Sports
Column: 'There’s no excuses for us.' Lakers' ineptitude continues, with no letup in sight
If this wasn’t rock bottom for the Lakers, if a performance that was atrocious in nearly every significant way wasn’t the worst moment of a season that’s rapidly taking on the sour stench of frustration and the annoying whine of making excuses instead of making shots, it’s difficult to imagine how much worse this can be.
But stick around. The answer could come as soon as Friday, when the now sub-.500 Lakers take a three-game losing streak into a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies, or on Sunday against the hot Clippers.
The Lakers’ stumbles and ineptitude at both ends of the floor were epic in a 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday. They got off to another slow start. They committed 22 turnovers, which the Heat turned into 22 points. They hit only four of 30 three-point attempts. “Shooting 13%, you’re not going to win those games when you do that,” a subdued Austin Reaves said with as much disgust as accuracy.
The Lakers (17-18) now have lost four of their last five games and nine of 12 since they won the NBA’s in-season tournament. Of their three victories, two were over weak opponents, San Antonio and Charlotte. Only their win at Oklahoma City on Dec. 23 can be considered a quality victory.
The sobering part is that during this stretch Anthony Davis (29 points, 17 rebounds, six assists on Wednesday) has been superb. LeBron James, though noticeably off against Miami with a six-for-18 shooting performance and 12 points, has been good — though he took a rare night off from postgame interviews. Reaves, restored to the starting lineup against the Heat, responded with a season-high 24 points and has overall been solid lately. The Lakers aren’t losing because their big guys are playing poorly or are missing due to illness or injury.
They’re losing, not because Gabe Vincent had knee surgery or Rui Hachimura had a facial fracture and more recently a calf strain, or Jarred Vanderbilt has been in and out of the lineup because of injuries. They’re losing because their roster is badly constructed, because Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince remain in the starting lineup despite being offensive liabilities: neither scored a point against Miami, with Reddish playing 18:40 and Prince 28:48.
But coach Darvin Ham, while saying no excuse is acceptable for losing, continued to offer excuses and insist that the lack of consistency in their lineup is a cause of this mess.
“We can’t find any consistency until we get healthy. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got to get healthy,” he said. “And once you get healthy, guys have got to get back in rhythm and we’ve got to find a cohesive unit, a total cohesive rotation that we can go with. You’re dealing with different guys being in and out of the lineup that frequently it’s damned near impossible to find a rhythm. That’s just being real.”
Even Davis didn’t buy that.
“I don’t think it’s a whole thing of who’s starting and who’s not. Everybody is capable of doing what we have to do to win basketball games on both ends of the floor. So the whole lineup thing is an excuse,” he said. “We have high-level-IQ guys who know what they should be doing individually and what we should be doing as a team on both ends of the floor.
“[On Wednesday] they threw a zone in and they just dared us to make shots and we didn’t. Kind of took us out of our thing, but 10 turnovers in the first quarter was kind of a recipe for disaster.”
Not kind of. It was.
“It’s a little bit of everything right now. We’re not executing,” Davis said. “That team played harder than us tonight, executed better than us tonight, more physical than us tonight. We got outworked tonight, so it’s a bit of everything right now. If we keep on this train, it’s not going to be good for us.
“It’s kind of obvious that we have to figure it out sooner than later. Guys being out is no excuse. There’s no excuses for us. Every guy in this locker room is here to win, but we just have to go out and compete.”
And if they don’t, what felt like rock bottom could turn out to be the good old days. Asked after the game if it represented the worst moment of the Lakers’ season, Reaves said he’d likely do the same soul-searching he always does after a loss.
“You replay the game in your mind and think about all of the things you could’ve done better, that we could’ve done better as a collective group. And just think about it,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t say it’s a low point of the season. I think there’s too much time left to sit here and feel sad for ourselves. We gotta figure it out. That’s the main thing. Sitting here feeling sad for ourselves isn’t gonna be the culprit to us figuring it out. We have to, like I said, figure it out. Step up and look in the mirror. If it’s you, that you can do something better, or you can speak to your teammates to do something better, then do that. But I wouldn’t call it a low moment.”
Then call it another big stumble in a season full of potholes that excuses can’t fill.
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For the first time in more than two decades, the Illinois men’s basketball team will still be dancing when the Final Four tips off.
Iowa’s underdog run in the NCAA Tournament ended Saturday with a 71-59 loss to a dominant Illinois team. Before Illinois could cut down the nets at Houston’s Toyota Center, a buzzer malfunction caused a loud, roughly 10-minute delay.
The buzzer initially sounded signaling the end of a media timeout with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. The horn continued blaring for about another seven minutes.
A referee talks with the scorer’s table during an official’s timeout due to a broken shot clock horn during the first half of an Elite Eight game between Iowa and Illinois in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Players stood on the court ready to play for a couple of minutes before both teams started to warm up as the buzzer continued to sound.
It was finally silenced, to cheers from the crowd, but then the main scoreboard and video screen that hangs over the middle of the court went dark.
The game ultimately resumed with the big scoreboard still off. Two smaller scoreboards at each end of the arena were working.
Freshman guard Keaton Wagler scored 25 points to help secure Illinois’ first Final Four berth since 2005.
