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James has not played since the Switzerland win because Seattle Reign’s National Women’s Soccer League campaign ended in November, although she was involved in pre-season before joining up with Wales last week.
James also struggled for game-time after returning to her club following Euro 2025.
Even so, the 31-year-old says she is in a good place as she prepares to win her 140th cap.
“I worked so hard in the off-season to make sure that I’m ready for Wales and Wales always comes first in my eyes,” James said.
“So if I knew that I had to be ready for this game, I’ll make sure that I am at the best I can be for this game.”
When asked about her lack of minutes for Reign in the autumn, James added: “I think there’d be something wrong if I didn’t think about it.
“Do I want to play more football? Of course I do. And am I going to push to play more this year? Yeah, I am.
“So I’m in a good place and hopefully I can go back and hit the ground running after two games here with Wales.”
In the same bracket as Fernandes is Semenyo. Keeps starting, keeps scoring.
Every Manchester City player carries a slight question mark as they enter a period that also involves Newcastle away in the FA Cup, two legs against Real Madrid and the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.
But it’s also impossible to second-guess Pep Roulette so start Semenyo with confidence – Fernandes is my vice-captain if he doesn’t play.
Another player returning from gameweek 28’s team and, at this price, how can you resist?
A team-high four shots last week and a big chance created, Tavernier ended up with bonus points and an assist.
He has a lot of routes to points for a £5.3m midfielder and faces a Brentford side that conceded three – and should possibly have been more – at Burnley.
KDH is the forgotten budget gem after his long injury, but he’s got three returns in four games and is always a good shout for defensive contribution points.
This home match against Burnley is too good to pass up.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — How do you improve on the perfect ending?
Clayton Kershaw stood in the desert heat Monday, wearing a far darker shade of blue than the Dodgers do. He does not need a medal, or a chance to fail. His election to the Hall of Fame will be a formality.
In his farewell year, the Dodgers won the World Series, becoming baseball’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years. He secured a critical out. He bathed in adoration at the championship rally, and he told the fans he would be one of them this year.
“I’m going to watch,” he hollered that day, “just like all of you.”
Four months later, he was back in uniform.
He wore a dark blue jersey with red-and-white piping. As Team USA ran through its first World Baseball Classic workout, Kershaw participated in pitchers’ fielding practice and shagged fly balls during batting practice. He could have been home with his five kids, and instead he was rushing off the mound to take a throw at first base.
That November night in Toronto, as it turned out, was not the last time we would see him in uniform.
“Feels good,” he said Monday. “I wouldn’t put on a uniform for anything else. This is a special thing.”
He put the World Baseball Classic into red, white and blue perspective.
“It’s a bucket list thing for me,” he said.
He is either self-deprecating or painfully honest about his capabilities right now, or perhaps a little of both.
“I think, for our country’s sake, it’s probably better if I don’t,” Kershaw said.
Former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw fields a ground ball during a workout at Papago Park Sports Complex on Monday.
(Chris Coduto / Getty Images)
Never say never. Team USA planned to run a tremendous rotation of Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes, Joe Ryan and Logan Webb, but now Skubal says he will pitch just once in the tournament. Skenes says he’ll pitch twice. Ryan says he won’t pitch in the first round, at least.
Kershaw might be needed beyond the role he was promised: save the team from using the current major league pitchers in blowouts or extra innings.
In 11 career at-bats against Kershaw, Ohtani has no hits. Kershaw won’t duck the assignment if gets it, but he considers it so unlikely he is happy to share his game plan publicly.
“It’s throw it, pitch away, play away, hope he flies out to left,” Kershaw said. “Don’t throw it in his barrel.
“I can’t imagine, if it comes down to USA versus Japan, with the arms that we have, that I’ll be needed. But I’ll be ready.”
Kershaw’s average fastball velocity dropped to 89 mph last season, but he led the majors in winning percentage. He could eat innings for some team — maybe even the Dodgers, with Blake Snell and Gavin Stone all but certain to be unavailable on opening day.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, right, celebrates with teammates after the Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays for the 2025 World Series title.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
But, even with his success last year and even with the joy of wearing a uniform once again, he insists he isn’t interested in pitching beyond the WBC.
“I don’t want to,” he said. “You can’t end it better than I did last year. I had a great time last year. It was an absolute blast and honor to be on that team. I think that was the perfect way to end it. Honestly, I don’t know if I would have enough in the tank to pitch for a full season again. I’m really at peace with that decision.
“This is kind of a weird one-off thing, but you can’t really turn down this opportunity. It wasn’t easy to get ready for this, with no motivation for a season, but I actually am in a pretty good spot with my arm. I’ll be fine. If they need me, I’ll be ready.”
Kershaw said he has kept in touch with his old Dodgers teammates, with some connecting on video calls from the weight room or clubhouse at Camelback Ranch. He arrived in the Phoenix area two days before the workout, but he skipped a trip to Camelback Ranch.
“I’ve thought about it,” he said. “I miss the guys. I think it’s probably just better, at least for this first year, for me mentally to just stay away, just for spring training.”
Kershaw said he would be at Dodger Stadium for the championship ring ceremony March 27.
He is content with what he calls “Dad life.” He and his wife, Ellen, just welcomed their fifth child, and Dad life includes lots of shuttles to baseball and basketball practice.
“I run an Uber service,” Kershaw said.
This wouldn’t be a Dodgers story these days without some reference to the team’s big spending so, for what it’s worth, Kershaw spent some time Tuesday chatting with Skubal, who will be the grand prize on the free-agent market next winter, or whenever the likely lockout might end.
That’s a rational explanation, Kershaw says, for Skubal pitching just once in the WBC.
“Everybody knows the situation he is in, contract-wise,” Kershaw said. “Any innings we can get out of him is a huge bonus to this team. He’s great. Super competitive. We’re honored to have him.”
Should we assume Skubal will be pitching for the Dodgers next season? Kershaw laughed.
“No comment,” he said, then walked away to get ready for the first game of his post-retirement life.
Welbeck has impressed this season and is currently the club’s top goalscorer with 11 goals in 30 appearances, the latest coming in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.
His performances have put him in contention for an England recall in the lead up to this summer’s World Cup, with boss Thomas Tuchel revealing before the qualifiers in November he gave serious consideration to handing Welbeck a place in his squad.
Tuchel names his next squad – the last before selecting his World Cup party – later this month.
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler has made clear his desire to ensure Welbeck stays at the club in recent weeks.
Welbeck joined Brighton in October 2020 after leaving Watford and has since scored 48 goals in 191 appearances.
At least one NBA player objects to the Atlanta Hawks paying tribute to the famous Magic City adult entertainment club during their game Monday against the Orlando Magic.
San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet posted a statement on Medium asking the Hawks to call off the promotion “as to ensure that the NBA remains a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment for everyone involved.”
“The NBA should desire to protect and esteem women, many of whom work diligently every day to make this the best basketball league in the world,” Kornet wrote. “We should promote an atmosphere that is protective and respectful of the daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, and partners that we know and love.
