The Sports Report: Lakers turn their ire toward Dillon Brooks after loss to Rockets

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From Broderick Turner: After their 135-119 loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday, the Lakers shifted their attention back to the in-game actions Dillon Brooks, criticizing the Rockets forward dangerous play that put LeBron James and Jarred Vanderbilt at risk for injury.

Brooks was involved in a pair of incidents that led to Vanderbilt’s ejection in the second quarter. He later smacked James in the face on a play under the basket. The Lakers felt the incidents should have led to Brooks’ ejection. The Rockets forward was only issued a flagrant foul for his hit on James.

In the first incident with Vanderbilt, the Lakers forward was going in for a layup and was pushed by Brooks while airborne. Vanderbilt fell hard on the Toyota Center court, writhing in pain. Brooks was called for a foul after the referees looked at the replay.

A few plays later, Brooks nudged Vanderbilt in the back going for a rebound on an Austin Reaves basket. Vanderbilt turned and pushed Brooks, picking up his first technical foul. Before play resumed, Vanderbilt poked Brooks in the ear, earning his second technical and the ejection.

The Lakers felt the foul by Brooks played a role in Vanderbilt’s reactions.

“I mean, he’s going for a wide-open dunk and he just pushed him in the back. It’s not a safe play,” Anthony Davis, who had 23 points and seven rebounds, said about Vanderbilt. “Guys get hurt like that. And you got to know what type of player he is. You kind of let that just keep going on and he kind of provoked it. He talks and says whatever he wants to the refs, to players and at the end of the day, we’re men. No man is going to talk towards another man the way he was talking to Vando. So, Vando did what he had to do.”

Several of the Lakers players said Brooks called Vanderbilt an unsavory name, and they all agreed he crossed a line.

“I feel like he may feel like I did a dirty play,” Brooks told Houston reporters.

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CLIPPERS

Donovan Mitchell had 28 points and 12 assists and Jarrett Allen extended his double-double streak to 15 straight games, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 118-108 win over the Clippers on Monday night.

Isaac Okoro added 17 points — all in the first half — as the Cavs held off a late Clippers’ comeback and ended the Clippers’ winning streak at five.

Cleveland is 10-1 since Jan. 3.

Kawhi Leonard scored 30 and Norman Powell 18 for the Clippers, who got within four in the final two minutes but fell to 2-1 on a season-long seven-game road trip.

Paul George scored 13 on 3 of 11 shooting for Los Angeles before fouling out with 3:07 left.

Allen finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds, extending his franchise record for consecutive games with double digits in points and boards. The Cavs needed Allen to step up his game while Evan Mobley was out with a knee injury, and the affable center has done that and more over the past month.

Leonard began to assert himself late in the second quarter, when he scored on three straight possessions — all mid-range jumpers — as the Clippers, who trailed by nine early on, opened a 51-44 lead.

However, the Cavs responded with a 12-1 run, capped by Okoro’s corner three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to take a 56-52 halftime lead.

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CHARGERS

From Chuck Schilken: Jim Harbaugh won’t be officially introduced as the Chargers head coach until Thursday.

But the lovefest between him and quarterback Justin Herbert has apparently already begun, with the new coach admitting Sunday that he “was a little starstruck” meeting his new QB for the first time.

In an interview on CBS before the AFC championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, Harbaugh mentioned Herbert as one of the reasons he’s leaving Michigan for a second stint as an NFL coach.

“I love Michigan, but I love the NFL, too,” said Harbaugh, who coached the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014. “And there’s no Lombardi in college football. I’ve got so many sands left in the hourglass, and I want to take a crack at that. And there’s nowhere better to do it than with the Los Angeles Chargers — Susie Spanos, Dean Spanos, Ed McGuire, John Spanos and this great quarterback.”

Asked if he had talked to Herbert yet, Harbaugh said he had.

“I was a little starstruck to meet Justin,” the man who just coached Michigan to the NCAA national championship said about a quarterback who has led the Chargers to one postseason appearance and no playoff wins during his four seasons with the team.

