The Sports Report: Lakers complete thrilling rally to clinch a playoff bid
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably watching West Wing reruns. Let’s get right to the news.
From Dan Woike: The Lakers targeted 19 wins for a very specific reason.
It was early February, the morning before LeBron James broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record, when teammate Dennis Schroder put it on the record.
With 28 games left in their season, Schroder said the team’s mindset was to win at least 19 — that would be the number the Lakers would need to make the playoffs.
Days later, the roster was remodeled and soon, the Lakers started playing some of their best basketball of the season.
They won 18 more games, one short of their goal.
And that’s why, Tuesday night, they had to stand on the doorstep of the playoffs with a younger, hungrier, looser Minnesota team right next to them.
One more win, anywhere in the season, would’ve meant the Lakers were the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. Maybe with a whistle in Boston, a made free throw in Philadelphia, better rotations against Indiana or Dallas — any of it, and the Lakers wouldn’t have been in this position.
Needing one more win.
So of course, it took one more comeback.
“That’s one thing we’ve been very good at,” James said.
Down by 15 in the second half of their play-in game, the Lakers rallied and looked like they had it won on Schroder’s three-point shot with 1.1 seconds left. But Anthony Davis fouled Minnesota’s Mike Conley on a three, with the veteran guard sending the game to overtime with three free throws.
However, just like the Lakers’ season, the slow start wouldn’t define them, the team overcoming the late mistake and owning overtime to advance to the playoffs with a 108-102 win.
MORE LAKERS
— Photos | Lakers beat Timberwolves, advance to the playoffs
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CLIPPERS
From Andrew Greif: During a heated moment in Sunday’s regular-season finale, the Clippers went at one another.
They say they’ve moved on, focused only on battling the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns in a first-round playoff series.
Backup guard Bones Hyland and reserve center Mason Plumlee began a heated exchange between the third and fourth quarters in Phoenix, getting in each other’s faces before Hyland shoved Plumlee away.
After the win, which secured the Clippers the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, Plumlee said the conflict resulted from defensive miscommunication. On one play late in the third quarter, both players were stuck on a screen, allowing a wide-open three-point attempt from the corner.
Plumlee said Sunday that the moment already was behind the two, who quickly took the court together to start the fourth quarter, and coach Tyronn Lue also dismissed it with a laugh.
“If it ain’t right, do something to fix it and after that little skirmish we took off and played a lot better, so maybe we should do that more often,” Lue said Sunday. “They worked it out, it’s OK. Everything’s good.”
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: SAN FRANCISCO — It might be a new season. But two weeks into the campaign, Chris Taylor is battling the same old issue.
In all three of his at-bats Tuesday night, the Dodgers veteran struck out with runners on base. In his final trip to the plate, he went down swinging with no outs and the bases loaded.
Taylor wasn’t the only culprit in the team’s 5-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants, a shutout defeat in which the Dodgers collected just three singles and, despite drawing five walks and two hit-by-pitches, went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
But in the aftermath of a flat rivalry game defeat, it was Taylor’s continued punchout problems that loomed largest amid an already slow start to the season.
“Just a tough game,” said Taylor, who is three for 31 with 14 strikeouts through his first nine games. “It’s discouraging, but that’s part of the game. It’s a long season. Come in tomorrow and get back to work. I’ve been doing it for a while.”
ANGELS
From Sarah Valenzuela: Through Shohei Ohtani’s continued dominance on the mound, he’s still expecting more from himself. He is an ever-evolving pitcher. Of course he’s always trying to improve on quality starts. That’s what makes him an ace.
“I mean just look at the results on paper, it looks like it looks great,” he said through a Japanese interpreter Tuesday, “but I haven’t really had too many one, two, three innings as much as I would. Feel like those one, two, three innings will give the offense more momentum.”
For example, his start Tuesday against the Washington Nationals, where he collected his second win of the season in the Angels’ 2-0 victory over their National League opponent, began with him walking Alex Call. Ohtani walked five batters over seven innings and he threw a pitch that grazed a batter.
Walking the first batter of a game is no big deal for Ohtani — though he did say that walking as many as he has has been tiring. He’s walked the first batter in each of his three starts. The games were all still in his control, just like Tuesday.
MORE ANGELS
— ‘It just got to me, for whatever reason.’ Anthony Rendon reflects on fan altercation
LAFC
From Kevin Baxter: Since LAFC entered MLS six years ago, no team has won more games, gathered more points, scored more goals or captured more titles. It’s been a master class in how to take a franchise from concept to champion.
But there’s still one major piece of hardware missing from the team’s trophy case: the cup that goes to the winner of the region’s most important club competition.
LAFC took a big step toward filling that hole Tuesday, advancing to the Final Four of the CONCACAF Champions League with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. The result gave LAFC a 6-0 aggregate-goal victory in the two-leg home-and-away playoff and sends the team (7-1-2 in all competition) on to the tournament semifinals later this month, where it will meet the winner of the Philadelphia Union-Atlas quarterfinal. The Union leads that series 1-0 heading into Wednesday’s second leg in Guadalajara.
“Our objective tonight was to advance into the next round. We’re happy with that,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “I’m also happy and pleased with the performance. I’m pleased with the progression of the team.
“It’s a competition we really want to continue in. If we have a chance to win, we would love that. But the semifinals will be very tough. All the teams left in the tournament are quite strong. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
USC
From Ryan Kartje: His first stint at USC lasted all of 34 days, a monthlong layover as offensive coordinator on his way to Arizona and the NFL. There was barely time for Kliff Kingsbury to unpack his bags at Heritage Hall in January 2019 before the Cardinals came calling, making him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Four years after he left, Kingsbury has made his way back to L.A.
