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Lakers star LeBron James will miss Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans as he manages a right foot injury, the team announced.

The Lakers (14-4) are playing the first of two games in as many nights at home. They host the Phoenix Suns on Monday, which will be the team’s third game in four days after a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

Playing in just his fourth game of the season, James played 34 minutes in the 129-119 win, scoring 13 points with seven assists. He missed the beginning of the season for the first time in his 23-year NBA career because of right sciatica that sidelined him for 14 games.

Despite James’ limited time, the Lakers have still thrived behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Doncic leads the NBA in scoring with 35.1 points per game. The dynamic duo combined for 72 points in Friday’s win, led by 38 points on 12-for-15 shooting from Reaves. The Lakers guard scored 31 points in the team’s first matchup against the Pelicans, a 118-104 win on Nov. 15 in New Orleans.

The Pelicans (3-17) have the worst record in the Western Conference. The Lakers need James for the tougher matchup against the Suns (12-9) on Monday before playing in Toronto on Thursday, the first game of a three-game East Coast road trip.

The Lakers will also be without guard Marcus Smart (back spasms) for the second consecutive game.

In August, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani hosted a citywide scavenger hunt, inviting voters to scour the boroughs in search of historic political sites. (Grand prize: a bag of chips.) Clues for it were written by veteran puzzle maker Natan Last, who has long endorsed the idea that puzzles at their best blend politics, community and a nerdy good time.

If you missed the hunt, Last’s book, “Across the Universe,” delivers similar pleasures. Though its subtitle — “The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle” — suggests a history tome, Last approaches the subject essayistically. Crosswords, for him, are arguments on behalf of things: of what qualifies as “common knowledge,” of what role puzzles should play in informing a citizenry, of how wordplay and slang snake into the mainstream. “The crossword is a uniquely capacious artifact ready to absorb and recast any group’s predilections and passions into puzzle form,” he writes.

That may seem like making too much out of an everyday diversion. But as Last points out, crosswords have long been a miniature version of America’s larger culture wars. Crosswords’ popularity exploded in the 1920s in various newspapers; Ernie Bushmiller, cartoonist of “Nancy” fame, exploited the “crossword craze” in a strip called “Cross Word Cal.” But killjoys swiftly arrived to dismiss it as paleolithic brain rot. The New York Times, now the best-known purveyor of crosswords, thought the puzzle beneath it, and didn’t offer one until 1941. (“The last adult in the newsroom,” Last smirks.)

The New York Times’ crossword is synonymous with its current editor, Will Shortz, who gave the puzzle a refresh in the 1990s, jettisoning academic jargon and obscurities in favor of layered puns and pop-culture references. Last recalls working as Shortz’s intern in 2009 and loving the experience. But Last is also the point of the spear among constructors who insist there’s plenty of room for improvement: tokenized ethnic terms, lack of gender parity among constructors, double standards (“erotica” is acceptable, but “gay erotica” isn’t?), a narrow view of what readers know or will accept. “The bar is on the floor,” USA Today crossword editor Erik Agard tells Last.

Last’s public statements on this subject, he writes, are often met with eye rolls: “Oh, so now the crossword puzzle needs to be woke?” But that high dudgeon, he notes, is “as good a proof as any that it’s not just a puzzle.” Not for the solvers he speaks to, who use their puzzle routines as calming influences or mementos of relationships. Not for constructors like India-born Mangesh Ghogre, who came to the U.S. on a specialized visa to make puzzles and who cleverly works Indian themes into his grids. And certainly not for institutions like the New York Times, which has made games a profit center in a news industry that’s often hemorrhaging cash.

Last’s range and intelligence help sell the importance of the crossword, then and now. Still, its lack of a direct throughline can be frustrating. Like a particularly manic solver, he attacks the subject in an across-and-down fashion, here contemplating the impact of AI on the game, there considering what role crossword-style wordplay had on Modernist writers like T.S. Eliot and Gertrude Stein, now contemplating the 1920s crossword craze, now skipping to its 2020s COVID-prompted renaissance. It’s all relevant, and Last is a bright and witty guide through all of it. He demands a certain comfort level with disorientation, though.

Still, that’s kind of the point: For him, puzzles should motivate solvers to be more than half-thinking box fillers. Instead, we should be comfortable learning new ideas through the puzzle. Mamdani’s scavenger hunt didn’t play a big role in his eventual election to the mayorship in October; it probably didn’t even play a small one. But it spoke to the concepts of play, surprise and diversity that the crossword at its best represents for Last. Maybe you don’t have immediate recall on the word “Haudenosaunee” (the Native name for the Iroquois Confederacy), but what’s so bad about a crossword puzzle introducing you to it? Like every other section of the paper, the crossword can bring the news. It can evoke — and shape — a culture.

The Lakers’ new big man went to the free throw line. The team’s former big man was on the mind of fans.

“I miss you, AD!” a Lakers fan shouted into the silence as Deandre Ayton prepared to shoot a free throw in the first quarter Friday.

