Copyright Los Angeles Times
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: For once, Luka Doncic had to serve the punishment. For not hitting any half-court shots during his pregame warmup, Doncic had to drop to the court and give his coaching staff push-ups. The exercise seemingly powered him up for the two-handed dunk to come. Doncic dazzled in the Lakers’ 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday at Spectrum Center, scoring 38 points with seven assists, six rebounds and one emphatic third-quarter dunk to help the Lakers flush the memories of a blowout loss in Atlanta. “It was fun, not only because he got the dunk,” coach JJ Redick said, “but just him letting out some emotion.” Doncic exorcised the demons of a 20-point loss to Atlanta on Saturday in which the Lakers (8-3) led for only 19 seconds and pulled the starters before the third quarter. He spent the majority of that game bickering with officials. He missed six three-pointers and had five turnovers. On Monday, Doncic was back to joking with Austin Reaves about who had the better deadball three-quarters-court heave after Reaves returned from a three-game absence with 24 points and seven assists. Continue reading here Lakers box score NBA standings CLIPPERS Vit Krejci scored a career-high 28 points off the bench, Kristaps Porzingis added 20 and the Atlanta Hawks opened a four-game trip with a 105-102 victory over the Clippers on Monday night. Jalen Johnson had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Hawks overcame a 17-point deficit to win consecutive games for the second time this season. Krejci made a career-best eight three-pointers in 10 attempts. James Harden had 35 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the Clippers’ fifth straight loss. Ivica Zubac added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn each scored 11 points for the Clippers, who were without star Kawhi Leonard (ankle) for a fourth consecutive game, while Bradley Beal (hip) was ruled out. Continue reading here Clippers box score NBA standings UCLA BASKETBALL From Ben Bolch: For a little more than a half Monday night, UCLA was forced to contemplate the unimaginable. Facing West Georgia, a team that was in its second season in Division I and had been given a 1% chance to win by the metrics of basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy, the listless Bruins led by only five points early in the second half at Pauley Pavilion. Even without star point guard Donovan Dent, who was being held out for precautionary reasons because of a muscle strain, this was uncomfortably tight. West Georgia’s bombs-away approach kept the score competitive, the Wolves taking — and making — one three-pointer after another. But the No. 15 Bruins finally asserted themselves with a big run sparked by some impressive offense of their own, pulling away for an 83-62 victory to avoid embarrassment on their home court. Continue reading here UCLA box score UCLA drops to No. 15, next opponent Arizona moves up to No. 5 in men’s AP top 25 poll ———— Gianna Kneepkens scored 20 points and No. 3 UCLA used a big third quarter to pull away from sixth-ranked Oklahoma for a 73-59 victory Monday night. Bruins star Lauren Betts had nine points on four-for-11 shooting, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots while committing seven of her team’s 16 turnovers. The Bruins (3-0) dominated on the boards, 59-43, in a game played at Golden 1 Center, home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Oklahoma got a scare with 9:16 remaining when senior center and leading scorer Raegan Beers went down awkwardly fighting for a rebound with Betts and grabbed at her right knee. She returned shortly thereafter and wound up with seven points and 14 rebounds. Angela Dugalic came off the bench to contribute 16 points and 15 rebounds for UCLA, which shot just eight for 22 from deep but created opportunities with hustle and effort plays such as crashing the offensive glass. Continue reading here UCLA box score USC jumps into top 10 of women’s basketball AP Top 25, UCLA remains No. 3 From Ben Bolch: The city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. on Monday sought a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order seeking to prevent UCLA from leaving the Rose Bowl or terminating its stadium lease until pending litigation against the school is resolved. The filing contends that the plaintiffs would suffer “immediate and irreparable harm if the status quo is not preserved” while the suit plays out. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Last week, the plaintiffs sued to force the Bruins to honor the terms of the lease that requires them to stay at the Rose Bowl through the end of the 2043 season. UCLA responded in a statement that it was evaluating options for its football home, though a person familiar with the university’s thinking told The Times that if the Bruins decided to leave for SoFi Stadium, they would want to do so for the 2026 season. Continue reading here THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY 1911 — Carlisle Indian School of Carlisle, Pa., led by Jim Thorpe, beats nationally ranked Harvard 18-15 before 25,000 in Cambridge, Mass. Thorpe scores all the points for Carlisle, a touchdown, extra point and four field goals. 1939 — Texas Tech and Centenary (La.) play to a 0-0 tie in a torrential downpour in Shreveport, La. There are an NCAA-record 77 punts in the game (39 by Tech and 38 by Centenary). 1944 — The New York Rangers beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 to end their NHL record of 25 straight games without a win (0-21-4) over two seasons. 1978 — Eddie Lee Ivery rushes for 356 yards to lead Georgia Tech to a 42-21 victory over Air Force. 1981 — The Minnesota North Stars score eight goals in the second period of a 15-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. 1981 — Dodgers starter Fernando Valenzuela becomes first MLB rookie to win a Cy Young Award; Milwaukee Brewers’ Rollie Fingers takes AL Award. 1995 — Eddie George rushes for a school-record 314 yards on 36 carries and scores three TDs as Ohio State routs Illinois 41-3. 2001 — In his sixth career start, Shaun Alexander has 266 yards rushing in 35 carries and an 88-yard touchdown run as Seattle beats AFC West-leading Oakland 34-27. 2002 — The Oakland Raiders, behind record-setting performances, beat the Denver Broncos 34-10. Rich Gannon completes 21 straight passes and Jerry Rice becomes the first player to score 200 career touchdowns. 2004 — Earl Boykins, at 5-foot-5, becomes the smallest player in NBA history to reach 30 points, scoring a career-high 32 in Denver’s 117-109 victory over Detroit. 2006 — Wake Forest beats Florida State 30-0 to become the first team to shutout the Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium in Bobby Bowden’s 31 seasons as coach. 2007 — Brett Favre joins Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks to throw for 60,000 yards in a career during the second quarter of Green Bay’s 34-0 win over Minnesota. 2008 — Jockey Julien Leparoux has a record-tying day at Churchill Downs. The 25-year-old Frenchman ties Hall of Famer Pat Day’s track record with seven wins. Day set the record on June 20, 1984. 2011 — Faulkner defeats Union (Ky.) 95-89 in triple overtime to set an NAIA football record. The 184 combined points, smashes the previous mark of 141 set in 1994 when Southwestern (Kan.) defeated Sterling (Kan.) 79-62. 2012 — Antron Brown becomes the first Black champion in any NHRA pro series when he wins the Top Fuel title at the season-ending event. 2012 — Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez catches the 100th TD pass of his career, a 2-yarder from Matt Ryan in the Falcons 31-27 loss at New Orleans. He adds another score on a 6-yard pass and becomes the first tight end with 100 TD receptions. 2013 — Novak Djokovic claims back-to-back ATP World Tour Finals tennis titles with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the final in London, England. 2017 — Lamar Jackson accounts for four touchdowns and 342 yards while establishing an NCAA milestone in beating Virginia 38-21. Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winner, becomes the first player in NCAA history to post two seasons with 1,000 yards rushing and 3,000 yards passing. 2017 — Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski becomes the first men’s Division I basketball coach to win 1,000 games at one school, when his top-ranked Blue Devils beat Utah Valley 99-69. Compiled by the Associated Press Until next time...
