The Sports Report: Clippers, missing Leonard and Zubac, fall to the Bulls
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From Broderick Turner: The Clippers are in the middle of their most arduous part of the regular season, playing six games in nine days — a stretch that threatens to push them to their limits.
Making matters worse, injuries are proving difficult to avoid.
With Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac out, the Clippers saw their four-game winning streak end in a 112-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls at the Intuit Dome on Monday night.
The Clippers sorely missed Leonard (right knee injury management) and Zubac (left eye corneal abrasion) — they shot just 39.4% from the field and 21.4% from three-point range.
Chicago (19-25) opened an 18-point lead in the third quarter before the Clippers clawed back to within nine points in the fourth. But the Bulls eventually put the game away when Zach LaVine hit back-to-back three pointers with 1:24 left for a 15-point lead. He scored 11 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter.
Norman Powell had 27 points and James Harden had 17 points and 10 assists.
Terance Mann had 12 points off the bench for the Clippers. Mo Bamba started at center in place of Zubac, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.
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RAMS
From Gary Klein: But the receiver who won NFL offensive player of the year and Super Bowl most valuable player awards began the offseason on Monday with his future with the Rams in doubt.
When the Rams started the season 1-4, the team entertained trade offers for Kupp. The Rams turned around their season, but the eighth-year pro’s production waned during their drive to the playoffs.
A day after the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Rams 28-22 in an NFC divisional-round game, Kupp was asked if he wanted to return.
It would seem Cooper Kupp, not what he used to be, might not be with the Rams next season unless his contract is redone. Matthew Stafford wants to come back.
“Yeah,” Kupp told reporters in the locker room at the team’s facility in Woodland Hills. “Who knows what’s going to happen. A lot of stuff is out of my control. We’ll see what it’s going to be.
“There was obviously stuff that was going on early on in the season and we’ll see. I don’t have any clarity on what that’s going to look like or anything like that. Obviously, I would love to be in L.A. But I don’t know what that’s going to look like.”
NFL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
Conference championships
All times Pacific
Sunday
NFC
No. 6 Washington at No. 2 Philadelphia, noon, Fox
AFC
No. 2 Buffalo at No. 1 Kansas City, 3:30 p.m., CBS/Paramount+
Super Bowl 59: Feb. 9 at New Orleans, 3:30 p.m., Fox
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Instead of crying over another collapse, Ohio State can celebrate another national title after holding off a Notre Dame comeback bid Monday night to walk away with a nail-biter of a 34-23 victory over the Fighting Irish.
Will Howard hit big-play receiver Jeremiah Smith for 56 yards on a late third-and-11 to lock down a game that had been a laugher and then turned into something else.
Trailing 31-7, Notre Dame scored two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter.
The Irish stopped Ohio State on the first two plays of the next drive and used their timeouts. But on third down, Howard found Smith in single coverage on the right sideline and dropped his best pass of the season into the hands of the second-team All-American.
“They were running man coverage and I said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna let this loose and let him make a play on it,’” Howard said.
DODGERS
From Jack Harris: It has become a predictable talking point around baseball the last couple of offseasons, amplified every time the Dodgers sign a star on what has become an increasingly common contract for the club.
Nine times in the last five years, the Dodgers agreed to deals with significant amounts of deferred money — large portions of salaries that won’t be paid out until well into the future, after the deal is complete.
And on each occasion, the scrutiny of such maneuvers from rival fan bases has become louder and louder, with the Dodgers’ ability to put off long-term payments while reaping short-term benefits raising new fears about a competitive imbalance in a sport many worry is losing league-wide parity.
Deferred money played a prominent role in the recent signings of top free agents such as Blake Snell ($182-million contract, $60 million deferred), Tanner Scott ($72-million contract, $21 million deferred), Freddie Freeman ($162-million contract, $57 million deferred), and Teoscar Hernández (who has deferred $31.5 million of the $89.5 million guaranteed in his two Dodgers contracts).
UCLA BASKETBALL
Lauren Betts had 24 points, nine rebounds and a school-record nine blocks to help No. 1 UCLA beat 25th-ranked Baylor 72-57 on Monday in the inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic.
The doubleheader that also featured No. 7 Texas and eighth-ranked Maryland was created to honor King’s legacy and celebrate female empowerment in sports. It’s the first time the names of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King have been licensed for a sporting event.
UCLA (18-0) jumped all over Baylor to build an early double-digit lead. The Bears (16-4), who saw their five-game winning streak end, got within five a few times, but each time Betts and the Bruins answered.
KINGS
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored milestone goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Kings 5-1 on Monday night, ending the L.A.’s nine-game home win streak.
Crosby, Anthony Beauvillier and Kevin Hayes each had a goal and an assist. Cody Glass also scored for the Penguins, and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots.
Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings and David Rittich made 27 saves.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1921 — Kenesaw Mountain Landis takes office as baseball’s commissioner.
1947 — Carl Hubbell, Frank Frisch, Mickey Cochrane, and Lefty Grove are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1953 — Dizzy Dean and Al Simmons are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The baseball writers pass over Joe DiMaggio in his first year of eligibility.
1954 — For the first time in NBA All-Star history, an overtime period is needed. Boston’s Bob Cousy scores 10 points in the overtime to give the East a 98-93 victory and Cousy the MVP honors.
1958 — Bob Pettit of St. Louis becomes the first member of the losing team to win the NBA All-Star MVP award, scoring 28 points and grabbing 26 rebounds, even though the East beats the West 130-118.
1969 — Roy Campanella and Stan Musial are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1979 — Terry Bradshaw throws four touchdown passes to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to their third Super Bowl win, a 35-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Bradshaw, the game’s MVP, completes 17 of 30 passes for 318 yards.
1990 — John McEnroe becomes the first player thrown out of the Australian Open. McEnroe’s tantrum comes while leading Mike Pernfors 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 2-4.
1996 — Karrie Webb becomes the second-quickest winner in LPGA Tour history winning the HealthSouth Inaugural at Walt Disney World. Webb, in her second LPGA start, beat Jane Geddes and Martha Nause on the fourth hole of a playoff. Webb finished second in her first LPGA start a week earlier in the Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions.
2005 — Four-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen wins his 49th career World Cup biathlon, breaking the record. Bjoerndalen edges fellow Norwegian Frode Andresen in the 10-kilometer sprint event to pass former cross country great Bjorn Daehlie at 48 career wins.
2007 — Lovie Smith becomes the first black head coach to make it to the Super Bowl when his Chicago Bears win the NFC championship. Tony Dungy joins him when his Indianapolis Colts take the AFC title.
2009 — New Jersey Institute of Technology ends its 51-game losing streak, getting 26 points from Jheryl Wilson in a 61-51 victory over Bryant. NJIT had not won since it defeated Longwood on Feb. 19, 2007.
2010 — Lakers guard Kobe Bryant becomes the 15th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 points and the youngest to hit the milestone. Bryant finishes with 31 points in the Lakers’ 93-87 loss at Cleveland.
2017 — Adam Hadwin shoots a 13-under 59 in the CareerBuilder Challenge for the ninth sub-60 round in PGA Tour history and the second in 10 days.
2019 — Golden State guard Klay Thompson sets an NBA record by making his first 10 attempts from 3-point range as the Warriors beat the Lakers, 130-111; Thompson scores 44 points.
2024 — Tara VanDerveer, Stanford, becomes winningest college basketball coach with 1,203rd victory.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
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Go beyond the scoreboard
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