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SUPER BOWL

Super surprising: 49ers, Chiefs have shared six quarterbacks. Remember these switches?

Super Bowl LVIII: Start time, teams, betting odds and halftime show

Sunday, Feb. 11
at Las Vegas
Kansas City vs. San Francisco, 3:30 p.m. PT, CBS, Paramount+

ANGELS

From Mike DiGiovanna: The Angels signed veteran outfielder Aaron Hicks to a one-year, $740,000 deal on Monday, giving them some insurance in case of injury to a starter and pushing erstwhile top prospect Jo Adell even further to the margins entering a make-or-break season.

Adell, a 2017 first-round pick who signed for $4.37 million, has crushed triple-A pitching for three years but struggled in parts of four seasons in the big leagues, batting .214 with a .625 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 18 homers, 66 RBIs and 219 strikeouts in 580 at-bats over 178 games. His defense in right field has also been spotty.

The Angels are expected to open spring training with a starting outfield of Mike Trout in center, Taylor Ward in left and Mickey Moniak in right, with the switch-hitting Hicks, 34, and the right-handed-hitting Adell, 24, battling for a reserve spot.

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HORSE RACING

From John Cherwa: Bob Baffert and his owners have elected not to transfer any of their promising 3-year-olds to other trainers in order to make them eligible for this year’s Kentucky Derby. So, it’s not just Baffert who will be missing from the most well-known horse race in the world, there also won’t be any Baffert horses.

“Nobody is going to transfer their horses,” Baffert told The Times. “I just remain focused on training my horses and competing in the big races.”

Baffert is in the midst of a two-year ban, that was inexplicably extended at least a year despite no rules violations. Churchill Down Inc. implemented the penalty after Medina Spirit tested positive for a legal medication but not legal on race day in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The horse was subsequently disqualified as the winner of the race.

So, barring an unexpected change of heart by Churchill Downs, Baffert will not be in this year’s Derby.

“It’s out of my hands, I just want what’s best for the game,” Baffert said.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1971 — UCLA starts its 88-game winning streak with a 74-61 win over UC Santa Barbara.

1983 — John Riggins rushes for a Super Bowl-record 166 yards in 38 carries to spark the Washington Redskins to a comeback 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins. For Riggins, the game’s MVP, it’s his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game during the playoffs, also a record.

1993 — Monica Seles beats Steffi Graf 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to capture her third straight Australian Open.

1994 — The Dallas Cowboys, behind MVP Emmitt Smith and safety James Washington, beat Buffalo 30-13 for their second straight NFL title while giving the Bills four straight Super Bowl losses.

1996 — Magic Johnson finishes with 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the Lakers’ 128-118 victory over Golden State. It is Johnson’s first regular-season game back from a 4 1/2-season retirement.

1999 — Martina Hingis wins her fifth Grand Slam title and third straight Australian Open with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over France’s Amelie Mauresmo.

2001 — Daron Rahlves wins the super giant slalom, the first American to capture the event at the world championships.

2002 — Utah’s Karl Malone becomes 2nd player in NBA history to register 34,000 career points by scoring 18 in a 90-78 win over Chicago at the Delta Center; trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points).

2006 — Teemu Selanne scores two goals for his 1,000th career point in Anaheim’s 4-3 overtime victory against the Kings.

2010 — Serena Williams ends Justine Henin’s hopes of a Grand Slam title in her return from retirement with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 victory in the Australian Open final.

2016 — Angelique Kerber upsets Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to win the Australian Open title, ending the six-time champion’s unbeaten streak in finals at Melbourne Park.

2018 — Houston guard James Harden puts up highest scoring triple-double in NBA history (60 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists) as the Rockets beat Orlando Magic, 114-107 in Houston.

2022 — Australian Open men’s tennis: Rafael Nadal wins record 21st Grand Slam singles title with an epic 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win over Daniil Medvedev of Russia.

Compiled by the Associated Press