Former Lakers star Anthony Davis played his first game in L.A. since being traded to the Mavericks last season, finishing with 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and three blocks in the Lakers’ 129-119 win at Crypto.com Arena.

The Lakers (14-4) won their sixth consecutive game and clinched West Group B in the NBA Cup, securing homecourt advantage for the tournament quarterfinals. The Lakers will host the San Antonio Spurs, who won West Group C, on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

The Mavericks (5-15) lost their third straight as the blockbuster trade that sent Luka Doncic to L.A. has only become more lopsided in the 10 months since it shocked the NBA.

Doncic had 35 points and 11 assists for the Lakers. Former Laker guard Max Christie, who was also involved in the trade, had 13 points and has become a regular starter for the Mavericks.

After two emotional matchups against his former team last year, Doncic said some of the feelings have subsided, but games against Dallas will always have special meaning for him.

Friday’s game was a well-timed return for Davis, who played in his first game after missing a month with a calf strain. The injury stretched for weeks as the Mavericks fell into the basement of the Western Conference.

LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 28, 2025: Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) scores two of his 38 points against Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) in the second half at Crypto.con Arena on November 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, the Lakers have the second-best record in the West. Doncic leads the league in scoring with 35.1 points per game.

Doncic’s continued ascent to superstardom and Davis’ growing injury list has only made the trade more bitter for Mavericks fans. They got their form of revenge when former general manager Nico Harrison was fired on Nov. 11, but the change only signaled a new low for the franchise that went to the NBA Finals two short seasons ago.

Now the player who was supposed to help fill the void left by Doncic has been included in trade rumors. The Mavericks went 3-11 without Davis.

To ensure Davis stayed in a positive mental state during the time of turmoil for the franchise, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd encouraged him to simply stay focused on getting healthy.

“The train keeps moving,” Kidd said. “No matter of a trade or a dismissal, you got to keep moving. And so for AD, [it] was to focus on his body, come back healthy. … Can’t get everything solved in 24 minutes tonight, but as we go forward, we feel like we have a chance to win when he’s in uniform.”

Davis was on a 24- to 27-minute limit Friday. To adhere to the restriction, he had to leave the game with 6:56 left in the fourth quarter with the Mavericks down by just three points.

Leaving the court hurt, Davis said. He had gotten two blocks, an assist and a basket during the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, then the Lakers went on a 9-1 run after Davis went to the bench.

To Kidd, Davis is still one of the best in the world when he is healthy. The coach pointed to Davis’ impressive play in the Paris Olympics when he averaged 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 62.5% from the field.

The Lakers didn’t need to be reminded of Davis’ talent. Coach JJ Redick said Davis would get the respect that all star players deserve because of his versatile skillset. But more than the shots he blocked or baskets he scored with the Lakers, Redick valued Davis for his support during Redick’s first year as a head coach.

“Very grateful that I had buy-in from him coming in Day 1 never had coached before,” Redick said. “So, it’s one of those things like you’re rooting for certain guys. … There are certain teammates you had, there’s always going to be guys that I coached [who] I either root for them after they are not your teammate and they are not one of your players. Just not when they play against us. Not tonight.”

The Lakers played a tribute video last year when Davis was sidelined with an abdominal injury for his first game back after the trade. Fans were showered him with cheers when he was introduced in the starting lineup Friday. LeBron James playfully bumped Davis at the center of the court before the game then they did the same intricate handshake they performed before games as teammates.

Lakers guard Luka Doncic puts up a jumper between Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington and guard Max Christie on Friday at Crypto.com Arena.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

After the game, Lakers players lined up to hug Davis. Austin Reaves, who dominated with 38 points on 12 for 15 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists, gave him a two-armed bear hug. Davis grabbed the strap of his jersey and pointed toward Reaves.

“I always liked his game, what he was able to do,” Davis said. “Just now he’s doing it on a more consistent basis, putting up elite numbers. … He’s a player who I always knew could play to this level.”

Reaves left the Lakers locker room with Davis’ blue No. 3 jersey signed by his former teammate.

“He’s one of the best players to ever touch a basketball. I don’t know why he wanted my jersey,” Reaves said. “But for me to get his, it’s pretty fun. … From Day 1, he was telling me to be myself, don’t be anybody else. Continue to work and really be myself on the court. So I owe him a lot.”

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied for a 112-107 win over the Clippers in the last game of NBA Cup play for both teams on Friday night.

The Grizzlies, who outscored the Clippers by eight in the fourth quarter to get their fourth win in five games, went 3-1 in West Group B but failed to secure a wild card into the knockout round because the Phoenix Suns had a better point differential.

Vincent Williams Jr. scored 16 points and Santi Aldama added 13 off the bench for the Grizzlies, who have a three-game road winning streak after dropping their previous five away from home. Zach Edey had 21 rebounds and five points.

Kawhi Leonard had 39 points in 29 minutes for the Clippers, who have lost six straight at home, with their last victory at Intuit Dome coming on Oct. 31. James Harden added 23 points.

