Copyright Los Angeles Times
From Broderick Turner: The Lakers were not whole for their season opener and that meant Luka Doncic had a heavier load to carry while LeBron James sat on the bench injured in this game against rivals Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. So, the question while James recovers from sciatica injury on his right side, is who will fill his void and help Doncic navigate the stretch his running mate is out. The Lakers didn’t get that complete answer Tuesday night, falling 119-109 to the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena despite Doncic’s impressive performance of a near triple-double with 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. James is entering an NBA-record 23rd season, but it was the first time over his career that he has missed a season opener. He sat on the end of the Lakers’ bench dressed in a double-breasted suit, cheering his teammates on, offering words of encouragement when necessary, knowing that was the only way he could help until returns to the court in mid-November. “It’s hard to forget about LeBron,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “The reality is when you’re focused on the group that you have, you gotta make that group work. Sometimes you can just be like, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna get LeBron back at some point.’ Like it’s awesome, but you are focused. I’ll be honest with you, I did have one moment in that first half when we had a few possessions, couldn’t score against the zone, I think ‘That’d be great to have LeBron just to throw it to the high post.’” Continue reading here Lakers newsletter: How Luka Doncic got his joy back Lakers box score NBA standings DODGERS From Bill Shakin: If this World Series is going to turn into a food fight about the economics of baseball, Dave Roberts tossed the first meatball. The Dodgers had just been presented with the National League Championship trophy. Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager, had something to say to a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium, and to an audience watching on national television. “They said the Dodgers are ruining baseball,” Roberts hollered. “Let’s get four more wins and really ruin baseball.” The Dodgers had just vanquished the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that did everything right, with four starting pitchers whose contracts total $1.35 billion. The Dodgers will square off in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, who advanced to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1993 after beating the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS. The Brewers led the major leagues in victories this year. They have made the playoffs seven times in the past eight years, and yet their previous manager and general manager fled for big cities, in the hope of applying small-market smarts to teams with large-market resources. Continue reading here ANGELS From Chuck Schilken: Kurt Suzuki wrapped up his 16-year playing career with the Angels in 2022. Now, three years later, he is starting his managerial career with the same team, as the Angels have hired Suzuki as manager. The Angels announced the move Tuesday afternoon, making Suzuki the first non-interim MLB manager to be born in Hawaii. Suzuki, a World Series champion with the Washington Nationals in 2019, played for the Angels in 2021 and 2022. He served as a special assistant to Angels general manager Perry Minasian the last three years and has no prior professional managing or coaching experience. Continue reading here ———— From Steve Henson: Superstar Mike Trout testified Tuesday about two of his closest pals on the Angels, pitcher Tyler Skaggs and communications director Eric Kay. Trout said that Skaggs showed no signs of drug use but that he knew Kay had a drug problem. Trout, a three-time American League most valuable player, has been with the Angels his entire 15-year career and is under contract through 2030. He was a teammate of Skaggs from 2014-19, when the left-handed pitcher died in a Texas hotel room July 1, 2019, after snorting a counterfeit oxycodone pill that contained fentanyl, a powerful opioid. Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison after being convicted in 2022 of providing the pills that led to the Skaggs’ overdose. Continue reading here WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE, RESULTS All times Pacific Dodgers vs. Toronto Friday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio Saturday at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio Monday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio Tuesday at Dodgers, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio *Wed., Oct. 29 at Dodgers, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio *Friday, Oct. 31 at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio *Saturday, Nov. 1 at Toronto, 5 p.m., Fox, AM 570, KTNQ 1020, ESPN Radio *-if necessary From Ben Bolch: As UCLA prepared to try to topple its highest-ranked opponent in nearly two decades, one coach talked about the challenges of beating an undefeated team, of stopping its vaunted rushing attack, of halting its quick starts. The coach was Curt Cignetti. His team just happened to be No. 2 Indiana, the pop-up juggernaut that the Bruins will try to take down on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. “We’re playing a 3-0 football team that’s undefeated, that’s 3-0 in the conference since they have retooled