The Sports Report: LeBron James nears milestone in Lakers’ lackluster victory
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From Dan Woike: The crowd cheered unusually loud, at least relative to how it normally sounds for successful free throws in the second quarter.
But this particular free throw from Anthony Davis with 2:49 left in the first half earned a semi-sarcastic roar. The Lakers had tied the game, ending a healthy stretch where they trailed the Washington Wizards, one of the NBA’s worst teams in a half-hearted effort.
The crowd went silent much later Thursday night after another free throw, this one from Washington’s Tyus Jones, tied the score in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. And it sighed with relief when Washington‘s Jordan Poole’s potential game-winner rocketed off the backboard to send the game into overtime.
The eruption didn’t come until even later, when LeBron James saved a basket with a chase-down block and followed it with a swished three-pointer — the biggest plays of a 134-131 win.
Davis led the Lakers with 40 points and 15 rebounds. James finished with 31, leaving him nine shy of 40,000 career regular-season points.
He’ll likely pass that mark Saturday in a marquee game with Denver.
Hernández: When LeBron James plays in ‘sicko mode,’ flawed Lakers always have a chance
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CLIPPERS
From Broderick Turner: Tyronn Lue eased his way out of the quiet Clippers’ locker room, made a right turn down an equally quiet hallway at Crypto.com Arena and made another right into the media room to answer questions about how his team coughed up a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Lakers.
Lue plopped down in his chair, shook his head and eventually said he was taking “responsibility” for a loss that no one saw coming when his team was having its way in building a 98-77 lead.
Lue said he’s the coach of the team and that it is his job to make sure the Clippers stay the course and do not falter the way they did in losing 116-112 to the Lakers on Wednesday night.
“We didn’t get organized, we didn’t do things we were supposed to do and so I take full responsibility for that,” Lue said. “Just making sure we’re organized, knowing what we’re supposed to do. And like I said, then LeBron [James] exploded.”
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: Kiké Hernández did a lot of waiting this winter.
Waiting not only on the Dodgers, but most other teams around Major League Baseball as well.
Like many veteran players in what has become a slow free-agent market — the Dodgers’ $1-billion spending spree on Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and others aside — Hernández received few formal offers this offseason.
He hoped the Dodgers would try to re-sign him. But by the time spring camps opened last month, he was ready to sign somewhere else in order to start preparing for the season.
“It’s been terrible,” Hernández said of the market, which still includes several unsigned stars like Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery, in addition to many other established big-league players.
“The fact that they’re still out there,” Hernández added, “it’s a shame.”
The reason Hernández is no longer one of those unsigned players, after striking a one-year, $4-million deal to return to the Dodgers this week, might be partly because of a strategically timed call to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
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UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: At least UCLA didn’t have to wait long to find out what kind of night this was going to be.
Sixteen seconds into the game, a whistle blew. Foul on Sebastian Mack.
Before the ball could be inbounded, another whistle. Foul on Brandon Williams.
Four seconds later, a third whistle. Foul on Lazar Stefanovic.
In disbelief at what he was seeing, Bruins coach Mick Cronin earned a technical foul for complaining about the cacophony of calls.
There were more oddities to come. UCLA played some of its worst defense of the Cronin era, particularly on the perimeter. By the time the game mercifully ended, Cronin and his team had absorbed another gut punch.
The Bruins had never fallen to Washington under Cronin before their 94-77 setback on Thursday night at Alaska Airlines Arena, making this result feel like something far more deflating than another defeat in a lost season.
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Lauren Betts had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Kiki Rice finished with 14 points to lead No. 8 UCLA over Arizona State 70-41 on Thursday night.
Betts had her ninth double-double and Rice added seven assists and seven rebounds for the Bruins (23-5, 12-5 Pac-12), who finished the Pac-12 regular-season series between the teams with a 16-game winning streak.
“The numbers may show better than how we played,” said UCLA coach Cori Close, who was disappointed with the Bruins’ first-half effort. “We realize we have a great opportunity in front of us, but not the rest of the year can we come out with that lackluster effort and focus.
“The next time happens, you’re done. We’re only guaranteed three more games in this season, and this team has too many special goals to let it be three more. It’s all in front of you. The only thing that gets in our way and can keep us from where we want to go is us.”
USC BASKETBALL
Isaiah Watts and Andrej Jakimovski scored 18 points each and Myles Rice added 16 to help No. 19 Washington State rally past USC 75-72 on Thursday night.
The Cougars (22-7, 13-5 Pac-12) trailed by 12 points late in the first half and didn’t take their first lead until 2:35 remaining on a three-pointer from Watts, his fifth of the game.