Memphis struggled to get its offense going in the first half, relying on long-distance shooting from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to provide some pop. They found a groove in the third quarter, rallying from a 16-point deficit to get within 81-78 to close the period, and it carried through as Cedric Coward gave the Grizzlies their first lead early in the fourth.

The Clippers started off strong by making hit three three-pointers to open the game and going six of nine from long range in the first quarter, but they finished 12 of 38 (31.6%) from deep.

Clippers point guard Chris Paul received a video tribute in his first home game since announcing he would retire at the end of the season. Paul finished with five points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

Up next

Clippers: Host Dallas on Saturday. Grizzlies: At Sacramento on Sunday.

The USC Trojans won their second straight game, beating the Pepperdine Waves 82–52 at Galen Center on Friday.

Both teams had a slow scoring momentum in the first quarter with multiple missed shots, but the No. 18 Trojans (5–2) used aggressive defense to secure an 11-point lead.

“Our defensive point of attack was really good,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I think Kennedy [Smith] is really elite as a disrupter and I thought everyone else fed off of her, and so it helped us to kind of change the tempo of the game when it was a little tight there in the first quarter. I thought we did a pretty good job defending the three-point line as a team. … I thought we pushed the ball well and because of that we shot it well.”

Gottlieb said the team focused on executing its game plan.

“We wanted to hold them under 30% from three. We did that,” she said. “We wanted to turn them over a bunch. We did that. And I thought we shared the ball great — 27 assists on 31 baskets is exceptional and I’m happy with a good team effort. We’re still in a place where we want to keep getting better, but you want to be able to build on one step forward and make it two or three in a row.”

Trojans guard Jazzy Davidson opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, followed by a layup from Kara Dunn and another from Vivian Iwuchukwu, plus a foul and free throw, helping USC open a 29-10 lead.

“Having that on the floor — people that can shoot, people that can post up … opens up the floor for all of us,” Dunn said. “So people are out on me and Deezy on the three-point line. That’s how Viv was able to attack and take advantage of that because they can’t really help off, and so I think us having versatile team members and having multiple ways of attack is really good for us.”

Trusting in teammates and knowing they will make the right plays helped Iwuchukwu in her execution on the court.

“Kennedy had seven assists and other people had five and were really good on getting the ball to all of us,” Iwuchukwu said. “Trusting that my teammates were gonna give me the ball, knowing that there’s not going to be someone that’s going to take it from behind me.”

Pepperdine (4–2) tried to cut into USC’s early lead but struggled to overcome 11 first-half turnovers. The Waves gained most of their first-half points from USC fouls.

USC closed the half leading 47–26.

Early in the third quarter, both teams traded baskets, with Iwuchukwu scoring first on a layup for USC, and Pepperdine’s Eli Guiney responding with one of her own. USC led 62–39 heading into the fourth.

Down the stretch, USC continued to extend the lead with a series of three-pointers, and Laura Williams scored the final points of the game.

Davidson finished with 18 points, five assists, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Dunn added 19 points and three rebounds. Smith contributed nine points, seven assists, three steals and three rebounds, while Iwuchukwu scored nine points.

Guiney finished with 12 points, six assists and three rebounds. Meghan Fiso scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.

Heading into their next matchup Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Saint Mary’s (5-3) at Galen Center, the Trojans will continue to focus on communicating as a team and stopping runs early.

“We want to keep people off the offensive glass and it’s just something we know we have to do to win at a high level,” Gottlieb said. “And I just think we wanna continue to grow together as a team, communicate more and go on runs when we’re winning and be able to stop runs when [opponents] have something going.

”… I think everyone wants to do it — like, we’ve got a great group — it’s just really finding how do we take the next step to the next level.”

A lot of people return home for the Thanksgiving weekend. But for Corey Perry, Friday’s homecoming was more than a little bit awkward.

One of the most decorated players in Ducks’ history, Perry was greeted by a smattering of boos when he wore a Kings’ sweater into the Honda Center for the first time. Two hours later he left, carrying the sting of a Ducks’ victory that saw his old team rally from deficits three times before winning the first Freeway Faceoff of the season 5-4 in a shootout.

“Great comeback,” said winger Chris Kreider, whose second-period power-play goal got the Ducks started. “A good job of fighting back. It’s definitely a confident feeling.”

Leo Carlsson, who suffered through two dismal losing seasons during the long post-Perry rebuild in Anaheim, had two assists and the game-tying goal with 91 seconds left in regulation for the Ducks, who trailed 4-2 with less than 10 minutes to play.

The Kings’ Jacob Moverare blocks a pass from Duck Mason McTavish (23) to Beckett Sennecke (45) Friday at the Honda Center.

(Harry How/Getty Images)

“It’s a different team,” Carlsson said. “Hungry. Different mentality, too. So it’s been great so far season.”

