The Sports Report: Lakers are no match for Warriors in Game 2

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

From Dan Woike: As Moses Moody swung on the rim and after LeBron James stood flat-footed, the five Lakers heads on the court all dropped, eyes pointed to the floor. There were still 2.2 seconds left in the third quarter, but James caught the inbounds pass and dribbled out the clock.

There was no decision for Darvin Ham to make, no comeback to try and put together.

Down 30, the Lakers leader made it obvious.

They were done. And even with 12 more minutes to play, this game was over.

Officially, the Lakers lost 127-100, but it was finished way before that.

“They made the adjustments. We knew they were going to do that,” James said. “That’s what a championship team does, and they held serve on the home court.”

Continue reading here

NBA PLAYOFFS
Results, schedule
All times Pacific
Conference semifinals

Western Conference

No. 6 Golden State vs. No. 7 Lakers
Game 1: Lakers 117, at Golden State 112
Game 2: at Golden State 127, Lakers 100
Saturday at Lakers, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Lakers, 7 p.m., TNT
Wednesday at Golden State, TBD, TNT
*Friday, May 12 at Lakers, TBD, ESPN
*Sunday, May 14 at Golden State, TBD

No. 1 Denver vs. No. 4 Phoenix
Game 1: at Denver 125, Phoenix 107
Game 2: at Denver 97, Phoenix 87
Tonight at Phoenix, 7 p.m., ESPN
Sunday at Phoenix, 5 p.m., TNT
*Tuesday at Denver, TBD, TNT
*Thursday, May 11 at Phoenix, TBD, ESPN
*Sunday, May 14 at Denver, TBD

Eastern Conference

No. 2 Boston vs. No. 3 Philadelphia
Game 1: Philadelphia 119, at Boston 115
Game 2: at Boston 121, Philadelphia 87
Today at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m., ESPN
Sunday at Philadelphia, 12:30 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday at Boston, TBD, TNT
*Thursday, May 11 at Philadelphia, TBD, ESPN
*Sunday, May 14 at Boston, TBD

No. 5 New York vs. No. 8 Miami
Game 1: Miami 108, at New York 101
Game 2: at New York 111, Miami 105
Saturday at Miami, 12:30 p.m., ABC
Monday at Miami, 4:30 p.m., TNTFlorid
Wednesday at New York, TBD, TNT
*Friday, May 12 at Miami, TBD, ESPN
*Monday, May 15 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT

*-if necessary

NHL PLAYOFFS

Results, schedule
All times Pacific

Second round
Western Conference

Vegas [P1] vs. Edmonton [P2]
Game 1: at Vegas 6, Edmonton 4
Saturday at Vegas, 4 p.m., TNT
Monday at Edmonton, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday at Edmonton, 7 p.m., ESPN
*Friday, May 12 at Vegas, TBD, TNT
*Sunday, May 14 at Edmonton, TBD, TBD
*Tuesday, May 16 at Vegas, TBD, TBD

Dallas [C2] vs. Seattle [WC1]
Game 1: Seattle 5, at Dallas 4 (OT)
Game 2: at Dallas 4, Seattle 2
Sunday at Seattle, 6:30 p.m., TBS
Tuesday at Seattle, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Thursday at Dallas, TBD, TNT
*Saturday, May 13 at Seattle, TBD, ESPN
*Monday, May 15 at Dallas, TBD, ESPN

Eastern Conference

Carolina [M1] vs. New Jersey [M2]
Game 1: at Carolina 5, New Jersey 1
Today at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT
Sunday at New Jersey, 12:30 p.m., TBS
Tuesday at New Jersey, 4 p.m., ESPN
*Thursday at Carolina, TBD, TNT
*Saturday, May 13 at New Jersey, TBD, ESPN
*Monday, May 15 at Carolina, TBD, ESPN

Toronto [A2] vs. Florida [WC2]
Game 1: Florida 4, at Toronto 2
Game 2: Florida 3, at Toronto 2
Sunday at Florida, 3:30 p.m., TBS
Wednedsay at Florida, 4 p.m., ESPN
*Friday, May 12 at Toronto, TBD, TNT
*Sunday, May 14 at Florida, TBD, TBD
*Tuesday, May 16 at Toronto, TBD, TNT

*-if necessary

SPARKS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: It’s 2023 and Chiney Ogwumike gave the highest possible compliment of the Sparks’ first four days of training camp.