“Allowing this night to go forward without protest would reflect poorly on us as an NBA community, specifically in being complicit in the potential objectification and mistreatment of women in our society. Regardless of how a woman finds her way into the adult entertainment industry, many in this space experience abuse, harassment, and violence to which they should never be subjected.”
The Hawks announced its “Magic City Monday” promotion last week. Hawks principal owner Jami Gertz was a producer on the docuseries “Magic City: An American Fantasy” that aired last year on Starz. Atlanta-based artist T.I. will perform at halftime. A collaborative hoodie will be available for purchase, and some of the club’s well-known wings will be served — including the lemon-pepper wings named after former Hawks player Lou Williams.
In 2020, while he was playing for the Clippers during the pandemic, Williams made headlines for visiting Magic City during an excused absence for personal reasons to return home to Atlanta. The NBA was finishing its season in a so-called bubble in Orlando meant to protect against COVID-19. Williams has said he was at the club just to pick up food.
In expressing his objection to the promotion, Kornet stressed that NBA teams should be held “to a higher standard of what they find worthy of promoting.”
“I and others throughout the league were surprised by and object to the Hawks’ decision,” Kornet wrote. “We desire to provide an environment where fans of all ages can safely come and enjoy the game of basketball and where we can celebrate the history and culture of communities in good conscience. The celebration of a strip club is not conduct aligned with that vision.”
USC’s decision to dismiss top scorer and three-point shooter Chad Baker-Mazara on the doorstep of the postseason left many wondering Sunday why coach Eric Musselman would willingly sabotage his team’s already-tenuous hopes of making the NCAA tournament.
To Gilbert Arenas, the former NBA star and podcast host whose son, Alijah, is a freshman guard with the Trojans, the move was particularly baffling. So he took to social media Sunday, wearing Baker-Mazara’s No. 4 USC jersey, to share his frustration.
“Right before the tournament? This is what we’re doing?” Arenas said in the video. “Our best player? Mr. I-Get-Buckets? Every night, he brings it every night. Guaranteed 18, 20 every night.”
“When you the best player on the team, whatever you say, you right,” he continued.
LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 17, 2025: USC Trojans guard Chad Baker-Mazara (4) shoot a foul shot against the UTSA Roadrunners at Galen Center on December 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
But the move to part ways with Baker-Mazara was not based on an isolated incident, a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Times, but rather a culmination of a season’s worth of issues that boiled over after the second half of Saturday’s loss to Nebraska.
The Trojans were trailing by three points three minutes into the second half when Baker-Mazara took off in transition after Huskers forward Pryce Sandfort, who was driving for a layup. Baker-Mazara closed the gap and swatted the ball. Then he fell hard on the hardwood.
Baker-Mazara had missed three games last month with a Grade I knee sprain and sat out practices throughout the season with other nagging minor injuries. But after a few seconds lying still on the court, he walked on his own down the Galen Center tunnel toward the USC locker room.
Baker-Mazara emerged from the tunnel a couple minutes later with a noticeable limp. He took a seat in a courtside seat on the baseline, two chairs down from injured guard Rodney Rice.
The sight of Baker-Mazara sitting away from the rest of the team sparked questions after the game, but the seating arrangement wasn’t that unusual for Baker-Mazara, who’d sat there at various times this season. What was odd was how Baker-Mazara handled the rest of the half after he told the USC staff he wasn’t able to resume play.
As USC unraveled without him in the second half, Baker-Mazara was mostly detached from the action. At one point, he went behind the USC bench and chatted with fans in the first row.
The incident on its own could have been innocuous. But at the end of a season filled with similar such moments, patience had worn thin.
By the next morning, Baker-Mazara was no longer with the team.
USC did not disclose the reasons for his departure. But the staff was well aware when they brought in the sixth-year senior last spring that his long history in college hoops was littered with similarly volatile moments. USC was Baker-Mazara’s fifth school in six seasons.
“There will never be a dull moment,” Musselman said in May. “Might be that I’ve got a little more on my plate.”
Baker-Mazara spent his freshman season at Duquesne before transferring to San Diego State. He was named Mountain West as a sophomore, but was kicked off the team by coach Brian Dutcher after he skipped classes, failed tests, missed assignments and fell so far behind on his classes he couldn’t catch up.
Baker-Mazara told the San Diego Union Tribune last spring that it was “a growing-up moment” for him. He assured he’d “learned [his] lesson.”
USC forward Chad Baker-Mazara goes up to dunk under pressure from Indiana forward Sam Alexis at the Galen Center on Feb. 3.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
“Some people have to go through it in different ways,” Baker-Mazara told the Union Tribune. “I had to go through it that way. … My parents were both mad. That was weeks of earfuls: ‘Man, what are you doing?’ It was weeks. I had to get my ear chewed off a couple times.”
He ended up at Northwest Florida State, a junior college in Niceville, Fla., before signing with Auburn. At the time, according to the Union Tribune, Dutcher spoke with then-Auburn coach Bruce Pearl on the phone. He told him that Baker-Mazara’s issues weren’t on the court, but that he “just needs to get his life in better order, be more organized, be more on time, do all the little things.”
Pearl and Auburn proved to be a good fit; though, Baker-Mazara earned some ire there, too, after he was ejected in the second half of Auburn’s two-point tournament loss to rival Alabama for elbowing a Tide player in the back of the head. Pearl later defended him on social media.
Pearl, now a college basketball analyst, said Monday in light of Baker-Mazara’s dismissal that the guard was “an incredibly talented kid with a real gift,” but that his “emotions at times have gotten the better of him.”
“He helped us get to the Final Four, we won a league championship with him,” Pearl said during FS1’s Wake Up Barstool on Monday. “On a good day, he would’ve been about the 20th-best player taken in the NBA Draft last year.
“But we all know that Chad has bad days.”
Routinely this season, Baker-Mazara jolted the Trojans’ offense to life. When Rodney Rice went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in November, Baker-Mazara became even more vital to USC’s offense and responded to the call, averaging 26 points per game during the Trojans’ first seven without Rice. Even in his final game against Nebraska, Baker-Mazara scored 14 points in 16 first-half minutes. Against UCLA, he knocked down three consecutive three-pointers. The previous Saturday, he scored 14 straight.
But there were also stretches of the season during which Baker-Mazara’s status remained mysterious He sat out practices ahead of Big Ten play and dealt with what was deemed, at the time, to be a nagging neck injury, only to show up in the Trojans’ lineup against Michigan and Michigan State. He averaged just 20 minutes across both games.
By March, Baker-Mazara’s more volatile moments had started to outweigh his other contributions in the eyes of USC’s staff. Though, with time running out to save their season, how the Trojans plan to replace that production is a question everyone — not just Gilbert Arenas — is asking.
PHOENIX — Since his first full season in 2015, Mookie Betts had either been named an All-Star or received votes for most valuable player every year.
That held true until last year. In his sixth season with the Dodgers, Betts posted career lows in batting average (.258), on-base percentage (.326), and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.732) while playing 148 games at shortstop.
Betts, now 33, believes last year was an outlier and he can get back to his previous form.