Only Ryan Getzlaf has played more games for the Ducks then Perry, who left Anaheim in 2019 after 14 seasons, beginning an aimless tour of the NHL that saw him play for five teams before signing a free-agent contract with the Kings last summer.

The Ducks haven’t posted a winning record since he departed.

But after Friday’s victory they lead the division and are off to their best start in more than a decade. The Ducks are second in the Western Conference in wins (15), second in the NHL in goals (89), fourth in the conference in points (31) and were tied for fourth in points (31). For Carlsson, meanwhile, his 13th goal and 19th and 20th assists of the season Friday left 20, is tied for fourth in the league with 33 points.

The Ducks’ other scores Friday came from Olen Zellweger in the second period and Pavel Mintyukov in the third.

The Kings’ scores came Alex Laferriere, Kevin Fiala, Alex Turcotte and Joel Edmundson. With the point they earned by taking the game to overtime, the Kings headed back up the freeway Friday afternoon second in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Ducks.

The Kings’ Corey Perry looks on during the second period against the Ducks at the Honda Center on Thursday.

(Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)

And, surprisingly, they have Perry to thank for that.

“He’s a massive piece for us right now,” center Philip Danault said. “He’s not the fastest guy on the ice but he’s so smart. He goes into the crease, he gets goals. He gets in the opponent’s head.

“He’s probably one of the big reasons we’re winning.”

Since leaving Anaheim, Perry has come off the visitors’ bench at the Honda Center several times. So Friday’s game wasn’t necessarily one he had circled on his calendar.

“It was home,” he said before the game. “I have nothing but tremendous things to say.”

After missing the start of the season following knee surgery, Perry was activated last month on the same day captain Anze Kopitar was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury. And he immediately took up the slack, scoring the first of his seven goals — good for second on the team — in his second game. He also has six assists, is fourth on the team with 13 points and is averaging more than 14 minutes of ice time just the second time since he left Anaheim.

“You know, it’s fun,” said Perry, who is nearly halfway to his point total of a season ago. “This is what we do for a living.”

Perry, 40, is the third-oldest player in the NHL. But with a Stanley Cup, an MVP award, a goal-scoring title and two Olympic gold medals in his trophy case, he has a resume few players can match. Yet the Ducks bought out the final two seasons and $8.625 million of his contract in 2019, part of a rebuild that has seen the franchise go through three coaches and three general managers without posting a winning record.

“Now it’s seven years later. I don’t know anybody on the team,” Perry said of the Ducks, who have the second-youngest roster in the Western Conference. “It’s turned over so much that it’s a new group.”

Ducks center Mason McTavish scores the winning goal during a shootout of against the Kings on Friday at the Honda Center.

(William Liang/AP)

And new coach Joel Quenneville, who has a history of coaching success with young players, has that new group playing with confidence.

“We’re never going to give up,” said Carlsson, one of six Ducks younger than 23. “That’s the mentality.”

Laferriere got the scoring started late in the first period, parking himself in front of the goal and banging the puck past Ducks’ goalie Ville Husso, who made two big saves in the shootout.

Kreider tied it seconds into a power play midway through the second period, then Fiala and Zellweger exchanged goals just 59 seconds apart to send the teams into the second intermission tied 2-2.

Turcotte’s first goal of the season on a tip-in put the Kings back in front early in the third period before Edmundson doubled the lead on a slap shot from outside the right faceoff circle. He was helped by Perry’s presence in front of the goal, screening Husso on the shot.

The Kings wouldn’t score again though, allowing the Ducks to force overtime on goals from Mintyukov and Carlsson, who game-tying score came after his team pulled Husso to get an extra attacker.

“It was fun,” McTavish said of his first Freeway Faceoff matinee, which drew a sellout crowd of 17,174. “It was loud. There was a lot of energy in the building. So it was a ton of fun, and obviously more fun to come away with both points.”

Newcastle: Grayson, Williams, Hearle, Clark, Spencer, Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, McGuigan (c), McCallum, Usher, Hodgson, Lockwood, Christie, Mafi

Replacements: Fletcher, Rewcastle, Palframan, de Chaves, Neild, Benítez Cruz, Chamberlain, Gordon

Leicester: Steward, Radwan, Wand, Bailey, Hassell-Collins, Searle, Whiteley; Smith, Blamire, Heyes, Henderson, Thompson, Liebenberg (c), Reffell, Moro

Replacements: Clare, van der Flier, Loman, Wells, Manz, Allan, O’Connor, Woodward

Yellow Card: Hassell-Collins

Referee: Sara Cox

LAS VEGAS — Gabriela Jaquez scored 23 points and UCLA defeated Duke in the third-place game of the women’s Players Era Championship.

Handed their first loss this season the night before, 76-65 by second-ranked South Carolina, the Bruins came out red-hot even without star center Lauren Betts, who injured her left arm Wednesday.

UCLA (7-1) led 30-7 after shooting 60% (12 of 20) from the field in the first quarter, including 5 for 7 on 3-pointers. The Bruins also did a good job at the defensive end, forcing the Blue Devils (3-5) to commit six turnovers.

