The Sports Report: LeBron James has triple double in victory

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. What do you do with 300 pounds of leftover Halloween candy? Asking for a friend.

LAKERS

The Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks 119-110 in overtime on Friday, improving to 4-1 with their fourth straight victory. LeBron James and Dallas star Luka Doncic both notched triple-doubles, with James racking up 39 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds, and Doncic scoring 31 points with 15 assists and 13 rebounds.

Anthony Davis scored 31 points with eight rebounds, and Kyle Kuzma added nine in 19 minutes in his season debut as the Lakers capitalized on 23 Mavericks turnovers for 30 points and overcame early shooting and rebounding struggles that left them in double-digit holes against a talented young Dallas team.

The matchup pitted the Lakers’ dynamic duo against another new pair of elite players in Dallas’ Kristaps Porzingis and second-year star Doncic.

The Lakers struck first, but then Dallas went on an 11-0 run.

Kuzma entered the game about seven minutes into the first quarter, replacing JaVale McGee, who had picked up two fouls. Kuzma scored his first point at the line shortly after and helped the Lakers, who trailed by as many as 14 in the quarter, cut the Mavericks’ lead to five by the start of the second.

The Lakers, who shot only 30.4% in the first quarter, improved in the second quarter, but their rebounding was lacking. The Mavericks outrebounded the Lakers 17-4 in the quarter.

At halftime, the Lakers trailed 58-48.

James orchestrated a third-quarter comeback, guiding the Lakers on a 10-0 run to start the period. He attempted five three-pointers and made three of them in the early minutes, and the Lakers got their first lead, at 63-61, since the score was 2-0.

DUCKS

Ryan Getzlaf scored a breakaway goal 2:30 into overtime, and John Gibson made 39 saves in the Ducks’ 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Jakob Silfverberg scored a short-handed goal in the first period for the Ducks, who improved to 6-1-0 at Honda Center with their second straight victory to open a seven-game homestand.

Adam Gaudette got credit for Vancouver’s tying goal with 6:18 to play when his apparent pass toward a driving Brandon Sutter deflected in off the skate of Anaheim defenseman Korbinian Holzer. The goal came on the Canucks’ 38th shot during a frustrating evening against Gibson, who came close to his 19th career shutout in a phenomenal performance.

But in overtime, Getzlaf got behind all three Canucks skaters and received a beautiful pass from Troy Terry. Jacob Markstrom rushed out of his net to stop Getzlaf, but the long-serving Ducks captain sidestepped the goalie and tapped in his seventh goal of the season in his 999th career game.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Five-time defending City Section Open Division football champion arbonne learned Friday that it has been banned from this year’s playoffs as well as the 2020 playoffs and must vacate its 2018 City title because of rules violations.

School administrators were informed at 3:22 p.m. of the sanctions but did not inform coaches until after the City Section, the governing body for sports in the Los Angeles Unified School District, released information to the media at 3:45 p.m., leaving players to find out via Twitter and angering coaches who were trying to prepare the team for a final regular-season game against visiting Banning.

Then, at 5:15 p.m., as the junior varsity game was being played, Banning varsity players were told to stay on their bus until LAUSD officials decided if the game against Narbonne should be played.

It was supposed to be senior night for the Gauchos. District officials decided to cancel the game out of safety concerns and declare it a no contest, Narbonne interim coach Joe Aguirre said. Players began hugging each other in the weight room, returning equipment and saying goodbye.

USC FOOTBALL

The search for USC’s next athletic director has zeroed in on a leading candidate, people close to the process told the Los Angeles Times on Friday.

Mike Bohn, who spent the last five years at Cincinnati, is nearing a deal to replace Lynn Swann and become just the second athletic director in school history without ties to USC. The first, Mike McGee, also came to USC from Cincinnati.

An official announcement is not expected this weekend, but multiple people confirmed that a deal is likely to be finalized shortly.

In a statement Friday, USC said: “Our search for a new athletic director is progressing well. When details become available, we’ll let you know.”

