The Sports Report: Anthony Davis’ drive to win key for the Lakers
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
From Dan Woike: When things with the Lakers were at their worst, the obvious bad fits on the court and the more subtle wrinkles holding the team back off of it, Anthony Davis would tighten his lips, widen his eyes and stare blankly across the room while his feet rested inside a giant ice bucket.
It was becoming too familiar of a routine — lose, soak and sulk.
As the Lakers rebuilt their roster and season, a new feeling took over — one that had escaped Davis for almost two full seasons. It was why he wanted to be a Laker in the first place.
“I came here to win,” Davis said Monday. “It’s a winning franchise. … First year we get it done. Second year, had my sprain in the knee in the playoffs and then it was a shorter offseason. … weird Year 2. And Year 3, we just [had] injuries and just totally flunked that season. So it feels good to get back into a winning culture, winning ways.
“From this season, starting 2-10 and winning a lot of basketball games, it put us in a position to be in a play-in and control our destiny.”
The position the Lakers are in, hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night with a chance to win their way into the playoffs, is hardly the bar that separates success from failure with the Lakers. Winning, bolded and in all capital letters, has been the franchise’s mission since even before it landed in Los Angeles.
MORE LAKERS:
— Rui Hachimura continues to prove he’s ready for a bolstered Lakers role
— Lakers injury update: Dennis Schroder ready for play-in game
— Timberwolves suspend Rudy Gobert for play-in game vs. Lakers
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DODGERS
From Jack Harris: SAN FRANCISCO — Max Muncy was one of the first Dodgers on the field Monday afternoon, going through an extended session of early batting practice to reintroduce a crucial tweak to his swing.
When Muncy was struggling last season, out of whack at the plate because of a lingering elbow injury that contributed to woeful inconsistency, the Dodgers’ slugger added a “back step” to his hitting mechanics, a small, left-footed tap that synced up his mechanics and put his mind at ease.
It worked wonders for his swing then, helping him finish the year on an offensive tear.
And it did so again Monday night, resulting in a two-homer, seven-RBI explosion that led the Dodgers to a 9-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.
In a much-needed win for a reeling Dodgers team that had lost three in a row over the weekend in Arizona, Muncy hit a three-run homer in the third, a grand slam in the seventh, and added a walk and a single to help the club stop its skid.
The result served as a sigh of relief for the club, preventing an early slip below .500, and a massive exhale for Muncy, who let a five-strikeout opening-day performance snowball into a mentally taxing slump to begin the campaign.
“The way the season started,” said Muncy, who entered Monday batting just .121, “there was a lot of anxiety going on.”
ANGELS
From Sarah Valenzuela: Angels starting pitcher José Suarez was unable to pitch more than four innings in Monday’s loss to the Washington Nationals. But, as a result, the Angels now have a clearer answer who they’ll have available to be their swing No. 6 starter Wednesday.
Griffin Canning, who last pitched in 2021 because of a back injury and started this season on the injured list because of a groin strain, will start for the Angels on Wednesday, manager Phil Nevin said after Monday’s game.
Canning is still on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 27, but is eligible to return in time for Wednesday’s game.
Tucker Davidson was needed to take over for Suarez in the fifth inning Monday, pitching three innings in relief, which meant he would not be able to start Wednesday. And since Jaime Barría pitched Sunday, Canning was their other candidate.
The Angels lost to the Nationals 6-4 on Monday at Angel Stadium, in part because of Suarez’s outing and because of defensive struggles.
Suarez gave up four earned runs on 10 hits, walking one batter on a pitch-clock violation and striking out just two.
“I feel bad that I couldn’t help the team. Annoying. Super annoying,” Suarez said in Spanish after the game. “I saw the contact, I thought it was soft contact, not hard contact that I know of. But I can’t control that.”
WNBA
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The conference call disconnected. Karen Bryant and Curt Miller looked at each other with wide eyes. Bryant, the Sparks’ general manager, couldn’t help but gush to a family friend later about the South Carolina guard that blew her predraft interview out of the water.
“Whatever organization has a chance to bring in Zia Cooke,” Bryant remembered saying, “whatever coaching staff has a chance to work with her and develop her at the next level is a really lucky staff.”
Bryant is part of that lucky organization as the Sparks selected Cooke 10th overall Monday in the WNBA draft. A 2022 national champion, Cooke won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation’s top shooting guard this year while averaging a team-high 15.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists.
“We hit a home run, we believe, with Zia Cooke,” said Miller, the Sparks coach.
KINGS
From the Associated Press: Joonas Korpisalo stopped 20 shots for his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career as the Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 on Monday night to stop a three-game losing streak.
“I felt pretty good, and the guys let me see the puck, and my job is to take care of the rest,” Korpisalo said.
Arthur Kaliyev, Vladislav Gavrikov and Drew Doughty scored for the Kings, who tied their record for home wins in a season by matching the 26 they had in 1990-91, 2005-06 and 2015-16.