“That’s what I expect,” Betts said after making his Cactus League debut Sunday. “I haven’t felt this way in a long time. So, the way I feel now, I’m healthy, my swing’s in a really good spot. My head’s in a really good spot. I haven’t had any bad days in the cage. I haven’t had any bad days [taking batting practice]. Usually by now, I would have taken a thousand swings, trying to fix stuff, trying to get game-ready, and now I’m just cruising. I’m just cruising and I’m ready to go.”
This spring, manager Dave Roberts offered an unequivocal vote of confidence.
“He will be in the MVP conversation this year,” Roberts said. “But again, I think, speaking for Mookie, his main goal is to help us win a championship. So, I think whatever falls out from there, I think that will happen.”
A stomach bug that caused him to lose a considerable amount of weight put Betts behind last spring, and he never quite caught up. Through his first 103 games, he batted .231 with a .302 on-base percentage and .657 OPS. Enduring the longest cold spell of his career, Betts was forced to retool.
“It’s really just going back to what I what I do best, and really just honing in on it,” Betts said. “Instead of trying to fix problems, I was more able to just hone in on what I do best. And kind of groove those patterns instead of trying to fix old habits.”
Betts says in a bizarre way, he enjoyed his season of soul searching.
“I learned a lot about myself,” Betts said. “I learned a lot about how I operate. I was able to get in the right headspace, and sustain the right headspace. And then once I was able to kind of get in the right headspace and stay there, I haven’t been searching, I haven’t been doing anything since I’ve been here outside of just working and preparing.”
Things started to click in late summer. Over his final 47 games, he batted .317 with a .376 on-base percentage and .892 OPS.
It wasn’t the stats that bothered Betts as much as his lack of production through the first four months.
“Once I was able to help the boys, I was fine,” Betts said. But before that, I was really upset, not with the numbers per se, but not being able to help. Not doing my job, carrying my weight. Once I was able to do stuff, especially later on in the season, I was able to just take a step back and say, ‘You did pretty good.’”
Part of the plan for maximizing Betts’ abilities is minimizing his work in camp. Betts was the last healthy position player to appear in a spring game, starting Sunday after sitting for the first nine games. He was back in the lineup Monday, collecting his first hit with a single in three at-bats against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s intentional,” Roberts said last week. “It’s load management. I wanted Mookie to start a little bit later, as far as not getting into spring training ready to go and kind of use spring training to build up, given it’s six weeks.”
Still, Reddick seems to be at the start of something special as the driver of a team co-owned by the NBA legend who led the Chicago Bulls to two NBA championship three-peats in the 1990s (1991-93 and 1996-98).
Less than a month into the season, Reddick has established his own three-peat of sorts, the likes of which has never been seen before in NASCAR.
After winning the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16 and at Echo Park Speedway in Atlanta last week, Reddick held off Shane van Gisbergen over the final 20 laps at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday to become the first Cup Series driver to win the first three races of the season.
“It’s incredible. NASCAR’s always been super competitive but in this day and age where the field is so close, for us to be able to pull this off is true testament of teamwork, hard work in the offseason by everyone on this team, everyone at 23XI,” Reddick told KXAN-TV in Austin after the race.
“It’s super special to be on this kind of a run. We’re just gonna try to keep it going as long as we can. We’re kind of just in the right headspace throughout the week, and it’s been really sweet to just grab these wins like we have.”
23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan watches the final laps by Tyler Reddick on Sunday in Austin, Texas.
(Stephen Spillman / Associated Press)
Jordan, who co-owns 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin, was with Reddick’s pit crew at the end of the race. As Reddick climbed out of the car, Jordan gave him a high five and exclaimed, “Three, baby, three!”
Reddick posted video of that exchange with Jordan on X and wrote, “3 PEAT BABY.”
Also on X, Reddick posted a photo of Jordan holding up three fingers after the Bulls’ first three-peat in 1993 next to a photo of himself making the same gesture while holding his trophy from Sunday’s race.
“Tyler came in with most pressure,” Jordan told Fox Sports. “He had a chance to win three in a row. That’s the hardest one to win, you know. And he kept to his strategy. … Tyler did a good job. He beat good competition.”
In December, an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports was settled nine days into the trial, with NASCAR agreeing to grant all of its teams the permanent charters they had been seeking.
Started in 2020, 23XI Racing has three full-time cars — driven by Reddick, Bubba Wallace and Riley Herbst — as well as a part-time car driven by Corey Heim. Entering next week’s race in Phoenix, Reddick leads the NASCAR Cup standings by 70 points, followed by Wallace in second place.
Jordan credited Hamlin, who still drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, as the “mastermind” who put together a team that is seeing such great success early this season.
George added he would be happy to let his two-year-old daughter play the sport if she chose to.
While a group of former players are taking legal action against rugby’s authorities claiming that more should have been done to protect their brain health in the past, there are a series of measures in place to protect players from concussion.
They include ‘smart’ gumshields that measure the forces players heads withstand in a tackle, pitchside doctors, mandatory assessments and stand-down periods for players diagnosed with having had a concussion.
“We are in very, very safe hands,” George added.
“Of course, there is a risk that you might get a concussion in a full-contact sport. We are aware of the risks that come with that, but at the same time, we have the utmost confidence in the people around us, the protocols that are in place and that we are being as well looked after as we possibly can be.”
Ben Earl, George’s Saracens and England team-mate, is equally confident in the care he gets for both club and country.
“I have never once felt like I’ve been managed poorly,” he said.
“If anything, it’s probably too far the other way. They’re probably sometimes holding you back when you feel like you’re ready to go, but actually they’re just looking after you and your body.
“So, in terms of my personal experience with the game and safety, I have felt unbelievably well cared for.”
The warm smiles coming from Chadrack Mpoyi are plentiful these days. After forcefully dominating the paint and protecting the rim in Crean Lutheran wins, the imposing big man beams as teammates, classmates and supporters congratulate him. He offers a hug in return.
Mpoyi says he’s having fun each game in his one season of high school basketball in the U.S., the 6-foot-11 African enjoying a meteoric rise to become one of the top West Coast centers in this year’s class. A virtual unknown coming from Congo two summers ago to attend school in Orange County, Mpoyi saw his recruitment skyrocket and lead to him signing with Minnesota. He scored 14 points during Crean Lutheran’s 59-52 win over JSerra in the Southern Section Division 1A championship game Saturday. The Saints (26-7) qualified for for the CIF Southern California Regional that begins Tuesday, extending Mpoyi’s senior season.
In a way, it all happened so quickly, by leaps and bounds. Within a week of arriving in June 2024 on a student visa, Mpoyi was donning the Saints’ jersey and playing in a tournament in Corona in preparation for the NCAA evaluation period when college coaches can watch recruits play in person. By that August, he claimed an offer from Washington. The following summer, he had about two dozen offers.
