Sports
Lakers fade again in Game 3 loss to Denver, moving to brink of elimination
It’s a colossal climb the Lakers are on, trouble lurking at every step.
One bad dribble, and Denver runs the other direction, creating an open three. One missed assignment, and Aaron Gordon cuts baseline for a dunk. One whiffed box out and the Nuggets get a second, and sometimes, a third chance.
One missed shot, and the margins get tighter, the chances get smaller, the ending gets closer.
One more tough night and the season will be done.
Boos started to fill Crypto.com Arena by the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Thursday, this time coming after a mistake on a screen led to an open Denver dunk. Reality had set in — one that probably should’ve been realized sooner.
The fact that the Lakers have been close to beating the Nuggets in the last 11 games has been no consolation. In fact, it probably makes it worse.
The climb they face has been too steep, too slippery and, again, too hard for this team to conquer.
Denver, like it always seems to do, was always there to gleefully capitalize on every Lakers mistake, every execution error. The Nuggets’ 112-105 win, even more so than their previous wins of the series, felt like relatively light work, with the Lakers dispatched relatively early in the second half.
Lakers forward Anthony Davis, right, tries to block a shot by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the first quarter Thursday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Lakers now trail Denver 3-0 in the best-of-seven playoff series — no team in NBA history has ever come back from that deficit.
“Our focus and our [mentality] right now is just trying to get one. Trying to get a game and then go from there,” Anthony Davis said. “Try to get a game on Saturday, Game 4. And go from there. However many straight [we lost], we can’t focus on that. Our focus is trying to [get] better from tonight, learn from our mistakes and try to get a win on Saturday. We can’t do anything about it. It’s in the past.”
The past, though, keeps showing up and the Lakers are playing in ways like it’s absolutely mattered — the team trying to climb out of a hole that started to be dug last season when Denver began its now 11-game winning streak against them.
The Nuggets outscored the Lakers by 12 in the third quarter, the game logs looking like they could’ve been Xeroxed from any of the previous 11 meetings between the teams.
In the series, Denver has been 31 points better in the third quarter. They’ve outscored the Lakers by 20 total points in the series.
“Our third quarter’s been atrocious,” Austin Reaves said.
The second-half problems — Denver has outscored the Lakers by 42 after halftime — have been a weapon used to criticize coach Darvin Ham and the Lakers’ inability to find the right adjustments.
But there was no adjusting to be done Thursday other than an easy one to spot — play better.
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1. Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon finger rolls his shot to score over Lakers forward LeBron James in the fourth quarter. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 2. Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell sits on the bench during the final moments of Game 3. 3. Lakers forward Taurean Prince, bottom, scrambles for a loose ball in front of (from left) Lakers forward Anthony Davis, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Lakers guard Austin Reaves. 4. Lakers teammates LeBron James, left, and Spencer Dinwiddie argue a call with a referee. 5. Lakers star LeBron James, left, looks over at Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and a referee during the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena.
“I think Denver’s just beating us, to be honest,” Reaves said. “You can talk about adjustments, you can talk about this and that, but at the end of the day, we got to go put our best foot forward in basketball games. You can talk about all the, everything else outside the talks of everything, but at the end of the day, you got to man up and go win games.”
Still, in addition to the late-game boos, some fans chanted “Fire Darvin Ham” as the Lakers stumbled in the fourth, the frustration extending beyond the benches into the stands.
Thursday wasn’t even Nikola Jokic’s night to rip the heart out of the Lakers. Foul trouble zapped some of his aggressiveness (his “off” night yielded 24 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists). And the Lakers again defended Jamal Murray fairly well, holding him to 22 points on eight-of-21 shooting.
But the Lakers lost on every other margin, Gordon owning the glass and Michael Porter Jr. hitting big shot after big shot.
The Lakers, like they have throughout the series, won the first minutes by playing with more energy, more pace and more force. They scored the first eight points — three coming on consecutive dunks — to prove that Murray’s winning shot on a buzzer-beater Monday hadn’t done permanent damage.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the push — the Lakers’ stars looking unstoppable as they attacked the Nuggets’ interior defense.
But just like in their series opener, the Lakers’ outside shots kept missing.
Rui Hachimura’s corner three with 5:24 left in the first quarter was the only Lakers’ basket from three until Taurean Prince hit a corner three with eight minutes left in the game.
By then, the Lakers were down double figures and more than 33 minutes of game time had vanished.
D’Angelo Russell struggled again, going scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting in his 24 minutes.
Russell, who projected confidence after shooting six for 20 in Game 1, declined to speak to the media Thursday.