“We were tight defensively,” said center Phillip Danault, who had an assist. “It’s the right time of the year, that’s for sure. We want to keep building, obviously.”
USC
From Ryan Kartje: Boogie Ellis was all set to say goodbye to USC. After transforming himself into one of the top scorers in the Pac-12 this season, the Trojans point guard made it known it would be his last at the college level.
But those plans have since changed, The Los Angeles Times has learned. Ellis expects to return for a fifth year of eligibility — and third at USC, where next season he’ll be paired with one of the top point guard prospects in all of basketball, Isaiah Collier.
A person familiar with Ellis’ thinking told The Times that the USC guard is still keeping his options open, if a more promising path were to present itself in the coming weeks as the NBA draft picture comes into clearer view. But for now, Ellis intends to return to USC.
HIGH SCHOOLS
From Eric Sondheimer: The race to be Marmonte League baseball champion remains wide open. The week began with Oaks Christian and Newbury Park both at 6-3. Then there’s Calabasas, which began Monday at 3-3.
Nate Castellon made sure the Coyotes weren’t about to lose any ground, hitting a grand slam to lead a 7-1 victory over Agoura. Jordan Kingston struck out six in six innings.
Gahr 14, Downey 0: Noah Andrunas struck out eight in four innings and Jose Perez homered to lead Gahr. Kyle Panganiban and Andres Gonzalez each had three hits.
MORE HIGH SCHOOLS:
— Prep Rally: Boras Classic baseball tournament to showcase Southland’s best
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THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1936 — The Detroit Red Wings win the NHL Stanley Cup with a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
1948 — 12th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Claude Harmon shoots a record-tying 279 (−9) to finish 5 strokes ahead of runner-up Cary Middlecoff.
1961 — 15th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat St Louis Hawks, 4 games to 1.
1963 — Milwaukee Braves future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn beats NY Mets, 6-1 for his 328th win; most by a left-hander in MLB history.
1965 — Jack Nicklaus shoots a record 271 and wins the Masters golf tournament by nine strokes over Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
1966 — Jack Nicklaus wins his third Masters and becomes the first to win in consecutive years as he shoots a 70 in an 18-hole playoff to beat Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer.
1966 — Emmett Ashford becomes first African American major league baseball umpire.
1971 — 35th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC:Charles Coody wins his only major title by 2 strokes ahead of runners-up Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus.
1976 — Ray Floyd shoots a record-tying 271 to win the Masters by eight strokes over Ben Crenshaw.
1981 — Larry Holmes beats Trevor Berbick in a 15-round unanimous decision to retain his world heavyweight title in Las Vegas.
1982 — Craig Stadler beats Dan Pohl in a sudden-death playoff to take the Masters.
1983 — Spain’s Seve Ballesteros wins the Masters by four shots over Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw.
1987 — Zoja Ivanova wins 2nd female World Cup marathon (2:30:39).
1989 — Ron Hextall scores his second career goal and becomes the first goalie to connect for a playoff goal, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 8-5.
1993 — Bernhard Langer of Germany wraps up his second Masters title with a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 13. Langer posts a four-stroke win over Chip Beck with an 11-under 277.
1996 — Detroit Red Wings become 2nd NHL team to win 60 games in a season.
1997 — Mario Lemieux reaches the 50-goal mark for the sixth time in his NHL career in a 4-2 loss the Florida Panthers. Lemieux scores on a third-period penalty shot against John Vanbiesbrouck, to becomes the first player in NHL history to score his 50th goal of the season on a penalty shot.
1999 — 63rd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: José María Olazábal of Spain wins his second Masters title, 2 strokes ahead of Davis Love III and 3 from of Greg Norman.
2004 — Phil Mickelson’s agonizing pursuit of a major ends at the Masters when he makes an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole, ending a spectacular back-nine duel with Ernie Els.
2007 — Roberto Luongo sets an NHL record for saves in a first career playoff start, making 72 in Vancouver’s 5-4 quadruple-overtime win over Dallas. The sixth-longest playoff game in NHL history, ends on a goal by Henrik Sedin 18:06 into the fourth overtime period.
2008 — Missouri’s Jacob Priday sets a Big 12 Conference record, hitting four home runs against Texas in a 31-12 rout. The senior goes 5-for-5, drives in nine runs and scores six times.
2010 — Phil Mickelson wins his third Masters title, shooting a 5-under 67 to pull away for a three-stroke win over Lee Westwood.
2014 — Stephen Curry has 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and Golden State clinches a playoff berth with a 112-95 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers set a franchise low with the 54th loss of their miserable season. The 1957-58 Minneapolis Lakers lost 53 times in their 72-game season. These Lakers would finish 27-55.
2021 — 85th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Hideki Matsuyama become first Japanese male to win a golf major; hangs on to beat American Will Zalatoris by 1 stroke.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Watch Dodger Max Muncy discuss hitting a career-high seven RBI against the Giants in San Francisco Monday night. You can also check out highlights from the game.
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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