The Sports Report: Dodgers win Game 3 with a thrilling comeback

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

Bill Plaschke on the Dodgers: It was over.

The game, the series, the season, it was over.

The Dodgers trailed by three runs that felt like 30, they were down to their final five outs, the Atlanta Braves were on the verge of a three-games-to-none lead in a nightmare was skidding toward a sweep.

Then it happened.

Crack…roar…crack…roar.

Cody Bellinger happened. Mookie Betts happened. Dodger Stadium happened. Randy Newman happened.

Rollin’ down the Imperial Highway…

As a late afternoon chill descended upon Chavez Ravine on Tuesday, with scores of their fans and most reasonable hope having abandoned them, the Dodgers located their heartbeat, found their magic, and burst through the shadows.

“To kind of, for lack of a better term, resurrect ourself…I think is huge,” said pitcher Walker Buehler.

For lack of an even better term, wow.

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LAKERS

Dan Woike on the Lakers: The Staples Center capacity crowd was greeted with shirts commemorating the home team’s first sellout since March 10, 2019. They roared when Russell Westbrook was introduced as the first Lakers starter, a homegrown talent ready to fulfill his wildest childhood dreams.

They erupted when Carmelo Anthony, the superstar the Lakers chased years before, finally took the court as a Laker and screamed even louder when Anthony scored his first points and celebrated by putting three fingers to his temple.

And they welcomed back NBA champions Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo to their team and cheered DeAndre Jordan’s first home game back in Los Angeles.

But for everything that the Lakers did this offseason, the addition of Westbrook, the reconstruction of their roster, so much seemed as if it would depend on things looking the way they used to.

But even with LeBron James and Anthony Davis carrying the load, scoring against the Golden State Warriors’ defense without much resistance, everyone else struggled to come along. And that’s going to matter.

The defensive issues and poor shooting and rhythm that hampered their winless preseason carried over to their opening night, the Lakers losing 121-114.

The Warriors outscored the Lakers 38-29 in the fourth.

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Elliott: Lakers fans in midseason form, if the team was not in loss to Warriors

CLIPPERS

Andrew Greif on the Clippers: Clippers center Serge Ibaka played five-on-five basketball in front of fans for the first time since June during Sunday’s open practice at USC’s Galen Center and his next time could be coming soon, but not by the season opener at Golden State on Thursday night.

Ibaka is “doing everything he can to come back when he can,” coach Tyronn Lue said Tuesday. Ibaka, who had season-ending back surgery during the playoffs, had been cleared for five-on-five contact drills last week.

“Being able to take the contact after running and being fatigued, playing full-court five-on-five and then being able to take the pounding as well,” Lue said. “That’s something [medical staffers] have to gauge out.”

Also on the practice court Tuesday was injured star Kawhi Leonard, shooting baskets three months after his knee surgery.

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76ers suspend Ben Simmons for one game because of conduct at practice

KINGS

Matt Duchene and Tanner Jeannot scored in the third period to give the Nashville Predators a 2-1 victory over the Kings.

Predators goalie Juuse Saros made 25 saves for Nashville, while Anze Kopitar had the lone goal and Calvin Petersen made 29 saves for Los Angeles.

Nashville trailed by a goal entering the third period, but with a fresh sheet of ice for a power play, Duchene tied the score at 1:07. Petersen stopped Roman Josi’s shot from the right point, but Duchene dug the puck out of traffic and put it by Petersen for his first of the season.

DUCKS

Leon Draisaitl had two goals and two assists and the Edmonton Oilers extended their season-opening winning streak to three games with a 6-5 victory over the Ducks.

Zack Kassian added two goals, and Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers (3-0-0).

Kevin Shattenkirk and Sam Steel had two-goal games, and Nicolas Deslauriers also scored for the Ducks (2-2-0).

UCLA MEN’S BASKETBALL

Ben Bolch on the Bruins: Myles Johnson folded his 6-foot-10 frame into his restaurant seat for a lunchtime repast of salmon rolls, shrimp tempura and other Japanese delicacies, never imagining the menu would also feature a challenge from his mother:

What are you going to leave your children, what is going to be your legacy?

In many ways, it was an odd question. Johnson was only 21. He was both a budding college basketball star and an emerging presence in the world of engineering, a year away from graduating magna cum laude from Rutgers University as part of a journey that would lead him to UCLA graduate school this fall.

What is going to be your legacy? Johnson wasn’t even sure what he was going to have for dinner.

Gigi Johnson had intended her query as a way of stimulating more than small talk at the restaurant near their Long Beach home. She knew that basketball players who went on to the NBA usually gave back to their communities and told her son to pick a passion project, something he could sustain.

There were certainly things he wanted to change. In his college classes involving the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Johnson watched the number of Black classmates dwindle to a handful as he moved into more advanced coursework. He didn’t have a single Black professor in any STEM classes.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1923 — Zev, winner of the 1923 Kentucky Derby, beats England’s Papyrus, winner of the 1923 Epsom Derby, in a $100,000 match race at Belmont Park. The race, the International Special, marks the first time an English champion is sent to the U.S. to race. The race is so popular that it is broadcast on the radio, a first.

1944 — Michigan State and Maryland attempt one pass, the fewest in college football history. The Terrapins threw the pass, while the Spartans did not attempt a pass and Michigan State wins the game 8-0 in College Park, Md.

1963 — Clem Daniels of the Oakland Raiders rushes for 200 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-26 victory over the New York Jets.

1972 — The Buffalo Braves score an NBA record 58 points in the fourth quarter, but still lose to the Celtics at Boston Garden, 126-118.

1976 — The Philadelphia 76ers acquire Julius Erving from the New York Nets for $3 million.

1984 — Rueben Mayes of Washington State rushes for 216 yards and scores four touchdowns to overcome a 28-7 halftime deficit and lead the Cougars to a 49-42 victory over Stanford.

1994 — George McCandless, 83, becomes the oldest harness driver to win a pari-mutuel race when he guides Kehm’s Scooter to victory in the fourth race at Freehold (N.J.) Raceway.

2004 — Just three outs from getting swept in the AL championship series three nights earlier, the Boston Red Sox finally beat the New York Yankees, winning Game 7 in a 10-3 shocker to become the first major league team to overcome a 3-0 postseason series deficit.

2010 — Vancouver enforcer Rick Rypien is suspended indefinitely, pending a hearing, for grabbing a fan in the Canucks’ loss in Minnesota on Oct. 19. The NHL later sentences Rypien to a six-game suspension.

2012 — Kasey Carrier of New Mexico sets a Mountain West Conference record 338 yards rushing and has three TDs in a 28-23 loss to Air Force.

2013 — Tim Cahill scores the fastest goal in MLS history, and the New York Red Bulls beat the Houston Dynamo 3-0. Cahill puts New York ahead 8 seconds into the game. The previous fastest goal in MLS history was Dwayne De Rosario’s score 11 seconds into a 2003 game.

2016 — Nneka Ogwumike’s short jumper with 3.1 seconds left gives the Sparks a 77-76 victory over the defending champion Minnesota Lynx for their first title in 14 years in the deciding game of the WNBA Finals.

Supplied by the Associated Press

And finally

Dodgers-Braves Game 3 highlights. Watch and listen here.