The Sports Report: Lakers rout Pelicans to reach finals of in-season tournament

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

From Dan Woike: LeBron James had just gotten knocked to the floor by Zion Williamson, New Orleans’ door-frame shaped power forward, when the refs blew the whistle and signaled for a first-quarter charge.

James sprang to his feet and sprinted — like, really sprinted — down the floor to the far corner where he was the first player back ready for the next possession.

It was a signal. The miles run on his tires hadn’t disrupted the treads. And he was going to show the young guys he still had plenty to give.

More than an hour later, the Lakers having ripped the New Orleans Pelicans to shreds, James walked to the same spot on the floor. He theatrically shook his head in disbelief. He put both of his index fingers to his head and circled them.

Cuckoo. Crazy. Total Insanity.

What James and the Lakers did to New Orleans inside the T-Mobile Arena, the home of UFC, had to have even made the locals uncomfortable. Usually, you stop fights like this.

The Lakers advanced to the NBA in-season tournament final in dominant fashion, blowing out the Pelicans 133-89.

James scored 30 points, dished out eight assists and finished a plus-36 — in less than 23 minutes. No one in the history of the league has ever had a game with those three numbers. No one in the history of the league has done anything like this at 38 years old.

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LeBron James calls out gun laws after UNLV mass shooting kills 3 near venue of Lakers’ next game

Lakers box score

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CLIPPERS

From Andrew Greif: This week most NBA teams will pass the one-quarter mark of their schedule, a milepost when, according to a persistent NBA belief, teams begin to reveal what they are and how they play.

The Clippers hit the 20-game mark Wednesday with a 10-10 record after spending the previous month under .500. Yet it’s harder to apply the league’s long-held adage to them than perhaps any other because evaluating the Clippers requires acknowledging the three distinct versions of the team already seen in this young season.

There was the version before the trade for James Harden.

The disastrous honeymoon period with Harden that began Nov. 6, and endured through five consecutive losses, after the former league MVP joined a lineup that attempted to shoehorn all four of the roster’s future Hall of Famers into its starters.

And the latest iteration over the last 10 games, in which they are 7-3 since a change to the starting lineup. Russell Westbrook was moved to the bench and coach Tyronn Lue’s rotations began to set.

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KINGS

Quinton Byfield had two goals and an assist, Cam Talbot earned a shutout and the Kings beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 Thursday night for their NHL record 11th road victory to open the season.

The Kings (16-4-3), who eclipsed the mark of 10 straight road wins set by the Buffalo Sabres in 2006-07, are one road win away from matching the NHL record of 12 consecutive road victories at any point during the season.

Drew Doughty had a goal and an assist and Trevor Moore also scored for Los Angeles. Anze Kopitar had three assists and Talbot made 24 saves.

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DUCKS

Petr Mrazek made 37 saves in his 25th career shutout, and the Chicago Blackhawks stopped a four-game slide with a 1-0 victory over the Ducks on Thursday night.

Philipp Kurashev scored for last-place Chicago, which had dropped 10 of 12 overall.

Connor Bedard picked up an assist while Leo Carlsson was mostly quiet in a matchup of the top two picks in this year’s NHL draft. Bedard went No. 1 overall to Chicago, followed by Carlsson going to the Ducks.

Lukas Dostal made 24 stops for the Ducks, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

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RAMS

From Dylan Hernández: Shortly after his midweek news conference, I reminded Sean McVay that the over/under for Rams wins in Las Vegas sportsbooks before the season was just 6½.

I was certain the Rams would fall short of that — way short, actually — and now I’m about to have to buy dinner for Artis Twyman, the team’s vice president of communications.

McVay howled with laughter when he heard that.

When training camp opened, McVay wouldn’t say whether the Rams could beat the 6½-win line. What about now, with the Rams 6-6 heading into their Week 14 showdown with the Baltimore Ravens? Would his affable V.P. of communications be dining out on me?

“One day at a time, man,” McVay said, still chuckling.

McVay’s spirit is particularly light these days, and not just because the Rams are unexpectedly in playoff contention. McVay wasn’t like this as a first-year coach. He wasn’t like this in his team’s Super Bowl season.

After a burnout-inducing five-win season last year, McVay is doing what he said he would do when he explained in March why he decided to return as the team’s coach.

“I think I’m better about [letting go of] the things you can’t control,” McVay said. “I’m more aware of when I get to those bad places [mentally], it’s, like, ‘Hey, you don’t want to be this, snap yourself out of it.’”