Still, Mpoyi’s swift emergence came amid a rather inauspicious beginning to his journey. He left his father, mother and siblings to pursue a basketball opportunity on another continent. He tried seeking international student transfer eligibility with the highly regarded Crean Lutheran program, but the CIF Southern Section ruled he couldn’t play on the varsity team in the 2024-25 season. He’d be sitting out.
Chadrack Mpoyi saw the Crean Lutheran community support him before he was ever able to play in an official game for the Saints.
(Diamond Leung / For The Times)
And soon after that …
“My mom passed away,” Mpoyi said quietly, declining to discuss it much further.
The Crean Lutheran community responded by wrapping its arms around the teenager with the 7-foot-5 wingspan. A second family — a prominent Orange County one — stepped forward to open its doors to Mpoyi and form a stateside support system.
“And he blended in beautifully,” said Stacy Jones, the mother of his host family.
Crean Lutheran is named after John Crean, the recreational vehicle pioneer and philanthropist with a rags-to-riches story. As a child, Crean and his family left North Dakota at the start of the Great Depression and settled in Southern California as they barely scraped by, and his Irish immigrant father was in poor health. As an Orange County businessman, Crean ultimately became the founder and chief executive of Fleetwood Enterprises, a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue surpassing $3 billion. His foundation donated $10 million after his 2007 death to help establish Irvine’s first Christian high school.
The school has made it a well-worn path for international students to come for a faith-centered education in one of the newer planned residential communities in the city. And boys’ basketball coach Austin Loeb, through his connection to the Luol Deng Foundation, has facilitated the addition of several players from the former NBA All-Star’s native South Sudan. They’ve stayed with host families and gone on to play at the college level. The Saints currently include two Sudanese players in senior forwards Jacob Majok, who has signed with UC Riverside, and Will Malual.
“It’s a ministry as well [as] an opportunity to get kids that come from nothing and give them this,” Loeb said in Crean Lutheran’s gym after a Saints win.
Mpoyi is the first player from Congo to play for Crean Lutheran. He arrived with the ability to speak three languages — French, Swahili and Lingala.
Crean Lutheran guard Caden Jones recalled how the team communicated with the new kid as Mpoyi joined a trip to Santa Barbara for a summer tournament the week after he arrived.
“Through Google Translate,” said Jones, a dual-sport standout who also stars at quarterback for Crean Lutheran. “Every food place we went to, he wanted a cheeseburger or pizza. By the end of it, we just knew what he wanted so we didn’t have to ask him.”
Jones’ mom, Stacy, upon first spotting Mpoyi wearing the Crean Lutheran jersey, wondered who was the player sitting by himself.
“Nobody was talking to him,” Stacy recalled. “Nobody offered him water or anything. We went to him and said, ‘Do you need water or a protein bar?’ He didn’t speak English. He didn’t know what we were talking about. So we just went and got it, and we asked the coach, ‘What’s going on with this kid?’”
Mpoyi was limited not only by the language. He’d been playing basketball only a few years, after he started watching videos of Hakeem Olajuwon, an NBA star from Nigeria, so he also had more to learn on the court.
“He traveled every other possession,” said Loeb, who served as Crean Lutheran’s top assistant coach last season. “I’m not kidding.”
Eventually, Stacy learned about Mpoyi’s living situation off campus and found it to be unsatisfactory for him.
“The coach says, ‘Do you mind? Can you just take him for a couple weeks until I can find a host family?’” Stacy recalled. “And so we did, and then … we couldn’t give him away.”
Chadrack Mpoyi greets Stacy Jones, right, the mother of his host family, after leading Crean Lutheran to a win at Cypress.
(Diamond Leung / For The Times)
She laughed and smiled.
Said Caden: “Just being with him every day, he’s like a brother to me now. I love him to death.”
Stacy never got a chance to speak with Mpoyi’s mother, but she could tell they were very close. She understood that his mom’s life revolved around church and raising nine kids, Mpoyi being the baby of the family.
Less than three months after he left his hometown of Likasi, his mother died.
“It’s pretty sad and incredible,” Loeb said. “His mom had cancer and when this opportunity came about for him to come over to the U.S., she didn’t tell him because she thought he would stay. Once he was here, she told him she was sick, but he didn’t know how quick it would be. Talk about putting your kids above yourself.”
Mpoyi was neither able to travel back home nor play in high school basketball games as an outlet. As Mpoyi mourned, the team had to encourage him to step outside of the house to clear his mind, said Caden, who extended empathy beyond the hospitality inside of it. Mpoyi’s faith deepened.
“I was driving him to school — he wanted to go to school, and put his hand on my arm, and he says, ‘… I really want to get baptized in honor of my mom,’” Stacy Jones said, her voice shaking. “And I just lost it.”
A month after losing his mother, Mpoyi was baptized at chapel held in the school gym. Wearing a Crean Lutheran hoodie, he bowed his head in front of the whole school, including teammates and coaches, and received a standing ovation.
Stacy, who had arranged a French-speaking pastor, also surprised Mpoyi with a letterman jacket, with his mom’s favorite picture and Bible verse custom-printed on the back.
“It was just cool to see him continuing his faith and how happy inside he was to take the journey,” Caden said.
Caden’s father, Steve, is the global chairman and chief executive of Allied Universal, the private security provider for many Fortune 500 companies, and he oversees the third-largest private employer in North America. The only companies with more employees are Walmart and Amazon.
Crean Lutheran teammates Chadrack Mpoyi and Caden Jones, waiting to check into a game, say they are like brothers after living together.
(Diamond Leung / For The Times)
Stacy, his wife, is a philanthropist who has joined him in raising $13 million in the last seven years for victims of human trafficking by supporting Vera’s Sanctuary, an Orange County residential drug rehabilitation center for young women.
Together they opened the doors of their home to Mpoyi and later signed on for guardianship. Mpoyi didn’t know the family well upon arriving to the gated community of Coto de Caza, but adapted — and grew in more ways than one.
Stacy said she enlisted an English instructor who also spoke French and that Mpoyi picked up the language in two weeks. “He’s a sponge,” she said. “He just absorbs everything. He’s wicked smart.”
Mpoyi said it was hard, but in four or five months, Loeb described a night-and-day difference in his English-speaking ability and marveled at the progress, noting that he carries a grade-point average above 3.0. Stanford would join the schools offering him a scholarship.
The Joneses were especially busy during the fall of 2024 raising two sons as elite athletes as well. Caden was a four-star quarterback when he suffered a season-ending knee injury that September before bouncing back as a junior by throwing for 30 touchdowns and more than 3,000 yards to draw heavy recruiting interest. Carter Jones flipped his commitment from California to Arizona that October after developing into a three-star linebacker at Crean Lutheran, and he formed a tight bond with Mpoyi before leaving for college.
With the new dynamics, what was it like in that household?
“We are a very physical family,” Stacy said. “Lots of hugs.”
Said Caden: “A lot of food. We eat a lot.”
And with the team, Loeb said what made Mpoyi special was how he connected, explaining, “He loves people so much and he cares about them. He’s a natural leader.”
