The Sports Report: Timberwolves are too much for the Clippers

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

From Broderick Turner: The Clippers had an opportunity to move to the top of the Western Conference, and it was up to them to take advantage of the situation.

Of course, it wasn’t going to be easy against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that had the best record in the West and a half-game lead over the Clippers.

The Clippers vowed to be ready because so much was at stake and also because coach Tyronn Lue said one of their goals is to secure the best record in the NBA by season’s end.

But things didn’t work out for the Clippers, who couldn’t overcome the Timberwolves’ stingy defense in a 121-100 loss Monday at Crypto.com Arena.

As a result, the Clippers dropped to third in the West and are 1½-games behind Minnesota and a half-game behind Oklahoma City at 35-16.

“I mean, it’s a good test for us,” Lue said before the game. “I understand they’re playing great basketball and they’re a really good team. So, just up for the challenge. I mean, it’s not going to end our season one way or another. But we just get a chance to play against one of the elite teams in the West, the best team in the West and see where we stack up.”

The Timberwolves have proved their worth all season on the defensive end, holding teams to the lowest scoring totals (107.1 points per game) and lowest field-goal percentage (44.9%) in the NBA.

And the Clippers found that defense a big problem for much of the first half.

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LAKERS

From Dan Woike: Spencer Dinwiddie walked through the Lakers’ El Segundo practice facility on Sunday behind his son Elijah when it really hit him.

For the Los Angeles native and former Taft High star, signing with the Lakers was a childhood dream, but the gravity of the moment hadn’t totally hit, even when the Lakers hung two jerseys inside of his new locker — one for him and one for Elijah.

But as the 5-year-old scampered through Dinwiddie’s new office, it smacked him in the face.

“I was behind him and I was looking at ‘Dinwiddie 26’ and I was like, ‘Oh, damn.’ Like, ‘It’s real.’ You feel me?” Dinwiddie said Monday. “And for your son to be the reason you feel like it’s real, that was a really special moment.’

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UCLA FOOTBALL

From Bill Plaschke: The football drama at UCLA took a wild turn Monday when a desperate Martin Jarmond threw a Hail Mary pass through a torrential downpour.

He just hired a head coach who is not a head coach.

He just entrusted the Bruins to a guy who has never called a play, never run a practice, never commanded the sidelines, never dominated a meeting room and never bossed more than a handful of players at one time.

Welcome home, DeShaun Foster.

Now what exactly are you doing here?

Foster is the players’ buddy.

That’s it. That’s the rationale. That’s all of it.

Could be a path to success. Could also be a recipe for failure.

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UCLA hires DeShaun Foster as its football coach, replacing Chip Kelly

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Shohei Ohtani wasn’t swinging at maximum intensity Monday.

But, in his first on-field batting practice since undergoing elbow surgery last year, the new Dodgers star didn’t need full power to put on a thunderous display.

During a 21-swing session on a backfield at the team’s Camelback Ranch spring training facility, Ohtani launched 10 home runs and plenty more hard line drives with seemingly relative ease.

It was the most positive step yet in Ohtani’s ramp-up this spring, which has been impacted by the torn right elbow ligament he suffered last year — an injury that required him to undergo a second Tommy John surgery in September and will prevent him from pitching this season.

Monday also confirmed the slugger’s optimism that, despite his elbow issues, he’ll be ready to be the Dodgers’ opening day designated hitter when their season starts in South Korea next month.

“I felt really good overall,” Ohtani said through his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. “Every swing got really strong with some good results.”

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Shaikin: As Dodger Stadium gondola votes near, Frank McCourt makes his pitch. So do allies and opponents

After offseason makeover, can the Dodgers’ new-look rotation live up to preseason hype?

USC BASKETBALL

JuJu Watkins scored 32 points and No. 10 USC used a dominant third quarter to pull away from Arizona and win 81-64 on Monday night for its fourth consecutive victory.

The stellar freshman notched her ninth 30-point game of the season, breaking the school record of eight set by Cherie Nelson in 1988-89.

USC (18-4, 8-4 Pac-12) moved back into a fourth-place tie with ninth-ranked UCLA in league play.

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NHL

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1923 — The New York Renaissance, the first all-black pro basketball team, is organized. Rens become one of the dominant basketball team of the 1920s and 1930s.

1937 — Maribel Vinson wins her ninth and final U.S. figure skating singles championship. Robin Lee wins his third straight men’s title.

1937 — The NFL Redskins move from Boston to Washington.

1948 — Dick Button, the Olympic gold medalist, beats Hans Gerschwiler again to win the men’s World Figure Skating championship in Davos, Switzerland.

1954 — Furman’s Frank Selvey scores 100 points in a 149-95 victory over Newberry. Selvey breaks the record of 73 points, set by Temple’s Bill Mlkvy in 1951, with 41 field goals and 18 free throws.

1975 — Boston’s Bobby Orr gets an assist in the Boston Bruins in a 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres to become the first player in NHL history to reach 100 points in six consecutive seasons. It’s the final 100-point season of his career.

1994 — Tommy Moe wins the men’s downhill over local hero Kjetil Andre Aamodt at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Moe won by .04 seconds, the closest Alpine race in Olympic history. Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss has a world record-setting gold medal performance in the 5,000 meters in 6 minutes, 34.96 seconds.

1995 — Connecticut is voted No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 and joins the school’s women’s team at the top. It is the first time teams from one school were ranked No. 1 in the men’s and women’s college basketball polls.

2003 — Teresa Phillips becomes the first woman to coach a men’s Division I team, but her presence couldn’t stop Tennessee State from losing for the 17th straight time, 71-56 at Austin Peay.

2018 — Chloe Kim saves the best for last in winning women’s halfpipe snowboarding event at the Pyeongchang Games. The 17-year-old from Torrance puts up a leading score of 93.75 on the first of her three finals runs, and then betters it with a near-perfect 98.75 on her final run. Kim, with the gold already well in hand, becomes the first woman to land back-to-back 1080s, confirming her dominance in the sport.

2022 — Super Bowl LVI, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood: Rams beat Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20; MVP: Cooper Kupp, Rams, WR.

Compiled by the Associated Press