The Bruins shot 46.9% in the first half and took a 43-25 lead into halftime. Duke was 9 of 32 (28.1%) from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

Five players scored in double figures for UCLA. Charlisse Leger-Walker finished with 20 points, six assists and five rebounds. Kiki Rice had 17 points and six rebounds. Gianna Kneepkens added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, and Angela Dugalic had 12 points and eight boards.

UCLA shot a season-high 59.1% from 3-point range, hitting 13 of 22 from beyond the arc.

The Blue Devils were led by Ashlon Jackson, who had 18 points. Toby Fournier posted her second double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Delaney Thomas scored 10.

Duke went 22 of 65 from the floor (33.8%) in its second-worst shooting performance this season.

No. 4 Texas edged No. 2 South Carolina 66-64 in the championship game earlier Thursday.

When Lindsay Gottlieb put together a nonconference schedule she believed to be the hardest in the country, USC’s coach knew it would be an uphill climb. But that was the point. She wanted her team to be tested nightly, to play on “the biggest stages.”

“It’s not a schedule designed to win every nonconference game by an average of 40 points,” Gottlieb said earlier this month.

But after losing twice through a five-game gauntlet to start the season, a blowout nonconference win was precisely what the doctor ordered for USC.

Any pent-up frustration still lingering from USC’s last-second loss to Notre Dame was promptly taken out on Tennessee Tech on Tuesday in an 85-44 win for the Trojans.

“It was a really tough loss the other night,” Gottlieb said. “No doubt about that, for all of us. But the only thing you can do is utilize those lessons that are painful to get better.”

It was a particularly big night for freshman Jazzy Davidson, who bounced back from an eight-turnover performance in South Bend to tally her first collegiate double-double. Davidson nearly crossed that threshold before halftime Tuesday, and she finished the game with 20 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and two blocks.

The 16 boards, Davidson said, was the most she could remember having in a single game.

“She has a will to go get that thing,” Gottlieb said.

Davidson and Londynn Jones were once again USC’s most reliable options on offense. Jones, who was held scoreless in the loss to Notre Dame, poured in a season-high 20 points. Together, they made16 of 23 from the field, while the rest of the team shot a combined 17 of 40.

USC also got a critical contribution from sophomore big Vivian Iwuchukwu, whose work inside gave the Trojans their most consistent frontcourt threat of the season on Tuesday. After playing strictly a reserve role a year ago, Iwuchukwu scored 11 points on five-of-six shooting in a performance Gottlieb said was indicative of her progress so far this season.

But it was USC’s defense that really overwhelmed Tennessee Tech. The Trojans were especially suffocating underneath, blocking 15 shots — their most since 1984, when they tallied a program-record 18.

“What was impressive about this is our length that we can put in a number of different places,” Gottlieb said. “Laura [Williams] had a couple. Kai [Milton] had a couple. But you also had Jazzy and [Kennedy Smith].”

USC’s length was so difficult for Tennessee Tech to deal with that it managed just nine total buckets inside the arc.

“There was an emphasis for us just being the hardest-working team tonight,” Davidson said. “I think our defense really showed that.”

USC held Tennessee Tech scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, then the first six minutes of the second quarter. Midway through the second, Davidson had more total points than the Golden Eagles had as a team.

It didn’t get any easier for Tennessee Tech from there, as the Trojans rolled to a resounding victory, bouncing back as best as they could have hoped.

LAS VEGAS — Rori Harmon scored 26 points and No. 4 Texas held on to beat No. 3 UCLA 76-65 on Wednesday in the Players Era Championship.

After building a 23-point lead late in the third quarter, the Longhorns staved off UCLA’s late surge to advance to Thursday’s championship game.

Texas (6-0) will face South Carolina in Thursday’s title game, while the Bruins (6-1) will play Duke for third place.

Madison Booker finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Longhorns. Jordan Lee had 13 points and Justice Carlton chipped in 10.

The Bruins trailed by just four after a 24-7 run, sparked by Kiki Rice’s 12 points. But three failed possessions — a missed three-pointer and two turnovers — allowed Texas to pull away.

Gianna Kneepkens and Rice led the Bruins, each with 17 points. Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 13 points on 50% shooting.

Texas was superior defensively in the first quarter, forcing seven UCLA turnovers and turning them into six points. Despite going 0 for 4 from the three-point line, the Longhorns were nine of 15 (47.4%) from inside the arc in the opening period to take a 10-point lead after one.

The Longhorns doubled their lead in the second quarter, outscoring UCLA by 10 again, to take a 45-25 lead into the locker room at halftime. Texas shot a blistering 51.4% in the first half, while UCLA stumbled to a 44.4% clip after 20 minutes.

UCLA survived a scare when Lauren Betts left the game early in the third quarter with what appeared to be an upper-body injury.

