The Sports Report: Anthony Davis leads Lakers past Toronto

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

From Dan Woike: When it’s going well for a basketball team, there’s an ease in which they operate, the rhythms of offense and defense smoothly flowing back and forth with resistance at a minimum.

And when it’s going like it is for the Lakers right now, there’s only spurts of that, like a quarter-mile of paving every so often on a cobblestone highway.

The bumps right now are severe – a win over the Clippers, like LeBron James predicted, not fixing all their problems. But one thing is really going right.

Anthony Davis, playing some of the best basketball of his Lakers’ career, scored 41 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, to help the Lakers hang on against Toronto for a 132-131 win.

The Lakers are now back to .500, winning consecutive games for the first time in a month.

Against Toronto, who was missing starting center Jakob Poetl, the Lakers quickly fed Davis on the interior. And without any available centers of note, Davis feasted, quickly scoring 16 points in the first quarter and making it seem like his size and force would be way too much.

But the Raptors, still riding and energized wave from acquiring R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley from the Knicks in the OG Anunoby trade, started to vary their defenses. Their zone slowed the Lakers in the second, and their double-teams limited Davis to just three shot attempts total in the second and third quarters.

And on the flip side, the smaller Raptors spread the Lakers all over the court, using quickness to slice into the lane and actually win the points-in-the-paint battle.

The Lakers, though, would go back to Davis in the clutch – playing through him in the ways they’ve said want to more than they’ve actually done.

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LAKERS POLL

Should the Lakers fire Darvin Ham? Vote here in our informal survey and let us know.

RAMS

From Gary Klein: It’s been more than seven decades since the Rams played the Detroit Lions in the only playoff matchup between the teams.

In 1952 a Rams team featuring stars such as Norm Van Brocklin, Bob Waterfield and Tom Fears lost 31-21 to a Lions team led by Bobby Layne and Doak Walker.

On Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit, the sixth-seeded Rams play the third-seeded Lions in an NFC wild-card game between teams with multiple connections. Some are obvious, others less so. Here is a look at five:

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Rams roundtable: Is shootout with Lions a bad idea for L.A. in wild-card game?

CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: The Chargers announced they interviewed internal candidates Giff Smith and Kellen Moore for their head coach opening Tuesday.

Smith, 55, finished the season as the team’s interim coach, going 0-3 after replacing the fired Brandon Staley. He has been with the Chargers since 2016, coaching the defensive line before spending the last two seasons working with the outside linebackers.

Moore, 34, was the Chargers’ offensive coordinator in 2023, a position he held with Dallas the previous four seasons. The Chargers finished 18th in total yards and 21st in points under Moore, those rankings adversely affected by the loss of quarterback Justin Herbert (broken finger) over the final four games.

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NFL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE

All times Pacific

AFC
Saturday
No. 5 Cleveland at No. 4 Houston, 1:30 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Telemundo
No. 6 Miami at No. 3 Kansas City, 5 p.m., Peacock

Sunday
No. 7 Pittsburgh at No. 2 Buffalo, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+

NFC
Sunday
No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Dallas, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
No. 6 Rams at No. 3 Detroit, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo

Monday
No. 5 Philadelphia at No. 4 Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., ESPN/ABC/ESPN+

Note: Super Bowl is Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m.

UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: Pulling a disappearing act with reporters allowed Mick Cronin to prioritize a more important group.

His players.

The UCLA coach said he felt his young team needed him to linger in the locker room Saturday night after he noticed a jarring lack of hustle during the Bruins’ loss to California.

“I didn’t think it was there,” Cronin said Tuesday after apologizing to reporters for having skipped his normal postgame news conference three days earlier. “That was alarming to me, so I felt I needed to address it immediately because your culture is the most important thing. … At that time, they needed to see that I wasn’t concerned about anything else but the situation.”

It was the first time Cronin neglected to speak with reporters after a game he had coached at UCLA, though he said he previously used the tactic while at Cincinnati. Cronin sent assistant coach Rod Palmer to take questions while he spoke with players.

“He gave us a talk, but I would just leave that as a locker room talk because it’s kind of private,” senior center Kenneth Nwuba said. “We’ve just got to keep playing. You know, sometimes in life bad things happen and you’ve just got to keep pushing through and you just can’t quit.”

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Former Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías will not be charged with a felony by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, according to a document filed Tuesday, stemming from his arrest last September on suspicion of domestic violence.

According to the office’s charge evaluation worksheet, Urías on the night he was arrested was engaged in an argument with his wife when he “pushed [her] against a fence and pulled her by the hair or shoulders.” The document, however, stated, “neither the Victim’s injuries nor the Defendant’s criminal history justify a felony filing.”