their staff,” Cignetti told reporters. “Very impressive football team.” So startling is the transformation that the Bruins have made since their winless start that they are the ones now being praised by the coach of one of the nation’s top teams. Continue reading here UCLA quarterback Pierce Clarkson might avoid charges in his legal proceeding KINGS Adrian Kempe scored a power-play goal 1:50 into overtime to lift the Kings to a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. Kempe’s goal came 14 seconds after Pavel Buchnevich was called for hooking on Quinton Byfield, giving the Kings a four-on-three advantage. Alex Laferriere also scored and Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves as the Kings ended a four-game losing streak, two of which came in overtime. Continue reading here Kings summary NHL standings DUCKS Rookie Beckett Sennecke collected his third goal of the season and the Ducks beat the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Tuesday night. The 19-year-old Sennecke dropped to one knee to blast a feed from Mason McTavish past Juuse Saros with just over three minutes left in the second period to give the Ducks a two-goal lead they didn’t relinquish. Sennecke, the third overall pick in the 2024 draft, now has five points in five games. Ross Johnston scored his first goal of the season and added two assists. Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry also scored for the Ducks. Jacob Trouba had two assists and Lukas Dostal made 26 stops. Continue reading here Ducks summary NHL standings THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY 1933 — Primo Carnera retains the world heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Paolino Uzcudun in Rome. 1950 — The Rams beat the Baltimore Colts 70-27. 1961 — Erich Barnes of the New York Giants ties an NFL record by returning an interception 102 yards for a touchdown in a 17-16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. 1966 — Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins scores his first goal. 1975 — The 10-team World Football League, citing lack of television and season ticket support, disbands before the 12th week of a 20-week season. 1976 — Twin brothers Tom and Dick Van Arsdale play together in a game for the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first and only pair of brothers to play for the same NBA club. 1984 — Future Pro Football HOF quarterback Ken Stabler retires after 17 seasons in the NFL with Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. 1994 — Alcorn State’s Steve McNair becomes the NCAA’s career yardage leader with 15,049, surpassing the old mark set by Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer, who had 14,665. McNair’s 649 yards also breaks his own Division I-AA single-game record as he leads the Braves to a 41-37 win over Southern. 2000 — Bengals running back Corey Dillon rushes for an NFL single-game record 278 yards in a 31-21 victory over the Denver Broncos. Dillon betters Walter Payton’s 27-year-old mark by three yards. 2005 — Mount Union drops a regular-season game for the first time since 1994, losing 21-14 to Ohio Northern in a Division III matchup. The Purple Raiders, winners of 110 straight regular-season games, had not lost a regular-season game since they were beaten 23-10 by Baldwin-Wallace on Oct. 15, 1994. 2012 — Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life by cycling’s governing body following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accuses him of leading a massive doping program on his teams. 2014 — Serena Williams is routed 6-0, 6-2 by Simona Halep in the WTA Finals round-robin, one of the most one-sided losses in the 18-time Grand Slam champion’s career. The last time Williams managed to win just two games in a WTA Tour or Grand Slam match was in 1998 when she was 16. 2016 — Baker Mayfield has seven touchdown passes and 545 yards to help No. 16 Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 66-59 in the game that breaks the NCAA record for combined offensive yards with 1,708 yards. 2016 — Leonard Fournette breaks LSU’s single-game rushing record on just his first eight carries as the No. 25 Tigers beat No. 23 Mississippi 38-21. Fournette finishes with 284 yards rushing in his first action since aggravating a left ankle injury on Sept. 24. He averages 17.8 yards on 16 carries and his touchdowns go for 78, 76 and 59 yards. 2017 — The Phoenix Suns fire coach Earl Watson just three games in to the NBA season. 2020 — The National Hockey League announced the annual NHL All Star Game and Skills Competition would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2024 — LeBron and Bronny James become the first father-son duo in NBA history to appear in a game together as Lakers beat Minnesota Timberwolves 110-103. Compiled by the Associated Press THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY 1975 — The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park Four games to three to win the World Series. 2001 — New York routs Seattle 12-3 in Game 5 to win the AL pennant for the 38th time. The Yankees become the first team since their predecessors in 1960-64 to win four straight pennants. 2016 — Kyle Hendricks outpitches Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo and Willson Contreras homers early and the Chicago Cubs won their first pennant since 1945, beating the Dodgers 5-0 in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series. Compiled by the Associated Press Until next time...
