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From Dan Woike: With the NBA Finals set to begin Thursday in Boston, the Lakers still don’t have a head coach and, according to people with direct knowledge of the search who are not authorized to speak publicly, are in “no rush” to end the process.
While the internal messaging remains that the process is ongoing and any finality is premature, speculation continues to be focused on JJ Redick and the strong likelihood he ends up as the team’s next head coach.
People familiar with the search said Redick, his representatives and the Lakers have not had conversations about contract details.
On Tuesday, the Athletic reported the Lakers “are zeroing in on JJ Redick as the frontrunner” for their coaching vacancy.
Redick, according to The Times and multiple other outlets, had been considered a strong favorite for most of the last month, with his name tied to the Lakers repeatedly by front office and coaching insiders around the league during the early stages of the search. Internally, the Lakers have maintained they’ve been conducting a thorough search with conversations involving several candidates.
Redick is working the NBA Finals as a television analyst, and it’s widely believed that is playing a role in how everyone will proceed in the closing stages of the search.
The Times reported last week that the team held in-person meetings with New Orleans assistant James Borrego, who impressed staffers across multiple departments.
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DODGERS
From Jack Harris: As a reporter noted the considerable amount of conversation dedicated to the scandal surrounding Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, this year, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts cut the query off mid-sentence.
“I know we’ve talked about this a lot…” the question began.
“Yes,” Roberts quipped, flatly. “We have.”
After Tuesday, Roberts, Ohtani and the entire Dodgers organization are hoping they won’t have to waste such breath again.
Hours before the Dodgers lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0, in yet another quiet day at the plate for the two-way star, Ohtani at least seemed to receive some official closure off the field in the scandal involving Mizuhara.
Shohei Ohtani formally cleared by MLB of any involvement in gambling
Ippei Mizuhara, ex-interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, pleads guilty to fraud in betting case
‘A mini-bulldog.’ Why Gavin Stone’s breakout season is reminding Dodgers of Orel Hershiser
ANGELS
Zach Neto had a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning, and the Angels won their first home series of the season with a 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.
Luis Rengifo drove in an early run for the Angels, who will win a series for the first time in 10 tries after back-to-back victories over the Padres. The Angels improved the majors’ worst home record to 9-21 after holding San Diego to three runs in 18 innings.
Adam Mazur pitched six innings of one-run ball in a strong major league debut for the Padres, who have lost three straight for only the second time since April. Manny Machado had an early run-scoring single, but San Diego’s powerhouse lineup struggled against the Angels.
NBA PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
NBA Finals
Thursday at Boston, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Boston, 5 p.m., ABC
Wed., June 12 at Dallas, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Friday, June 14 at Dallas, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Monday, June 17 at Boston, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Thursday, June 20 at Dallas, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Sunday, June 23, at Boston, 5 p.m., ABC
*-if necessary
RAMS
From Gary Klein: He was a two-time All-American at Michigan and the offensive most valuable player in the Wolverines’ national championship game victory over Washington.
So running back Blake Corum had pedigree when the Rams selected him in the third round of the NFL draft.
Yet Corum has gone through the Rams’ offseason program with an attitude that tilted more neophyte than seasoned performer.
“You just have to go in with a humble heart, and the mindset of, ‘I don’t know anything,’” Corum said Tuesday after practice, adding, “I’m going to grow from the good I do and whatever bad I do. … I’m never going to stop growing — so it was easy for me to come in and basically start over.”
NFL trial to begin this week in Los Angeles over Sunday Ticket antitrust claim
CHARGERS
From Jeff Miller: He has refused to let it go, the pass that Quentin Johnston, as a rookie last season, most famously failed to catch.
At Green Bay in Week 11, in the game’s final 30 seconds, Johnston couldn’t secure a ball that would have put the Chargers at least in range for a tying field-goal attempt.
One fourth-down incompletion later, their 23-20 loss was official and an underwhelming first NFL season for Johnston crept painfully forward.
On Tuesday, after the team’s latest spring practice, Johnston said he has rewatched the play in recent months as a means of motivation, especially on days when he’s searching for a spark.
“[I’ll] pull it up real quick,” he explained, “kind of got mad at myself again.”
Johnston called the drop “just straight-up unacceptable” as he tries to rebound
SPARKS
From Marissa Kraus: The morale was low on Tuesday after a particularly intense practice at the Galen Center, with Sparks players eyes downcast amid looks of frustration as head coach Curt Miller told them they needed to do better.
With a 2-6 record and a game against the Minnesota Lynx, one of best teams in the league, on Wednesday, the feeling of urgency to improve was palpable.
