The Sports Report: Sparks are eliminated from playoff contention

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

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: They lost their coach. They lost their star center. Finally, they lost their playoff chances.

Needing a win to stay alive in the postseason race, the Sparks got overpowered by the Connecticut Sun for the second time in three days, losing 93-69 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday. The blowout sealed the Sparks’ second straight season without a playoff berth, a streak of futility reached only one other time in franchise history.

The organization’s steadiest pillar Nneka Ogwumike had 10 points and nine rebounds but committed a team-high four turnovers. As a final blow, the All-Star forward appeared to turn her ankle in the fourth quarter of the blowout and walked off gingerly as the Sparks trailed by 22 with 5:14 remaining. Brittney Sykes had 18 points as the Sparks (13-22) lost for the eighth time in the last nine games with seven of those losses coming after the abrupt departure of center Liz Cambage.

“We’ve dealt with so much adversity on and off the court,” Sykes said. “That’s not an excuse, but it’s a reality. So we have to just continue to give ourselves grace. … We did what we were supposed to do and sometimes the pieces just don’t hit. But I’m proud of our team. We fought hard so yeah.”

Sparks rookie Olivia Nelson-Ododa blocked Alyssa Thomas’ first attempt of the second half and shot the eight-year WNBA veteran a fiery look as if to signal that the Sparks wouldn’t go down easily. But the Sun (24-11) proved why they have been a championship favorite for the past four years behind the effortless scoring of Thomas (18 points, nine rebounds), reigning most valuable player Jonquel Jones (17 points) and DeWanna Bonner (13 points, seven assists).

SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: The clock in the middle of Doha’s scenic bayside promenade, which has been counting down to kickoff of the first fall World Cup, will hit 100 days on Friday. To Malcolm Bidali, that was cause for neither celebration nor despair.

“I don’t think the World Cup in Qatar is a bad thing,” he said flatly. “Every country deserves hope to host the World Cup.”

Even a country that imprisoned and fined Bidali for speaking out on widespread labor and human rights abuses? One in which homosexuality is against the law, press freedoms are restricted and the mildest public protest can result in a prison sentence?

“Here’s the thing,” Bidali said from his home in Kenya, where he returned after being released from a Qatari jail cell last summer. “If anyone wanted to do anything about anything, they would have done it the moment [a Qatar World Cup] was announced. That was 2010. People could have come out and said, ‘OK, let’s boycott this thing.’

“But now it’s too late. Migrant workers would face retaliation. Qatar will say, ‘Oh, we’ve lost the World Cup because of you migrant workers.’ So it should definitely go on. But I think people should be more aware of what’s going on.”

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World Cup start in Qatar moved up one day to Nov. 20

DODGERS

From Helene Elliott: Fans at Dodger Stadium were chanting Joey Gallo’s name Wednesday night and they weren’t putting an expletive before or after it.

That was a pleasant change from his two seasons in New York, where the two-time All-Star was so unproductive and was jeered so frequently that he holed up in his Manhattan apartment to avoid showing his face on the street and hearing about his shortcomings in no uncertain terms.

Gallo’s teammates also chanted his name on Wednesday, and for many happy reasons. They were delighted not only with the pinch-hit, three-run home run that gave them a lead even Craig Kimbrel couldn’t squander, but also with the sight of Gallo shaking off his anxiety as he circled the bases in the seventh inning of what became their 10th consecutive victory, an 8-5 win over the Minnesota Twins.

“I think the whole team breathed a sigh of relief right there for him,” third baseman Max Muncy said after Gallo delivered his first home run and first runs batted in as a Dodger. “Hopefully, we can get him going more. He’s a fun guy to watch when he’s launching balls, so that was a good one.”

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Trevor Bauer sexual assault accuser files countersuit to his defamation claim

CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: Since he was drafted, the Chargers changed their coaching staff and invested picks in two more running backs.

His three most productive games remain the first three of his NFL career, in 2020.

