Hoops, Hockey and Horses Are the Order of the Day

It’s a good Friday here--Portland at Lakers, Kings at Ducks, Laffit Pincay rides four more races at Hollywood Park. . . .

All of the talk before the season was about Phil Jackson’s triangle offense, but the real improvement in the Lakers has been on defense. . . .

They were 25th in the league last season, giving up 96 points a game. They’re giving up 89.7 this season, third in the league. . . .

Kobe Bryant’s return meant someone had to go on the injured list. Imagine Devean George’s surprise when he learned he had a knee contusion. . . .

Jackson said George also is suffering from “rookie-itis.” . . .

If it were boxing instead of pro basketball, you’d have to ask whether Trail Blazer Jermaine O’Neal’s sudden appearance Thursday on the injured list means he’s ducking a rematch with Shaquille O’Neal. . . .

That leaves us with Craig Hartsburg vs. Andy Murray. . . .

The Duck and King coaches would have dropped the gloves if they’d had any the last time their teams met, and that was the preseason. . . .

If familiarity breeds contempt, they will be seriously chippy by the end of this season. With two exhibition games, six games in the regular season and the potential for seven more in the playoffs, the Ducks and Kings could meet 15 times this season. . . .

The Ducks would have felt pretty good if they’d known they would be one point behind Dallas at this point. . . .

Of course, they didn’t know the Stars would be next to last in the Pacific Division. . . .

Pincay, with two victories Thursday, is leading Hollywood Park’s autumn meeting jockey standings with 17. Considering he hasn’t been the leading rider at a meet since 1991, you’d figure either he’s riding with a resolve even greater than usual as he nears Bill Shoemaker’s record or he’s getting better horses. . . .

Those who have watched him through the years will tell you it’s the latter because his will to win, even on the longest shots, has never been questioned. . . .

Pincay, who had a mount in only one stakes race through the first 18 days of the meeting, has two Saturday--on Lazy Lode in the $400,000 Hollywood Turf Cup for trainer Richard Mandella and Cavonnier in the $100,000 On Trust Handicap for trainer Bob Baffert. . . .

Pincay will ride seven races that day, which could be a historic one at Hollywood Park. One thing you can virtually guarantee is that the next horse he rides after equaling Shoemaker’s record will be favored. Everyone will want the ticket as a souvenir.

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Chris Kluwe’s 60-yard field goal for Los Alamitos last weekend to send the Southern Section Division I playoff game against Loyola into overtime is bound to be talked about for a long time as one of the great moments in local high school football. . . .

Kluwe has signed with UCLA, setting up a competition for next season with the Bruins’ returning kicker, sophomore-to-be Chris Griffith. . . .

The Bruins recruited Kluwe primarily as a punter, believing that he could become another Nick Harris, the California punter who could become another Ray Guy. . . .

UCLA basketball Coach Steve Lavin, faced with 10 days off, says the Bruins will occupy much of their practice time with intrasquad games. . . .

That will give them a better class of opponent than they’ve had so far this season in games against Fairfield, Iona and Morgan State. . . .

“Who’s next?” KNX Radio’s Chuck Madden asked during a sports update Thursday, “DeVry Institute?” . . .

Former Michigan State coach Nick Saban said he’s moving to Louisiana State to coach football for the challenge, but I’m guessing the large pay raise also might have influenced him. . . .

What kind of outcry would there be in college football if one of the Michigan State players said he was going to miss the Spartans’ game in the Florida Citrus Bowl because he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sign with an agent? . . .

When coaches leave a university, the players they recruited should be allowed to transfer without losing a year of eligibility. The one restriction should be that they can’t go with the old coach. . . .

Athletic directors say that athletes commit to a university, not a coach. But that’s not realistic. . . .

Bob Graziano is back with the Dodgers. Will Todd Zeile be next? . . .

The Dodgers should find out by the end of next week whether they will lose Adrian Beltre. Although Zeile, a free agent, prefers to return to the Dodgers, he probably won’t give them much more time than that before signing with another team. The Texas Rangers want him back. . . .

If the Yankees can’t sign David Cone, No. 1 on their priority list is Chuck Finley. . . .

The Red Sox also are interested because he’s a notorious Yankee killer. . . .

Perhaps the Angels should consider him.

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While wondering whatever happened to the talk about the Knicks being better without Patrick Ewing, I was thinking: Wilt Chamberlain would be proud of the way Shaq is playing.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.