The Sports Report: Lakers can’t figure out the Sacramento Kings

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Dan Woike: Either it’s a hurdle or a wall. The Lakers couldn’t be sure.

Now they are.

The Sacramento Kings fully have the Lakers’ number, one team completely dominating the other in a series that’s been badly tilted away from Los Angeles over the last two seasons.

The Lakers’ 120-107 loss at Sacramento on Wednesday night exposed so many of the problems that have haunted them against the Kings, who have too much shooting. Too much speed. Too much toughness.

For the Lakers, too many questions without answers.

It didn’t matter that the Kings played Milwaukee on Tuesday night or that they were missing starting guard Kevin Huerter and key reserve Trey Lyles.

Anthony Davis, one of the NBA’s best players on both ends of the court and maybe the most important Laker, lost again to his counterpart in Domantas Sabonis, a player Davis has never beaten in 10 tries. Sabonis bullied Davis into the block, spun, elbowed him in the jaw and scored, the Kings center running back while Davis stayed on the court.

It wouldn’t be the only time he knocked Davis down.

LeBron James, the benefactor of two days of rest, came out of the huddle on the next play and turned the ball over for the third time in the third quarter leading to an easy Kings fast break.

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DODGERS

From Noah Furtado: Dodgers relief pitcher Blake Treinen is expected to travel with the team to South Korea as a member of its active roster after a promising bullpen session Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts said.

Treinen worked past “residual soreness� to throw 15 pitches in the session, Roberts said.

“Today was a good day for Blake,� Roberts said.

The team said Treinen had a bruised lung, though no broken ribs, because of a comebacker that nailed him in his side during an appearance Saturday. Before the injury, Treinen had surrendered zero earned runs and just two hits in 3â…” innings upon his official return this spring. He missed the entire 2023 season because of a shoulder surgery he underwent in November 2022.

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How Shohei Ohtani’s ‘mystique’ is transforming the Dodgers’ future

ANGELS

From Mike DiGiovanna: The sound of silence. That’s what Michael Stefanic remembers most about that frightful afternoon in Toronto, when the Angels’ Taylor Ward was struck in the face by a 92-mph fastball from Alek Manoah.

“I’ve never heard 40,000 people go so quiet so quickly,� said Stefanic, the Angels second baseman that July day. “The Blue Jays were competing for a playoff spot, the stadium was packed, the fans were rocking and rolling, the ball came out of Manoah’s hand, and all of a sudden a hush came over the crowd. Everything just stopped. It was like time stood still for a second.�

Eight months later, Ward is in spring training with the Angels, ready to reclaim his spot in left field and in the heart of the batting order, seemingly no worse for the wear.

He had season-ending reconstruction surgery in which three metal plates were inserted in his face, one of which doctors went through his eyelid to put underneath his eye, and he couldn’t eat solid foods for about two months. But a tiny scar on his left eyelid is about the only physical evidence of the accident.

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USC BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: The vibes resembled those of a team on the verge of doing something special, not playing out the final moments of a lost season.

USC players hopped in excitement on the bench after Boogie Ellis drove for a breakaway dunk in the final minute. They stood again to applaud Kobe Johnson’s layup that ensured the Trojans would keep playing.

The fashionable dark horse pick to win the Pac-12 tournament was moving on.

Ninth-seeded USC’s 80-74 victory over eighth-seeded Washington in a first-round game Wednesday afternoon represented the Trojans’ season-best fourth consecutive triumph as well as their fifth win in their last six games.

Next up is a rematch with angry Arizona, the Wildcats still smarting from their 13-point loss to the Trojans last week at the Galen Center. The challenge for USC goes beyond the revenge factor. Jockeying for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats have never lost consecutive games under coach Tommy Lloyd as he nears the end of his third season.

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UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: For half a season, he was disparaged as not being a true point guard.

Find somebody else to run UCLA’s offense, the criticism went. Get busy in the transfer portal.

Dylan Andrews offered his rebuttal with feathery jumpers and precise passes, even if it wasn’t enough to satisfy some observers. Left off the Pac-12’s first and second teams, Andrews continued to make his case for being perhaps the conference’s most overlooked player Wednesday afternoon.

The sophomore was a sight to behold every time the fifth-seeded Bruins needed him during a 67-57 victory over 12th-seeded Oregon State at T-Mobile Arena.

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UCLA box score

UCLA FOOTBALL

From Ben Bolch: DeShaun Foster’s first UCLA coaching staff that was announced Wednesday is heavy on NFL experience, giving those assistants immediate cachet with players while also requiring an adjustment to the new realities of college football.