Now entering his third season and facing as much competition and uncertainty as he ever has, Joshua Kelley arrived at training camp in Costa Mesa a changed man.

“My whole goal this offseason was to become the best football player I could possibly be,” he said Thursday. “It wasn’t to relax, to wind down, to do all sorts of business activities, vacation. It was to become the best player I could be for this year.”

NBA

From Dan Woike: The NBA has announced that, for the first time in league history, one player will have his number retired leaguewide.

Bill Russell, regarded as the league’s greatest winner and the namesake of its Finals MVP award, will be honored by the NBA with his No. 6 uniform no longer available to players entering the league.

Current players who already wear No. 6, like the Lakers’ LeBron James, can continue to wear the uniform number.

The NBA announced the decision on Thursday.

“Bill Russell’s unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognized.”

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1876 — Madeleine wins two straight heats over Canada’s Countess of Dufferin to defend the America’s Cup.

1936 — Rosalind, driven by Ben White, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.

1937 — Shirley Hanover, driven by Henry Thomas, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in straight heats.

1942 — The Ambassador, driven by Ben White, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in the third heat.

1953 — Helicopter, driven by Harry Harvey, wins the Hambletonian Stakes in the third heat.

1978 — Cold Comfort, driven by 23-year-old Peter Haughton, ties the International Trot mark of 2:31 3-5 at Roosevelt Raceway which makes Haughton the youngest driver to win the International.

1990 — Wayne Grady of Australia sheds his runner-up image with a 3-stroke victory over Fred Couples in the PGA Championship.

1994 — Major league baseball players strike in the sport’s eighth work stoppage since 1972.

1995 — Ernie Els sets a PGA record with the lowest three-day score in a major. Els, with a 197, holds a three-stroke lead in the PGA Championship.

2000 — Evander Holyfield scores a 12-round unanimous decision over John Ruiz in Las Vegas to win the vacant WBA heavyweight title.

2007 — Tiger Woods captures the PGA Championship to win at least one major for the third straight season and run his career total to 13. Woods closes with a 1-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Woody Austin.

2011 — Tiger Woods misses the cut at the PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. With one final bogey for a 3-over 73, Woods finishes out of the top 100 for the first time ever in a major. He is 15 shots behind Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley.

2012 — The U.S. men’s basketball team defend its title by fighting off another huge challenge from Spain, pulling away in the final minutes for a 107-100 victory and its second straight Olympic championship. The victory by the men’s basketball team gives the United States its 46th gold medal in London, the most ever by Americans in a “road” Olympics.

2012 — Rory McIlroy breaks the PGA Championship record for margin of victory that Jack Nicklaus set in 1980. McIlroy sinks one last birdie from 25 feet on the 18th hole to give him a 6-under 66 for an eight-shot victory. McIlroy closes out a remarkable week by playing bogey-free over the final 23 holes of a demanding Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C.

2016 — Katie Ledecky caps off one of the greatest performances in Olympic history with her fourth gold medal and second world record, shattering her own mark in the 800-meter freestyle. Ledecky is the first woman since Debbie Meyer swept the three longer freestyle events at the same Olympics. Meyer took the 200, 400 and 800 at the 1968 Mexico Games.

2017 — Usain Bolt ends his stellar career in excruciating pain. The Jamaican great crumples to the track with a left-leg injury while chasing a final gold medal for the Jamaican 4x100-meter relay team at the world championships in London. Having to make up lots of ground on the anchor leg, Bolt suddenly screams and stumbles as he comes down with the first injury he has experienced at a major competition.

2018 — Brooks Koepka wins his first PGA Championship, playing poised and mistake-free golf down the stretch amid ear-splitting roars for Tiger Woods and a late charge from revitalized Adam Scott. Koepka becomes the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and the PGA in the same year.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

The U.S. men’s basketball team defeats Spain to win the 2012 Olympic gold medal. Watch and listen here.