From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: LeBron James needed to send this message.
He still sits on his throne.
The Lakers superstar scored 10 consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to seal a 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, finishing with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists to help the Lakers (17-6) nab two wins out of a difficult three-game trip.
Philadelphia (13-10) crawled back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter and tied the score with 1:28 remaining on a shot by Joel Embiid. James answered with the fadeaway three-pointer over Quentin Grimes to put the Lakers up by three with 1:11 left. He all but iced the game with a 20-foot fadeaway shot over Grimes with 27.3 seconds remaining.
Running back up the court, James held both hands low to the ground in a “too small” signal. He placed an imaginary crown on his head. He soaked in the roars from the crowd and punctuated it with his signature silencer celebration.
“That was vintage Bron,” said Luka Doncic, who finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists after a two-game absence for the birth of his second child. “We’re happy he was there to save us.”
James played in his 1,015th win, passing Robert Parish for the second most in NBA history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record with 1,074. The Lakers won for the first time in Philadelphia since Dec. 16, 2016.
RAMS
From Gary Klein: There was no time for players and fans to send Rams coach Sean McVay get-well-soon cards.
A day after deciding not to travel with the team for fear of spreading stomach-flu symptoms, McVay arrived Sunday morning.
McVay fist-bumped players during warmups at State Farm Stadium, his trademark gelled hair spikes in full effect. And he looked none the worse for the wear while roaming the sideline sockless and calling plays against the Arizona Cardinals.
McVay and his players were feeling good after the Rams routed the Cardinals, 45-17.
Matthew Stafford passed for three touchdowns, Puka Nacua caught two touchdown passes in a game for the first time in his career, and Blake Corum rushed for a career-high 128 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams bounced back from a loss to the Carolina Panthers and improved to 10-3, reclaiming the top spot in the NFC.
FERNANDO DOES NOT MAKE HALL OF FAME
From Jack Harris: Fernando Valenzuela was once more denied induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fourteen months removed from his death at the age of 63 in October 2024, and 27 years removed from the end of a pitching career measured by more than just wins, losses and ERA, Valenzuela failed to be elected for the 2026 Hall of Fame class by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee — a 16-person group that once every three years considers players from the 1980s or later who had not been elected to the Hall through the traditional media vote.
Needing 12 votes from that committee to attain Hall of Fame status, Valenzuela instead came up short by receiving fewer than five.
Because Valenzuela didn’t receive five votes, he will be ineligible to be back on the Contemporary Era Committee’s ballot in 2028. The next time the committee could review his case won’t be until 2031.
Until then, his name will remain among the most notable snubs from Hall of Fame induction.
Former Dodgers slugger and noted curmudgeon Jeff Kent voted into the Hall of Fame
From Ryan Kartje: For the 11th straight season and fourth time under coach Lincoln Riley, USC finished its season on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff field.
But it will get to finish this football season with a first.
USC will face Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30, a source not authorized to discuss the matchup publicly confirmed to The Times. The Trojans never have spent the bowl season in San Antonio, where the Alamo Bowl has been played since 1993.
Their opponent comes as somewhat of a surprise considering the Horned Frogs finished the regular season 8-4 in a tie for fifth in the Big 12. The Alamo Bowl gets first selection of Big 12 teams and could have chosen Brigham Young, which lost in the Big 12 title game and, like USC, finished within one win of the playoff field. But the bowl presumably passed on the Cougars because they took part in the game last season.
USC BASKETBALL
From Ryan Kartje: Jazzy Davidson glanced at the basket with less than two minutes left in USC’s Big Ten opener and in a split-second’s time considered her options. Nearly nothing had fallen from three-point range for the Trojans. It took 25 minutes Sunday just to see one three-pointer drop, and the Trojans had made only two.
But the mere threat of the freshman pulling up from range, even on a night defined by defensive struggle, was enough to give Davidson the sliver of space she needed. After pausing she raced past her defender and toward the basket, lifting for a finger roll that propelled USC past Washington in a 59-50 victory.
The win wasn’t just a significant statement for USC ahead of its heavyweight battle with No. 1 Connecticut next Saturday. It was also a major mile marker for Lindsay Gottlieb, who became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins.
USC-NOTRE DAME RIVALRY
From Bill Plaschke: The ongoing discussions about continuing the expired USC-Notre Dame football rivalry should begin with one basic truth.
Notre Dame needs USC more than USC needs Notre Dame.
The Irish are reeling today after they were stunningly left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff, but they never would have been part of the playoff conversation without a win over Holiday Bowl-bound USC.