“We need to work on everything,” first-year forward Cameron Brink said Tuesday. “Physicality, turnovers, the list goes on. But you know, it’s a young team and we are trying to rebuild. We are always going to work our hardest, always.”
That’s just how it is for young teams sometimes. New players bring a period of adjustment for the whole team, and the Sparks are no exception with a young squad that includes two first-round picks from this year’s draft.
Brink and fellow rookie forward Rickea Jackson are going though their own period of adjustment, particularly to the physicality of play in the league. Luckily, they have veteran players who have made the transition to professional ball a bit easier.
“It’s a very physical league,” Jackson said. “Phoenix was physical and Minnesota will be even more physical but I feel like I’ve been adjusting. I might wait a little too long sometimes because in college I would get too physical and then get a lot of fouls so learning that this is a physical league and that’s the way you’re going to get buckets, get screens, get open. Nobody cares that I’m a rookie so I just have to stay strong and be physical back.”
SOCCER
Sixteen-year-old Lily Yohannes scored in her national team debut and the United States defeated South Korea 3-0 in an exhibition Tuesday night.
Crystal Dunn and Sophia Smith also scored for the U.S., playing its second game under coach Emma Hayes.
Hayes was hired as coach last November but remained in Europe to finish the season with Chelsea. She replaced Vlatko Andonovski, who stepped down after the U.S. was knocked out of the Women’s World Cup last summer in the round of 16.
The U.S. also won the first friendly match over South Korea 4-0 on Saturday in Commerce City, Colorado. Mallory Swanson and Tierna Davidson each had a pair of goals.
Hayes will now turn her attention to selecting an 18-player roster for the U.S. Olympic team. The U.S. opens the Olympics on July 25 against Zambia in Nice.
FRENCH OPEN
Novak Djokovic withdrew from the French Open with an injured right knee on Tuesday, ending his title defense and meaning he will relinquish the No. 1 ranking.
The tournament announced the news, saying Djokovic has a torn medial meniscus in his right knee. The extent of the injury was found during an MRI exam a day after Djokovic was hurt during a fourth-round victory against No. 23 Francisco Cerundolo that lasted five sets spread across more than 4½ hours.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion was supposed to face two-time French Open runner-up Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Instead, Ruud gets a walkover into the semifinals, where he will face No. 4 Alexander Zverev or No. 11 Alex de Minaur.
NHL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
Stanley Cup Final
Saturday at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN
Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN
Thursday, June 13 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN,
Saturday June 15 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Tuesday, June 18 at Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Friday, June 21 at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN
*Monday, June 24 at Florida, TB5 p.m.D, ESPN
*-if necessary
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1925 — Willie McFarlane beats Bobby Jones by one stroke in the second round of a playoff to capture the U.S. Open. Macfarlane shoots a 291 at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club.
1927 — Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard & 200-yard free-style swim record.
1937 — War Admiral, ridden by Charles Kurtsinger, wins the Triple Crown with a three-length victory over Sceneshifter in the Belmont Stakes.
1943 — Count Fleet, ridden by Johnny Longden, wins the Triple Crown by 25 lengths in the Belmont Stakes. Count Fleet goes at off at 1-20 odds in a race with no place or show betting.
1977 — The Portland Trail Blazers hold off the Philadelphia 76ers 109-107 to win the NBA championship in six games. Portland becomes the first team in the 31-year history of the league to win four straight after losing the first two games.
1985 — Steve Cauthen wins the Epsom Derby aboard Slip Anchor and became the only American jockey to win both the English Derby and Kentucky Derby. Cauthen had ridden Affirmed to victory in the 1978 Kentucky Derby.
1993 — Julie Krone guides Colonial Affair to victory in the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first female jockey to win a Triple Crown race.
1994 — Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Sergi Bruguera produce the best day of tennis in Spanish history. Sanchez Vicario beats Mary Pierce 6-4, 6-4 in the French Open final and Bruguera retains his title by defeating another Spaniard, Alberto Berasategui, 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.
1999 — Steffi Graf wins her sixth French Open title and her first Grand Slam championship in almost three years, beating top-ranked Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
2005 — Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal beats unseeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina in four sets to win the French Open men’s singles title. The No. 4-seeded Nadal becomes the youngest men’s Grand Slam champion since Pete Sampras won the U.S. Open at 19 in 1990.
2011 — Rafael Nadal wins his record-equaling sixth French Open title, beating Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1 in the final.
2016 — Novak Djokovic becomes the first man in nearly a half-century to win four consecutive major championships and finally earned elusive French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, beating Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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