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The Sports Report: Hey Clippers, ever hear of the phrase “Fools rush in ...”

Russell Westbrook with the Lakers.
(Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)
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Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: Fool you once, shame on Russell Westbrook.

Fool you twice, shame on the Clippers.

Are they serious right now? Do they have any idea what they just did? In their constant worldwide evaluation of players, did they not bother to look down the hall?

The Monday news that the Clippers are acquiring the locker room stink bomb that is Russell Westbrook struck the sensibilities like a Westbrook jumper off the side of the backboard.

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You may recall Westbrook spending the last season-and-a-half with the Lakers. The Clippers apparently didn’t.

You may recall the bricks, the ball hogging, the sullenness, the selfishness, the complete lack of self-awareness from a bitter former MVP flailing against his declining skills. The Clippers apparently had no idea.

Westbrook was happy after losses when he played well, dour after wins when he was ignored, and divisive in a locker room that was roiled by his tension. The Clippers must not have noticed.

For Westbrook’s final act as a Laker, in a perfect bit of sour symbolism, he threw the pass that LeBron James transformed into his record-breaking shot … then left the arena without talking to the media, willfully skipping out on a chance to honor his teammate.

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Commentary: NBA has a problem: The All-Star Game is not much of a game

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UCLA BASKETBALL

Cameron Brink scored 25 points and made all 15 of her free throws, the last of which put Stanford ahead for good, and the third-ranked Cardinal beat No. 17 UCLA 71-66 on Monday night in their final regular-season home game.

Stanford (26-3, 14-2 Pac-12) has won four straight and is closing in on a third straight Pac-12 regular-season title with games remaining this week at No. 21 Colorado and No. 8 Utah.

Londynn Jones scored 14 points for the Bruins (21-7, 10-6), who dropped one spot in the AP Top 25 this week and had their four-game winning streak end. UCLA pounded the boards for a 36-33 advantage, getting 17 on the offensive glass.

ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: Shohei Ohtani’s agent, CAA’s Nez Balelo, stopped by Angels spring training on Monday and chatted with general manager Perry Minasian as the first day of full squad workouts continued.

He would not tell members of the media whether negotiations have been taking place, a policy of privacy he has with all of his clients.

He reiterated what Ohtani has said in his last two news conferences, that he’s an Angel in 2023.

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Whether he’s open to discussing a contract extension before spring training ends, Balelo said that as an agent, he is always open to discussions but every situation is different.

“I think there’s several layers to this one and Shohei’s earned the right to play through the year and explore free agency and we’ll see where it shakes out,” Balelo said.

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Finally healthy, Anthony Rendon confident he can rediscover what made him a star

DUCKS

Carter Verhaeghe scored 1:42 into overtime to lead the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win against the Ducks on Monday.

Florida has won six of its last nine games. Anaheim has lost its last five.

Mason McTavish, Frank Vatrano and Dmitry Kulikov scored for the Ducks. John Gibson made 51 saves.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1931 — In the first major league night game, the Chicago White Sox play the New York Giants in a 10-inning exhibition in Houston.

1952 — The Boston Celtics and the Fort Wayne Pistons tip off at midnight in a “Milkman’s Special” following an Ice Follies performance at Boston Garden. Bob Cousy of the Celtics scores 24 points before 2,368 fans in a 88-67 win.

1952 — Dick Button performs the first triple jump in a figure skating competition.

1953 — In college basketball’s longest game, Niagara beats Siena 88-81 in six overtimes.

1960 — Philadelphia Warriors rookie Wilt Chamberlain sets an NBA record with his fourth 50-point game of the season, scoring 58 in a 129-122 victory over the New York Knicks.

1970 — Bobby Hull scores two goals, including the 500th of his career, in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 4-2 win over the New York Rangers.

1970 — Pete Maravich of LSU scores 64 points in a 121-105 loss to Kentucky. Dan Issel scores 51 for the Wildcats.

1976 — New York’s Red Holzman becomes the second NBA coach, after Red Auerbach, to win 500 games with a 102-98 victory over New Orleans.

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1992 — Kristi Yamaguchi wins America’s first Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating since 1976. Midori Ito of Japan takes the silver and Nancy Kerrigan of the United States wins bronze.

1996 — The Philadelphia 76ers have the worst NBA offensive performance in 41 years in their 66-57 loss to Miami. The 76ers tie the record for fewest points, set Feb. 27, 1955, by Milwaukee in a 62-57 loss to Boston during the first season of the 24-second clock.

2002 — In Salt Lake City, U.S. figure skater Sarah Hughes jumps from fourth to first to win the Olympic gold while teammate Michelle Kwan settles for bronze. The powerful U.S. women’s hockey team loses 3-2 in a gold-medal game to a Canadian team it had beaten eight consecutive times.

2003 — Michael Jordan becomes the first 40-year-old in NBA history to score 40 or more points, getting 43 in the Washington Wizards’ 89-86 win over the New Jersey Nets.

2014 — Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the youngest Olympic slalom gold medalist. The 18-year-old American is 0.53 seconds faster than Austria’s Marlies Schild.

2016 — 58th Daytona 500: Denny Hamlin wins closest finish in race history - by just 0.01s from Martin Truex Jr

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2018 — Winter Olympics: Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall become the first Americans in history to win a cross country gold medal (team sprint)

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Kiké Hernandez hits three homers in one NLCS game. Watch and listen here.

Until next time...

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

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