“The vibes are right,” the forward said Thursday with a broad smile.

Sparks players weren’t just smiling Thursday for their photo sessions during the team’s annual media day. They were marveling at the franchise’s new level of professionalism and camaraderie that’s taken hold with the first-year tandem of general manager Karen Bryant and head coach Curt Miller.

After cobbling together a practice schedule by hunting open court time in rental gyms, college campuses and the Lakers’ facility, the Sparks will call El Camino College their regular practice home this year. Any problems ranging from housing to medical staff questions, the team helps with immediately, free-agent forward Azurá Stevens said. Most players arrived in L.A. well before the season, helping the team develop chemistry on and off the court.

“It’s a complete 180 from last year,” said guard Jordin Canada, who is in her second year with the Sparks. “You can just sense that it’s a different environment, different atmosphere in the locker room. ... Everyone on this team wants to see everyone be successful and do well, encouraging each other, pushing each other, holding each other accountable. That’s what we lacked last year: accountability.”

Canada was so convinced by the vision of Bryant and Miller that the five-year pro opted to return to her hometown team on a nonguaranteed training camp contract one year after signing as a coveted free agent from Seattle. She is competing in what Layshia Clarendon called, “the best point guard camp I’ve been at.”

Continue reading here

BASEBALL

From Kevin Baxter: Paul Wafula found Dennis Kasumba in a slaughterhouse.

By the time he was 14, hunger and hopelessness had led Kasumba to drop out of school and take a job slaughtering cows, sheep and goats. It was a Dickensian environment, one in which the workers, mostly young boys, were bathed in blood.

Wafula remembered of the pair’s first conversation: “I asked him why he was working in the slaughterhouse and he was like, ‘I want to have something to eat. We don’t have anything to eat at home.’”

So Wafula, a volunteer baseball coach, made the boy a deal: leave the slaughterhouse and each time he came to the baseball field he’d get fed. When Kasumba became a regular, Wafula sweetened the deal: if he kept coming, the coach would pay for him to go back to school too.

And so began a relationship that would confirm Wafula’s belief in the redemptive power of the sport and fill Kasumba, now 18, with dreams of becoming Uganda’s first major leaguer.

Continue reading here

Inside the ‘secret’ baseball academy the Dodgers are running in Uganda

Dodgers open series against Padres eager to ‘move forward’ from playoff failure

Dodgers vs. Padres roundtable: Did 2022 NLDS signal a power shift in NL West?

RAMS

From Gary Klein: The Rams continued to add quarterback depth, agreeing to terms with Brett Rypien, the team announced Thursday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rypien, a fifth-year pro, joins a position group that includes veteran starter Matthew Stafford and rookie Stetson Bennett, a fourth-round pick in last week’s NFL draft.

Rypien, 26, played at Boise State and signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2019. In eight games, including three starts, he passed for four touchdowns, with eight interceptions.

Continue reading here

KENTUCKY DERBY

From John Cherwa: Two horses were scratched from the Kentucky Derby for very different reasons.

Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move was scratched from the race on Saturday because he developed a slight fever after training Thursday.

“He spiked a temp on us,” trainer Tim Yakteen said. “He might have a bug and was reacting to it. But you have to do the right thing by the horse — that’s our focus. He’s such a gifted horse.”

Later in the day, Lord Miles also was scratched after the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Churchill Downs banned horses trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. following the death of two of his horses in the first few days of racing at the track.

The Board of Stewards issued the following statement.

