The Sports Report: Clippers outlast the Rockets

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

From Broderick Turner: The big mystery surrounding the Clippers was the playing status of Kawhi Leonard and when he night actually return to action.

It only became a topic because Leonard joined the Clippers on their two-game trip that started with their 122-106 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night and will finish at the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

So, Clippers coach Ty Lue was asked after he had six players score in double figures and saw his reserve extend a lead in the fourth quarter that allowed his starters to rest the entire last 12 minutes if Leonard would play against the Mavericks.

The answer wasn’t a yes and it wasn’t a no when Lue was asked about Leonard being available for the game against the Mavericks. In fact, Lue didn’t reveal much.

“No, I don’t know,” Lue said.

You don’t know, Lue was asked again.

“Let me ask, just making sure,” he said. “No, I don’t know…Yeah, yeah, I don’t know. I’m always going to tell you the truth.”

LAKERS

As part of our look back at 75 years of the Lakers, we want you to tell us who you believe are the 10 greatest Lakers of all time. Minneapolis and Los Angeles are included, so don’t hesitate to put someone like George Mikan on your list. Compile your list of the 10 greatest Lakers, in order from 1 to 10, and email it to houston.mitchell@latimes.com. Our team of experts voted on players only, but you can include nonplayers, so if you think Chick Hearn or Jerry Buss or heck, even Dancing Barry, deserve a spot in the top 10, feel free to vote for them. You have until Dec. 1 to vote. First place on your ballot will receive 12 points, second place nine, third place eight points, etc. The readers’ top 10 will be announced soon after voting closes.

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Plaschke: If you’re talking greatest Lakers players, No. 1 is pure Magic

RAMS

From Gary Klein: The struggling Rams offense does not figure to improve any time soon, not with star wide receiver Cooper Kupp out of the lineup.

Kupp could be sidelined for several weeks because of a right ankle injury suffered during the Rams’ 27-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation and requested anonymity.

The Rams (3-6) play the Saints (3-7) on Sunday in New Orleans. The Rams then play on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 27 before returning to SoFi Stadium for a game Dec. 4 against the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks.

CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: On Monday, former Chargers defensive lineman Jerry Tillery was claimed on waivers by one of the team’s AFC West rivals, Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, the Chargers were left combing the NFL and beyond for, of all things, defensive linemen.

They finished their 22-16 loss Sunday at San Francisco with only three players available at the position, a reality that was reinforced in the aftermath when tests confirmed significant injuries to Otito Ogbonnia and Christian Covington.

Ogbonnia will miss the rest of the season because of a ruptured patellar tendon and Covington “likely” will do the same because of a torn pectoral muscle, according to coach Brandon Staley.

UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: The run-and-fun possibilities involving UCLA’s top freshman duo emerged in one spellbinding sequence.

When a Norfolk State player made the mistake of trying to take Jaylen Clark off the dribble, forced into an awkward double-pump along the baseline, he had no counter left for the other defensive menace lurking nearby. The ball went up and Adem Bona, the Bruins’ new rim protector, stepped over to swat the shot.

UCLA’s David Singleton grabbed the loose ball and the Bruins were off and running, Jaime Jaquez Jr. throwing a bounce pass to freshman Amari Bailey for a breakaway one-handed dunk.

On a night that Clark continued to show there might not be a better two-way player in the Pac-12, if not the nation, it was equally encouraging for the Bruins to see the comfort level of Bona and Bailey to continue going up, up, up.

Both freshmen were among six UCLA players to reach double figures in scoring during the No. 8 Bruins’ 86-56 victory on Monday night at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA FOOTBALL

From Ben Bolch: If all goes well, Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s in-game signing of a hat and hurdling of a defender won’t be his final highlights in the cross-town rivalry.

They’ll just be a prelude to something more breathtaking.

“We want to be even better, we want to break 60 [points] and all that stuff,” the UCLA quarterback said Monday, with his final game against USC coming Saturday evening at the Rose Bowl.

In the latest installment of Dorian Unfiltered, the fifth-year senior, who has ditched conventional answers over the last two months, offered his unvarnished take on his last rivalry game after splitting the previous four.

“Obviously we hate those guys across town, it’s a bitter feeling with those guys,” Thompson-Robinson told a media throng three times its usual size, “but at the end of the day we have to come out here and play Bruin football, execute on our side of the ball and make sure we’re doing everything we can to go out there and win on Saturday.”

BASEBALL

From Gregory Yee: Former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has agreed to plead guilty to lying to federal authorities investigating an illegal sports-gambling ring, according to court documents unsealed Monday.

