The Sports Report: Clippers extend win streak after bumping Russell Westbrook
Howdy, I’m your host, Iliana Limón Romero, filling in for Houston Mitchell, who is probably calculating where acquiring Shohei Ohtani would rank among the all-time greatest Dodgers trades. Let’s get right to the news.
From Andrew Greif: A game featuring 10 players suddenly became a spotlight on just two during Monday’s opening quarter, as Clippers guard James Harden sized up the defense of San Antonio rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama at the top of the three-point arc.
Dribbling between his legs, Harden side-stepped to his right and pulled the ball into what looked to be one of his signature three-pointers, the kind a rookie known for his shot-blocking instincts would have read about in his scouting report. But when Wembanyama lunged forward, Harden was already dribbling past him — his hesitation move just a veteran’s trick to get into the paint for a left-handed floater.
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As the ball fell through the net, backup guard Bones Hyland stood from his seat along the Clippers’ bench and mimicked a dance. It was like that all night, the Clippers controlling the tempo of a 124-99 victory against the outmatched Spurs, leading by as many as 28, and rarely finding themselves in moments of trouble while improving to 5-7.
Russell Westbrook’s role has changed, but the Clippers guard says his goals have not
RAMS
From Gary Klein: It’s been a tough season for Rams star receiver Cooper Kupp, with seemingly one setback after another.
But there was a modicum of good news Monday.
The right ankle injury that knocked Kupp out of the Rams’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks was determined to be only a lateral sprain, coach Sean McVay said.
Kupp will be day to day heading into Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: Chargers’ edge rusher Joey Bosa “likely” is headed to the injured reserve list because of a right foot sprain, head coach Brandon Staley said Monday.
The four-time Pro Bowl player was hurt Sunday at Green Bay on the game’s first series.
If he is put on IR, Bosa would sit out at least the next four weeks (Baltimore, New England, Denver and Las Vegas). He’d be eligible to return no sooner than the final three games of the regular season.
Asked specifically if Bosa would be back in 2023, Staley said the answer is “to be determined.”
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: Unleashing NCAA tournament-level intensity in the first half, unranked UCLA showed that it could be an unexpected force in March.
Almost fully unraveling in the second half, the Bruins displayed how much work remains to get there.
After a wildly vacillating game against No. 4 Marquette in which the Bruins’ 12-point lead became a seven-point deficit, they gave themselves a chance in the final minute.
With his team trailing by two with 21 seconds left, UCLA coach Mick Cronin called time out to set up a play. It was disrupted after the Golden Eagles tipped the ball out of bounds with 8.8 seconds to go.
UCLA got two more chances but came up empty both times. Lazar Stefanovic’s three-pointer missed and a wild Sebastian Mack shot off his offensive rebound was off the mark, leaving the Bruins with a 71-69 loss Monday night at the Stan Sheriff Center in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.
“Obviously, we didn’t finish the job tonight,” UCLA sophomore center Adem Bona said. “We plan to finish the job next time.”
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From Ben Bolch: Waking up on the other side of Maui from his home, Matt Kovach was alarmed by the deluge of text messages on his phone inquiring about his safety.
What he saw on a local news website only heightened his fears. Overnight, his neighborhood had burned to the ground. One thought ran through his head.
We’ve got to get home. I’ve got to go get my mom.
Kovach didn’t even know there was a fire when he left his 74-year-old mother the previous afternoon. A self-described compulsive workaholic, he couldn’t stand being stranded without internet and cellphone access because of the power outage that hit his neighborhood that morning.
It was the sort of small inconvenience that occasionally came with living in this land of wonders. From their seaside home, his family could watch whales leap from the water, feeling the impact of their massive bodies upon splashdown. A bonus for the UCLA alumnus was that his home was so close to the Lahaina Civic Center that he could walk to basketball games at the Maui Invitational whenever his beloved alma mater played there.
By the middle of that August afternoon, still stuck in a communication void, Kovach and his wife decided to take their two young boys to a friend’s home 45 minutes away. The power lines in that area were buried, ensuring internet access. They would stay for a few hours and come back, having seen a tweet from the local electric company saying that power should be restored by that evening, midnight at the latest.
Kovach informed his mother of the plan, leaving her with an assortment of essentials including a lantern, a head lamp, flashlights, several backup batteries and four bottles of water.
UCLA FOOTBALL
From J. Brady McCollough: At the beginning of the season, many assumed that USC would be spending this week off getting healthy for the Pac-12 Conference championship game, fresh off a win over UCLA in the Coliseum.
The Bruins would be trying to salvage the end of their season, then, against California at the Rose Bowl.
Instead, UCLA sent the Trojans hobbling into a long offseason with a 38-20 humbling. It was the kind of dominant rivalry performance that deserved to be the Bruins’ ending note to the 2023 regular season.
UCLA rightfully celebrated over the weekend as the toast of the town. Chip Kelly rang the Victory Bell and looked about as buoyant as anyone could remember afterward. Quarterback Ethan Garbers and his teammates crafted a mocking Instagram post that mimicked the one Caleb Williams posted after the Trojans’ victory last year. The whole thing, especially coming off a loss to Arizona State loss a week earlier, seemed cathartic.
And now? Now the Bruins have to get up for Cal, a competent opponent that desperately wants to win the last Pac-12 contest between the programs and clinch bowl eligibility.
USC FOOTBALL
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The receiver parlayed his success into a first-round draft selection. The running back needed only eight games to run for a career-best season. The quarterback won the Heisman Trophy.