McVay is the heartbeat of the Rams. When he internalized his frustrations and withdrew from others last year, the negativity permeated the team. The o

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Rams’ rookie Puka Nacua overwhelmed by more praise from impressed LeBron James

UCLA BASKETBALL

Londynn Jones scored 19 points and No. 2 UCLA thoroughly dominated Cal State Northridge in a 111-48 victory Thursday night.

The Bruins (7-0) had six players in double figures. Gabriela Jaquez had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Lauren Betts added 18 points. Kiki Rice had her first career triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, coming up just three steals short of a quadruple-double.

Only one of UCLA’s 10 players failed to score as the Bruins topped 100 points for the second time this season.

The Bruins took control from the opening tip and didn’t let up. They led 56-19 at halftime after going up by 43 points.

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UCLA box score

USC BASKETBALL

From Ryan Kartje: Bronny James is expected to make his USC debut on Sunday against Long Beach State, USC coach Andy Enfield said Thursday.

It would be James’ first game since he suffered cardiac arrest during a team practice session in July. He was cleared by doctors to resume practice on Nov. 30. James took part in pregame warmups with his teammates before the Trojans’ loss to Gonzaga on Saturday.

James will see how he feels after practice Friday and be further evaluated by USC’s training staff before a final determination is made on his status for Sunday, Enfield said.

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ANGEL CITY

From Kevin Baxter: Eleven months ago, Angel City made Alyssa Thompson the first high school player to be selected with the top pick in the NWSL draft, then signed her to a three-year contract. Last week, the team came back to the same house in Studio City and signed a three-year deal with Thompson’s younger sister, Gisele, one that will make her one of the richest high school seniors in the country.

Which raises one very important question: When will the girls’ 12-year-old sibling Zoe turn pro?

“Let’s not put that out there,” Mario Thompson, the girls’ father, said with a laugh. “It’s already stressful enough having two.”

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2024 Copa América draw: U.S. anticipates a ‘good challenge’ in group play

LACROSSE

From David Wharton: It isn’t hard to make an argument for letting the Haudenosaunee Nationals lacrosse team compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The collection of elite Native American players, recruited from across the Northeast, belong to a people who invented the sport centuries ago. Playing under their own flag at last summer’s World Lacrosse Championship, they beat out a slew of nations to finish third behind the U.S. and Canada.

Now, with their game added to the Olympic program for 2028, President Biden has called upon sports officials to make room for the Haudenosaunee among the usual gathering of nations.

“They perfected [lacrosse] for millennia,” he said. “Their circumstances are unique.”

But this laudable idea faces some very real challenges, bumping up against a tangle of Olympic regulations.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1940 — The Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 for the most one-sided victory in NFL play.

1942 — Georgia’s Frank Sinkwich wins the Heisman Trophy. Sinkwich ends his career holding the Southeastern Conference record for total offense with 2,399 yards.

1948 — Southern Methodist junior Doak Walker wins the Heisman Trophy. Walker over three years scores 303 points, including 40 touchdowns and 60 points after touchdowns.

1961 — Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points and grabs 43 rebounds in a 151-147 triple overtime loss to the Lakers. Elgin Baylor leads the Lakers with 63 points.

1963 — Cookie Gilchrist of the Buffalo Bills sets an AFL record with 243 yards rushing and ties a league record with five touchdowns in a 45-14 rout of the New York Jets.

1977 — Texas running back Earl Campbell wins the Heisman Trophy.

1987 — Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes the first NHL goaltender to shoot a puck into the opposing goal in a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

2000 — Shaquille O’Neal sets an NBA record by going 0-for-11 from the free-throw line as the SuperSonics beat the Lakers 103-95. He broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record, who went 0-for-10 for Philadelphia against Detroit on Nov. 4, 1960. O’Neal had 26 points and 16 rebounds.

2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon sets an NFL record with his 10th 300-yard game of the season, throwing for 328 yards in the Raider 27-7 win over San Diego and breaking a tie with Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Kurt Warner.

2007 — Florida quarterback Tim Tebow becomes the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. He beats out Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the first player since 1949 to finish second in consecutive seasons.

2011 — Three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols agrees to a $254-million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels on the final day of baseball’s winter meetings. Pujols’ contract is the second-highest in baseball history and only the third to break the $200 million barrier, following Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas before the 2001 season and A-Rod’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees before the 2008 season.

2012 — Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel becomes the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, taking college football’s top individual prize after a record-breaking debut. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finishes a distant second and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein is third in the voting.

2018 — Kyler Murray, Oklahoma, wins Heisman Trophy.

2022 — American basketball star Brittany Griner is released by Russian authorities in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; Griner detained on drug smuggling charges since February 2022.

Compiled by the Associated Press