Juan Castillo, who has spent nearly 30 years in the NFL in a variety of roles, was hired to replace Tim Drevno as offensive line coach.

Erik Frazier, who spent two seasons with the Tennessee Titans, will be the wide receivers coach in a move that involves predecessor Jerry Neuheisel taking over responsibilities for the tight ends.

Ted White, whose last stop was with the Houston Texans, will take over as quarterbacks coach while predecessor Billy Fessler moves to a role as an offensive analyst.

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CHARGERS

From Jeff Millerhttp://ukobiw.net/sports/chargers/story/2024-03-13/chargers-mike-williams-salary-cap-release: Facing significant salary-cap issues, the Chargers released wide receiver Mike Williams late Wednesday morning.

Releasing Williams saved the team $20 million while taking on $12.46 million in dead money.

Willams, 29, was one of four Chargers with cap hits in excess of $32 million, leaving the team’s new leadership of general manager Joe Horitz and coach Jim Harbaugh no choice but to make a tough decision.

Edge rushers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa and wide receiver Keenan Allen also have cap hits that go beyond $32 million.

The Chargers and Mack reached an agreement that would lower his number, according to multiple reports Wednesday.

Williams appeared in only three games before suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in late September. That ended his season and, ultimately, his time with the Chargers.

His final numbers during seven years with the Chargers: 309 receptions for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns.

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KINGS

Jordan Binnington made 40 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Kings 3-1 on Wednesday night in a key game in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Alexey Toropchenko, Jake Neighbours and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues, who kicked off a four-game home stand.

Adrian Kempe scored the Kings’ goal and Cam Talbot made 27 saves as Los Angeles lost for the third time in five games.

The win moved St. Louis within six points of idle Vegas for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues have 16 games remaining, while the Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights have 17 left.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1954 — Baltimore loses 65-54 at Milwaukee, giving the Bullets their 20th consecutive road loss for the season, and making them the first team in NBA history to go an entire season without winning a game on the road.

1960 — Rookie Wilt Chamberlain scores a playoff record 53 points in the Philadelphia’s 132-112 triumph over the Syracuse Nationals to send the Warriors to the Eastern Division finals against the Boston Celtics.

1962 — Detroit’s Gordie Howe becomes the second player in NHL history to score 500 career goals during the Red Wings’ 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

1981 — A date which defines March Madness. The second round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament features three upsets decided in the late seconds. Saint Joseph’s stuns No. 1 ranked DePaul 49-48 on John Smith’s layup with two seconds left. Arkansas knocks off Louisville 74-73 on U.S. Reed’s half-court shot that beat the buzzer. Moments later, Rolando Blackman of Kansas State hits a fadeaway shot from the corner with two seconds left for 50-48 win over No. 2-ranked Oregon State.

1987 — Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. becomes the first rider in the history of Santa Anita Park to win seven races in a single afternoon. In his only loss of the day, Pincay finishes third aboard Bob Back in the eighth race.

1996 — Princeton upsets defending national champion UCLA, 43-41, in the first round of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament. Gabe Lewullis scores a backdoor layup off a bounce pass from Steve Goodrich with four seconds left and the Tigers hold on for the win.

1997 — Pittsburgh Penguins forward Joey Mullen becomes the first American-born player to score 500 career goals, with a goal in the second period of a 6-3 loss against the Colorado Avalanche. The New York native is the 25th player in NHL history to reach the milestone.

1998 — Harvard women become the first 16th-seeded team, men or women, to win an NCAA tournament game by defeating top-seeded Stanford 71-67.

2008 — Lindsey Vonn wins the overall World Cup skiing to complete the first American sweep of the men’s (Bode Miller) and women’s titles in 25 years. Vonn secures the title finishing tied for 11th in the giant slalom, the penultimate race of the season. It’s the first time Americans took both titles since Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney accomplished the feat in 1983.

2012 — Lindsey Vonn ends the women’s World Cup downhill season in style by dominating the final race held in Schladming, Austria. The American overall champion, who had already won the downhill title, beats Marion Rolland of France by 0.92 seconds. It’s Vonn’s 12th win this season. Only Vreni Schneider of Switzerland won more races in one year — 14 in 1988-89.

2017 - World’s oldest golf club Muirfield in Scotland, votes to admit women as members for 1st time in 273 years.

Compiled by the Associated Press