The District Atty.’s office is now turning the case over to the City Attorney for “misdemeanor filing considerations.”

Urías also still faces an investigation and possible punishment from Major League Baseball, which could suspend the 27-year-old left-hander — whether or not he is charged by authorities — if it finds he violated the league’s domestic violence policy.

Per the policy, domestic violence is defined in part as “physical or sexual violence … physical intimidation, or injury” and later says “a single incident of abusive behavior … may subject a player to discipline.”

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SPARKS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The Sparks’ rebuild has added another contractor.

New general manager Raegan Pebley was introduced to reporters Tuesday as the latest piece of an expanded Sparks front office tasked with breaking the franchise out of its longest playoff drought. The team’s brain trust, which includes head coach Curt Miller, former general manager Karen Bryant, who will step back into a more business-oriented role, and assistant general manager Eli Horowitz, has three months until its next potentially franchise-changing moment.

The 2024 WNBA draft.

The Sparks hold the No. 2 and 12 picks in the April 15 draft that could be one of the deepest in recent memory if some of the top collegiate stars declare. Caitlin Clark (Iowa), Cameron Brink (Stanford), Paige Bueckers (Connecticut) and Angel Reese (Louisiana State) are just some of the draft-eligible prospects who could still return to college.

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KINGS

Nick Perbix scored 2:02 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied from two goals down in the third period to beat the slumping Kings 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Jon Cooper became the third-fastest NHL coach to win 500 games. Scotty Bowman (825) and Bruce Boudreau (837) were the only ones to get there faster than Cooper’s 839 games. Cooper is the fastest to do it with one franchise, and 29th to reach the milestone.

Perbix ended a 40-game goal drought with his game-winner.

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Kings box score

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DUCKS

Troy Terry scored a goal and assisted on another, Lukas Dostal made 39 saves and the Ducks defeated the Nashville Predators 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, Mason McTavish and Radko Gudas also scored for the Ducks, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Alex Killorn and Jackson LaCombe each had two assists.

The Ducks played most of the game without top line left wing Trevor Zegras, who was injured just 6:25 into the first period when he and Predators forward Juuso Parssinen got tangled up. Zegras fell awkwardly into the boards near the Nashville bench. He had to be helped off the ice and went straight to the Ducks locker room. At the first intermission, the Ducks announced that he would not return due to a lower-body injury.

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Ducks box score

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1972 — The longest winning streak in major pro sports — 33 games — ends when the Bucks beat the Lakers 120-104 behind 39 points by Milwaukee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

1980 — Goaltender Jim Stewart, in his first and only game with the Boston Bruins, yields three goals in the first four minutes and five in the first period. He’s replaced and never plays in the NHL again.

1982 — Joe Montana’s third touchdown pass of the game, a 6-yarder to Dwight Clark, with 51 seconds remaining, lifts the San Francisco 49ers to 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC title game.

1989 — Kings center Wayne Gretzky becomes NHL’s all-time leading scorer in combined regular season & playoff points; 4 assists in 5-4 home win over Edmonton brings his total to 2,011, 1 more than Gordie Howe.

1998 — Michelle Kwan receives eight perfect 6.0s out of nine marks for artistry in the free skate to win her second U.S. Figure Skating Championship in three years.

2002 — Todd Eldredge wins his sixth U.S. Figure Skating Championships title. After skipping two seasons of competition, Eldredge edges defending champion Tim Goebel.

2004 — Michelle Kwan wins her seventh straight title and eighth overall at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Only one of the sport’s greats, Maribel Vinson, has more U.S. championships, with nine.

2006 — Bruce Sutter is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, the fourth reliever and first pitcher elected with no career starts.

2008 — Alex Ovechkin signs a $124-million, 13-year contract extension with the Washington Capitals, the NHL’s first $100 million deal.

2009 — Arizona, the lone NFC team not to make it to a conference championship game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, gets to host its’ first NFC championship game after a 33-13 win at Carolina.

2011 — Top-ranked Auburn beats No. 2 Oregon 22-19 in the BCS title game. Wes Byrum’s 19-yard field goal with no time left — his sixth career game-winning field goal — caps a 14-0 season.

2015 — North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz runs 5 yards for the winning touchdown about a minute after Tre Roberson’s 58-yard run puts Illinois State ahead, and the Bison became the first team to win four straight FCS championships with a thrilling 29-27 victory.

2015 — Tom Brady sets a career record for postseason touchdown passes, leading New England back from two 14-point deficits for a 35-31 victory over Baltimore. Brady breaks Joe Montana’s record with 46 postseason TD passes and the Patriots reaches their fourth straight AFC championship game.

2022 — College Football, National Championship, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana: #3 Georgia beats #1 Alabama, 33-18.

Compiled by the Associated Press