“It’s unfortunate, man,” Ham said. “He had some good looks that he just didn’t knock down. It’s as simple as that. Similar to Game 1. He was able to bounce back in Game 2 and I expect him to bounce back in Game 4.”
Davis and James combined for 59 points on 60.4% shooting. The rest of the team made only 38.3%, with that number dropping to 30% if you remove Reaves and his eight-for-17 game.
The Lakers, again, looked like a team cracking under Denver’s pressure, the rims tightening and the ball squirting loose more and more as the stakes grew higher.
“This is the postseason. We’ve been — me and this guy have been playing together for six years. We’ve been to the mountaintop,” James said as he sat next to Davis after the game. “We’ve been close to the mountaintop. We’ve played a lot of games. We know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to win a championship and how damn-near perfect you gotta be. That’s not like something that’s so crazy to obtain. I’ve been a part of it four times where you have to have the most perfect basketball to win.”
This team hasn’t gotten close enough to perfect for the Lakers to look like a group relying more on hope than anything else.
Too many things that “can’t happen” against the Nuggets continued to happen against the Nuggets, like Russell’s struggles.
Reaves missed layups, his legs heavy from chasing Murray. Hachimura, after getting in the action early, completely faded on offense as he tried to limit Gordon and Jokic.
And Russell, a key to the Lakers’ season, spent the final minutes on the bench as Ham searched for anything from someone else.
Again, there was nothing to be found, a climb so dizzying and so treacherous, the ending is all but assured.
Sports
Fever star Caitlin Clark avoids serious injury after scary fall leads to early exit in preseason game
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Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark exited Thursday night’s preseason game against the Dallas Wings after colliding with one of their players.
Clark was seen hobbling on the court after taking a step-back three-point shot and landing on Wings star defender Alanna Smith’s foot in the third quarter of the matchup. Upon landing, Clark told reporters after the 95-80 loss that she hit her knee hard when she went down after the foul by Smith.
Clark rolled over on the court and tried to walk it off as she went toward the Fever bench. Officials ended up reviewing the play and gave Smith, the reigning co-Defensive Player of the Year in the WNBA, a Flagrant 1 foul for not giving Clark a safe amount of room to land after shooting.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark shoots the ball in the second half against the Dallas Wings at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 30, 2026. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)
Clark exited the game with fewer than eight minutes left in the third quarter.
She finished with a team-high 21 points despite missing most of the second half. Clark hit two of her three attempted three-pointers, while knocking down 11 of 13 from the free throw line. She also had two rebounds, four assists and one steal in the contest.
Being this was a preseason matchup, Fever fans were holding their collective breath watching Clark in the moment, especially considering the tumultuous season she had in 2025.
CAITLIN CLARK RETURNS TO WNBA COMPETITION AFTER 2025 INJURY IN FEVER PRESEASON GAME
Clark played just 13 games in her sophomore campaign, far from what she had hoped after winning WNBA Rookie of the Year and setting the single-season assists record in 2024.
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever brings the ball up the court against Odyssey Sims of the Dallas Wings during a preseason game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 30, 2026. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
But it appeared Clark avoided a serious injury that could’ve come in that situation. Being in someone’s landing zone after a shot can lead to severe injuries, especially ankles turning.
Fever head coach Stephanie White didn’t seem to want to push Clark, and sat her the rest of the way.
The Fever still have one more preseason game remaining on the schedule, as they face the Nigerian national team on Saturday. Then, it’s regular-season basketball, with the Fever’s first game that counts on the record against these same Wings in Dallas on May 9.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark questions a delay of game call against the Dallas Wings during a preseason game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 30. (Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire)
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The Wings are an intriguing team to watch, with Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, reuniting with fellow UConn teammate Paige Bueckers to begin her pro journey. Bueckers led the Wings with 20 points on Thursday night, while Fudd finished with four points.
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The Zion Phelps story is going to be told over and over at Loyola High to show students what can happen when someone discovers potential and decides to take a chance to bring it out.
In his first year running track after bragging during the football season that he was the fastest student at Loyola, Phelps proved on Thursday he’s also the fastest 100-meter runner in the Mission League by winning in a school-record time of 10.49 seconds at the Mission League finals at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
“I’m beyond grateful,” he said after embracing Loyola coach Sharaud Moore.
A junior defensive back, Phelps let Moore bring out his track talent, and now he has options in track and football.
Loyola’s Ejam Johannes offers the “shoosh” sign after anchoring the winning 4×100 relay team. He also won the Mission League 400 and 200 titles.