Betts, an AP preseason All-American selection, collided with Booker and writhed in pain on the court, grabbing her arm as trainers tended to her. Betts returned to the game after spending several minutes in the locker room.

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Chad Baker-Mazara scored 23 points, Jaden Brownell added 16 points, and USC claimed the Maui Invitational championship with an 88-75 victory over Arizona State on Wednesday.

Baker-Mazara won the tournament championship for the second consecutive year after scoring 14 points in Auburn’s 90-76 victory over Memphis last season. Baker-Mazara made nine of 16 shots from the field against Arizona State with four three-pointers.

USC took the first double-digit lead of the game at 77-66 with 5:14 remaining on a basket by Ezra Ausar. The Trojans drew an offensive foul under the ASU basket and Jordan Marsh sank a jumper from the free-throw line to make it 81-69.

Marsh sealed it with a long three-pointer for an 86-71 lead.

Ausar, coming off a 25-point performance in the semifinals, finished with 14 points for USC (7-0), which was without leading scorer Rodney Rice. Jacob Cofie had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and Marsh added nine points.

Maurice Odum scored 17 points and Anthony Johnson added 15 for Arizona State (6-2). Santiago Trouet and Massamba Diop each scored 13. The Sun Devils trailed by double-digits in all three tournament games.

SAN FRANCISCO — Maybe it’s time to worry.

Some uneven play from UCLA over the season’s first few weeks could be shrugged off as a team filled with new players finding its footing.

But there was no reasonable explanation for what happened Tuesday night.

Playing a former Pac-12 rival in a matchup that should have stirred some intensity, the Bruins instead looked like they had little interest in being here.

Passion wasn’t a problem for California. The Golden Bears were the tougher and more determined team in handing the No. 18 Bruins an 80-72 loss in the Empire Classic at Chase Center.

Things bottomed out with about two minutes to go when UCLA point guard Donovan Dent went down with an apparent lower leg injury and limped off the court.

The Bruins’ comeback hopes formally ended when Cal’s Dai Dai Ames unleashed a crossover move that he followed with a three-pointer to give the Golden Bears an eight-point lead with 1:24 remaining.

Most concerning for UCLA were the continued struggles of Dent. The transfer from New Mexico who arrived with great fanfare has hardly looked like a top-level player through the season’s first month.

His showing Tuesday represented a new low. He never looked comfortable on the court while making just one of eight shots on the way to three points and committing nearly as many turnovers (six) as assists (seven). His season-long shooting woes are particularly acute at the three-point line (10%) and free-throw line (56.7%).

UCLA’s Trent Perry scored 19 points and Eric Dailey Jr. had 17, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Bruins (5-2) allowed the Golden Bears (6-1) to make 11 of 22 three-pointers (50%).

Big trouble loomed for the Bruins when Chris Bell (22 points) rose for a corner three-pointer that gave Cal a 65-53 lead with 9:29 left, prompting UCLA coach Mick Cronin to go to his only reliable tool, a timeout.

His team rallied, pulling within 71-67 with a little less than five minutes to play on a corner three-pointer from Jamar Brown. UCLA center Xavier Booker then got the large contingent of Bruins fans roaring with a ferocious block. That was as good as it got for the Bruins.

UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau, the team’s leading scorer, missed his second consecutive game with a knee sprain that could keep him out another week or so. But he appeared to be moving well while getting in some pregame dribbling work with assistant coach David Singleton.

An entertaining, if not crisply played, first half ended with UCLA holding a 41-36 lead. With Dent’s funk deepening with a one-point effort in which he missed all three shots, Perry stepped up with 12 points off the bench to lead the Bruins.

Aggressively attacking the basket, Perry rewarded fans who had unleashed a loud “U-C-L-A!” chant with an old-fashioned three-point play on a driving layup in which he was fouled. The Bruins went with a four-guard lineup for a stretch late in the first half that seemed to stabilize things after Dailey struggled with his shot selection and forward Brandon Williams picked up two fouls.

Dent, the guard that UCLA needs most, still has not showed up this season in the fashion expected. Now there’s an injury to add to the list of worries.

The Lakers made two announcements Tuesday, saying that center Deandre Ayton was out for the game against the Clippers at Cyrpto.com Arena because of a bruised right knee and that they had signed forward Drew Timme to a two-way contract.

The team also announced that it had waived two-way center Christian Koloko.

Timme had played for the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, and posted averages of 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 25.5 minutes during six games.

The 6-10 Timme played his college basketball at Gonzaga.

“I talked to [Lakers president of basketball operations] Rob [Pelinka] and everyone yesterday, last night and they told me,” Timme said after the Lakers’ shootaround Tuesday. “I was just super excited. It’s super cool.”

Jaxson Hayes will start at center in place of Ayton in the NBA Cup game.

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Ezra Ausar and Chad Baker-Mazara combined for 31 of USC’s second-half points to rally the Trojans to an 83-81 victory over Seton Hall on Tuesday after losing leading scorer Rodney Rice to an injury in a Maui Invitational semifinal.