USC’s transfer portal scavenger hunts have yielded gems that shine brightest at the skill positions. Lincoln Riley’s attempts at fortifying the all-important lines of scrimmage have provided fool’s gold.
A disastrous second half of the season revealed just how far USC has to go to build a winning program up front as the Trojans lost five of their last six games.
USC touted newly built offensive and defensive lines with three and five new transfers, respectively, this season, but the Trojans (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12) have the Pac-12’s worst rushing defense and ranks 106th nationally in sacks allowed at 2.75 a game. Even as the transfer portal becomes every coach’s go-to roster Band-Aid, it has proven to be an insufficient solution to the most critical parts of the game: winning the line of scrimmage.
“It’s really more miss than it is hit,” said Geoff Schwartz, a Fox Sports and Sirius XM football analyst.
USC and Colorado each tried to fill three starting offensive line positions with first-year transfers this year, the most for any Pac-12 team. After the Buffaloes (4-7, 1-7) gave up seven sacks to UCLA this season, head coach Deion Sanders added another viral sound bite to his first season in Boulder by telling reporters he would “go get new linemen.”
USC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
From the Associated Press: JuJu Watkins scored 15 points, Rayah Marshall had a strong double-double and No. 8 USC held off Seton Hall 64-54 at the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship on Monday night.
Marshall had 14 points and 14 rebounds for USC (4-0) and Watkins, a freshman, added seven rebounds. Kaitlyn Davis scored 13 points and McKenzie Forbes had 12.
KINGS
From the Associated Press: Trevor Moore scored two goals and the Kings extended their season-opening road winning streak to eight games with a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.
Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault also scored and Pheonix Copley made 30 saves for the Kings, who are tied for the third-longest such streak in NHL history. Buffalo holds the record by winning its first 10 road games in 2006-07.
Lawson Crouse scored and Connor Ingram made 21 saves for the Coyotes, who played their seventh home game of the season. Ingram is 6-2 in his eight starts this season.
HIGH SCHOOLS
From Eric Sondheimer: Among the 28 schools in 14 divisions and dozens of high school football players attending Monday’s Southern Section championship luncheon on Monday in Long Beach, few had a more improbable story than Simi Valley senior quarterback Jesse Sereno.
For three years, he was a junior varsity quarterback. He was preparing to change positions for his senior season until the varsity starter transferred.
On Friday night, with one second left, Sereno scored the winning touchdown on a one-yard quarterback sneak to enable Simi Valley to advance to the Division 6 final with a 32-29 win over Huntington Beach.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1953 — Notre Dame ties Iowa 14-14 by faking injuries in both halves. With two seconds to go in the first half, a Notre Dame player stops the clock by faking an injury and the Fightin’ Irish score on the next play. With six seconds left in the game and Notre Dame out of timeouts, two players fake injuries and the Irish score on the last play to tie the game.
1965 — The Cotton Bowl is packed with 76,251 fans, giving the Dallas Cowboys their first home sellout. The Cleveland Browns spoil the day with a 24-17 win.
1971 — The New York Rangers score eight goals in the third period of a 12-1 rout over the California Seals.
1981 — Brigham Young’s Jim McMahon passes for 552 yards in a 56-28 victory over Utah. Gordon Hudson sets the NCAA record for yards gained by a tight end with 259.
1982 — The NFL resumes play after seven weeks of the season were canceled when the NFL Players Association went on strike Sept. 23.
1987 — The Columbia Lions extend their Division I-record losing streak to 41 games with a 19-16 loss to Brown. Columbia gives up a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the game.
1987 — Southwestern Louisiana quarterback Brian Mitchell rushes for 271 yards and four touchdowns and passes for 205 yards in a 35-28 victory over Colorado State.
1998 — Villanova’s Brian Westbrook becomes the first player to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season and catches two touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a 27-15 victory over Rhode Island.
2004 — Roger Federer wins a record 13th straight final, beating Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-2 in the title match of the ATP Masters Cup. Federer breaks the record of 12 straight finals victories shared by Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
2008 — Michigan’s 42-7 drubbing by Ohio State put a merciful end to the worst season in Michigan’s 129 years of intercollegiate football. The Wolverines (3-9) lose the most games in school history.
2010 — Jimmie Johnson becomes the first driver in the seven-year history of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship to overcome a point deficit in the season finale, finishing second to Ford 400 winner Carl Edwards while winning his record fifth consecutive title.
2015 — Brent Burns scores twice and Patrick Marleau gets his 1,000th career point — an assist on Burns’ first goal — to lift the San Jose Sharks over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1.
2015 — Wes Washpun scores 21 points as Northern Iowa stuns top-ranked North Carolina 71-67 for its first win over the nation’s No. 1 team. The Panthers use a 29-8 run in the second half to turn a 50-34 deficit into a 63-58 lead. The Tar Heels scheduled the trip to Cedar Falls so senior Marcus Paige could play in his home state. Paige doesn’t play because of a broken bone in his right hand.
2016 — Mackenzie Hughes holes an 18-foot par putt from off the green to win the RSM Classic and become the first rookie in 20 years to go wire-to-wire for his first PGA Tour victory. Four players return for the third extra playoff hole at the par-3 17th. Hughes makes his putt and watches Blayne Barber, Henrik Norlander and Camilo Villegas all miss par putts from 10 feet or closer.
2021 — Alexander Zverev of Germany captures his second ATP Finals men’s tennis title defeating world #2 Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 in Turin.
Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally
Watch highlights from the Clippers’ win over the Spurs Monday night in San Antonio.
Until next time...
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