The 10-2 Irish lost their first two games of the season before embarking on their usual cupcake schedule.
Somewhere in the muck of forgettable games against the likes of Boise State and Boston College and Navy, they needed a marquee win.
USC showed up in October and gave them the opportunity for that marquee win. Every year USC shows up in the middle of the season and gives them a chance at collecting that marquee win.
UCLA BASKETBALL
From Antony Solorzano: Any time UCLA built a significant lead in the first half, Oregon tried to slow the the Bruins’ momentum with a timeout. The first call came after a UCLA built a 10-point advantage in the first quarter, with the second timeout after UCLA pulled ahead by 19 points.
It didn’t work — the Bruins remained in control of the game.
The No. 4 UCLA women’s basketball team (9-1) earned an 80-59 win over Oregon (10-1) during their Big Ten opener at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.
UCLA WATER POLO
Frederico Jucá Carsalade scored with one second remaining to cap a four-goal fourth quarter, and UCLA rallied to beat USC 11-10 to win the men’s water polo championship Sunday at the Avery Aquatic Center.
It was the 14th championship for the second-seeded and defending champion Bruins (27-2), winning back-to-back titles for the fifth time.
USC (23-4), the top seed, was aiming for its 11th title — all since 1998 — in a tournament that began in 1969. The Trojans won six in a row from 2008 to 2013.
DUCKS
Leo Carlsson scored two goals and rookie Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist in the Ducks’ 7-1 victory over the road-weary Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.
Jacob Trouba, Mason McTavish, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano also scored for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks, who have won three of four. The Ducks took charge with a four-goal second period that featured a franchise-record 27 shots on Chicago’s net, capped by Carlsson’s 15th goal on a fluttering deflection for a 5-0 lead.
Ville Husso made 19 saves for the Ducks, who beat Chicago for the first time in three tries this season. Ryan Strome, Cutter Gauthier and Chris Kreider had two assists apiece.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1940 — The Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 for the most one-sided victory in NFL Championship play.
1942 — Georgia’s Frank Sinkwich wins the Heisman Trophy. Sinkwich ends his career holding the Southeastern Conference record for total offense with 2,399 yards.
1948 — Southern Methodist junior Doak Walker wins the Heisman Trophy. Walker over three years scores 303 points, including 40 touchdowns and 60 points after touchdowns.
1961 — Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points and grabs 43 rebounds in a 151-147 triple overtime loss to the Lakers. Elgin Baylor leads the Lakers with 63 points.
1963 — Cookie Gilchrist of the Buffalo Bills sets an AFL record with 243 yards rushing and ties a league record with five touchdowns in a 45-14 rout of the New York Jets.
1977 — Texas running back Earl Campbell wins the Heisman Trophy.
1987 — Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes the first NHL goaltender to shoot a puck into the opposing goal in a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
2000 — Shaquille O’Neal sets an NBA record by going 0-for-11 from the free-throw line as the SuperSonics beat the Lakers 103-95. He broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record, who went 0-for-10 for Philadelphia against Detroit on Nov. 4, 1960. O’Neal had 26 points and 16 rebounds.
2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon sets an NFL record with his 10th 300-yard game of the season, throwing for 328 yards in the Raider 27-7 win over San Diego and breaking a tie with Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Kurt Warner.
2007 — Florida quarterback Tim Tebow becomes the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. He beats out Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the first player since 1949 to finish second in consecutive seasons.
2011 — Three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols agrees to a $254-million, 10-year contract with the Angels on the final day of baseball’s winter meetings. Pujols’ contract is the second-highest in baseball history and only the third to break the $200 million barrier, following Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas before the 2001 season and A-Rod’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees before the 2008 season.
2011 — The NBA and players union reach financial agreement to end a 161-day lockout, shortening the season by 16 games.
2012 — Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel becomes the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, taking college football’s top individual prize after a record-breaking debut. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finishes a distant second and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein is third in the voting.
2013 — Zach Johnson rallies from four shots behind with eight holes to play and beats Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in golf, at the World Challenge. Johnson holes out from a drop area for par on the last hole to force a playoff and wins when Woods misses a 5-foot par putt on the first extra hole.
2013 — Lydia Ko, a 16-year-old from New Zealand, rallies to win her first title as a professional. Ko, making her second pro start, wins the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters, closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory over South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu. She won four pro events as an amateur, taking the Canadian Women’s Open the last two years.
2018 — Kyler Murray, Oklahoma, wins Heisman Trophy.
2022 — American basketball star Brittany Griner is released by Russian authorities in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; Griner detained on drug smuggling charges since February 2022.
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. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.