Ausur finished with a season-high 25 points, hitting 15 of 19 free throws, and Baker-Mazara scored 18 for the Trojans (6-0).

Adam Clark scored 18 points, AJ Staton-McCray 17, Mike Williams III 13 and Elijah Fisher 10 for the Pirates (6-1).

Rice brought the Trojans back from a 13-point deficit to get them within four at halftime, scoring 13 points, but left early in the second half with an apparent upper arm/shoulder injury and trailing 46-44. Baker-Mazara stepped up, scoring 12 points over the next five minutes with his 3 finishing a 10-0 run and putting the Trojans ahead 63-57 with 12 minutes to go.

Staton-McCray tied the game on a three-pointer with a minute to go but Baker-Mazara put the Trojans up for good with two free throws with 27.4 seconds left. The teams traded three free throws with Jordan Marsh’s pair sealing it with 1.4 remaining.

Seton Hall turned 10 turnovers, including eight steals, to build a first-half lead. Rice scored 13 straight points, including a trio of threes, to kick off a 17-8 run with Jerry Easter II finishing it with a floater at the buzzer to trail 42-38.

Brandt Clarke scored a power-play goal with 6:10 to play to lift the Kings to a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Clarke’s slap shot from just inside the blue line came with just two seconds left on the man advantage and ended the Kings’ losing streak at three games.

Warren Foegele also scored for the Kings and Joel Edmundson assisted on both of the team’s goals. Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves.

Foegele opened the scoring 5:31 into the third period when he tapped in a pass from Joel Armia, who skated the puck down the right wing. Armia has points in three straight games.

Fabian Zetterlund tied it at 1-1 with 9:11 to play in the third with his third goal of the season and second in two games, but the Senators went scoreless on three power-play opportunities.

Leevi Merilainen made 20 saves for Ottawa, which was coming off wins over Anaheim and San José, the first two games of a seven-game road trip.

Up next for the Kings: vs. the Ducks at Honda Center on Friday night.

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Rodney Rice scored a season-high 27 points and Chad Baker-Mazara had 11 points and eight rebounds as USC beat Boise State 70-67 on Monday in the Southwest Maui Invitational.

USC (5-0) will play on Tuesday against Seton Hall, which beat North Carolina State earlier.

Rice split two defenders at the top of the key to get into the paint for a runner while being fouled with 14.8 seconds left in the game. He made the basket and free throw to give USC the lead at 68-65.

After the teams traded free throws, Boise State inbounded it with 4.2 seconds left and quickly got down the court for Javan Buchanan’s good look from three-point range that came up just short at the buzzer.

Rice made four of USC’s 11 three-pointers, while Boise State went five for 25.

Buchanan led Boise State (4-2) with 18 points. Pearson Carmichael added 14 points and Aginaldo Neto 10.

Boise State trailed for 25-plus minutes, with its last lead at 59-58 at 2:57.

Turns out that retreating from head coach to offensive coordinator wasn’t a great fit for Chip Kelly. At least not in the NFL.

The Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday fired the former UCLA coach moments after they were defeated by the Cleveland Browns, 24-10, falling to a 2-9 record. Kelly’s stint as offensive coordinator was an abject failure: Among 32 NFL teams, Las Vegas is tied for last at 15.0 points per game and is 30th with 268.9 in total yards per game.

Kelly bolted from UCLA in 2023 after six overwhelmingly mediocre seasons as head coach to become offensive coordinator at Ohio State, which won the NCAA national championship in 2024.

Another opportunity arose immediately thereafter when Pete Carroll became the Raiders’ head coach and invited Kelly to run the offense.

Although Kelly’s NFL experience was limited to failed head coaching stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, he jumped at the opportunity, saying on a podcast that “the one thing about the NFL that I love is it’s the ultimate level of competition. It’s football at the highest level.”

Carroll, who is struggling to find traction with the Raiders at age 74 after a decorated career as coach of the Seattle Seahawks and USC, swiftly learned that Kelly wasn’t up to the task despite being paid $6 million this season, double any other offensive coordinator in the NFL.

“I spoke with Chip Kelly earlier this evening and informed him of his release as offensive coordinator of the Raiders,” Carroll said in a statement. “I would like to thank Chip for his service and wish him all the best in the future.”

Carroll became enamored by Kelly’s ability to put points on the scoreboard 16 years ago. USC was handed its worst loss in Carroll’s nine-year tenure when Oregon — coached by Kelly — pounded the Trojans, 47-20.

If Carroll wondered if he’d ever get payback, it came Sunday. But the dismal state of the Raiders falls on him as head coach.

“I am grateful for the opportunity with the Raiders, bottom line in this league you have to win,” Kelly told NFL reporter Jay Glazer. “I really loved those players, But hey, we gotta win. I get it.”

It’s difficult to see where Kelly will turn next. A return to the college ranks as a head coach seems a stretch. His abrupt departure from UCLA in February of 2024 put the Bruins in a difficult position. Most high school recruits had been signed and top transfers gone.