Puig, 31, will plead guilty to one count of making false statements, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California said. He has agreed to pay a fine of at least $55,000 and is set to make an initial court appearance Tuesday.

The Cuba-born Puig, who plays professional baseball in South Korea, also faces immigration proceedings that could prohibit him from entering the U.S. again.

ANGELS

From Mike DiGiovanna: Albert Pujols will work with young players at the Angels’ academy in the Dominican Republic and tutor big leaguers and minor leaguers during spring training in Arizona as part of the retired slugger’s 10-year, $10-million personal-services contract with the team, club president John Carpino said.

“He’ll be like a team ambassador,” Carpino said Monday at the Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach, which hosted a celebrity tournament to benefit the MLB Youth Academy in Compton. “We’re real excited about the possibilities moving forward. He’s Albert Pujols. It’s an asset. He has a ton of baseball knowledge.”

The personal-services contract is linked to the 10-year, $240-million deal that Pujols, 42, signed with the Angels before 2012 and that Pujols plans to honor despite owner Arte Moreno’s intentions of selling the team and the disappointing end to the first baseman’s nine-plus-year tenure in Anaheim.

GALAXY

From Kevin Baxter: The Galaxy on Monday exercised contract options on defenders Martín Cáceres and Séga Coulibaly, midfielders Daniel Aguirre, Jonathan Pérez and Adam Saldaña and forward Preston Judd.

Forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who led the team with 18 goals, saw his contract option triggered midway through the season.

The team declined options on goalkeepers Jonathan Klinsmann and Richard Sánchez, defenders Eriq Zavaleta and Jorge Villafaña and midfielder Víctor Vázquez, although the Galaxy are continuing discussions with Vázquez, 35.

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U.S. men’s soccer embracing ‘Be the Change’ mantra ahead of controversial World Cup

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1879 — Princeton beats Harvard 1-0 in a college football game held in New Jersey. The Tigers unveil the concept of using blockers to help advance the ball.

1890 — Minnesota and Wisconsin square off for the first time in what has become the most-played series in college football history. The Gophers beat the Badgers 63-0 in Minneapolis.

1901 — Jim Jeffries knocks out Gus Ruhlin in the sixth round to retain the world heavyweight title in San Francisco.

1913 — Australia’s Ernie Parker beats New Zealand’s Harry Parker 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 to win the Australasian Championships.

1952 — An NBA-record 13 players, five Baltimore Bullets and eight Syracuse Nationals, foul out in an overtime game. The Bullets win 97-91. So many Syracuse players fouled out that the officials let some of the players back into the game so the Nationals could keep five men on the court. Whenever those players fouled, Baltimore was given a technical foul shot in addition to the free throws.

1960 — Elgin Baylor of the Los Angeles Lakers scores 71 points, an NBA record at the time, in a 123-108 victory over the New York Knicks.

1964 — Kansas City quarterback Len Dawson fumbles seven times in a 28-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers.

1969 — The New York Knicks run their record to 17-1, the best start in NBA history, by beating the Boston Celtics 113-98.

1969 — Bill Cappleman of Florida State passes for 508 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-26 loss to Memphis State.

1975 — Tony Dorsett of Pittsburgh rushes for 303 yards and scores a touchdown in a 34-20 victory over Notre Dame.

1980 — Dale Earnhardt wins his first NASCAR Winston Cup championship. Earnhardt finishes fifth in the Los Angeles Times 500, the final race of the season, to win the title by 19 points over Cale Yarborough.

1983 — Mike Bossy scores his 75th hat trick for the New York Islanders.

2002 — Tampa Bay forward Dave Andreychuk sets an NHL record by scoring his 250th career power-play goal in the first period of the Lightning’s game against San Jose.

2003 — Brian Vickers becomes NASCAR’s youngest champion ever, claiming the Busch Series title with an 11th place finish behind first-time winner Kasey Kahne at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

2011 — Mike Krzyzewski becomes Division I’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach when No. 6 Duke beats Michigan State 74-69 in the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Blue Devils give Coach K his 903rd win, breaking the tie with Bob Knight, Krzyzewski’s college coach at Army and his mentor throughout his professional career.

2014 — Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon rushes for 408 yards to break the single-game major college football rushing record before sitting out the final quarter in a 59-24 rout over Nebraska.

2015 — Matthew Stafford throws for two touchdowns, and the Detroit Lions ends a 24-game road losing streak against the Green Bay Packes with an 18-16 victory. It’s Detroit’s first win at Green Bay since a 21-17 victory on Dec. 15, 1991.

2018 — LeBron James passes Wilt Chamberlain for 5th on the NBA’s career scoring list.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Melvin Gordon rushes for a record 408 yards. Watch and listen here.