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From Dylan Hernández: Another three-pointer. Another miss.
LeBron James remained frozen on the three-point line, as if he were in disbelief.
His right arm was extended. His wrist was bent.
A couple of minutes later in the fourth quarter, James failed to finish at the rim after he was fouled.
James threw back his head.
His body language told the story of the game.
There would be no miracle for James or the Lakers on Saturday night.
In the wake of a 119-108 defeat to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers were pushed to the edge of elimination, as they are now behind in the Western Conference finals, three games to none.
Their season could be over on tonight.
Lakers on edge of precipice after Game 3 loss to Nuggets
Some Lakers role players struggle to get on a roll in Game 3 loss to Nuggets
Elliott: Nuggets again show the Lakers they know the business of winning
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NBA PLAYOFFS
Results, schedule
All times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
No. 1 Denver vs. No. 7 Lakers
Game 1: at Denver 132, Lakers 126
Game 2: at Denver 108, Lakers 103
Game 3: Denver 119, at Lakers 108
Today at Lakers, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Wednesday at Denver, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Friday at Lakers, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
*Sunday at Denver, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
Eastern Conference
No. 2 Boston vs. No. 8 Miami
Game 1: Miami 123, at Boston 116
Game 2: Miami 111, at Boston 105
Game 3: at Miami 128, Boston 102
Tuesday at Miami, 5:30 p.m., TNT
*Thursday at Boston, 5:30 p.m., TNT
*Saturday at Miami, 5:30 p.m., TNT
*Monday, May 29 at Boston, 5:30 p.m., TNT
*-if necessary
NHL PLAYOFFS
Results, schedule
All times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
Vegas (P1) vs. Dallas Stars (C2)
Game 1: at Vegas 4, Dallas 3 (OT)
Game 2: at Vegas 3, Dallas 2 (OT)
Tuesday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Saturday at Vegas, 5 p.m., ABC
*Monday, May 29 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Wed., May 31 at Vegas, 6 p.m., ESPN
Eastern Conference
Carolina (M1) vs. Florida (WC2)
Game 1: Florida 4, at Carolina 3 (4 OT)
Game 2: Florida 2, at Carolina 1 (OT)
Today at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Wednesday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
*Friday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT
*Sunday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
*Tuesday, May 30 at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT
*-if necessary
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: A night after his controversial called third strike ended one Dodgers loss, umpire Paul Emmel was in the middle of more controversy with the team Sunday.
In the fourth inning of the Dodgers’ 10-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, Max Muncy was ejected by Emmel after being rung up on a called strike, getting tossed by the crew chief — who had cycled to third base Sunday — after continuing to complain about the call on his way back to the dugout.
Unlike Saturday night, when Emmel’s missed call in a Mookie Betts at-bat extinguished a potential ninth-inning comeback, Sunday’s ejection of Muncy had minimal impact on the rest of the game.
Clayton Kershaw struggled in a four-run, 3 ⅔-inning start. A lineup playing without Betts, who had a scheduled off day, couldn’t keep up with a scorching Cardinals offense. And the Dodgers left St. Louis with their first series defeat in almost a month.
Top Dodgers pitching prospects Gavin Stone, Bobby Miller to start against Braves
ANGELS
From Sarah Valenzuela: There were no fancy records or flashy numbers. No momentum-changing hits or towering home runs. In Shohei Ohtani’s start against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday at Angel Stadium, the two-way star, compared with the usual expectation, was just another ace with a quality start, just another batter with a decent day at the plate.
Ohtani pitched six innings of two-hit, one-run, three-walk baseball, striking out nine in the Angels’ 4-2 win.
The Angels took two of three games against the Twins, the first-place team in the American League Central, for their first series victory since a three-game sweep of the Cardinals in St. Louis at the start of May.
SOCCER
From Kevin Baxter: Kellyn Acosta was still on the practice field when U.S. Soccer held the random draw for the next round of Open Cup games. The LAFC midfielder wasn’t surprised when he learned who his team would play.
“We drew Galaxy?” he said. “Of course, we drew Galaxy. I don’t think that was random.” (Note to U.S. Soccer: Acosta was kidding, I think.)