Sidelined last season, Mpoyi dedicated himself to lifting weights and adding muscle. That part he could control, according to Loeb, who credited Mpoyi for sticking with the plan. With Crean Lutheran’s strength program — and having access to some weights at the Jones home — he went from 195 pounds to about 245. The transformation of his body enabled him to transform his game as he progressively improved his combination of physicality and skill.
“I can do several things,” said a smiling Mpoyi, who watches video of another 6-11 talent, NBA great Kevin Garnett, before games. “I can dunk on people, and then I can face up.”
Said Loeb: “When he came over, he was more of like a stretchy forward. I wanted to turn him into a more traditional big right now because that would help him to be successful. But he still has the mobility to get out and guard and still be physical. He’s learning the game, and he has really good touch.”
And perseverance, for which Loeb nominated Mpoyi for the Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award. Loeb believes the trait comes from Mpoyi’s strong faith.
Steve Jones, who wrote a book about achieving more in business and life titled, “No Off Season: The Constant Pursuit of More,” sees the same.
“All people see is this giant 7-foot kid,” Steve said. “What people don’t see is how hard of a worker he is.”
Midnight neared as Steve, dressed in Crean Lutheran gear, visited with Arizona football staffers at the Saints’ basketball game at the Nike Extravaganza in Santa Ana. They watched Caden hoop with Crean Lutheran fighting for a spot in the Open Division playoff field, as there’s interest in having him join his older brother on the Wildcats’ football team. Caden, a 6-foot-3 point guard, also has received basketball offers from Washington and UC Santa Barbara.
Aside from running a global company that does about $23 billion in annual revenue out of its Irvine headquarters, Steve, a former college football player at Cal Poly whose father played for Bear Bryant, also oversaw the recruitment process for Mpoyi last summer and looked out for his best interests.
Forced to sit out last season, Mpoyi developed into a three-star prospect while playing for All In Elite on the Under Armour circuit and in summer high school events. Mpoyi and Crean Lutheran traveled to Mesa, Ariz., last June and captured a bracket title at Section 7, an event crawling with college coaches. Minnesota offered the following week, and Loeb counted 23 offers over the summer.
“I wanted to make sure no one took advantage of him,” Steve said. “I wanted to make sure he found the right fit. I wanted to make sure that coaches really wanted him for the right reason, that it was the right offense for him.”
Crean Lutheran coach Austin Loeb has watched Chadrack Mpoyi fight to overcome obstacles after he arrived from Congo.
(Diamond Leung / For The Times)
That ended up being in the bruising Big Ten with Minnesota. After the 19-year-old signed with just five years of playing experience, Coach Niko Medved said in a statement in November: “Chadrack has an incredible upside, has a great motor and is athletic. One of the first things we noticed was how well he moves for his size and his ability to move his feet and protect the rim.”
It’s Stacy who has taken on the difficult task of trying to track down Congolese documentation as she works with Minnesota’s compliance department to help Mpoyi meet NCAA eligibility requirements.
Mpoyi not only acknowledges that the Joneses have supported him but also has shown protective instincts with the family. When they’re walking around, he’ll wait and make sure she’s nearby, Stacy said.
“He’s very humble and I know he comes from small beginnings but he never lets you know it,” she said. “We live in a nice house, and they ask him all the time, what’s it like to live with the Joneses? And he’s like, what are you talking about? He doesn’t engage with those kinds of conversations. How much money do they have? Like, why are you asking? Does it matter?
“He’s a gift.”
“He’ll be in our lives forever,” said Steve, who envisions holidays in which Mpoyi is able to come back from college to their home. “It’s like he’s turned into our son. I don’t know if we originally thought that was going to happen. When you say, ‘Can someone live at your house for a little bit,’ you say ‘Yes.’
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke says he “will never jog again” after being “embarrassed in front of the whole world” by his red card at the end of Saturday’s home defeat by Manchester City.
Farke, 49, headed straight on to the Elland Road pitch at the final whistle to confront referee Peter Bankes, aggrieved at several decisions in his side’s hard-fought 1-0 loss in the Premier League.
Farke, sent off for the first time in his 16-year managerial career, said he did not swear or use threatening language towards Bankes and his fellow officials, and that he was shown the red card before he said anything.
He gave an 11-minute answer when asked about the incident in his news conference for Tuesday’s match with Sunderland (19:30 GMT).
“I jogged over,” he said. “Not one bad word. No swear words or bad language. I just wanted to ask him why he didn’t add any [further stoppage time] on. He didn’t speak to me and just pulled out the red card.
“To pull out a red card and embarrass me in front of the whole world, I wasn’t happy. Even the assistants were shocked the red card was shown. This is not how we should work with each other. I have so much respect for the referees.
“I don’t think Peter did it on purpose, he just misjudged it. I will never jog again.”
The former Norwich boss could appeal against the dismissal but is yet to decide if he will.
“I’m not sure what the processes are and when we can appeal it,” he said. “I can just give you my gut feeling this should not be a red card.
“When there has been a clear and obvious mistake, and for me this was a clear and obvious mistake, it should be overturned. This is what I’ve experienced when players have a red card by mistake, it can be overturned, and I expect the same.”
Colorado backup quarterback Dominiq Ponder died early Sunday morning in a single-car crash in Boulder County. He was 23.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, Ponder was driving a 2023 Tesla Model 3 at around 3 a.m. when he lost control on a righthand curve. The car went through a guardrail and hit an electrical line pole before rolling down an embankment and catching fire.
Ponder was pronounced dead at the scene. A preliminary investigation “shows that speed is suspected as a factor,” police said.
A three-star prospect out of Carol City High in Opa Locka, Fla., Ponder spent a year at Bethune-Cookman University before transferring to Colorado. He was a redshirt in 2024 and saw minimal action in 2025 — going 0-for-1 passing and rushing twice for minus-4 yards in two game appearances — but still made an impact on his coaches and teammates.
“Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader,” Colorado Coach Deion Sanders wrote Sunday on X. “Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”
Offensive coordinator Brennan Marion called Ponder “a joy to be around & coach!”
“gonna be tough but man this one hurts Lord,” Marion wrote on X. “getting that call from his dad today didn’t feel real. Love you Dom! God cover his family & our team, especially our qb room!
Fellow Colorado backup quarterback Colton Allen posted a lengthy tribute to Ponder on Instagram.
“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”
Colorado athletic director Fernando Lovo said in a statement that Ponder “epitomized the values of passion, enthusiasm, leadership, toughness, and intelligence that were revered by his teammates and coaches alike. Our hearts go out to his family and all of his teammates during this difficult time.”
Ireland’s Shane Lowry finds water off the tee on both the 16th and 17th holes to blow his three-shot lead and finish runner-up at the Cognizant Classic.
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. The state basketball playoff pairings are out, but let’s look back on quite a weekend of championship basketball.
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Sierra Canyon’s Jerzy Robinson drives against Ontario Christian’s Kaleena Smith in the first half of the Southern Section Open Division championship game.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
For the first time in the history of the Southern Section Open Division, one school swept the boys and girls titles: Sierra Canyon.
