The Sports Report: Lakers get the right opponent at the right time

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

From Dan Woike: Two days after the Lakers were saying it would almost never be easy, almost never came to town.

The Washington Wizards, who have won a league-low six times, were the cure for the Lakers after a loss Sunday to the Clippers exposed a number of their weaknesses. The postgame morale was low, LeBron James and JJ Redick openly discussing how their roster wouldn’t be able to organically improve an already narrow margin for error.

But with the midway point of the season here Tuesday, the Lakers (23-18) saw the one team in the NBA bad enough to make anyone — even the Lakers — feel like they’ve got it figured out.

The Lakers did the right things consistently over four quarters, barely being threatened before winning 111-88 Tuesday in a game they desperately had to have before hosting Boston on Thursday night.

“I think it just starts with a very professional approach from our team,” Redick said Tuesday. “That was one of our more complete games, regardless of what time of season it was or who the opponent was. Like, we just, we had a really professional approach.”

The Wizards (6-36), in the early stages of a rebuild with eyes on the top on 2025 NBA draft, haven’t won since Jan. 1. Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole are their best offensive options and backup center Jonas Valanciunas and forward Corey Kispert their only other veterans, Washington fully committed to the future.

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Lakers box score

NBA scores

NBA standings

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

DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Another day, another impact player potentially joining the Dodgers.

After adding star Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki on Friday, then agreeing to a four-year contract with top free-agent reliever Tanner Scott on Sunday, the Dodgers were closing in Tuesday morning on a deal with right-handed reliever Kirby Yates, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.

No contract had been finalized. But it appeared as though the Dodgers were on the verge of their latest notable addition this offseason, with a two-time All-Star in Yates emerging as the latest big name in their free-spending sights.

A 38-year-old veteran who had a resurgent 2024 with the Texas Rangers, Yates has been on the Dodgers’ radar for a while.

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UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: Having been just a bit player in his 1½ college seasons, Aday Mara moved to the forefront Tuesday night.

In a massive way.

The 7-foot-3 center left a giant imprint all over what might have been UCLA’s most significant victory of the season.

Grabbing rebounds flatfooted, blocking shots and making every shot he took, Mara powered the Bruins to an 85-83 triumph over No. 18 Wisconsin at Pauley Pavilion, ending the Badgers’ seven-game winning streak.

Mara was a force well beyond his career-high 22 points on seven-for-seven shooting, his presence disrupting Wisconsin on both ends of the court while announcing that UCLA could match an opponent’s size as part of its transition to the more physical Big Ten

“Just, everything,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said of Mara’s impact. “He changed the entire game, no question about it.”

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UCLA box score

Big Ten standings

AP top 25 rankings

DUCKS

Sam Reinhart snapped a three-game goal drought and the Florida Panthers beat the Ducks 5-2 on Tuesday night at Honda Center.

Trevor Zegras returned to the lineup after missing 22 games because of surgery to repair torn meniscus in his right knee. Zegras was injured late in the first period against Vegas on Dec. 4. He was the left wing and paired on the second line with Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn.

Frank Vatrano and Mason McTavish scored for the Ducks, who lost their fourth straight and are 1-5-2 over their past eight games. Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots.

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Ducks summary

NHL scores

NHL standings

ANGEL CITY

From Kevin Baxter: When Willow Bay and her husband, Disney CEO Bob Iger, became controlling owners of Angel City last July, they inherited a women’s soccer team that had lost more games than it had won, had fewer playoff appearances than it had suspensions from the league and would end the year by parting ways with its second general manager and second head coach in three seasons.

So on Tuesday, when Bay cut the ribbon on the team’s massive new performance center at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, it was with the hope that would mark the start of Angel City’s turnaround as well.

“This is the vision of this team that we’re helping support and execute,” said Bay, dean of the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, who joined her husband in investing $50 million in cash for the team to expand its budget and ease its losses. “It was very clear that we needed to invest in football operations here and support the leadership and support the players and making sure they had all the resources they needed to build a winning culture.”

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1920 — The New York Yankees announce they will be the first team to wear uniform numbers, according to the player’s position in batting order.

1960 — Paul Pender beats Sugar Ray Robinson in a 15-round split decision to capture the world middleweight boxing title.

1962 — Bob Feller and Jackie Robinson are elected into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

1968 — The NBA awards expansion franchises to Milwaukee and Phoenix.

1973 — George Foreman knocks out Joe Frazier in the second round in Kingston, Jamaica, to win the world heavyweight title.

1983 — Houston becomes the first NBA team not to score a point in overtime. The Portland Trail Blazers outscore the Rockets 17-0 for a 113-96 victory.

1988 — Mike Tyson knocks out Larry Holmes in the fourth round at Atlantic City to retain his world heavyweight title.

1989 — After winning his third Super Bowl as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh retires.

1998 — New York’s Pat LaFontaine reaches 1,000 career points, scoring his 19th goal in the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to Philadelphia.

2003 — Andy Roddick wins one of the longest matches of the Open era, beating Younes El Aynaoui in a fifth set that ended 21-19 to reach the Australian Open semifinals. The American won 4-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 21-19 in a match lasting 4 hours, 59 minutes — the longest men’s singles match at the Australian Open since tiebreaker sets were introduced into Grand Slam events in 1971.

2005 — Jockey Russell Baze passes Bill Shoemaker to take second place on the career win list. Russell gets his 8,834th victory aboard Hollow Memoires in the seventh race at Golden Gate Fields.

2006 — The Pittsburgh Steelers are the first team since the 1985 Patriots to win three postseason road games thanks to a 34-17 dismantling of the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game.

2006 — Kobe Bryant scores a staggering 81 points — the second-highest total in NBA history — and the Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 122-104.

2012 — The New England Patriots beat the Ravens 23-20 in the AFC championship game after Baltimore’s Billy Cundiff misses a 32-yard field goal attempt with 11 seconds remaining that would have tied the score.

2012 — New York’s Lawrence Tynes kicks a 31-yard field goal in sudden-death overtime and the Giants beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC championship game.

2016 — David Blatt, the second-year coach who guided Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2015, is fired despite the Cavaliers having a 30-11 record. Blatt is the first coach since conferences began in 1970-71 to be fired when his team had the best record in its conference.

2018 - New Orleans Pelicans’ DeMarcus Cousins has 44 points, 24 rebounds and 10 assists in 132-128 double-OT win over Chicago Bulls; 1st player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1972) with 40+ points, 20+ rebounds & 10+ assists.

Compiled by the Associated Press