The four-team regional draw had just a 16% chance of pitting the Galaxy against LAFC, just as it did last season. Yet just as it did last season, that’s exactly who LAFC drew. The neighborhood rivals, whose home stadiums are separated by less than 12 miles, played each other four times last year, including in the MLS playoffs. They will meet at least four times — and possibly eight, given the league’s expanded postseason format — this year.
GOLF
All those injuries that made Brooks Koepka wonder if he was still among golf’s elite were put to rest Sunday at Oak Hill when he beat the strongest field of the year and won the PGA Championship for his fifth major title.
Determined as ever to restore his reputation as the player to beat in the majors, Koepka ran off three quick birdies early, never lost the lead amid a gritty fight from Viktor Hovland and closed with a three-under 67 for a two-shot victory.
He won his third Wanamaker Trophy — only Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen with five and Tiger Woods with four have won the PGA Championship more times — and captured his first major in four years.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1877 — Baden-Baden, ridden by C. Holloway, catches Leonard just before turning into the stretch and wins the Kentucky Derby by two lengths.
1962 — Roger Maris walks five times (record four intentionally) in a 9-inning game.
1975 — Artis Gilmore scores 28 points and grabs 31 rebounds to lead the Kentucky Colonels to a 110-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers for the ABA championship.
1985 — Pete Rose’s 2,108th run passes Hank Aaron as NL all-time run-scoring leader.
1988 — Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins trades bucket for bucket with Boston’s Larry Bird in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals until the Celtics escape with a 118-116 victory. Wilkins finishes with 47 points and Bird has 34 — with 20 of his points scored in the fourth quarter. The teams shoot a combined 58.8% from the field, the second highest mark in playoff history.
1988 — LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, Jack Nicklaus GC: Sherri Turner birdies final 2 holes to win her only major title, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Amy Alcott.
1990 — Andre Dawson receives a record five intentional walks in a game.
1993 — Riddick Bowe successfully defends his IBF and WBA heavyweight titles with a second-round knockout of Jesse Ferguson at RFK Stadium in Washington.
1994 — Toronto NBA franchise unveils name “Raptors” and logo.
1996 — 4th UEFA Champions League Final: Juventus beats Ajax (1-1, 4-2 on penalties) at Rome.
1997 — The Chicago Bulls win the lowest-scoring playoff game in NBA history, a 75-68 victory over the Miami Heat. The 143 combined points were two fewer than the previous postseason low set by Syracuse and Fort Wayne in 1955.
2003 — Annika Sorenstam becomes the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event in 58 years when she shoots a 71 in the first round of the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. Sorenstam misses the cut the next day by four shots.
2004 — English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (71,350): Manchester United beats Millwall, 3-0.
2005 — Paula Creamer, 18, makes a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Sybase Classic by one stroke and become the second-youngest first-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
2006 — Pat Summitt becomes the newest millionaire coach — and the first in women’s basketball. Tennessee raises Summitt’s salary to $1.125 million for next season and extends her contract six years.
2009 — Dara Torres sets an American record in the 50-meter butterfly at the Texas Senior Circuit No. 2 meet at Texas A&M. The 42-year-old, breezes to victory in the 50 fly, touching the wall in 25.72 seconds to beat her record time of 25.84 seconds from the morning preliminaries. Both her times beat Jenny Thompson’s American record of 26.00 seconds, set in Barcelona in 2003.
2010 — UEFA Champions League Final, Madrid: Internazionale beats Bayern Munich, 2-0; Inter’s 3rd title and first treble (Italian Serie A & Cup).
2016 — The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone G&CC: Germany’s Berhard Langer wins sixth of 13 Champions Tour majors by six strokes over Olin Browne.
2021 — 30-year-old Scottish light-welterweight boxer Josh Taylor becomes Britain’s first undisputed world champion in the four-belt era by beating Jose Ramirez by unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
2022 — PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Southern Hills CC: 2017 champion Justin Thomas beats Will Zalatoris by 1 stroke in a 3-hole playoff after 54-hole leader Mito Pereira double bogeys the 72nd hole.
—Compiled by the Associated Press
And finally…
Epic showdown: Bird vs. Wilkins. Watch and listen here.
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.