The girls final drew the largest individual game crowd at Toyota Arena, with Sierra Canyon and All-American Jerzy Robinson upsetting Ontario Christian and All-American Kaleena Smith 69-62. Robinson scored 32 points. Smith scored 30 points.
“What a battle,” Sierra Canyon coach Alicia Komaki said. “There were a lot of top players on that court.”
The duel between Robinson and Smith, however, was one to remember. The 5-foot-4 Smith was purposely being guarded by the 6-1 Robinson.
“Jerzy is an elite defender and can guard anybody,” Komaki said. “She was going to do whatever she could to win.”
Maxi Adams of Sierra Canyon rises to deliver a dunk against Harvard-Westlake in Open Division championship game.
(Steve Galluzzo)
In the boys final, heavily favored Sierra Canyon saw its lead drop to three points with 19.3 seconds left before prevailing over a stubborn Harvard-Westlake team 59-53. Here’s the report.
In Southern Section Division 1, Crean Lutheran held off JSerra. In Division 2, Bishop Amat routed Hesperia. Here’s the report.
Palisades’ OJ Popoola, right, grabs an offensive rebound during Palisades’ 75-56 win over Cleveland in the City Section Open Division championship game on Feb. 27, 2026.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Palisades won the City Section Open Division boys title, the first upper division title for the Dolphins since 1969. Here’s the report.
State playoffs
The state basketball playoffs begin this week with regional action. The finals are March 13-14 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Here’s the link to pairings.
Sierra Canyon received the No. 1 seed for boys and girls in the Open Division. The teams will host a doubleheader Saturday night, with the boys hosting the winner of Santa Margarita-Redondo Union and girls playing Sage Hills. Redondo Union was once considered to be the strongest challenger to Sierra Canyon but was upset in the Open Division playoffs. That matchup of two pressing teams would be quite interesting if Redondo Union can get past Santa Margarita.
Harvard-Westiake boys will host the winner of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Santa Maria St. Joseph on Saturday. The top girls game will take place Saturday matching Etiwanda at Ontario Christian.
Division 1 boys looks like a strong 16-team field with La Mirada seeded No. 1 and hosting Mater Dei on Tuesday.
Baseball
Star center fielder Anthony Murphy of Corona has added closing duties this season. The Panthers are 4-0.
(Nick Koza)
Last season, Corona had as its closer shortstop Billy Carlson, who became a first-round draft pick. This season, center fielder Anthony Murphy has taken over as a closer, throwing 92 mph fastball for the 4-0 Panthers.
Oaks Christian won the Easton tournament championship and is 5-0. The Sheffer brothers, Carson and Ryan, have been performing well.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is 4-0 and getting strong hitting from catcher Jacob Madrid, who had two home runs in a win over El Dorado. James Tronstein of Harvard-Westlake has seven hits in 10 at-bats.
El Segundo has several players off the 2023 El Segundo Little League championshp team making major contributions during its 4-0 start. Logan Brooks, the older brother of Loyola freshman Brody Brooks, has 10 RBIs.
No. 1-ranked Norco is 4-0 behind its two college-bound pitchers, Coral Williams and Parker May.
Oaks Christian has started 6-0 and picked up wins over Huntington Beach and Mater Dei last week.
1 am proud to announce that in my junior year l was able to beat my freshman year record by getting 19 strikeouts! This means so much to me because this game was mentally and physically tough, despite the situation I knew my team mates me needed so I continued to work hard! pic.twitter.com/eo7ykL27e7
Granada Hills, one of the top teams in the City Section, will be tested this week with games against Sierra Canyon and Oaks Christian.
Track and field
Servite’s 4 x 100 relay team ran the second-fast time in state history at 40.05 in a stunning display of speed for this early in the track season at the Mustang Roundup at Trabuco Hills. The team was made up of Jorden Wells, Benjamin Harris, Kamil Pelovello and Jace Wells.
Maximo Zavaleta of King ran the 3,200 in 9:07.81 and the 1,600 in 4:09.86. Harris won the 100 in 10.46. Pelovello ran the 200 in 21.19.
Rosary’s girls 4 x 100 relay team won in 45.96 seconds. Maliyah Collins, a sophomore at Rosary, won the 100 in 11.77 and the 200 in 24.13
Best individual mark of the day in California so far is Oak Hills junior Quran Clayton Jr. rocketing to a wind-legal 10.29 for 100 meters at the Saddle Up Invitational! That’s equal #9 in state history and the fastest ever in February!! OHHHH MYYYY!!!
El Camino Real’s boys soccer team celebrates winning the City Section Open Division title for a second consecutive season.
(Eliza Lotterstein)
Rivals El Camino Real and Birmingham had another dramatic City Section Open Division boys final, with El Camino Real winning on penalty kicks. Here’s the report. Cleveland won the girls Open Division championship over Granada Hills.
Mater Dei boys and Santa Margarita girls won Southern Section championships in the Open Division.
The regional playoffs begin Tuesday with the first state championships taking place March 13-14 in Sacramento.
To say the City Section soccer playoffs were a mess would be an understatement.
Six teams were removed from the playoffs via forfeits for having ineligible players who broke CIF rule 600 by playing in an outside competition during their season. The Southern Section had one school forfeit in its playoffs, Calabasas, in Division 3, allowing Los Alamitos to be named champion.
From 2011, longtime Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett talks to De’Anthony Thomas, one of his best former players.
(Robert S. Helfman)
The mysterious absence of Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett continues. The winningest coach in City Section history with 300 victories was put on administrative leave last August on the eve of the team’s season opener. March marks the eighth month of no action on his case. He sits at home, checks in on his computer, receives full pay and waits.
At the state wrestling championships, among the winners was Birmingham’s Slava Shahbazyan at 165 and two St. John Bosco wrestlers, Jesse Grajeda at144 pounds and Michael Romero at 150 pounds. Here’s the link to complete results. . . .
Chris Williams is the new football coach at Covina. He was head coach at Diamond Ranch. . . .
Ed Hematsiraki, 21, is the new boys basketball coach at Glendale High. . . .
Jeff Bailey is the new Head Football Coach & District’s Asst Director of Strength and Conditioning Coach at Beverly Hills High School. He was board approved and introduced tonight at their board meeting. This video was shown. pic.twitter.com/6nVex23JDe
Jeff Bailey has left Yorba Linda after 16 years as football coach and two Southern Section titles to become head coach at Beverly Hills, which was 0-9 last season. He’ll be making $205,000 a year. Here’s the report. . . . .
Scott Dodge is the new boys basketball coach at Godinez. . . .
Troy has opening for boys basketball coach. . . .
Will Burr is out at Harvard-Westlake after just one season as girls basketball coach. . . .
Anthony Jackson, who had a successful nine-year run as head football coach at Los Angeles High, is the new head coach at South East. . . .
Greg Fontenette has resigned as boys basketball coach at Valencia. . . .
