cincinnati, noon, PRIME, KLAA 830 AM

Kings vs. Chicago, 1 p.m., NHL Network, FSW

Chicago at Galaxy, 5 p.m., Fox, FS1

Born on this date

1909: Baseball player Mel Ott

1982: NFL player Ben Roethlisberger

Died on this date

1991: Baseball player James “Cool Papa” Bell

And finally

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email me here. If you want to subscribe, click here.