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From Dan Woike: Luka Doncic had just hit a three-pointer over Christian Wood when the Dallas Mavericks star again got the switch he wanted.
After splashing home the previous shot over his former teammate, Doncic tried to break down Wood, powering to the left elbow. Wood fought his way to the spot, and even after Doncic delivered a wrecking ball shoulder bump, he recovered to contest.
The ball grazed the front of the rim and Wood grabbed the rebound. LeBron James scooted up the left side of the court, and the Lakers triggered the break with an outlet.
A blink after James caught the ball, he threw a two-hand, backhand bounce pass to a streaking Jarred Vanderbilt for a two-handed dunk.
It was great basketball — a play colored with continuity, effort, selflessness and ease.
And against the backdrop of the last 18 games, it was certainly notable.
For just the second time since Dec. 12, the Lakers won consecutive games, beating the Mavericks 127-110 Wednesday night. They’ve now won four of their last six games after losing 10 of the previous 13.
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CLIPPERS
From Andrew Greif: Clippers star James Harden said he has seen enough in 35 games with the team to want to remain with them long term.
Unlike his Clippers co-stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Harden isn’t currently eligible for an extension, unable to begin negotiating with the team on a new deal until after June’s NBA Finals but said “yes” when asked after a 128-117 win Tuesday against Oklahoma City about a report during the TNT broadcast that said he hoped to one day retire with the franchise.
“I thought the same thing last year, last team I was on [Philadelphia], that’s why I did all those sacrifices but I’m here, home,” Harden said. “We have an opportunity. I want to be able to keep the core together for a few years and I haven’t had those opportunities the last few years, so things are going well and I’m happy.”
The trio of Leonard, George and Harden has shown why staying together could benefit all. Lineups featuring all three have outscored opponents by 124 points in 630 minutes together.
Dejan Milojevic, mentor to Nikola Jokic, dies after heart attack at Warriors dinner in Utah
RAMS
From Gary Klein: The Rams rebounded from a dreadful season, mixed experienced veterans with developing young players and made an unexpected run to the playoffs under coach Sean McVay.
Sound familiar?
That was the story of 2017, McVay’s first season as coach of the Rams, and it created the foundation for a 2018 season that ended with a run to Super Bowl LIII.
This season, the Rams emerged from their historically bad Super Bowl LVI hangover and made an unexpected run to the postseason.
“It’s a good parallel,” McVay said Wednesday during a video conference with reporters, adding, “It does feel like this was kind of a new start to the journey that we’re on.”
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: The Chargers continued their search for a general manager Wednesday by interviewing Jeff Ireland and Ed Dodds, the team announced.
They are the sixth and seventh candidates the Chargers have identified publicly as they work to replace Tom Telesco, who was fired Dec. 15.
NFL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Divisional round
AFC
Saturday
No. 4 Houston at No. 1 Baltimore, 1:30 p.m., ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes
Sunday
No. 3 Kansas City at No. 2 Buffalo, 3:30 p.m., CBS, Paramount+
NFC
Saturday
No. 7 Green Bay at No. 1 San Francisco, 5:15 p.m., Fox, Fox Deportes
Sunday
No. 4 Tampa Bay at No. 2 Detroit, noon, NBC, Peacock, Universo
Conference championship
Sunday, Jan. 28
AFC, noon, CBS, Paramount+
NFC, 3:30 p.m., Fox, Fox Deportes
Note: Super Bowl is Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: They’re growing up.
Coming back from down 15 points only to nearly unravel, the young UCLA Bruins finally closed out a taut game in pulsating fashion, pulling out a 68-66 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday night at Desert Financial Arena.
Benched to start the second half, freshman guard Sebastian Mack was the primary protagonist in the final minutes. He banked in a driving layup and followed a steal with another layup to give the Bruins a three-point lead.
Things got more than a bit frightening for UCLA after Lazar Stefanovic lost the ball for a turnover and Arizona State made two free throws. Ahead by just one point, the Bruins nearly turned the ball over again before Will McClendon was fouled and made both free throws with 5.8 seconds left, giving UCLA a 68-65 lead.
USC BASKETBALL
Caleb Love scored 20 points, Pelle Larsson added 13 and No. 12 Arizona beat USC 82-67 on Wednesday night for another bounce-back victory under coach Tommy Lloyd.
Coming off a three-point loss at Washington State, the Wildcats (13-4, 4-2 Pac-12) overcame a nearly seven-minute stretch without a field goal to lead by 10 at halftime and stretched it to 19 midway through the second half.
Arizona had a second straight subpar shooting night, hitting 40% from the field, but scored 22 second-chance points off 21 offensive rebounds. The Wildcats are 15-0 coming off a loss under Lloyd and have won 13 of their last 14 games against USC at McKale Center.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1938 — Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. His 90 shutouts is second on the all-time list to Walter Johnson and his 16 shutouts in 1916 is still the major league record.
1958 — Canadian born Willie O’Ree becomes the NHL’s first Black player for the Boston Bruins.
1972 — The Lakers’ Jerry West, hits a last second, 20-foot jumper to lead the West team to a 112-110 NBA All-Star victory over the East, as he garners the MVP award.
1973 — Orlando Cepeda becomes the first player signed specifically to be a designated hitter. He signs with the Boston Red Sox one week after the designated hitter rule is approved.
1976 — Pittsburgh wins the Super Bowl for the second straight year. Terry Bradshaw’s 64-yard touchdown pass to Lynn Swann and Glen Edwards’ interception on the last play of the game gives the Steelers a 21-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Swann, with four receptions for 161 yards, is the game’s MVP.
1996 — Baseball owners break with more than a century of tradition by unanimously approving interleague play in 1997.
2003 — Michelle Kwan wins her sixth straight title, and seventh overall, at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Michael Weiss, despite splattering on his quad lutz, two-footing a quad toe and not doing a triple axel the entire competition, gets his third U.S. men’s title.
2011 — Kim Clijsters starts her Australian Open run with a 6-0, 6-0 romp of three-time Grand Slam finalist and former No. 1-ranked player Dinara Safina. It’s the first time a woman who was once the top-ranked player in the world had ever lost by that score.
2017 — Baseball Hall of Fame adds Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines and Ivan Rodriguez.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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