Go beyond the scoreboard
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From Dan Woike: D’Angelo Russell, his voice as level as the top of a NBA backboard, made sure to point out the thing that he was about to say needed to be bolded and underlined.
“‘I’m going to continue to stress it,” he said. “But what you guys see is a team figuring it out.”
Russell sat in front of the media and said this Monday night, his Lakers having just grinded through a win against the Orlando Magic.
By midway through the first quarter Wednesday, that journey seemed a long ways from coming to an end.
A 12th straight loss to their neighbors, the Clippers, seemed certain, and it almost assuredly was going to be lopsided and ugly.
Then, thanks to an effort led by the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, it wasn’t.
LeBron James, who hadn’t beaten the Clippers since the bubble in 2020, scored 35 points in 42 minutes, helping the Lakers win 130-125 in overtime.
Kawhi Leonard scored 38, Paul George had 35 and Russell Westbrook had 24 for the Clippers.
Anthony Davis and Russell scored 27 each for the Lakers, and Austin Reaves, who had been stuck in an early slump, scored seven of the Lakers’ 13 overtime points, capping things with an over-the-shoulder lob to James for a dunk.
Clippers traded for James Harden believing he wants ‘one thing’: a Clippers title
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WORLD SERIES
From Bill Shaikin: Corey Seager singled to break up Zac Gallen’s no-hitter in the seventh inning Wednesday, then scored the game’s first run in a 5-0 victory that clinched the World Series. The Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games.
Nathan Eovaldi, a prospect traded away by the Dodgers 11 years ago, threw six shutout innings and became the first pitcher in major league history to win five starts in one postseason.
In 2020, Seager led the Dodgers to a title by batting .400 in the World Series, hitting two home runs and reaching base 15 times in 27 plate appearances.
In 2023, Seager hit three home runs in the first four games, including a tying two-run home run in the ninth inning of Game 1 and the two-run home run that put Texas ahead for good in Game 3. As the Rangers pulled ahead in the ninth inning, a small but boisterous section of Texas fans serenaded Seager with “M-V-P” chants.
The Rangers, born as the Washington Senators in 1961, celebrated the first championship in franchise history. The five remaining major league teams never to win the World Series: the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rangers awoke on the final Thursday of the regular season with a 2-½ game lead in the American League West. They lost three of their final four games, stumbled into the playoffs as a wild-card team, then went 13-4 in the postseason, including an 11-0 road record.
Rob Manfred called bullpen games a problem. Then Arizona had one in the World Series
Making your sports venue better? Dodgers’ architect has a plan
Schedule
All times Pacific
All games on Fox
Arizona vs. Texas
at Texas 6, Arizona 5 (11) (recap, box score)
Arizona 9, at Texas 1 (recap, box score)
Texas 3, at Arizona 1 (recap, box score)
Texas 11, at Arizona 7 (recap, box score)
Texas 5, at Arizona 0 (box score)
*-if necessary
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
From Mike Kupper: Bobby Knight, the combustible college basketball coach who bellowed and cursed at referees, fans and even his own players but came to be regarded as a mastermind of the game as he guided the Indiana Hoosiers to three national titles, died at his home in Bloomington, Ind., surrounded by his family.
Both loved and loathed, Knight died Wednesday, the Knight family announced via his website. He was 83.
Long recognized as one of college basketball’s greatest coaches, Knight was forever remembered for cursing, gesturing wildly, berating officials and finally throwing his chair onto the court as the opposing team was about to shoot free throws. To much of the world, sporting or otherwise, he became “the crazy coach who threw the chair.”
And yet, that was only one of a multitude of incidents in the contradictory life of a man who demanded impeccable behavior and judgment in others but whose own startling lack of self-control often overshadowed his coaching genius.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is nursing a right thumb sprain, did not practice Wednesday, but coach Sean McVay would not rule him out for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers.
“You give him up until right before the game,” McVay said before practice.
Brett Rypien will start if Stafford is unable to play.
The Rams signed quarterback Dresser Winn to the practice squad Wednesday. Winn was with the Rams through offseason workouts and training camp.
McVay said the Rams signed Winn because of his familiarity with the Rams’ system. The Rams had explored signing former backup John Wolford off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad, but the Buccaneers elevated Wolford to the active roster.