The Times’ Bill Plaschke wrote that Kelly was clearly uncomfortable with the way college football was evolving, with NIL player pay, the transfer portal creating roster uncertainty and cozying up to 17-year-old high school players as important as ever.

And the timing and manner in which he left made him appear selfish. “With him, it was Chip first, Chip all day, Chip every day, and he didn’t care who knew it,” Plaschke wrote.

CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points and took over when the game got close, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 120-105 victory over the Clippers on Sunday night.

Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points in his return to the Clippers’ lineup after missing 10 games because of a sprained right ankle. L.A. went 2-8 while Leonard was out.

Mitchell helped the Cavaliers pull away with a flurry of plays late in the third quarter. He finished with five three-pointers, eight rebounds and six assists.

Evan Mobley had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and De’Andre Hunter scored 17 points as Cleveland went 4-2 on a six-game homestand.

Ivica Zubac paced the Clippers with 33 points — two off his career high — and 18 rebounds.

James Harden, who had a franchise-record 55 points for the Clippers in a win at Charlotte on Saturday, missed all eight three-point shots and finished with 19 points.

The Clippers trimmed a 13-point deficit to one in the third when Mitchell went to work.

The six-time All-Star had consecutive three-point plays, dropped a three-pointer and had two assists in the final 3:06 as the Cavaliers closed the quarter with a 15-3 run to open a 92-79 lead.

Mitchell then made another three-pointer and had two more assists in the opening minutes of the fourth as the Cavaliers pushed their lead to 18.

The Cavaliers were without key players as starting center Jarrett Allen (finger) and guards Lonzo Ball (knee), Sam Merrill (hand) and Craig Porter Jr. (hamstring) sat because of injuries.

Cleveland has played 10 different starting lineups while combating injuries.

Clippers guard Chris Paul picked up five assists in 17 minutes. Paul reportedly will retire after the season, and the 12-time All-Star received a warm ovation from Cleveland’s crowd when he checked in.

WASHINGTON — Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers Tuesday morning that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not expect the level of Ukrainian resistance to his invasion, nor the level and speed of sanctions imposed by countries around the world.

“Our analysts assess that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks and instead may escalate, essentially doubling down,” she said.

The comments from Haines and other intelligence officials came in an unusually candid public hearing with members of the House Intelligence Committee. The hearing was expected to focus on the intelligence community’s annual global threat assessment, but it was instead largely dominated by questions about Russia’s two-week-old invasion of its neighbor Ukraine. The House panel will get a classified assessment in the afternoon.

Haines said Putin likely expected the conflict to last a matter of days at most and predicted Russia will be hard pressed to hold any ground it gains.

“We assess Putin feels aggrieved the West does not give him proper deference and perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose, but what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time given the significant costs he is incurring,” she said.

CIA Director William Burns agreed, saying Putin initially believed Ukraine was weakened and easily intimidated, and that the Russian leader had modernized his military to the point of ensuring a quick victory. Burns added that Putin had been confident early on that he had sanction-proofed his economy, and that the Europeans were too distracted to pay much attention to the invasion.

“He’s been proven wrong on every count,” Burns said.

Still, Burns said the invasion is a “matter of deep personal conviction” for Putin.

“He has been stewing in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition for many years,” Burns said.

Putin’s plan was premised on seizing Kyiv within the first two days of the campaign, Burns said, and he is getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress.

“He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties,” Burns said. “He has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians.”

At this point, Burns said he cannot see how Putin can stand up a puppet regime in the face of massive opposition from the Ukrainian people, warning there is an “ugly next few weeks” ahead.

Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier estimated that 2,000 to 4,000 Russian soldiers have died in the less than two weeks since the invasion began, a number that far exceeds what the Russian government has acknowledged. For context, the United States suffered more than 7,000 military deaths over two decades in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Berrier said Russia appears to be attempting to cut off food and water to Kyiv as a strategy.

“It will become somewhat desperate in I would say 10 days to two weeks,” he said.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) told reporters after the hearing that as Putin doubles down on Ukraine, it remains difficult to see how the conflict ends.

“What’s the offramp? I think what we can do is just to continue to escalate the price that he and Russia have to pay for this,” Schiff said. “I think until he feels that his own regime is at risk, it’s hard to see him looking for an exit ramp.”

Congressional lawmakers are debating how much additional aid to send to Ukraine, and what additional economic measures to take against Russia, which is already seeing unprecedented sanctions on its financial systems, top leaders and businesses. On Tuesday, President Biden announced a ban on the import of Russian oil and energy products into the United States.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called for some $12 billion in aid, and urged passage this week, saying it “will provide both humanitarian and military assistance for Ukraine: funding for refugees, medical supplies, emergency food supplies, as well as funding to support weapons transfers into Ukraine, and help for our eastern flank NATO allies.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) has said Congress is looking to pass $10 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine as part of a larger government funding measure. A vote could occur as soon as today.