Howdy, I'm your host, Houston Mitchell. Let's get right to the news.
From Dan Woike: All it took was 70 seconds to lose focus, to stop playing with the right intention, the right mindset, the right spirit.
All it took was 70 seconds for the Lakers to see a six-point lead turn to a one-point deficit in the final moments of the fourth quarter, and it seemed likely that they'd lose for the fourth consecutive time.
Yet all it took was one-tenth of one second, a blink, for LeBron James to tip in a missed Luka Doncic floater to give the Lakers a dramatic 120-119 win against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
"We said this morning, this was gonna be a game that would have to be won on multiple efforts," coach JJ Redick said. "And that was primarily in reference to what we needed to do defensively. But we won the game on a multiple-effort play."
James struggled to score, failing to make a field goal through three quarters for the first time in his career, not counting a game in which he didn't play the entire second half because of an injury. The ball not going in didn't stop James from impacting the game in other ways. He grabbed 13 rebounds, the most of anyone on both teams, and had seven assists.
"Just whatever it takes to help your teammates win," James said. "For me, I can always do other things that still impact the game when I'm not scoring. That's the beauty of my game. I've always built that throughout my whole life as far as being three-dimensional, being able to get my guys involved, being able to rebound, defend and then sprinkling a few points."
Continue reading here
Lakers box score
NBA scores
NBA standings
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
Do you have a thought or opinion on one of our local sports teams or one of our sports stories? Email us at sports@latimes.com. Selected letters will be run here and in our Sunday print section. You must include your first and last name and city of residence to be included.
CLIPPERS
James Harden had 29 points, six rebounds and six assists, Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points and the Clippers prevented the New York Knicks from clinching a playoff berth with a 126-113 victory Wednesday night.
Norman Powell added 19 points and Ivica Zubac finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who improved to 41-31 and tied Golden State for sixth place in the Western Conference, the final guaranteed postseason place.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 34 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks, who were looking to follow Cleveland and Boston and become the third team to wrap up a spot in the East.
Continue reading here
Clippers box score
NBA scores
NBA standings
DODGERS
Construction at Dodger Stadium in January. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
From Jack Harris: When the Dodgers' Guggenheim ownership group bought the team in 2012, one of its early hires was renowned sports architect Janet Marie Smith as executive vice president of planning and development.
And in her first couple of months on the job, one of her biggest tasks quickly became clear.
The clubhouse, she recalled, still felt like a "1962 locker room" — from the shared batting cage and food room used by the home and road teams to the dilapidated dressing room that harked back to Dodger Stadium's opening a half-century earlier.
So that first offseason, the team did some immediate renovations, updating the space with more modern features and expanding its footprint to a more spacious two-level design.
A more complete reimagining of the space remained on the club's bucket list. This winter those visions finally became reality.
Continue reading here
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Ben Bolch: After an unusual trajectory to the start of his college career, UCLA's Dylan Andrews is moving elsewhere to finish it.
The junior point guard entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, ending a herky-jerky career as a Bruin in which he rose from a rarely used freshman to a star during the second half of his sophomore season before taking a considerable step back as a junior.
In his final season at UCLA, Andrews never recaptured the form he showed late in his sophomore season, when he averaged 17.1 points over his final 14 games and played at an all-conference level.
Continue reading here
From Ryan Kartje: When he was first announced as USC's starting quarterback last November, Jayden Maiava stepped into a pretty thorny situation. The team already had rallied behind Miller Moss, who spent the previous three seasons earning teammates' trust. Plus, he'd have only a few games to prove himself, and USC desperately needed immediate results.
"That's a hard thing for anyone to do," said wideout Ja'Kobi Lane, a close friend of Moss.
Those four starts, as uneven as they sometimes were, proved enough for Maiava to retain the title as the Trojans' presumptive quarterback this spring, even as USC added five-star freshman Husan Longstreet and experienced transfer Sam Huard to the fold. But what's happened in the three months since ultimately may say more about where Maiava is headed as a quarterback — and whether he'll keep the job for good this season.
Maiava's second act started in January with speculation that he was entertaining the idea of entering the transfer portal. But he brushed off that notion Tuesday.
Continue reading here
2026 WORLD CUP
From Kevin Baxter: There were two unmistakable conclusions to be drawn from the CONCACAF Nations League finals at SoFi Stadium.
The first is that the U.S. men's soccer team, which finished fourth out of four teams, is nowhere near ready for next year's World Cup. The stadium, on the other hand, nailed its most important dress rehearsal, rolling out a hybrid grass carpet that weathered the strain of four games in as many days.