VIDEO: Tara Davis-Woodhall, the amazing young woman and Olympic gold medalist with the multi-million-dollar smile put her money where that smile is, making a tremendous $100K donation to the @AHS_Chargers Agoura HS track and field program at today’s Tara Davis Invitational!… pic.twitter.com/fSMFesh9jb
Tara Davis-Woodhall, an Olympic track and field champion from Agoura who sponsored the school’s invitational Saturday, announced she was making a $100,000 donation to the track and field program. . . .
Freshman golfer William Hudson of St. John Bosco won the Servite Invitational. Here’s the report.
From the archives: Marques Johnson
One of the greatest former City Section high school basketball players, Marques Johnson, celebrated his 70th birthday with his annual dunk. The former Crenshaw High and UCLA player is a beloved basketball legend from Los Angeles. He has a daughter playing basketball for Windward.
His call on radio when UCLA’s Tyus Edney scored on a layup in 1995 during the Bruins’ title run and he yelled, “Yeah baby!” remains something UCLA fans never forget.
Recommendations
From ESPN, a story about the growing concern about street agents in the high school NIL business.
From SI.com, a story on a high school basketball team in Arizona being removed from the playoffs for racial taunts by its fans.
From the Daily Pilot, a story on Sage Hill girls basketball.
Tweets you might have missed
Former Loyola and Stanford kicker Conrad Ukropina is supposed to be on the next Bachelorette. Let’s see if he brings a tee somewhere.
Amalia Holgun, the last high school player from Kobe and Gigi’s Mambas basketball team, was honored with a concrete Kobe mural from the opposing Ontario Christian girls team.
Amalia has committed to the University of Texas where she will wear number 2. 🖤🤍 pic.twitter.com/BRQl7DxVWq
— Kobe Bryant Stories & Motivation (@kobehighlight) February 26, 2026
It’s true the ability to attend high schools with online classes no matter where you live is changing high school sports in California. Palisades basketball is on the verge of winning City title with several key players online outside of their main attendance area.
People in high school baseball still don’t get it. They celebrate a pitcher throwing 90 mph and giving up runs vs. a pitcher throwing 84 mph and giving up no runs. I’ll take the no runs guy every time.
Villeda was the Gatorade & CIF Player of the Year his senior season at Servite after leading the Friars to a Trinity League, CIF and Regional State Championship. He went on play 4 years at UCSB before turning pro. #credo#ForeverAFriarpic.twitter.com/bJaijEpSzL
Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.
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Three years ago, as a 14-year-old freshman, Slava Shahbazyan made it to Bakersfield for the state wrestling championships.
“It was good to get experience that young,” he said.
Then came Saturday night when he had a breakthrough moment, winning the state 165-pound championship as a 17-year-old senior for Birmingham High.
“It means everything to me,” he said. “It took four years.”
Congratulations to Madison Black on an incredible achievement! Madison went undefeated this past weekend at the CIF State Wrestling Championships, capturing the 2026 state title at 130 pounds. Congratulations, State Champ! #PantherPride@vcsprepspic.twitter.com/TFDx3eB22V
Shahbazyan, who transferred from Chaminade after his sophomore year, is set to attend Stanford and still in the hunt to be valedictorian at Birmingham. Coach Jimmy Medeiros said he was close to winning last season before finishing fourth.
“He got a lot better,” Medeiros said.
Shahbazyan has been wrestling since he was 8. “My father loves wrestling,” he said.
Two St. John Bosco wrestlers, Jesse Grajeda at 144 pounds and Michael Romero at 150 pounds, also won state titles.
The Six Nations trophy is to be “retired from ceremonial use” and replaced after being damaged by fire in an accident during transit.
The trophy was damaged after round three of the tournament, when the vehicle carrying it was involved in an incident, according to a statement, external on the Six Nations website.
No passengers were injured but the trophy sustained “fire damage” in the aftermath and the manufacturers decided it cannot be restored to its former state.
An “identical exhibition trophy” will be used for the remainder of the championship, with a new one being commissioned in time for the 2027 Six Nations.
“Whilst in transit during round three of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, an incident occurred involving the vehicle carrying the championship trophy,” the statement reads.
“Thankfully no passengers were injured, however the trophy sustained fire damage and following an assessment by the official trophy manufacturer, unfortunately it cannot be restored to its full presentation standard.
“In keeping with these presentation standards, respect for the significance of winning the Six Nations – one of sport’s most prestigious titles – and to preserve the integrity of the trophy and its heritage, it will be retired from ceremonial use.”
The trophy, which is 75cm tall and made of silver, was created in 2015 to reflect the tournament’s evolution to six teams after Italy joined the fold in 2000.
Current holders France are favourites to retain their crown after winning the opening three games of this year’s tournament.
“Whilst this accident is hugely unfortunate, the situation adds another chapter to the history of a trophy that represents one of global sport’s most celebrated tournaments, with its roots reaching back to 1883,” the statement continues.
“A new trophy will be commissioned in the same design as the original, with materials from the original being incorporated into the new trophy, ensuring its history is respectfully transferred to the new creation.”
It added the new trophy, which will take about 365 hours to create, will be “unveiled ahead of the 2027 championship”.
Manager Sarina Wiegman says England have been given reassurances there are no safety concerns about their Women’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine being held in Turkey as the conflict in the Middle East widens.
The Lionesses play in Antalya at 17:00 GMT on Tuesday because Ukraine are unable to play in their home country as a result of the war with Russia, which is in its fifth year.
On Saturday the US attacked Iran as part of a joint operation with Israel, sparking retaliatory strikes across the Middle East.
The Iranian regime has responded with attacks on US assets and countries in the region with a US military presence, including Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq.
“Yes, we did have reassurances. We are in close contact with the government and the people here that are responsible,” said Wiegman.
“We’re fine here but we’re keeping an eye on it. We’re in contact all the time with the responsible authorities.
“Of course, you’re concerned about what’s happening in the world. When we think, or our government thinks it’s unsafe, we will go back. At this moment, we don’t have signals of that.”
England travelled to Turkey last Wednesday for a training camp but it is unclear how many fans will attend the match following the weekend’s developments, with some supporters and several media outlets already choosing to withdraw.
Wiegman says the fact Ukraine are having to host the match in Turkey because of conflict in their home country following Russia’s invasion is “really sad”.
“We have great facilities here and the climate is really good so we can prepare really well. But the reason we’re here is not nice,” she added.
“You want Ukraine to be able to play in their home country. They had to travel a lot themselves to get here. The things they have in front of them in their country is really horrible.
“We hope this game unites a bit. It’s a chance for Ukraine to show themselves to the world in another way where hopefully football unites and brings some joy.”
The search for sustained consistency remained a focus for the Lakers on Sunday against a Sacramento Kings team with the NBA’s worst record.
And it helped that the Lakers were completely healthy against the Kings, something that has eluded them nearly all season.
Behind strong efforts from Luka Doncic and LeBron James, the Lakers defeated the struggling Kings 128-104 at Crypto.com Arena in their second straight blowout win.
Doncic, one of five Lakers to score in double figures, scored 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting. He made four three-pointers and had nine assists and five rebounds.
James, who played after initially being listed as questionable because of arthritis in his left foot, scored 24 points in 27 minutes on eight-for-15 shooting. He made a trio of threes and had five assists.