This time, he won’t call plays. He won’t even be a full-time member of USC’s coaching staff. Kingsbury is joining coach Lincoln Riley’s staff as a senior offensive analyst, working with the Trojans’ quarterbacks in a support role.
Riley called his arrival “another example of where [USC is] headed.”
“He sees the opportunity that this is right now,” Riley said Tuesday. “Which is a cool statement for our program, that a guy like that would want to come take this role and help this program take another big step, and he recognizes what’s going on.”
UCLA
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Margzetta Frazier punctuated her final floor routine at Pauley Pavilion with a pointed finger, a career high and a trash can. It was perfect.
When the fifth-year senior landed her last tumbling pass and pointed to her exuberant teammates rejoicing in the corral, it was as if Frazier was dedicating the personal-best-tying 9.95 score in UCLA’s regional final meet to her teammates. They made this season — which included a 10 from one judge on her triumphant floor send-off — possible.
“The 10, that was crazy, oh my gosh,” Frazier said, “but the fact that I was able to pull through for [my teammates] and they trusted me to do it, that meant more than a 10.”
Support from her teammates has helped Frazier compete through “crippling” anxiety that leaves her ill during competition and makes her final season of gymnastics her most meaningful. Surrounded by her team on the national stage, Frazier is determined to finish her career on a high note at the NCAA championships starting with the semifinals at 6 p.m. PDT Thursday in Fort Worth.
The Bruins qualified for nationals as a team for the first time since 2019. Frazier remembers it like it was yesterday.
HIGH SCHOOLS
From the Eric Sondheimer: A foggy morning turned to sunshine Tuesday in Santa Ana, and the more than two-dozen baseball scouts at Mater Dei High for an opening game of the Boras Classic got to see 6-foot-5 shortstop Eric Bitonti of San Bernardino Aquinas send a slider flying over the right-field fence for a grand slam against Cypress.
“It was 1-and-1 and he hung it,” said Bitonti, a top MLB prospect. “I knew it was gone.”
Aquinas (13-2) defeated Cypress 6-4, ending the Centurions’ 12-game winning streak. Bitonti’s grand slam came in the third inning and gave Aquinas a 6-0 lead. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for his second home run of the season, with so many scouts gathered to continue their season-long evaluation process in anticipation of the amateur draft starting July 7.
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THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1939 — Stanley Cup Final, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL: Chicago Black Hawks beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 for a 3-1 series win; only team to win Cup with losing regular season record.
1941 — The Boston Bruins beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 to cap a four-game sweep in the Stanley Cup finals.
1942 — Byron Nelson wins his second Masters, edging Ben Hogan by one stroke.
1945 — Toronto rookie goalie Frank McCool set a playoff record with his third consecutive shutout, defeating the Detroit Red Wings 1-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
1953 — Ben Hogan takes his second Masters with a five-stroke victory over Porky Oliver.
1954 — Sam Snead edges Ben Hogan by one stroke in a playoff round to win his third Masters.
1954 — 8th NBA Championship: Minneapolis Lakers beat Syracuse Nationals, 4 games to 3.
1958 — St. Louis’ Bob Pettit scores a record 50 points as the Hawks beat the Boston Celtics in six games for the NBA title. Pettit hit 19 shots from the field and 12 from the free-throw line in the Hawks 110-109 win.
1960 — Maurice Richard scored his NHL-record 82nd, and final, playoff goal in the Montreal Canadiens’ 5-2 victory against the Maple Leafs in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Richard retired before the 1960-61 season.
1964 — Arnold Palmer wins the Masters for the fourth time and comes within the course record by two strokes with a 274.
1980 — U.S. Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow Olympic games.
1981 — Tom Watson wins his second Masters with a two-stroke victory over Jack Nicklaus.
1987 — Larry Mize hits a 48-foot chip shot to defeat Greg Norman on the second hole of sudden death at the Masters.
1987 — Ahmed Salah wins 2nd World Cup marathon (2:10:55).
1988 — Frank Robinson replaces Cal Ripkin as manager of Baltimore Orioles.
1992 — Fred Couples wins the Masters by two strokes to end a string of four consecutive British victories. Couples beats Ray Floyd, who was attempting to become the oldest player to win a major at age 49.
1993 — American Jeff Rouse swims world record 100m backstroke (51.43 sec).
1997 — Allen Iverson scores a career-high 50 points, for his fourth straight game with at least 40, as Philadelphia loses to Cleveland 125-118. Iverson breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s rookie record of three consecutive 40-point games, set during the 1959-60 season.
1998 — Mark O’Meara wins the Masters with a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole. O’Meara becomes the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1960 to win by closing with two consecutive birdies.
2005 — Smithtown (N.Y.) High School’s co-ed badminton team defeats Miller Place (N.Y.) High School 10-5 to end Miller Place’s 504-match win streak, the longest sports winning streak in U.S. history. For Miller Place, it is the first loss in the program’s history, which began in 1973.
2009 — In Hameenlinna, Finland, the United States wins its second straight women’s World Hockey Championship title, beating Canada 4-1 behind defenseman Caitlin Cahow’s two goals.
2009 — 73rd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Ángel Cabrera wins his 2nd major title in a playoff with Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry; Cabrera, first Masters champion.
2015 — Jordan Spieth romps to his first major championship with a record-tying performance at the Masters, shooting an 18-under 270 to become the first wire-to-wire winner of the green jacket since 1976. Spieth is the first Masters champion to lead after every round since Raymond Floyd 39 years ago.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Check out highlights from the Lakers’ play-in game win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Until next time...
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