Injury-riddled Lakers lose back-to-back games for first time
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Austin Reaves returned from a left calf strain that sidelined him for three games, but the Lakers’ second-leading scorer did nothing to fix the team’s most glaring weakness.
The Lakers’ defense collapsed in a 132-108 loss to the Suns on Tuesday at Mortgage Matchup Center, giving up a season-high field goal percentage (59%) and tying their mark for most points allowed this season. Led by a combined 17-for-29 shooting from star guard Devin Booker (21 points) and Dillon Brooks (25 points), the Suns easily eclipsed the 56.5% they shot against the Lakers on Dec. 1.
“The theme with our team again is like these young teams that move, we just can’t move,” said coach JJ Redick, whose team is 1-2 against the Suns (16-13). “So it’s like we’re stuck in mud.”
The Lakers (19-9) remain in the top half of the competitive Western Conference, but with blowout losses to Atlanta, Oklahoma City and San Antonio, L.A. is clinging to a plus-1.1 in point differential. They lost consecutive games for the first time Tuesday and limped into a marquee Christmas Day matchup against the Houston Rockets with a multitude of injuries.
Playing without Luka Doncic, who is day to day with a left leg contusion he sustained Saturday against the Clippers, LeBron James led the Lakers with 23 points on seven-for-14 shooting. Deandre Ayton had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double while Reaves came off the bench for the first time in two seasons and scored 17 points with two assists and three turnovers.
Redick said Reaves was not on an official minutes restriction after his weeklong absence, but that the team would monitor his workload “in real time.”
“It’s hard for me to start, at the rotation that Bron has, for me to stay around that 20-25 minute mark,” said Reaves, who played 21 minutes and 46 seconds. “So [coming off the bench] got brought up in my shooting time. I said I was open to whatever. Definitely felt weird coming off the bench, but it’s basketball at the end of the day.”
Mick Cronin tinkers with UCLA’s lineup ahead of rout
UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau makes a move to the basket against UC Riverside forward Osiris Grady on Tuesday.
(Jan Kim Lim / UCLA Athletics)
From Ben Bolch: Facing an overmatched opponent that allowed him to freely tinker with his lineups, UCLA coach Mick Cronin tried plenty of mixing and matching Tuesday afternoon.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway was that a three-guard lineup might be the way to go after the continued struggles of centers Xavier Booker and Steven Jamerson II.
“We’ve got to find a way to play our best players and win, whoever they are, because it’s not Little League,” Cronin said after his team’s 97-65 victory over UC Riverside at Pauley Pavilion. “You’ve either got to give us some rebounding and defense or somebody else has got to play.”
The leading candidates for a larger role based on what happened against the Highlanders appear to be reserves Trent Perry, Jamar Brown and Brandon Williams.
Kings’ woes continue in loss to Kraken
Kings coach Jim Hiller watches from the bench during a 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
(Luke Hales / Getty Images)
From Kevin Baxter: January has traditionally been the harshest time of the year for the Kings, who haven’t had a winning record in that month the last three seasons. But winter grew dark and gloomy a little earlier than usual because December has hardly been a walk in the park.
With Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, the Kings head into the NHL’s three-day Christmas break having lost six of their last seven. And things aren’t getting easier any time soon: when the team returns to the ice Saturday, it will play host to the Ducks, who lead the Pacific Division in wins, before closing out 2025 Monday on the road against the Colorado Avalanche, who lead the NHL in wins.
“It’s not going the way we all want to,” forward Kevin Fiala said. “But you know, that’s going to happen for everybody. So it’s us who have to do something about it. Who can pull us out of it? Nobody else.
“I’m not worried. Like, I’m sure we’re gonna get out of this. But it’s not acceptable right now.”
Kawhi Leonard scores season-high 41 points in Clippers’ win
Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard celebrates during a win over the Houston Rockets at Intuit Dome on Tuesday night.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
From the Associated Press: Kawhi Leonard scored a season-high 41 points and James Harden added 29 as the Clippers beat the Houston Rockets 128-108 on Tuesday night.
Leonard shot 16 for 23 from the field and four for five from long distance as the Clippers won consecutive games for just the second time this season. The Clippers were coming off a 103-88 win over the Lakers on Saturday that broke a five-game skid. The Clippers also won consecutive games Oct. 24-26, against Phoenix and Portland.
Harden, who shot seven for 14 from the field and three for eight from long distance, was helped by 12-for-13 shooting from the line.
John Collins and Kobe Sanders added 13 points apiece and Kris Dunn scored 11 for the Clippers (8-21), who shot 54% (20 for 37) from three-point range.
Matthew Stafford leads Rams’ Pro Bowl honorees
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford warms up before a win over the Detroit Lions at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 14.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
From Gary Klein: Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Puka Nacua and edge rushers Jared Verse and Byron Young were voted to the Pro Bowl, the NFL announced.
Stafford, 37, has passed for a league leading 4,179 yards and 40 touchdowns, with five interceptions, for a Rams team that is 11-4 and currently seeded sixth for the NFC playoffs. The Rams play at the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Stafford also made the Pro Bowl in 2014 and 2023.
Quarterbacks Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks and Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys also made the NFC roster.
Justin Herbert among Chargers’ Pro Bowl selections
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert passes during a win over the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 30.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
From Sam Farmer: Five Chargers were named to the AFC’s Pro Bowl squad Tuesday, including the team’s “quarterbacks” on both sides of the ball.