Read more

Bill Plaschke: Mike Bohn brings USC integrity, which means he can’t hire Urban Meyer

Offensive lines for USC, Oregon will be put to test in showdown

USC FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

All times Pacific. Radio: 790 KABC

USC 31, Fresno State 23

USC 45, Stanford 20

at BYU 30, USC 27 (OT)

at USC 30, Utah 23

at Washington 28, USC 14

at Notre Dame 30, USC 27

at USC 41, Arizona 14

USC 35, at Colorado 31

Today vs. Oregon, 5 p.m., Fox

Nov. 9 at Arizona State, 12:30 p.m., ESPN or ABC

Nov. 16 at California, TBD

Nov. 23 vs. UCLA, TBD

UCLA FOOTBALL

The latest offshoot of the pro-style, tight-end-heavy sets Chip Kelly brought to UCLA was a liberal sprinkling of the pistol formation last weekend against Arizona State. The pistol differs from the shotgun in that the running back lines up behind the quarterback as opposed to beside him, allowing a team to better disguise which way a play is headed.

“If you go pistol, you can kind of go both ways,” quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson said, “so it kind of doesn’t give the defense the right look and kind of puts them at a disadvantage almost.”

The Bruins piled up 217 rushing yards and scored 42 points on the way to their second consecutive victory, the latest sign that Kelly hasn’t lost his offensive touch as some critics contended when the team remained stuck on 14 points in each of its nonconference games.

Aficionados might want to take notes on Kelly’s next move when UCLA (3-5 overall, 3-2 Pac-12) faces Colorado (3-5, 1-4) on Saturday evening at the Rose Bowl with an opportunity to surpass last season’s victory total.

Since Pac-12 play started, no offense in the conference has been better. The Bruins lead the Pac-12 in points per game (38.2), yards per game (488.4), rushing yards per game (220.6), first downs per game (25.4) and are tied with Utah for the lead in third-down conversion success (48%) in conference games.

UCLA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

All times Pacific. Radio: AM 1150

at Cincinnati 24, UCLA 14

San Diego State 23, at UCLA 14

Oklahoma 48, at UCLA 14

UCLA 67, at Washington State 63

at Arizona 20, UCLA 17

Oregon State 48, at UCLA 31

UCLA 34, at Stanford 16

at UCLA 42, Arizona State 32

Nov. 2 vs. Colorado, 6 p.m., Pac-12 network

Nov. 16 at Utah, TBD

Nov. 23 at USC, TBD

Nov. 30 vs. California, TBD

HORSE RACING

Whatever anyone thought they knew about this year’s 2-year-old division heading toward next year’s Kentucky Derby was surely dashed, smashed and turned upside-down after Saturday’s running of the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

Storm the Court, a 45-1 longshot, went to the front and stayed there, holding off Anneau d’Or, another longshot at 28-1, to win the most important 2-year-old race by a neck. Finishing third was Wrecking Crew, who was sent to post at odds of 39-1.

Going into Breeders’ Cup week, it seemed as if there were three horses that stood head and hoof above everyone else. There was Dennis’ Moment, Eight Rings and Maxfield. But Peter Eurton’s Storm the Court, benefiting from an equipment change by adding blinkers, won a race that even his trainer wasn’t sure he could win.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to be tough, I really did,” Eurton said. “I wasn’t fooling anybody. … I think everybody sitting here next to me” — owners — “probably would have been content getting a placing against some of the best 2-year-olds in the country. But we’re pretty happy the way it ended up.”

TODAY’S LOCAL MAJOR SPORTS SCHEDULE

All times Pacific

Oregon at USC, 5 p.m., Fox, 790 KABC

Colorado at UCLA, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network, AM 1150

Chicago at Kings, 7:30 p.m., FSW

BORN ON THIS DATE

1879: Tennis player Marion Stone (d. 1965)

1894: Tennis player Bill Johnston (d. 1946)

1914: Baseball player Johnny Vander Meer (d. 1997)

1916: Dodgers GM Al Campanis (d. 1998)

1920: Baseball player Dick Sisler (d. 1998)

1934: Tennis player Ken Rosewall

1940: Football player Jim Bakken

1941: Golfer Dave Stockton

1942: Basketball/baseball player Ron Reed

1945: Football player Larry Little

1946: Race car driver Alan Jones

1946: Former Dodger Tom Paciorek

1948: Boxer Victor Galindez

1958: Baseball player Willie McGee

1960: Wrestler Bruce Baumgartner

1964: Football player Kevin Gogan

1974: Former Duck Ruslan Salei (d. 2011)

DIED ON THIS DATE

1996: Baseball player Toni Stone, 75

2010: Former Dodger Clyde King, 86

2013: Basketball player Walt Bellamy, 74

AND FINALLY

Bruce Baumgartner‘s epic 1996 Olympic bronze medal match. Watch it here.

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. If you want to subscribe, click here.