(Craig Weston)
Another Loyola athlete stepping forward in preparation for next weekend’s Southern Section Division 1 prelims was Ejam Yohannes. He ran anchor leg for the 4×100-meter relay team that beat Notre Dame for the first time in three years with a time of 40.75. At the finish, he put a finger over his lips and gave a “shoosh” sign. He also won the 400 meters in 47.05 and the 200 meters in 20.85, the fourth-best wind legal time in the state this year.
Notre Dame’s JJ Harel qualified in three events — going 6 feet, 10 inches in the high jump, 22-5¼ in the long jump and also qualifying in the triple jump.
The strangest moment of the day came in the Mission League 100 girls’ final. Nalia Keyes of Chaminade and Maya Rios of Bishop Alemany tied for first place, each finishing with a time of 12.46.
“It’s weird,” Rios said of her first ever race tie.
In the Marmonte League final, Demare Dezeurn of Westlake ran the 100 meters in 10.39 seconds to outduel Jaden Griffin of Newbury Park (10.50) and Kingston Celifie of Calabasas (10.56). Dezeurn played football for Palisades in the fall after transferring from Bishop Alemany last season.
Baseball
Sylmar 10, Kennedy 0: Rickee Luevano hit a grand slam for Sylmar.
Westlake 10, Newbury Park 3: Dylan Lee homered and Holden Backus had two hits and three RBIs.
Bishop Amat 3, La Serna 2: Ray Castro threw six innings and also had an RBI single.
Temecula Valley 3, Vista Murrieta 1: Grayson Martin gave up one hit and struck out seven in six innings.
Oaks Christian 17, Calabasas 8: Ryan Sheffer hit two home runs and finished with four RBIs.
Softball
Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Cypress 1: Jenna Valladares had an RBI triple and Shay Kletke threw a complete game.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 16, Louisville 0: Jackie Morales had three hits and six RBIs.
Harvard-Westlake 14, Chaminade 11: It was a wild Mission League game that ended on a walk-off grand slam by Kale’a Tindal in the bottom of the ninth inning. Chaminade scored five runs in the seventh to tie the score 9-9. Both teams scored runs in the eighth to make it 10-10. Chaminade took an 11-10 lead in the top of the ninth on an RBI single by Siena Greenlinger. Tindal finished with four hits and four RBIs. Dylan Fischer had a home run, two doubles, a single and four RBIs.
Murrieta Mesa 8, Great Oak 0: Tatum Wolff threw six innings, striking out 10 and walking none. She also hit a home run.
Sports
Drake Maye voices support for Patriots coach Mike Vrabel as off-field controversy continues to swirl
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Mike Vrabel has the full support of his young star quarterback.
The New England Patriots head coach and Drake Maye, in just his second NFL season, won the AFC and brought the Pats back to familiar territory: the Super Bowl.
The big game itself did not go how they had liked, but at the very least, it showed that Patriots fans likely have their coach-quarterback tandem for years to come.
New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel talks to quarterback Drake Maye during the second quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 19, 2025. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
But the team has hit quite the detour amid Vrabel’s controversy with former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini, which led to Vrabel having “difficult conversations with people that I care about” and even seeking counseling.
Last week, the Patriots said in a statement that they “fully support” their head coach, and Maye echoed similar sentiments.
“We’re here for coach, we love coach and what he does for us, and has done for us this past year. You can’t speak it into words, and thankfully, he’s our head coach,” Maye told WHDH-TV in Boston.
“We know he’s dealing with some stuff off the field and out of the coaching world, but we’re here for him and I know he’s gonna come back.”
Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots speaks with quarterback Drake Maye during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Sept. 7, 2025. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
DESHAUN WATSON HAS ‘INSIDE TRACK’ TO BE BROWNS’ WEEK 1 STARTING QUARTERBACK OVER SHEDEUR SANDERS: REPORT
The scandal began early this month when he and Russini were photographed together at a Sedona, Arizona, private resort holding hands and lying beside each other at a pool.
Since then, photos have surfaced from 2020 showing Vrabel and Russini kissing at a bar in New York City. The pictures exclusively obtained by the New York Post were taken in the early hours of March 11, 2020.
Russini reportedly married Kevin Goldschmidt, her husband and a Shake Shack executive, six months after the photos were snapped. Goldschmidt and Russini also share two children.
Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jen, since 1999, and they share two sons together. In the pictures, Vrabel’s wedding band is visible on his left hand while conversing with Russini. At the time, Russini was with ESPN, while Vrabel was coaching the Tennessee Titans.
Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)
Both initially denied any wrongdoing, but Russini has since resigned and is the subject of an investigation by her former employer.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson and OutKick’s Armando Salguero contributed to this report.
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