The Sports Report: The Lakers actually seem to have a plan

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

From Bill Plaschke: They did nothing. They did everything.

They bricked it. They absolutely nailed it.

For the first time in recent memory, the NBA free-agent circus missed the Lakers this weekend, yet they were the greatest show on earth.

In the past, the Lakers would have made a big push to sign troubled Kyrie Irving. This time, they settled on tough Gabe Vincent.

In the past, the Lakers would have been deep on the trade talks for overrated Bradley Beal. This time, they picked up steady Taurean Prince.

In the past, the Lakers let impact player Alex Caruso walk and shipped off winners Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma. This time they kept Austin Reaves, kept D’Angelo Russell, kept Rui Hachimura.

For the first time in recent summers, the big-swinging Lakers played small ball, and it was huge.

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DODGERS

From Mike DiGiovanna: Will Smith is one of the best all-around catchers in baseball in the eyes of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who for years has touted Smith’s two-way skills as a consistent run-producer and superb defender.

On Sunday, Smith got that validation from his peers when he was named to his first National League All-Star team as a reserve by fellow players, with input from the commissioner’s office.

“I mean, yes and no,” Smith said, when asked if it was important to be recognized as an All-Star. “For me, I don’t really keep going on that stuff. I just go out and try to help the team win. I kind of already knew I had the respect of my peers from [playing in] the WBC. I think it’s more from the fans.”

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who is 10-4 with a 2.55 ERA in 16 starts, also earned the 10th All-Star selection of a distinguished 16-year career that has included three NL Cy Young Awards and a most valuable player award, but an inflamed shoulder could prevent him from pitching in the July 11 game in Seattle.

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Tony Gonsolin struggles again and Dodgers lose series to Royals

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ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: The Angels ended their losing streak at four games with their starting pitching holding strong and their offense waking up Sunday.

Home runs from Mike Trout, Mickey Moniak and Shohei Ohtani helped propel the Angels to a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Angel Stadium.

Reid Detmers, aside from a two-run home run he gave up to Carson Kelly in the second inning, had another solid start. His final line: two earned runs and three hits, two walks and nine strikeouts.

Ohtani was selected as an All-Star as a pitcher Sunday, making it the third consecutive year he has been an All-Starat both designated hitter and pitcher. He’s the only player in major league history to be named an All-Star at both positions.

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Soft-spoken Reid Detmers has become quite a big deal for Angels’ pitching staff

LAFC

From Kevin Baxter: It was one play. A split-second decision, just like the hundreds of thousands of other split-second decisions Maxime Crepeau had made in his long soccer career. Only this one ended with Crepeau, a goalkeeper, crumpled on the field, his right leg shattered and the best season of his pro career over.

Three days later, the Canadian national team would leave for its first World Cup in 36 years without him. That was nine months ago and Crepeau hasn’t played since.

Yet given the chance, he says he would do it all over again.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Crepeau said, sitting in the shade after a training session at LAFC’s practice facility at Cal State Los Angeles. “I really play with my heart on the field. I don’t regret anything.”

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ANGEL CITY

Goalkeeper DiDi Haracic made three saves for Angel City in a 0-0 draw with Gotham FC in the lone match Sunday in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Haracic stopped a pair of shots by Gotham’s Delanie Sheehan and Yazmeen Ryan in the space of four minutes in the first half.

Angel City (3-6-5) is undefeated in three straight matches but remains mired in 11th place in the league standings. Gotham (6-4-4) is in fifth.

GOLD CUP

Jesús Ferreira became the first American to score international hat tricks in consecutive games, and the United States advanced to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals with a 6-0 rout of Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday night.

Ferreira scored in the 14th and 38th minutes against 101st-ranked Trinidad, then converted a penalty kick in the third minute of first-half stoppage time.

Cade Cowell scored in the 66th, four minutes after entering, and Gianluca Busio in the 79th — the first international goal for both. Brandon Vázquez added his third goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time as the No. 11 Americans won by six goals for the second straight game.

