From Broderick Turner: LeBron James and Luka Doncic left the fans inside the Smoothie King Center in awe at their performances on Tuesday night.
The two of them led a Lakers’ smothering defense in the fourth quarter and an efficient offense.
James had a near triple-double of 30 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Doncic had 30 points and 10 assists, the two of them leading the Lakers to a 111-103 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I love what’s happening right now with Luka and LeBron and that partnership, whether it’s pick-and-roll with each other,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said.
As he talked about James and Doncic and how dynamic those two are, Redick beamed at his two stars.
“There’s some real synergy happening right now and it’s fun to watch,” Redick said.
Lakers’ Jake LaRavia reminds everyone who No. 12 is
Tyler Higbee knows the score
From Gary Klein: Tyler Higbee has played in 12 NFL playoff games during his 10-year career, so the veteran tight end knows, better than perhaps any other Rams player, what lies ahead.
Higbee was part of two teams that advanced to the Super Bowl.
“Don’t listen to the outside noise,” Higbee said when asked to describe the formula for a Super Bowl run. “You don’t look at the ifs, the what-could-be’s. You just come in, work, and take it a day at time. … Keep peaking week after week.”
The Rams, seeded No. 5 in the NFC, begin the playoffs on Saturday against the No. 4 Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
NFL playoffs schedule
All times Pacific
Wild-card round
NFC
Saturday
No. 5 Rams at No. 4 Carolina, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Chicago, 5 p.m., Prime Video
Sunday
No. 6 San Francisco at No. 3 Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
AFC
Sunday
No. 6 Buffalo at No. 3 Jacksonville, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+
No. 7 Chargers at No. 2 New England, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
Monday
No. 5 Houston at No. 4 Pittsburgh, 5 p.m., ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes; ManningCast-ESPN2
Divisional round
Jan. 17 and 18, TBA
Conference championships
Sunday, Jan. 25, TBA
Super Bowl
Sunday, Feb. 8, NBC, Time TBA
UCLA falls to Wisconsin
From Ben Bolch: Can a team be in crisis just a handful of games into conference play?
UCLA is testing that possibility given what happened here Tuesday night as part of a larger downward trend.
Lacking one of their top players with guard Skyy Clark sidelined by a hamstring injury, the Bruins also were deficient in many other areas.
Defense. Heart. Toughness. Cohesion. Intelligence.
In a game that the Bruins needed to win to get their season back on track and have any realistic chance at an elite finish in the Big Ten, they fell flat once more.
Another terrible first half led to another failed comeback for UCLA during an 80-72 loss to Wisconsin on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center, leaving the Bruins in search of answers that seem elusive.
“We have still not learned how to give ourselves a chance in a big game like this on the road,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said, alluding to repeated failures in hostile environments.
USC can’t hold on to big lead
From Ryan Kartje: The shots had stopped falling. The tension had started rising. Fresh off its worst loss of the Lindsay Gottlieb era, USC had, for the better part of three quarters, looked well on its way to a get-right win Tuesday, the sort that might help ease the embarrassment from a 34-point loss to bitter rival UCLA.
But over the course of the fourth quarter, as Oregon clawed its way back, the Trojans tightened up. The offense looked out of sorts. The defense looked out of breath. No. 21 USC (10-5, 2-2 in the Big Ten) missed its first eight shots of the quarter, just as Oregon (14-3, 2-2) exploded on that end, its worst fears coming to life out of the loss.
Over four minutes and 46 painful seconds, the Trojans went scoreless, unable to do much of anything but watch as Oregon stole a 71-66 victory Tuesday.
The loss was USC’s second in a row, marking the first time since January 2024 that the Trojans suffered consecutive defeats.
Trevor Zegras haunts the Ducks
Trevor Zegras scored twice for the Philadelphia Flyers in his first game against his former Anaheim team to lead them to a 5-2 win over the Ducks on Tuesday night.
Cutter Gauthier scored his 20th goal of the season for the Ducks in his second game in Philadelphia against the franchise he forced to trade him — and turned him into one of Philly’s biggest sports villains — as the Ducks lost their seventh straight game.
On a night the Flyers honored late founder Ed Snider, the arena was packed with fans just happy to root again for a team in playoff contention.
Flyers fans mostly showed up to boo — and profanely chant — at Gauthier. They roared in the second period when Garnet Hathaway cleanly crushed Gauthier into the boards.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1920 — Joe Malone of Quebec scores two goals to become the NHL’s career leader with 59 and leads the Bulldogs to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Arenas.
1925 — Harry Broadbent of the Montreal Maroons scores five goals in a 6-2 triumph over Hamilton.
1972 — The Lakers defeat the Atlanta Hawks 134-90 for their 33rd straight victory, an NBA record.
1979 — The Pittsburgh Steelers win their third AFC championship by beating the Houston Oilers 34-5 in a cold, steady rain at Three Rivers Stadium.
1981 — Marcel Dionne of the Kings scores his 1,000th point with a goal in a 5-3 triumph over the Hartford Whalers.
1987 — Gary Bossert of Niagara sets an NCAA record by hitting 12 of 14 three-point shots, including 11 straight, against Siena.
1992 — Pitchers Tom Seaver and Rollie Fingers are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Seaver receives the highest percentage of votes at that time in history.
1997 — Rutgers-Camden ends its NCAA-record 117-game losing streak with a 77-72 victory over Bloomfield College. The Division III Pioneers were winless since beating Ramapo 74-73 on Jan. 18, 1992.
2003 — Kobe Bryant makes an NBA-record 12 shots from three-point range, including nine straight, and scores 45 points in the Lakers’ 119-98 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.
2004 — Brian Boucher becomes the first NHL goalie in almost 55 years to record four consecutive shutouts. His 27 saves carry the Phoenix Coyotes past Washington 3-0.
2006 — The New England Patriots set an NFL mark with 10 straight postseason victories by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-3. New England’s milestone surpasses the nine straight playoff victories by Green Bay in the 1960s.
2007 — Coach Phil Jackson gets his 900th NBA victory as the Lakers defeated Dallas 101-98. Jackson is the fastest to reach 900, doing so in 1,264 games.
2008 — Second-ranked LSU turns the BCS national championship game into a horrible replay for No. 1 Ohio State. Matt Flynn throws four touchdown passes in a 38-24 win. LSU (12-2) becomes the first two-loss team to play for the title and wins its second BCS crown in five seasons.
2010 — Alabama knocks Texas quarterback Colt McCoy out of the BCS title game early and goes on to a 37-21 victory for the Crimson Tide’s first national title since 1992.
2011 — Rookie Luke Harangody has career highs with 17 points and 11 rebounds for his first NBA double-double, and the Boston Celtics earn the 3,000th victory in franchise history, beating the Toronto Raptors 122-102.
2012 — Old Dominion routs hapless Towson 75-38 giving the Tigers the NCAA Division I record for consecutive losses at 35. Towson had been tied at 34 with Sacramento State.
2012 — Jarome Iginla scores his 500th career goal, leading the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Iginla is the 42nd player in NHL history to reach the milestone and the 15th to do it with one team.
2013 — Alabama rolls to its second consecutive BCS championship, and third in four seasons, beating No. 1 Notre Dame 42-14 in a BCS championship game. AJ McCarron throws four touchdown passes and Eddie Lacy runs for 140 yards and scores twice for the second-ranked Crimson Tide.
2019 — College Football, National Championship, Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara: No. 2 Clemson beats No. 1 Alabama, 44-16.
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.