Deandre Ayton and Austin Reaves both had 12 points and Luke Kennard had 11 points off the bench. Rui Hachimura played 22 minutes off the bench and had eight points and two rebounds after missing the previous two games because of illness.
Nique Clifford led the Kings (14-48) with 26 points and had seven rebounds.
The Lakers are 3-3 since the All-Star break with 28- and 24-point wins after three straight losses.
“Again, just the world is falling for us 19 times (after double-digit losses this season),” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “ It’s just part of the nature of this cycle and our guys. … Our guys bounced back and responded well throughout the season. Tied in the lost column for fifth (with Denver in the Western Conference) and a couple games out of third with a number of these teams coming up that are right there with us. So, we just are going to keep plugging away.”
Lakers forward Jake LaRavia, top, and Sacramento forward Precious Achiuwa battle for the ball during the Lakers’ win Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
Just as in Saturday’s win at Golden State, the Lakers (36-24) benefited from strong shooting. They shot 50% from the field and 46% from three-point range.
One of the most exciting plays happened in the first quarter when Marcus Smart dived for a loose ball and, while prone on his back, passed to James. The Lakers star then passed to a hustling Austin Reaves, who took a few dribbles to get a Kings defender to commit before making an alley-oop pass to James for a two-handed, rim-hanging dunk.
The crowd was whipped into a frenzy. The Kings called a timeout, allowing the Lakers and their fans to soak in the moment.
Lakers star Luka Doncic celebrates after a three-pointer by teammate Rui Hachimura against the Kings on Sunday.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
There was another play in the third quarter in which Doncic slipped and almost fell down, losing control of the ball. But Doncic regained his balance and the ball before shooting an off-balance three-pointer that gave the Lakers a 24-point lead.
“Ah, yeah, it was on purpose,” Doncic said about falling down. “I tripped on purpose and it was, how do you say, the ‘And-1 Mixtape,’ that’s what they said on the bench. So, I did it on purpose.”
Doncic smiled.
It was that kind of night for the Lakers, a game full of highlights and fun that allowed Redick to empty his bench in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, obviously it was two great wins, but we just got to go game by game,” Doncic said. “Obviously there’s a lot of noise outside, but like tonight, we can’t pay attention to that. … I thought we played great.”
Maxi Kleber was another standout for the Lakers, making all three of his shots for six points. He also had six rebounds and a block.
His two lob dunks left his Lakers teammates celebrating from the bench.
“Every time I do something, you know, you look to the bench, everybody’s celebrating,” Kleber said. “So, obviously it’s a good push for me, a good push for the team.”
Lionel Messi scored twice as Inter Miami fought back from two goals down to beat Orlando City 4-2 in the Florida derby.
The reigning champions, who lost their season opener against Los Angeles FC last month, looked set for another defeat when goals from Marco Pasalic and Martin Ojeda put Orlando 2-0 up inside 25 minutes.
But after midfielder Mateo Silvetti’s stunning 25-yard drive just after half-time gave Miami hope in Orlando, the Argentina legend grasped control of the game.
The 38-year-old scored his first goal of the season to equalise in the 57th minute with a left-footed strike from the edge of the area, then set up midfielder Telasco Segovia to score with five minutes remaining.
Messi sealed victory in the 90th minute when his low free-kick crept past Maxime Crepeau and he celebrated with a signing gesture towards the touchline.
“He’s the best player to ever play this sport. He’s a leader, and as a leader, he inspires others, but he also often needs to be inspired himself,” said Miami coach Javier Mascherano.
“He has the ability to create chances like no-one else, and that’s what allowed us to turn the game around.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has now scored 898 goals for club and country, including 79 in 90 appearances for Miami.
The win was Miami’s first in nine trips to Orlando, and they now face a game away at DC United on Saturday.
Kawhi Leonard scored 23 points, and the Clippers beat the New Orleans Pelicans 137-117 on Sunday night to end a three-game losing streak.
Ninth in the Western Conference, the Clippers improved to 28-31. The Pelicans are 13th in the West at 19-43.
New Orleans star Zion Williamson sat out after injuring his right ankle at Utah on Saturday night. He had played a career-high 35 straight games.
The Clippers never trailed. They led 43-32 after the first quarter and had a 76-70 advantage at the half. It was 107-94 after three, and the Clippers stretched the margin to 26 in the fourth.
Jordan Miller added 19 points for the Clippers. Derrick Jones Jr. had 17, Brook Lopez 16 and John Collins 15.
While Leonard went one for seven from three-point range, the Clippers were 17 for 36 overall. Lopez was four for six, and Jones and Kobe Sanders both were three for four.
Jeremiah Fears led New Orleans with 28 points, hitting five of six three-pointers. Derik Queen scored 19 points, Dejounte Murray had 17, and Trey Murphy III added 16 after missing five games because of a right shoulder injury.
#5 Bakersfield Liberty vs. #4 Palisades, 4:30 p.m. at Birmingham
#6 Los Alamitos at #3 Bonita Vista
#7 Mt. Carmel at #2 Newport Harbor
DIVISION IV
#8 Animo Leadership at #1 Irvine University
#5 Chatsworth at #4 Bakersfield
#6 Santa Ana Valley at #3 La Jolla
#7 Esperanza vs. #2 Granite Hills at Newton Bass Stadium
DIVISION V
#8 LA Roosevelt at #1 Ontario Christian
#5 Kern County Taft at #4 North Hollywood
#6 Orange County Pacifica Christian at #3 Garfield
#7 San Diego Lincoln at #2 Pasadena Poly
GIRLS
DIVISION I
#8 Eastvale Roosevelt at #1 Santa Margarita, 4 p.m.
#5 Redondo Union vs. #4 Cleveland, 6 p.m. at Taft
#6 Oaks Christian at #3 Mt. Carmel
#7 North County San Marcos at #2 Mater Dei
DIVISION II
#8 Westview at #1 Newport Harbor
#5 Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at #4 Carlsbad
#6 Granada Hills at #3 Garces Memorial
#7 La Costa Canyon vs. #2 Westlake at Cal Lutheran
DIVISION III
#8 Palisades at #1 Del Norte, 4:30 p.m.
#5 El Diamante at #4 Quartz Hill
#6 Crescenta Valley at #3 Ayala
#7 Tulare Western at #2 Millikan
DIVISION IV
#8 Segerstrom at #1 Birmingham, 7 p.m.
#5 Coachella Valley at #4 Ramona
#6 Mission Vista at #3 San Jacinto
#7 Del Sol vs. #2 Immaculate Heart at Rio Mesa
DIVISION V
#8 Coastal Academy at #1 Ocean View
#5 Bravo at #4 Webb
#6 Marquez at #3 Delano Kennedy
#7 Sun Valley Poly vs. #2 Santa Monica Pacifica Christian at Lincoln Middle School
Note: Semifinals 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. Thursday at higher seeds; Finals 1 p.m. or 5 p.m. Saturday at host sites; State Championships March 13-14 at Matomas High in Sacramento (times TBA).
