The Sports Report: Anthony Davis leads Lakers past Spurs

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

From Dan Woike: Anthony Davis knows the pressure, the need to turn things around for a franchise after they invest a top pick in you.

He also knows that the Spurs had lost 17-straight games heading into Wednesday, rookie Victor Wembanyama’s presence resulting in occasional highlights surrounded by typical rookie struggles.

He’s been there before. Wednesday, he made sure this year’s top pick wouldn’t escape.

Davis continued a run of dominant basketball, leading the Lakers to a 122-119 win on the second night of a back-to-back with LeBron James out, nursing his sore calf.

Wembanyama fought – he hit back-to-back threes late in the fourth and had a chance to tie the score at the line, but he split on a pair to allow the Lakers to hold a slim lead and missed a potential tying shot.

Davis finished with 37 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Wembanyama scored 30 to go with 13 rebounds and six blocks.

“Finding my shot. Of course, being more aggressive,” Davis said. “But when my teammates are doing a good job, I think it’s easier for me to operate when guys are making their shots.”

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Anthony Davis says Victor Wembanyama shouldn’t ‘stress’ about the pressure

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: After beginning their offseason with a historic opening act, the Dodgers are in discussions for a blockbuster encore.

Just days removed from their heavily deferred $700-million signing of two-way star Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers are in serious talks with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire coveted starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow, a person with knowledge of the situation who was unauthorized to speak publicly confirmed Wednesday.

Under the package the sides have been discussing, the Dodgers would send Ryan Pepiot, once a highly-touted pitching prospect with a 2.76 ERA in 43 major league appearances, and young outfielder Jonny DeLuca to Tampa Bay in exchange for Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot.

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OHTANI POLL

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SUPER BOWL

From Sam Farmer: The NFL is coming back to SoFi Stadium for another Super Bowl.

Super Bowl LXI, at the end of the 2026-27 season, will be played at the stadium in Inglewood, five years after the Rams won the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LVI on their home field with a win over Cincinnati.

The game was awarded by a unanimous vote at the annual December meetings in Irving, Texas.

It marks the ninth time the league’s marquee game will be played in L.A. and will come 60 years after the Coliseum played host to the first Super Bowl, even though the game wasn’t called that at the time. It was labeled the AFL-NFL World Championship Game.

The Super Bowl in early 2027 will be sandwiched by two other major events at SoFi Stadium — World Cup games in 2026 and the Olympic Games in 2028.

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CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: Already without quarterback Justin Herbert, the Chargers also won’t have wide receiver Keenan Allen on Thursday night when they play at Las Vegas.

The veteran has been dealing with a heel issue and will miss a game for the first time this season.

Herbert is out for the rest of the season after having surgery Tuesday on the right index finger he fractured Sunday against Denver. Easton Stick will make his first NFL start in place of Herbert against the Raiders.

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KINGS

Gabe Vilardi scored a career-high four points with a goal and three assists in his impressive return to Los Angeles, leading the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-2 victory over the Kings on Wednesday night.

Vilardi scored his second goal of the season early in the third period to complete the biggest offensive night of his five-year career in his first game against the Kings, who drafted him with the 11th overall pick in 2017.

The Kings sent him to the Jets last summer along with Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari in a trade for Pierre-Luc Dubois. If that wasn’t enough motivation, Vilardi then injured his right knee when L.A.’s Blake Lizotte tripped him during the Kings’ 5-1 win in Winnipeg two months ago, sidelining him until Nov. 30.

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DUCKS

Simon Holmstrom scored the tiebreaking, short-handed goal late with 1:33 left in regulation and the New York Islanders beat the Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight win.

Mathew Barzal, Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas also scored, and Noah Dobson had two assists to help the Islanders improve to 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves.

Troy Terry, Adam Henrique and Sam Carrick scored for Anaheim, which has lost four straight and 12 of 13. Gibson finished with 30 saves.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1933 — Howie Morenz becomes the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer in the Montreal Canadiens’ 2-0 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Morenz scores the 247th goal of his career to move ahead of Cy Denneny. The milestone comes at the Forum. Montreal’s Lorne Chabot gets the shutout and the a game is played without a penalty being called.

1947 — The Cleveland Browns beat the New York Yankees 14-3 in the second AAFC championship game. It’s the second straight year the two team meet in the title game, with Browns coming out on top again.

1982 — Marcel Dionne of the Kings scores his 500th goal in a 7-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Dionne is the ninth player in NHL history to reach the milestone.

1985 — UCLA beats American University 1-0 in the eighth overtime period, in the longest soccer match held in the United States, to capture the NCAA soccer title.

1986 — Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins sets an NFL record with the seventh 400-yard game of his career as he passes for 403 yards and five touchdowns in a 37-31 overtime victory over the Rams. Marino hits Mark Duper with a 20-yard touchdown pass in overtime to win the game.

1991 — Desmond Howard, the nation’s second-leading scorer with 23 TDs, wins the Heisman Trophy by the second-biggest margin in history. The Michigan receiver beats runner-up Casey Weldon of Florida State by 1,574 points.

1995 — The first Division I-A overtime game takes place at the Las Vegas Bowl with Toledo beat Nevada 40-37.

2002 — Marvin Harrison breaks Herman Moore’s 1995 mark of 123 catches. By making nine receptions in a 28-23 win at Cleveland, Harrison reaches 127 with two games remaining. He also gains 172 yards, giving Harrison 1,500 yards for the second straight season, the first player with consecutive 1,500-yard seasons.

2002 — Michael Jordan matches his career low with two points as the Washington Wizards beat the short-handed Toronto Raptors. The 39-year-old Jordan shoots 1-for-9 from the field, but has nine assists and eight rebounds as he matches his season high by playing 40 minutes.

2007 — Appalachian State, which kicked off the football season with the stunning upset of Michigan, ends the season with a historic victory. The Mountaineers are Division I-AA’s first three-peat national champion with a 49-21 win over Delaware.

2008 — Oakland becomes the first team to lose at least 11 games in six straight seasons after their 49-26 loss to New England. The Patriots’ 35 first-half points are the most scored against Oakland since the merger in 1970.

2008 — Pittsburgh holds another team under 300 yards in beating Baltimore 13-9. The Steelers tie the 1973 Rams for the longest streak — 14 games to start a season — since the NFL merger in 1970.

2021 — Steph Curry makes his 2,974th three-point shot to pass Ray Allen as the NBA’s greatest career 3-point shooter during Golden State Warriors’ 105-96 win over NY Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Compiled by the Associated Press