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From Dan Woike: The Lakers were, again, the Lakers — the version from early this season that made optimism seem nothing like foolishness.
For two-and-a-half quarters Sunday night against Memphis, they completely shed the baggage of the past two weeks. The long road miles, the stagnant offense, the physical bruises from losses to bigger, tougher teams all gone.
LeBron James was back, looking like the version of himself that starred this summer in the Olympics. The passes zipped, his feet moved and his control was unquestioned.
This was the team JJ Redick had in the first weeks of the season and the team the Lakers had been desperately trying to recapture in a brutal stretch since.
And then Zach Edey chopped down and pulled on Anthony Davis’ left shoulder, and everything felt like it could change.
Davis went to the locker room, the Lakers’ offense stalled, their defense wasn’t as ferocious and their 20-point lead was more than cut in half.
But instead of folding in the face of pressure like they have so many times over the previous 10 games, the Lakers showed toughness. They beat Memphis 116-110 in a game the Grizzlies never led. They set the tone physically, they executed offensively, and Davis dominated, tying season highs with 40 points and 16 rebounds.
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CHARGERS
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: When the SoFi Stadium lights went dark to begin a hype video in the middle of the fourth quarter, hundreds of fans streamed toward the exits. The lights were out on a 40-17 Chargers loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Chargers lost ground in a tight AFC wild-card race Sunday, giving up 27 unanswered points in the second half to fall into seventh seed in the AFC playoff standings.
Entering Week 15 as one of three 8-5 teams in playoff position, the Chargers (8-6) gave up a season-high in yards (506) and points to fall behind the Baltimore Ravens and the Denver Broncos in the playoff standings.
After losing consecutive games for just the second time this season, the Chargers have to regroup quickly for a critical AFC West matchup against the Broncos on Thursday at SoFi Stadium.
Quarterback Justin Herbert threw for two touchdowns and 195 yards, but had a pass intercepted for the first time since Week 2. His streak of passes attempted without an interception ended at 357, one shy of tying Tom Brady for the fourth-longest streak in NFL history.
Appreciation: Jim Tunney and Al Jury were legends in the world of NFL officiating
DODGERS
From Steve Henson: A sports memorabilia auction is never as gripping as the ballgame that gave the item being auctioned immense value. But bidding for the baseball Freddie Freeman crushed for a grand slam that gave the Dodgers a walk-off victory in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees in October did generate its own brand of drama.
The ball was sold for $1.56 million Saturday night by SCP Auctions, but not before a spirited back-and-forth between bidders that extended the bidding 2½ hours beyond the initial deadline.
The money goes to the family of the 10-year-old boy who corralled the ball in the right-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium amid the delirious celebration after Freeman homered with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Dodgers one out away from defeat.
The moment will forever live among the very best in Dodgers history, rivaling Kirk Gibson’s eerily similar walk-off homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. The memory will always be cherished by Zachary Ruderman and his parents, Nico and Anne. The money will be life-changing for the Venice family.
Shaikin: He refused the Covid vaccine. He exiled himself from baseball. Was it worth it?
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: For the season’s first month, Skyy Clark did things that pleased his coach and quietly helped win games.
On Saturday, his contributions moved to the forefront of a thrilling comeback.
Clark calmly made two free throws with 6.1 seconds left during No. 24 UCLA’s 57-54 victory over Arizona at the Footprint Center, a fitting bookend to the junior guard’s best performance as a Bruin.
The transfer from Louisville broke out of a seasonlong shooting slump, making his first three three-pointers after entering the game having made only six of 22 tries (27.3%) from long range. He made five of nine shots overall on the way to a season-high 15 points, the first time he reached double figures this season.
Might Clark need to be more involved in running UCLA’s offense? Here are five takeaways from the Bruins’ eighth consecutive victory:
USC BASKETBALL
Desmond Claude scored 19 points, Saint Thomas scored 13 of his season-high 17 points in the the first half and USC never trailed Sunday night as the Trojans beat Montana State 89-63.
Claude made six of eight from the field and seven of eight from the free-throw line. Chibuzo Agbo finished with 12 points and Rashaun Agee scored 10 for USC.
