The Sports Report: Luka Doncic’s debut with Lakers is a success

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

From Dan Woike: It wasn’t any other night, not in the story of this season, not in the history of this franchise.

Before Luka Doncic played his first second as a Laker, his name and number were on a T-shirt draped over every seat in the building. His aura was inescapable, from the Serbian pregame music to the buzz in the building each time his face appeared on the scoreboard.

It’d been more than a week since the Lakers shocked everyone by dealing for Doncic, a move that secured the organization its future. This was what people wanted to see.

And among those people? LeBron James.

Someday, this will be Doncic’s franchise, but Monday’s Lakers debut was as much about the partnership between their two best players, No. 23 and No. 77 turning the building’s energy all the way to 100.

Before the Lakers’ 132-113 win against Utah, James and Doncic gathered in the team’s huddle after introductions. Notably, Doncic, instead of James, heard his name last. And if Doncic needed another reminder of how he was being embraced, James gave it to him.

“Don’t fit in,” James told Doncic while addressing the team. “Fit the f— out. Be yourself.”

“Chills,” Doncic said of the moment.

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Lakers box score

NBA scores

NBA standings

Team Luka: A look at the people who are part of Doncic’s inner circle

Luka Doncic makes Lakers debut shortly after giving a $500,000 fire relief donation

UCLA BASKETBALL

From Ben Bolch: Three days after he absorbed a vicious blow to the face, breaking his nose and making him so unsteady that his coach yanked him from the game after a brief return, Eric Dailey Jr. started a video call with his father.

Never mind that it was Christmas Eve, or that the UCLA sophomore forward hadn’t been outfitted with the custom mask he would need to play again. There were holiday tidings to share.

“In the gym, buddy, you know what it is,” Dailey said. “I don’t use my nose to play, I use my legs. My legs and arms are good.”

A day later, in the early hours of Christmas morning, there was another message from the same place.

“I’m going to get some shots up,” Dailey said, “and go eat with coach.”

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CLIPPERS

From Broderick Turner: The Clippers announced that they have signed Ben Simmons to a deal on Monday, giving them another big body and athletic player.

Simmons, who has had an up-and-down career since being drafted No. 1 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016, was available after getting a buyout of his contract from the Brooklyn Nets and then clearing waivers.

He was in the final year of a five-year deal that paid him $40 million this season.

The 6-10 guard averaged 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in 33 games with the Nets this season.

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Ninety-nine percent.

According to Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection system, that is the Dodgers’ likelihood of making the playoffs this year. A whopping 99.4%, to be exact, before a single pitch has even been thrown.

It’s just the latest example of the unrelenting expectations facing the Dodgers in this new season. After bolstering their World Series-winning roster with a hefty winter spending spree, anything short of the playoffs is unthinkable. And as they try to become MLB’s first repeat champion in a quarter-century, anything other than a title defense would feel like a failure.

“The expectation for our group every year is to the win the World Series,” general manager Brandon Gomes said last week. “That’s no different this year.”

What is different, however, is the level of talent and depth the Dodgers have amassed at seemingly each position group, from a star-studded starting rotation to a versatile and veteran lineup of hitters.

As a result, there aren’t many concerns confronting the team as it opens spring training at Camelback Ranch in Arizona on Tuesday. But, with the team just four weeks away from its season-opening trip to Japan, here are four questions to monitor in camp ahead of the 2025 season.

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Dodgers bring back former GM Farhan Zaidi in a special advisor role

HORSE RACING

From John Cherwa: California horse racing, now in danger of shutting down, could have put itself on solid footing more than a decade ago when it explored the idea of adding electronic machines that allow gamblers to bet on replays of horse races at its tracks.

The facilities, individually, were in favor of installing the devices known as Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machines. The Native American tribes, which control non-pari-mutuel gambling in the state, were willing to become partners. All that was needed was consensus within the California horse racing industry.

Louis Cella, Chuck Winner and Scott Daruty went to Sacramento to solve the problem.

“We … lobbied them and we were very close to coming to a resolution on HHR in California,” said Cella, whose family owns Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and were the first to install HHR-like machines. “But then you had the conflicting views from the Northern tracks and the Southern tracks and the management in between couldn’t agree on anything. It became moot. It could not be solved.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1878 — The Boston Bicycle Club, the first bicycle club in the United States, is formed.

1949 — Willie Pep becomes the first boxer in the history of the 126-pound class to regain a lost championship with a 15-round unanimous decision over Sandy Saddler at Madison Square Garden.

1950 — Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings scores three goals for his first NHL hat trick. Howe also has two assists in the 9-4 victory over the Boston Bruins.

1970 — The Atlanta Hawks score 97 points, the most ever scored in the second half of an NBA game, en route to a 155-131 win at San Diego.

1971 — Montreal’s Jean Beliveau scores his 500th goal in the Canadiens’ 6-2 victory over the Minnesota North Stars.

1982 — Houston Rockets center Moses Malone grabs an NBA-record 21 offensive rebounds in a 117-100 win over Seattle.

1982 — For the first time in NHL history, referee Kerry Fraser awards penalty shots in the same period. Vancouver’s Thomas Gradin and Ivan Hlinka each score against Red Wings goalie Gilles Gilbert in the third period of a 4-4 tie at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.

1988 — Wayne Gretzky gets his NHL-record ninth 100-point season. Gretzky scores a goal and has two assists in the Edmonton Oilers’ 7-2 victory at Vancouver to give him 101 points, He passes Marcel Dionne, who had eight seasons.

1990 — Mike Tyson loses for the first time when James “Buster” Douglas knocks him out in the 10th round and captures the heavyweight championship in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

1992 — Anfissa Reztsova wins the women’s 7.5-kilometer biathlon event to become the first woman to get gold medals in two different Winter Olympic sports. She skied the final 5-kilometer leg on the Soviet Union’s winning 20K cross-country relay team in the 1988 Olympics.

2000 — Boston’s Ray Bourque becomes the second defenseman, and ninth player, in NHL history to reach 1,500 points. Bourque scores a goal for the Bruins in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

2007 — Anja Paerson captures the downhill, becoming the first skier to win gold medals in all five disciplines at the world championships. Paerson, who also won the super-G and combined titles earlier in the week, won gold medals in the giant slalom at the last two worlds and one in the slalom in 2001.

2017 — Ajee’ Wilson breaks the American record in the women’s indoor 800 meters to win the event for the fourth straight year in the NYRR Millrose Games. Wilson finishes in 1:58.27 at The Armory to break the mark of 1:58.71 set by Nicole Teter in 2002.

2017 — Henrik Lundqvist makes 32 saves for his 400th career win and the New York Rangers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2.

2018 — In Pyeongchang, South Korea, David Gleirscher is a surprise winner giving Austria its first gold in men’s luge in 50 years. Chris Mazdzer, who’s season hit rock-bottom less than a month ago, makes history for the U.S., giving the Americans their first men’s singles medal by finishing second.

2018 — Dutchman Sven Kramer becomes only male speedskater to win same Olympic event three times, claiming gold in the 5,000 at Pyongchang; first man to win eight Olympic medals in the sport.

2024 — The Kansas City Chiefs win back to back titles defeating the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII. Patrick Mahomes named MVP. Super Bowl LVIII is the most-watched TV program in US history, averaging 123.4 million viewers across television and streaming platforms.

Compiled by the Associated Press