The Sports Report: Inconsistent Lakers fall to the Thunder
Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.
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From Dan Woike: There’s the truth and then there’s the truth the Lakers believe.
Thursday against the Thunder was the fourth and final game on a trip that lasted less than a week, but the way their bones creaked and their eyelids hung heavy, it felt like much longer.
The 133-110 loss meant the team finished .500 on the trip, the accepted measure of success for any NBA trip. But after getting smoked in Philadelphia and blitzed against the Thunder, it’d be hard to qualify this as success.
And then there’s the vibes, the immaculate ones that began in Cleveland giving way to overt frustration in Philadelphia and visible annoyance against the Thunder.
The lesson, if any, has been this: Through 20 games, the Lakers have been good enough more than half the time. But they’ve rarely, if ever, been great.
Thursday, the team pointed to its injuries as the reason why they’re tough to judge.
“I have no idea what we are,” LeBron James said. “How? We don’t have a group yet. I know what some of us individually are, but as far as a team, we don’t have our group yet. I don’t know.”
Anthony Davis had 31 points and 14 rebounds, James had 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves combined for 30 points, but the Lakers never consistently got stops against a team that played faster and harder.
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CLIPPERS
From Andrew Greif: The Clippers avoided a hit to their rotation when Norman Powell played Thursday night despite suffering a knee contusion one night earlier in Sacramento.
It was one of the few breaks the Clippers received in a 120-114 loss to Golden State that dropped them to 8-10, with a rematch against the Warriors coming Saturday in Los Angeles.
Unable early to match Golden State’s activity grabbing offensive rebounds and three-point shooting, and later unsure how to slow Klay Thompson’s offensive renaissance, the Clippers trailed by as many as 18 points before pulling within two possessions into the final minutes until coach Tyronn Lue emptied the bench with 30 seconds to play.
The Warriors (9-10) had lost eight of their previous 10 games.
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UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: Assuming he was among the handful of people with access to the Pac-12 Network, Mick Cronin couldn’t have liked what he was seeing Thursday night.
The UCLA coach who was home sick with COVID-19 watched his Bruins get outplayed on their home court for long stretches in a 66-65 victory over UC Riverside, a team with a losing record from the Big West Conference.
There were plenty of reasons for Cronin to throw his remote control or consider changing the channel.
Star big man Adem Bona was in early foul trouble. The defense repeatedly gave up open shots. The Bruins struggled making baskets from long range.
It somehow got worse.
Freshman forward Berke Buyuktuncel, providing a humongous spark with his intensity, went down with what appeared to be a foot or ankle injury, immediately signaling to the bench that he needed to come out. Buyuktuncel tried to limp off the court but couldn’t, taking a seat before requiring help to reach the trainer’s table.
UCLA FOOTBALL
From Ben Bolch: The highest-rated high school quarterback Chip Kelly ever landed will throw his next pass for another coach.
Dante Moore intends to enter the transfer portal, according to multiple reports, ending one of the most turbulent seasons in recent UCLA history.
A five-star prospect out of King High in Detroit, Moore’s arrival in Westwood early this year generated massive buzz after he flipped his commitment from Oregon. After losing the starting job to Ethan Garbers before the season, then winning it after one game, then losing it again amid three consecutive games with a pick-six, Moore ended the season as Garbers’ backup.
UCLA FOOTBALL POLL
We asked readers, “Should UCLA have fired Chip Kelly?” The result, after 8,062 votes:
Yes, 71.6%
No, 28.4%
USC BASKETBALL
From Ryan Kartje: Bronny James, the oldest son of LeBron James and a highly touted freshman at USC, has been medically cleared to return to basketball, a mere four months after he suffered sudden cardiac arrest during a training session at USC.
James is expected to return to practice next week after a final evaluation by USC’s staff this week. After that, the expectation is that Bronny will “return to games soon after,” the James family said in a statement.