“For the betterment of racing, the health and welfare of our equine athletes, and the safety of our jockeys, all horses trained by trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. are scratched effective immediately and until further notice. This action is taken after consultation with Mr. Joseph, and includes Lord Miles who was entered into the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby.”

Continue reading here

Trainer John Shirreffs’ steady approach has him back at Kentucky Derby with Skinner

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1904 — Cy Young of the Red Sox pitches a perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics, beating Rube Waddell 3-0.

1908 — 34th Kentucky Derby: Arthur Pickens aboard 66-1 chance Stone Street wins in muddy track conditions; 2:15.20 slowest Derby in history.

1934 — Cavalcade wins the Kentucky Derby by more than three lengths over Discovery. It’s his third victory in less than two weeks.

1949 — Detroit Tigers second baseman Charlie Gehringer is elected in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1951 — 77th Kentucky Derby: Conn McCreary aboard Count Turf wins in 2:02.6.

1966 — The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 to win the Stanley Cup in six games.

1969 — The Boston Celtics beat the Lakers 107-102 in the seventh game to win the NBA championship for the 10th time in 11 years. Player-coach Bill Russell and Sam Jones retire as players.

1969 — Milwaukee Bucks sign #1 NBA Draft pick, star UCLA center Lew Alcindor.

1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, wins the Kentucky Derby with a record time of 1:59.2. Secretariat beats Sham by 2½ lengths and goes on to win the Triple Crown.

1978 — Pete Rose of the Reds becomes the 14th player with 3,000 hits, singling in the fifth inning against Montreal’s Steve Rogers at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium.

1990 — 116th Kentucky Derby: Craig Perret aboard Unbridled wins in 2:02.

1993 — Canisius beats Niagara 11-1 in softball to set an NCAA Division I record with 34 straight wins.

2001 — Monarchos wins the Kentucky Derby carrying Jorge Chavez across the finish line in 1:59 4-5, only two-fifths of a second off the track record set by Secretariat en route to the Triple Crown in 1973. Monarchos finishes a dominating 4¾ lengths over Invisible Ink.

2007 — Street Sense, ridden by Calvin Borel, roars from next-to-last in a 20-horse field to win the Kentucky Derby by 2 1-2 lengths over Hard Spun.

2007 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. beats Oscar De La Hoya in one of the richest fights. Mayweather, with superb defensive skills and superior speed, wins a 12-round split decision and the WBC 154-pound title in his first fight at that weight. The sellout crowd of 16,200 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas sets a record $19 million gate.

2012 — I’ll Have Another catches Bodemeister down the stretch and pulls away in the final furlong to win the Kentucky Derby. Jockey Mario Gutierrez, riding in his first Derby, guides the 3-year-old colt to a 1½-length victory in front of a Derby-record crowd of 165,307.

2012 — English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,102): Chelsea beats Liverpool, 2–1; Didier Drogba scores winner for Blues’ 7th title.

2013 — LeBron James is the overwhelming choice as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. The Miami star gets 120 of 121 first-place votes in this year’s balloting, giving him the award for the fourth time.

2017 — Corey Perry scores 6:57 into the second overtime after the Ducks rally from a three-goal deficit in the final minutes of regulation, completing a spectacular 4-3 comeback win over the Edmonton Oilers. Rickard Rakell scores the tying goal with 15 seconds left in regulation to cap a stunning sequence of three goals in just over three minutes, all with goalie John Gibson pulled for an extra attacker.

2018 — Justify splashes through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby by 2½ lengths, becoming the first colt in 136 years to wear the roses after not racing as a 2-year-old. The colt that began his racing career in February improves to 4-0 and gives trainer Bob Baffert his fifth Derby victory. Jockey Mike Smith earns his second Derby victory as the 5-2 favorite in the field of 20.

2021 — John Means of the Baltimore Orioles pitches a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners, 6-0 at T-Mobile Park, Seattle.

—Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally...

Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby. Watch and listen here.