USC freshman Isaiah Collier scored a game-high 24 points but missed a critical free throw with 23 seconds left that would have cut Washington State’s lead to two points.
Jaylen Wells then missed two free throws on the other end for Washington State and USC (11-17, 5-12) had one last chance to try and force overtime, but Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson missed three-point attempts in the final seconds.
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The seventh-ranked USC women lost their star player, but not their composure.
Kayla Padilla hit a tying three-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation, made another key three in the second overtime and No. 7 USC rallied after freshman JuJu Watkins fouled out to beat Arizona 95-93 on Thursday night.
“It’s a character win and it’s defining because we’re trying to become an elite team nationally, and we know that’s about more than one or two players,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said.
The Wildcats (16-13, 8-9 Pac-12) were blown out by USC less than a month ago, but used a big run to take a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans (22-5, 12-5) fought back despite Watkins fouling out with less than two minutes left, scoring five points in the final 16 seconds to force overtime. Kaitlyn Davis hit a jumper after an offensive rebound on a missed free throw and Padilla hit a tying three-pointer with 7.6 seconds left after two more offensive boards.
KINGS
Drew Doughty and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and two assists and the Kings snapped a two-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Anze Kopitar and Trevor Moore both had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Rookie Brandt Clarke scored his second career goal while Quinton Byfield also had two assists.
Brock Boeser scored on the power play for the Canucks, who have lost two in a row and six of their last seven (1-5-1) but continue to lead the Western Conference.
DUCKS
Adam Henrique had a goal and two assists, Frank Vatrano scored his team-leading 27th goal and the visiting Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks 6-4 on Thursday night to snap a three-game skid.
Leo Carlsson, Brett Leason, Alex Killorn and Isac Lundestrom also scored for the Ducks, who have beaten the Sharks in three of four games this season.
With the game tied late in the second, the Ducks scored power-play goals 66 seconds apart.
Vatrano gave Anaheim the lead on a slap shot that went in off the skate of the Sharks’ Mario Ferraro after Kaapo Kahkonen made the save. Henrique then deflected in a shot from the point by Jackson LaCombe to give the Ducks a 5-3 lead heading into the third.
GALAXY
From Kevin Baxter: MLS has rescinded the second yellow card given to Galaxy midfielder Mark Delgado in Sunday’s 1-1 tie with Inter Miami, making him eligible to play in Saturday’s match in San Jose.
The Galaxy filed a formal challenge with the league’s independent review panel over the caution, issued by replacement referee Gabriele Ciampi. The panel, consisting of one representative from the U.S. Soccer Federation, one representative from the Canadian Soccer Assn., and one independent representative nominated by the Professional Referee Organization, watched video of the incident and upheld the challenge.
Each club is entitled to two unsuccessful appeals per season. Since the Galaxy’s appeal was successful, the club maintains its two unsuccessful appeals for the 2024 season.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1934 — Primo Carnera retains his world heavyweight title with a unanimous 15-round decision over Tommy Laughren in Miami.
1969 — Tuesdee Testa becomes the first female jockey to win a race at a major American Thoroughbred track when she rides Buz On to victory in the third race with at Santa Anita Park.
1973 — Robyn Smith becomes the first woman jockey to win a stakes race when she rides North Sea to victory in the Paumonok Handicap at Aqueduct Race Track in New York.
1981 — Calvin Murphy of the Houston Rockets misses a free throw in San Antonio, ending his NBA record consecutive free throw streak at 78.
1983 — Tamara McKinney becomes the first American woman skier to win the overall World Cup championship.
1988 — Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers becomes the NHL’s all-time assist leader, breaking the longtime mark of Gordie Howe. In his ninth season, Gretzky picked up assist No. 1,050 in a game against the Kings.
1996 — Atlanta’s Lenny Wilkens becomes the first NBA coach to reach 1,000 victories as the Hawks beat Cleveland 74-68.
1997 — Puerto Rican boxer Héctor Camacho stops Sugar Ray Leonard in 5th round in Atlantic City, NJ to retain IBC middleweight title; only time Leonard’s is KO’ed and sends him into permanent retirement
2001 — Jackie Stiles of Southwest Missouri State becomes the NCAA career scoring leader in women’s basketball, running her career total to 3,133 points with 30 in Southwest Missouri State’s 94-59 victory over Creighton.
2014 — Jaromir Jagr becomes the seventh player to score 700 NHL goals during New Jersey Devils’ 6-1 victory over the New York Islanders.
2015 — Kiley McKinnon and Mac Bohonnon give the United States its first ever World Cup title double in aerials skiing. McKinnon becomes the first U.S. woman to win the World Cup since Nikki Stone in 1998, while Bohonnon was the first American men’s winner since Jeret “Speedy” Peterson in 2005.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
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