"The pitch exceeded our expectations," said Otto Benedict, the stadium's senior vice president for facility and campus operations. "While we were confident that the grass would respond well to the level of play and activity, we were uncertain of its resilience inside our building. Over the past two weeks, the weather has been variable with rain and heavy moisture in the air, followed by wind and warm temperatures with sunny days.
"The grass has been thriving and has adapted to our unique indoor/outdoor environment in all the ways we had hoped."
Continue reading here
L.A. OLYMPICS VENUES
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: The city of Pasadena announced the Rose Bowl is hosting men's and women's semifinal and final soccer matches as the 2028 Olympic venues list continues to take shape ahead of the Games.
Pasadena's agreement with the LA28 organizing committee was announced on the same day the city of Los Angeles and LA28 worked through complex venue agreements that include finding a home for two of the Games' newest sports.
An L.A. City Council ad hoc committee approved updated venue plans presented by LA28, the private organization responsible for hosting the 2028 Games. LA28 has shuffled some sporting event locations in an effort to drive up revenue and reduce risk.
Much of the revised venue plan was revealed during the summer, but changes to the original Games agreement reached when Los Angeles earned the right to host the 2028 Olympics had not yet been approved by the City Council.
The adjustments from the Games agreement include moving basketball to the Intuit Dome and Olympic swimming to SoFi Stadium and shifting gymnastics to Crypto.com Arena. LA28 filed revisions to last July's plans on March 14, placing flag football and lacrosse at BMO Stadium and moving sitting volleyball from Pauley Pavilion to Long Beach Arena.
Continue reading here
DUCKS
Leo Carlsson scored twice, Jackson LaCombe had a goal and an assist and the Ducks beat Boston 6-2 on Wednesday night, extending the Bruins winless streak to seven games.
Nikita Nesterenko, Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish also scored for the Ducks, Alex Killorn had a pair of assists and John Gibson made 23 saves.
David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie had goals for Boston while Joonas Korpisalo had 31 stops.
Carlsson scored the Ducks' second shorthanded goal of the season late in the first period to give them a 1-0 lead. Alex Killorn got his 300th NHL assist on the goal. The Ducks outshot the Bruins 15-5 in the first period.
Continue reading here
Ducks summary
NHL scores
NHL standings
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1939 — Oregon beats Ohio State 46-33 in the NCAA's first national basketball tournament.
1942 — Joe Louis knocks out Abe Simon in the sixth round at Madison Square Garden to retain his world heavyweight title.
1945 — Oklahoma A&M beats New York University 49-45 for the NCAA basketball championship.
1951 — Bill Spivey scores 22 points to lead Kentucky to a 68-58 win over Kansas State for the NCAA basketball title.
1960 — The Boston Celtics score a then NBA Finals record 76 points in the first half a 140-122 win over the St. Louis Hawks. Tom Heinsohn (24), Bill Sharman (23), Frank Ramsey (22) and Bob Cousy (20) each score 20-or-more points to win the series opener.
1971 — UCLA beats Villanova 68-62 for its fifth NCAA basketball title.
1978 — Jack Givens scores 41 points to lead Kentucky to a 94-88 victory over Duke for the NCAA basketball title.
1983 — Larry Holmes wins a unanimous 12-round decision over Lucien Rodriguez to retain his world heavyweight title in his hometown of Scranton, Pa.
2005 — Annika Sorenstam shoots a final-round 68 to finish at 15-under to win the Nabisco Championship by eight shots over Rosie Jones. It's he 59th victory of the Swedish star's LPGA Tour career — and her eighth major championship win.
2010 — Longshot Al Shemali wins the $5-million Dubai Duty Free, pulling away from a crowded field to pull off a surprisingly easy win in the Dubai World Cup. Al Shemali, at 40-1, starts slow then duels it out with Bankable before taking the lead for good.
2011 — Jamie Skeen scores 26 points as Virginia Commonwealth delivers the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament, a 71-61 win over No. 1 seed Kansas in the Southwest Regional final.
2014 — The Philadelphia 76ers tie the NBA record for futility with their 26th straight loss, falling 120-98 to the Houston Rockets. Philadelphia matches the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA's worst skid.
2017 — UConn's women's basketball team advance to its 10th consecutive Final Four with a 90-52 victory against Oregon. The victory moves coach Geno Auriemma past Pat Summitt for the most NCAA Tournament victories at 113.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time...
That concludes today's newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you'd like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