“The James family would like to express their gratitude to the incredible medical team, the entire USC community, and especially the countless friends, family, and fans for their love and support,” the statement read. “Fight On!”
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RAMS
From Gary Klein: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford knows what and — perhaps more compellingly — who he will be up against Sunday versus the Cleveland Browns.
One of the NFL’s top defenses is designed by coordinator Jim Schwartz, Stafford’s first coach with the Detroit Lions.
“He’s one of the best, if not the best kind of mind out there on defense,” Stafford said Wednesday.
Stafford, a 15th-year pro, played five seasons under Schwartz after the Lions made him the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL draft.
The Lions finished 2-14 and 6-10 the first two seasons but were 10-6 in 2011 and made the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons. However, after going a combined 11-21 the next two seasons, Schwartz was fired.
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: The Chargers have underachieved and underwhelmed their way to three games under .500, a sunken position that has all but mathematically buried their playoff hopes.
A sophisticated simulation machine is not required to determine that this team has only a slim chance of playing beyond Week 18.
But, for the record, the sophisticated simulation machine developed by the New York Times puts the Chargers’ postseason chances at 9%.
“It’s definitely been tough,” safety Derwin James Jr. said Wednesday. “Not the way anyone would have predicted — even myself — coming into this season.”
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DUCKS
Tom Wilson scored with 5:38 left to complete his first career hat trick in his 700th game, and the Washington Capitals extended the Ducks’ losing streak to eight with a 5-4 victory Thursday night.
Wilson, a Capitals stalwart since 2013, scored twice during Washington’s four-goal first period. He added a late power-play goal after Anaheim had trimmed the Caps’ lead to 4-3 on Brock McGinn’s goal with 8:15 to play.
Frank Vatrano added another goal for the Ducks with 27 seconds to go, but the Caps hung on.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1956 — The United States beats the Soviet Union 89-55 to win the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Melbourne Olympics. Bob Jeangerard (16), K.C. Jones (15), Jim Walsh (14) and Bill Russell (13) each score double-digits.
1959 — Louisiana State halfback Billy Cannon is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1961 — Paul Arizin of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 33 points in win over the Lakers to become the third NBA player to reach the 15,000-point plateau.
1973 — Jack Nicklaus wins the Disney World Open to become the first pro golfer to surpass $2 million in career earnings.
1980 — South Carolina running back George Rogers is named the Heisman Trophy winner.
1984 — Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie is named the 50th Heisman Trophy winner.
1990 — Ty Detmer of Brigham Young wins the Heisman Trophy. Detmer, who had set or tied 25 NCAA passing and total offense records, becomes the first BYU winner and third consecutive junior winner.
1996 — Wayne Gretzky becomes the first player in NHL history to reach the 3,000 point plateau.
2001 — North Texas (5-6) loses to Troy State 18-16 to become the third team to go to a bowl with a losing record. The Mean Green, bound for the inaugural New Orleans Bowl as the Sun Belt Conference champion, joins SMU (4-6 in 1963) and William & Mary (5-6 in 1970) as the only teams to play in a bowl game with losing records.
2003 — Sylvester Croom becomes the Southeastern Conference’s first Black head football coach, accepting an offer to take over troubled Mississippi State.
2012 — Landon Donovan scores the tiebreaking goal on a penalty kick in the 65th minute, and David Beckham leaves the MLS as a two-time champion with the Galaxy’s 3-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup.
2013 — Josh Gordon has 10 catches for 261 yards and two touchdowns in Cleveland’s 32-20 loss to Jacksonville. He becomes the first player in NFL history to record 200 yards receiving in consecutive games.
2015 — The Philadelphia 76ers end the longest losing streak in the history of major professional sports in the United States, topping the Lakers 103-91 to snap a 28-game skid.
2018 — Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury fight to a split draw, with Wilder retaining his WBC heavyweight title after knocking down his British challenger twice at Staples Center.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
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Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
