The Sports Report: LeBron-less Lakers lose to Nets

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

From Dan Woike: The frustration was evident early. And it was hard to tell what was bothering the Lakers more — the missed shots or the perceived missed calls? Was it execution or exhaustion?

If it wasn’t one thing, it was the other, the Lakers losing 111-108 to the lottery-bound Brooklyn Nets, with tougher days over the next four weeks headed their way.

Playing without four of their regular rotation players because of injury Monday night, the Lakers weren’t anywhere close to their best, physically shorthanded and rapidly disengaged mentally.

“I think it was just an overall mentality just to take shortcuts tonight. We just wanted to take shortcuts,” JJ Redick said about his team postgame. “Too many... they scored 20 points on us gambling. They had 16 offensive rebounds. We ball-watched all night. We said no dare shots. I can’t, I’ll go through it, they probably made six, seven uncontested threes. Just shortcuts.

“Want to be a good team? You want to win in the NBA? You gotta do the hard stuff. We couldn’t even pass to each other. We couldn’t enter our offense, running ball screens literally at half-court. Yeah, that’s going to end up in a turnover. I don’t know what we’re doing.”

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DODGERS

From Bill Plaschke: Dave Roberts officially became Dodger royalty Monday when he agreed to a contract extension that makes him the richest manager in baseball and the rightful heir to the most coveted sports throne in Los Angeles.

He is the Dodgers’ MVP. He is the organization’s face and voice and heart. He is the new Tommy Lasorda.

He has evolved from an afterthought into a superstar, a guy who was only interviewed because ownership wasn’t ready to hastily hand the job to heavy favorite Gabe Kapler, a hiring whim who has become a deep-blue cornerstone.

You haven’t always liked him. You still might not like him. Some of you may never like him.

Of the eight different Dodger managers hired since Lasorda retired in 1996, Roberts has been the most universally criticized, second-guessed and roundly booed.

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto stays in line to pitch opening day for the Dodgers in Tokyo

Dave Roberts agrees to four-year contract extension with Dodgers

HOCKEY

From Kevin Baxter: The Great One is about to become the Second-Best One.

Well, in the record books at least. Because with nine more goals, Alex Ovechkin will break Wayne Gretzky’s total of 894, a mark once considered untouchable.

But for Kings TV analyst Jim Fox, who played with Gretzky and has watched Ovechkin since his rookie season with the Washington Capitals, that record is nothing but a number.

“Ovi will wind up with more goals,” he said. “Wayne’s still the Great One.”

Ovechkin’s run at the record will pass through Southern California this week, with the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals facing the Ducks on Tuesday at the Honda Center before meeting the Kings on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena. If Ovechkin, who ranks in the top five in the NHL with 33 goals, continues scoring at his current pace of two goals every three games, he will break the record in the final week of the regular season.

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: The Rams added depth to their defensive line Monday, agreeing to terms with tackle Poona Ford, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

Ford will receive a three-year contract that includes $17 million in guarantees, said the person, who requested anonymity because the deal has not been signed.

Ford, 29, is a seven-year veteran who played last season for the Chargers. The 5-foot-11, 310-pound Ford had three sacks and intercepted a pass.

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Ex-Rams linebacker Michael Hoecht reportedly agrees to deal with Bills

CHARGERS

From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Hoping to pair Justin Herbert with a potent running game, the Chargers reached an agreement with free-agent running back Najee Harris, according to multiple reports.

Harris, who reportedly agreed to a one-year, $9.25-million deal, made more than $4 million last season with the Steelers. The 27-year-old has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons and went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2021. He rushed for 1,043 yards and six touchdowns in 263 carries over 17 games last season. He also had three games with 100-plus rushing yards.

In need of a boost to the running game that was held to just 50 yards in a wild-card loss to the Houston Texans, the Chargers released running back Gus Edwards on Monday and could still re-sign running back J.K. Dobbins, who rushed for a career-best 905 yards last season.

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THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1922 — Cornell wins the first IC4A indoor track meet held at the 2nd Regiment Armory in New York.

1947 — Harry Boykoff of St. John’s sets a Madison Square Garden scoring record with 54 points in the Redmen’s 71-52 win over St. Francis, N.Y.

1958 — Manhattan upsets top-ranked West Virginia 89-84, in the first round of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. Jack Powers leads the Jaspers with 29 points. Manhattan holds sophomore Jerry West to 10 points in the Mountaineers’ second loss of the year.

1963 — Chicago Loyola blows out Tennessee Tech 111-42 for the largest margin of victory (69) in the history of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.

1979 — St. John’s and Penn post two of the biggest upsets ever in the NCAA tournament in the second round of the East regional in Raleigh, N.C. St. John’s, the 40th and last team selected, beats No. 2 seed Duke 80-78, and Penn comes from behind to beat No. 1 seed North Carolina 72-71.

1991 — Steffi Graf’s streak of 186 weeks ranked as the No. 1 women’s tennis player ends as she is replaced by Monica Seles.

2001 — Jana Kostelic, Croatia’s 19-year-old skiing sensation, becomes the second youngest woman to win the overall World Cup title. She finishes 21st, but she captures the title when Renate Goetschl of Austria skied off the course in the first run in Are, Sweden.

2003 — The longest winning streak in women’s Division I history ends at 70 games when No. 18 Villanova hands No. 1 Connecticut its first loss since the end of the 2001 season, 52-48 for the championship of the Big East Conference tournament.

2007 — Chris Simon of the New York Islanders is suspended for an NHL-record 25 games, missing the rest of the regular season and playoffs as punishment for his two-handed stick attack to the face of Ryan Hollweg.

2009 — Mike Singletary leads Texas Tech to the biggest rally in Big 12 tournament history, scoring all 29 of Texas Tech’s points during a second-half surge that pushed the Red Raiders to a 88-83 win against the Aggies. The Red Raiders erase a 21-point deficit. Singletary, who outscored A&M 29-18 to give Tech the lead for the first time, finishes with 43 points.

2009 — Wesley Matthews scores 20 points and Marquette snaps a four-game losing streak by holding St. John’s to a Big East tournament-record 10 points in the first half on the way to a 74-45 victory.

2012 — Vanderbilt rallies to beat No. 1 Kentucky 71-64 in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game, ending the Wildcats’ 24-game winning streak.

2014 — FIU senior Jerica Coley becomes the 10th female player in NCAA Division I history to eclipse the 3,000-point barrier, doing so with a 20-point showing in FIU’s 85-65 win over Rice in the first round of the Conference USA tournament.

2017 — Jayson Tatum takes over in the final three minutes, making key plays on both ends of the floor, and Duke becomes the first team to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament with four wins in four days by rallying past Notre Dame for a 75-69 win.

2020 — NBA suspends 2019-20 season until further notice after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tests positive for COVID-19.

Compiled by the Associated Press