Claude made a layup 17 seconds into the game and USC (7-4) led the rest of the way. Agbo followed with a three-pointer and, after Brandon Walker’s layup got Montana State on the scoreboard with 17:57 left in the first half, the Trojans scored 22 of the next 25 points to make it 27-5 when Saint Thomas hit a three-pointer with 9:58 until halftime.
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From Benjamin Royer: USC’s schedule has featured a jumble of mid-major and mid-minor opponents visiting the Galen Center, lining up for one-sided thrashings. Sunday was no different when Elon came to town, with the Trojans (10-1) defeating theirColonial Athletic Assn. foes handily 88-30.
But what could coach Lindsay Gottlieb still learn about USC before traveling to face No. 2 Connecticut and star guard Paige Bueckers later this week? An early timeout could signal what still needs to be worked on.
“They know what the expectation is, and I think they want to rise to that expectation,” Gottlieb said about using her only timeout of the game when the score was knotted 4-4. “There’s not anyone not trying to do what we want to do, so when I see it early — like, ‘Hey, right there, that’s not good enough’ — it’s my amount of respect for our starting group that they can fix that quickly, they can’t allow that.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1918 — Jack Dempsey knocks out Carl Morris in 14 seconds in a heavyweight bout in New Orleans.
1930 — Golfer Bobby Jones wins the first James E. Sullivan Award. The award is given to “the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.”
1940 — Joe Louis knocks out Al McCoy in the sixth round at the Boston Garden to retain the world heavyweight title.
1945 — The Cleveland Rams beat the Washington Redskins 15-14 for the NFL championship. The deciding play turns out to be a first-quarter automatic safety when the Redskins’ Sammy Baugh passes from his own end zone and the wind carries the ball into the goal post.
1967 — Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scores 68 points in a 143-123 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
1973 — O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills rushes for 200 yards in a 34-14 victory over the New York Jets and sets an NFL record with 2,003 yards rushing for the season. Simpson needed 61 yards to break Jim Brown’s NFL single season rushing record of 1,863 yards set in 1963.
1990 — Warren Moon passes for a 527 yards — the second-greatest passing day in NFL history — as the Houston Oilers beat Kansas City 27-10.
2003 — New Orleans Saints receiver Joe Horn is fined $30,000 by the NFL for making a choreographed cell-phone call in the end zone to celebrate a touchdown during the Saints’ 45-7 rout of the New York Giants on Dec. 14.
2006 — Morten Andersen becomes the greatest scorer in NFL history. The 46-year-old Andersen breaks Gary Anderson’s career scoring record of 2,434 points with the second of four extra points in the Atlanta Falcons’ 38-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
2007 — Brett Favre passes for 227 yards in Green Bay’s 33-14 win over St. Louis, eclipsing Dan Marino to become the NFL career leader in yards passing. Favre, in his 17th season, finishes the game with 61,405 yards. Marino had 61,361 in 17 seasons.
2007 — Kikkan Randall becomes the first U.S. woman and second American to win a World Cup cross country race when she defeats world sprint champion Astrid Jacobsen of Norway in the final meters of a 1.2-kilometer freestyle race. Randall is the first American to win a World Cup cross country race since Bill Koch in 1983.
2010 — American Ryan Lochte sets the first individual swimming world record since high-tech bodysuits were banned, winning the 400-meter individual medley at the short-course world championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
2012 — Ryan Lochte wins two more races at the short-course world championships in Istanbul, finishing the event with six golds and one silver. The result matches his medal total from the last championships, in Dubai in 2010.
2013 — Justin Tucker makes six field goals, including a 61-yarder in the final minute, to give the Baltimore Ravens an 18-16 win over the Detroit Lions.
2014 — Nick Bjugstad scores the game-winning goal in the longest shootout in NHL history to lift the Florida Panthers over the Washington Capitals 2-1. Bjugstad’s goal comes in the 20th round of a shootout — on the 40th shot — and beats Braden Holtby on the right side.
2016 — James Harden gets his sixth triple-double of the season and the Houston Rockets make an NBA-record 24 three-pointers in a 122-100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
2019 — Drew Brees breaks Peyton Manning’s NFL record (539) for career touchdown passes as New Orleans Saints rout Indianapolis Colts, 34-7; Brees 29 of 30 for 307 yards & 4 TDs for record 96.7% pass completion.
2020 — Major League Baseball announces it is elevating the Negro Leagues to Major League status
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.