Both quarterback Justin Herbert and safety Derwin James Jr. received the honor. They are joined by outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu, tackle Joe Alt and kicker Cameron Dicker.
Herbert, receiving Pro Bowl recognition for the second time, is the third player in NFL history to begin a career with six consecutive seasons with at least 3,000 yards passing and 20 touchdowns.
Lindsey Vonn qualifies for the Winter Olympics at 41
U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn competes in a World Cup super-G race in Val d’Isere, France, on Sunday.
(Pier Marco Tacca / Associated Press)
From Steve Henson: It’s been one surprise after another lately from Lindsey Vonn. And the announcement that the 41-year-old slopes queen has qualified for the Milano Cortina Olympics in February isn’t the last of it.
It might have been her post on Instagram that stated unequivocally that this will be the end.
“I am honored to be able to represent my country one more time, in my 5th and final Olympics!” Vonn said.
Vonn’s remarkable and inspiring comeback from injuries and a seven-year hiatus from top-level competitive skiing has injected the U.S. team narrative with an irresistible story line. That her quest will culminate in the mountains of northern Italy just two months from now will make it must-watch television and social media video.
Venus Williams ties the knot
Venus Williams competes in a quarterfinal doubles match at the U.S. Open in September.
(Heather Khalifa / Associated Press)
From Andrew J. Campa: Tennis legend Venus Williams wed Danish model and actor Andrea Preti over the weekend in Florida, the new bride announced in a shared post.
An Instagram post from Vogue Magazine’s Weddings section announced the nuptials, with the message garnering more than 30,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.
“We all love each other so much,” Williams, 45, said in the Vogue post. “It was just the happiest, most beautiful, sweetest day.”
The post was scant on details other than the event took place over five days in and around the couple’s home in Palm Beach Gardens.
A look back at the very first World Cup
An aerial view of the Centenario Stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay, shown during 1930 World Cup tournament.
(Associated Press)
From Kevin Baxter: Next summer’s World Cup will be the largest, most complex and most lucrative sporting event in history, with 48 teams playing 104 games in three countries. The tournament is expected to draw a global TV audience of nearly 5 billion and FIFA, the event’s organizer, is hoping for revenues of between $10 billion-$14 billion — which is why lower-bowl tickets for Iran-New Zealand at SoFi Stadium cost nearly $700.
All that seemed unlikely after the first tournament in 1930, when the idea of a soccer World Cup was nearly killed in the cradle, the victim from lack of planning, lack of money and lack of interest. That the competition survived, much less thrived, is nothing short of a miracle, says English writer and podcaster Jonathan Wilson, author of the deeply researched “The Power and Glory: The History of the World Cup.”
“1930, it’s incredibly amateurish in many ways,” Wilson said. “It’s got that sort of almost like a school sports day feel to it.”
This day in sports history
1950 — Cleveland’s Otto Graham throws four touchdown passes, despite icy footing in Municipal Stadium, and Lou Groza kicks a 16-yard field goal with 28 seconds left to give the Browns a 30-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams and the NFL title in their first year in the league.
1961 — George Blanda’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Billy Cannon gives the Houston Oilers a 10-3 victory over the San Diego Chargers for their second AFL title.
1967 — New York’s Joe Namath becomes the first player to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. Namath passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Jets to a 42-31 win at San Diego. Namath finishes the year with 4,007 yards.
1997 — In one of the biggest upsets in college basketball, Division II American-Puerto defeats the No. 12 Arkansas Razorbacks 64-59 in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
2000 — Marshall Faulk breaks Emmitt Smith’s NFL record for touchdowns, scoring three times to give him 26 for the St. Louis Rams. Faulk’s three touchdowns and 220 yards fuels a 26-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
2003 — Steven Jackson ties a bowl game record with five touchdowns, and Oregon State’s defense overwhelms mistake-plagued New Mexico in a 55-14 win at the Las Vegas Bowl.
2006 — Colt Brennan sets the NCAA single-season record for touchdown passes at 58, throwing five in the second half to lead Hawaii to a 41-24 victory over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl. Brennan, 33-of-42 for 559 yards, breaks the previous mark of 54 set by Houston’s David Klingler in 1990.
2011 — David Akers kicks his way into the NFL record book and the San Francisco 49ers hold off Seattle for a 19-17 win. Akers makes four field goals to give him 42 this season, breaking the NFL mark of 40 set by Neil Rackers in 2005 with Arizona.
2014 — Western Kentucky holds on to defeat Central Michigan 49-48 in a wild inaugural Bahamas Bowl. Central Michigan trails 49-14 entering the fourth quarter before Cooper Rush engineers a comeback. He throws four touchdown passes in the final minutes, and the Chippewas get the ball back at their own 25 with one second remaining. Rush completes a pass to Jesse Kroll, and the ball is lateraled three times before Titus Davis dove into the pylon for a touchdown with no time remaining. CMU elects to go for two, only to have the pass drop incomplete.
2016 — With a 41-3 rout of the New York Jets, Bill Belichick earns his 200th regular-season victory in New England, making him the fifth coach in NFL history to reach the milestone with one team.
2016 — Cleveland survives a last-second field-goal attempt and gets its first victory after 14 losses by beating the San Diego Chargers 20-17. When San Diego’s Josh Lambo misses a 45-yard field-goal attempt as time expires, the Browns (1-14) win for the first time in 377 days.
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. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.