From Ryan Kartje: USC’s defense gathered around its embattled coach last Saturday, already reeling from potential disaster. Alex Grinch had hammered home all season the importance of limiting big plays, and all season, it seemed to make little difference. USC was already giving up more plays of 20-plus yards than any other Power Five defense, and twice already in the first quarter, the Bears had broken off two big touchdown runs.
As he crouched on the sideline in Berkeley, Grinch slammed both hands to the turf. Both times Cal’s Jayden Ott sprung free — first, for a 43-yard touchdown, then for a 61-yarder — it was because a defender was out of position. A defensive lineman went the wrong way. A linebacker filled the wrong gap. A safety took off in the wrong direction.
It was tempting at the time for Grinch to wonder if Cal had surprised him with something his defense wasn’t prepared for. But the issues, upon film study, proved painfully familiar.
DUCKS
Troy Terry scored at 1:33 of overtime to complete the second hat trick of his career and the Ducks rallied to beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 Wednesday night for their fifth straight win.
Terry had a career-high four points on the night. The forward had a pair of power-play goals in the first period and assisted on Leo Carlsson’s third-period tally, which sent the game into overtime.
Terry got the feed from Mason McTavish and put it past Karel Vejmelka to give the Ducks their third win in overtime this season. It also gave Anaheim its longest winning streak in two years.
HORSE RACING
From John Cherwa: Geaux Rocket Ride, winner of the Haskell Stakes and one of the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, was euthanized Wednesday, four days after he suffered a catastrophic injury to his right front leg during a workout. The news was confirmed by the horse’s owners Pin Oak Stud.
The 3-year-old colt suffered what was described as an “open condylar fracture with intersesmoidian ligament damage,” according to the Breeders’ Cup. Open meant the bone has broken through the skin.
“It is with very heavy hearts that we report that, at the recommendation of the medical team, Geaux Rocket Ride has finally reached peace,” Pin Oak Stud said on X (formerly Twitter). “His mind and his spirit never quit, but his body never recovered from surgery. He had a very rare response post-op and he wasn’t able to stand up again. He fought hard and our team of vets tried everything they could.”
A shaky start, but Breeders’ Cup aims to shake trend of high-profile horse deaths
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1895 — Belmar, ridden by Fred Taral, wins in the Belmont Stakes by a head over favorite Counter Tenor. The race is run under the jurisdiction of the Westchester Racing Association, because the New York Jockey Club had closed out its affairs.
1958 — Chicago and Los Angeles establish an NFL attendance record when 90,833 fill the L.A. Coliseum to see the Rams beat the Bears 41-35.
1960 — New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris wins the American League MVP.
1974 — Atlanta Braves trade then MLB home run king Hank Aaron to Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Dave May.
1985 — Gordon Brown has 214 yards and quarterback Steve Gage has 206 to become the first teammates to each rush for more than 200 yards as Tulsa beats Wichita State 42-26.
1990 — The Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 162-158 at McNichols Arena. The 320 points set an NBA record for the most points scored by two teams in a non-overtime game.
1991 — Nevada makes the biggest comeback in NCAA football history, overcoming a 35-point deficit in the third quarter and rallying to beat Weber State 55-49.
1996 — A.J. Pitorino of Hartwick rushes for an NCAA all-divisions record 443 yards on 45 carries in a 42-14 win over Waynesburg.
2006 — Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom becomes the first goalie in the modern era, which began in 1943, to win twice without starting. Backstom replaces an ill Manny Fernandez and stops all 19 shots he faces over the final two periods as the Wild rally for a 5-2 victory over Vancouver. Backstrom relieved Fernandez after a three-goal first period against Nashville on Oct. 7 before Minnesota came back for a 6-5 victory.
2007 — Washington misses all 16 of its 3-point shots, an NBA record for most attempts without making one, in a 103-83 loss at Boston.
2014 — Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger throws for six touchdowns for the second consecutive week, setting an NFL mark in a 43-23 win over Baltimore. Roethlisberger’s 12 touchdown passes over the last two games breaks the mark of 11 set by Tom Flores for Oakland in 1963 and matched by New England’s Tom Brady in 2007.
2016 — The Chicago Cubs win their first World Series championship since 1908 when Ben Zobrist hits a go-ahead double in the 10th inning, beating the Cleveland Indians 8-7 in a thrilling Game 7 delayed by rain early. Chicago is the first club to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit since the 1985 Kansas City Royals.
2021 — The Atlanta Braves win their fourth World Series title, beating the Houston Astros 7-0 in Game 6 for a 4-2 series victory.
—Compiled by the Associated Press
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 houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.