SPARKS

Rhyne Howard made six three-pointers and scored a career-high 43 points — one shy of Atlanta’s single-game franchise record — on 14-of-20 shooting to help the Dream set their single-game scoring record and beat the Sparks 112-84 on Sunday.

Nneka Ogwumike had 25 points to lead the Sparks (7-10), who lost all three games of their trip. Dearica Hamby scored 18 with eight rebounds, Azurá Stevens added 13 points and nine boards while Zia Cooke scored 11.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1920 — Suzanne Lenglen beats Dorothea Chambers a second straight year (6-3, 6-0) to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1925 — Suzanne Lenglen wins her sixth and final women’s singles title at Wimbledon, easily beating Joan Fry, 6-2, 6-0.

1931 — Max Schmeling knocks out Young Stribling at 2:46 of the 15th round to retain the world heavyweight title in Cleveland.

1951 — Sam Snead wins his third PGA Championship with a 7 and 6 victory over Walter Burkemo at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club.

1966 — Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger becomes the first National League player to hit two grand slams in one game. He adds a single for nine RBIs in a 17-3 triumph over San Francisco.

1976 — Bjorn Borg beats Ilie Nastase 6-4, 6-2, 9-7, to win his first men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1981 — Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Chris Evert beats Hana Mandlíková 6-2, 6-2 for her third and final Wimbledon singles title.

1982 — Martina Navratilova begins her streak of six straight singles titles at Wimbledon with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Chris Evert Lloyd. It’s the third Wimbledon singles title for Navratilova, all against Evert Lloyd.

1983 — Calvin Smith sets the 100-meter world record at Colorado Springs, with a run of 9.93 seconds. He breaks the previous record of 9.95 set by Jim Hines in 1968.

1983 — Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: American John McEnroe wins 5th career Grand Slam title; outclasses Chris Lewis of New Zealand 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

1994 — FIFA World Cup: In a huge upset Romania eliminates Argentina 3-2 from the round of 16 at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.

2004 — Maria Sharapova, 17, wins her first Grand Slam title and instant celebrity by beating Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4. For the first time since 1999, none of the four major titles is held by a Williams.

2005 — Roger Federer wins his third consecutive Wimbledon title by beating Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Federer is the third man since 1936 to win three straight Wimbledon crowns, joining seven-time champion Pete Sampras and five-time winner Bjorn Borg.

2006 — Annika Sorenstam wins the U.S. Women’s Open after 10 years of frustration and wins her 10th major championship. Sorenstam, who shot a 1-under 70 in the 18-hole playoff, beats Pat Hurst by four strokes for the largest margin of victory in a playoff at the major since Kathy Cornelius won by seven shots 50 years ago.

2006 — Detroit Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman officially retires from the NHL, finishing with 692 goals and 1,755 points.

2010 — Serena Williams wins her fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam championship by sweeping Vera Zvonareva in straight sets in the women’s final. Williams, who finishes the tournament without dropping a set, takes 67 minutes to win 6-3, 6-2.

2011 — Novak Djokovic wins his first Wimbledon, beating defending champion Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Djokovic, already guaranteed to take over the No. 1 ranking from the Spaniard on July 4, extends his mastery over Nadal this season with a fifth straight head-to-head victory.

2016 — Serena Williams overwhelms Annika Beck 6-3, 6-0 in just 51 minutes on Centre Court at Wimbledon, advancing to the fourth round with her 300th career Grand Slam match win.

2018 — Feliciano Lopez makes history just by taking to the court at Wimbledon. The 36-year-old Spaniard breaks Roger Federer’s record by appearing in a 66th consecutive Grand Slam singles tournament, continuing a run that started at the 2002 French Open. Lopez beats Federico Delbonis of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

2020 — The Major League Baseball All-Star game planned to be hosted by the Dodgers is cancelled due to governmental restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

—Compiled by the Associated Press