Keaton Wagler (23) of the Illinois Fighting Illini dribbles against Isaia Howard (23) of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center March 28, 2026, in Houston, Texas. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
This will be the sixth overall trip to the Final Four for Illinois, which has never won a national title. The Fighting Illini will face either Duke or UConn next week in Indianapolis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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BASEBALL
CITY SECTION
Palisades 2, North Hollywood 1
South Gate 5, Sun Valley Poly 4
SOUTHERN SECTION
Alta Loma 5, Schurr 3
Anaheim Canyon 6, Segerstrom 4
Beaumont 13, San Jacinto Valley Academy 3
Bethel Christian 15, United Christian Academy 1
Brea Olinda 8, Tustin 2
Buena Park 5, Savanna 3
Cajon 9, Granite Hills 5
Claremont 13, Littlerock 2
Compton 12, Compton Centennial 3
Covina 9, San Marino 6
El Segundo 13, Palos Verdes 4
Ganesha 13, Santa Ana Foothill 3
Golden Valley 9, Lancaster 8
Hesperia 8, Miller 7
Katella 6, Canyon Springs 3
La Serna 5, Alhambra 2
Linfield Christian 10, Woodbridge 0
Long Beach Cabrillo 17, Hawthorne 1
Montclair 2, Vista del Lago 0
Moorpark 16, Foothill Tech 11
Oxford Academy 7, Century 6
Rancho Mirage 1, Indian Springs 0
Rancho Verde 9, Riverside Poly 5
San Dimas 13, Irvine 2
Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 14, HMSA 11
Sonora 7, Long Beach Wilson 6
St. Paul 5, El Modena 3
Troy 5, Hacienda Heights Wilson 2
Valley View 16, Carter 10
Whittier Christian 9, Estancia 3
INTERSECTIONAL
Dominguez 13, King/Drew 2
Downers Grove 11, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel
Downtown Magnets 12, Long Beach Jordan 5
Inglewood 10, Stella 0
Layton 5, Schurr 4
Kentucky Trinity 5, St. John Bosco 0
Murrieta Valley 10, Galena 7
Orange Lutheran 7, Florida Venice 6
Santa Barbara 14, Douglas 6
Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 16, Collins Family 1
St. Bernard 7, San Diego University City 5
Tonopah 23, Lone Pine 8
SOFTBALL
CITY SECTION
San Fernando 5, LA Roosevelt 3
San Pedro 11, Legacy 1
Sun Valley Poly 8, LA Roosevelt 2
SOUTHERN SECTION
Alemany 9, Canyon Country Canyon 1
Burbank Burroughs 2, Rosary Academy 1
California 16, Whittier Christian 13
California 7, San Clemente 1
Camarillo 4, Chaminade 3
Camarillo 18, Rio Mesa 0
Capistrano Valley 9, Beckman 3
Chino Hills 15, Chino 3
Corona 10, Ridgecrest Burroughs 0
Crean Lutheran 11, Avalon 2
Crean Lutheran 13, Avalon 2
Edison 7, Crescenta Valley 5
Edison 2, Vasquez 1
Irvine 7, Long Beach Wilson 5
JSerra 2, Capistrano Valley 1
Leuzinger 11, Hawthorne 0
Marina 2, Los Alamitos 1
Mater Dei 10, Redondo Union 0
Mira Costa 9, Newport Harbor 3
Palos Verdes 2, Los Altos 1
Paraclete 11, Saugus 1
Rancho Mirage 14, Cathedral City 6
Rosary Academy 7, Fountain Valley 2
San Clemente 7, Whittier Christian 2
Simi Valley 7, West Ranch 1
Simi Valley 5, St. Bonaventure 5
St. Genevieve 7, Sacred Heart of Jesus 4
St. Paul 6, Warren 2
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy d. Hoover, forfeit
Thousand Oaks 8, Rio Mesa 0
United Christian Academy 13, Bethel Christian 5
Vasquez 4, Woodbridge 0
Warren 5, La Serna 0
Westlake 4, St. Bonaventure 2
Westlake 0, Chaminade 0
Westlake 4, St. Bonaventure 2
West Ranch 10, Thousand Oaks 4
West Torrance 6, Hart 0
INTERSECTIONAL
Alemany 11, Arleta 1
Arleta 10, Canyon Country Canyon 8
Downey 6, Legacy 0
Downey 10, San Pedro 0
Granada Hills 8, La Serna 5
Muir 8, San Fernando 4
Muir 12, Sun Valley Poly 3
San Luis Obispo 7, Torres 6
St. Paul 8, Granada Hills 4
Sports
‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin avenges Olympic disappointment with backflip for third straight world title
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It seems like Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God,” has done a nice job of moving on from his Olympic heartbreak.
Last month, the 21-year-old Team USA star was the overwhelming favorite to bring home the gold in the men’s free skate. But the unimaginable happened as he fell twice and dropped all the way to eighth place.
However, he has begun to avenge the loss and is now a three-time world champion.
Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Malinin shouted and punched the air with relief after finishing a skate that showed he had achieved his desire to “move on” from the Olympics after days of being tormented by his mistakes.
Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total of 329.40, far ahead of silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan on 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third on 288.54.
Malinin was blunt about his Olympic performance when speaking to NBC afterward, saying simply, “I blew it,” and said it was a clear mental hurdle from start to finish.
“I just had so many thoughts and memories flood right before I got into my starting pose, and almost, I think, it maybe overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences,” Malinin told reporters.
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin from the United States waves to spectators after the medal ceremony after the men’s free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
LINDSEY VONN KEEPING RETURN TO SKIING ON TABLE DESPITE INJURIES: ‘I DON’T LIKE TO CLOSE THE DOOR ON ANYTHING’
“So, I just feel like it’s the pressure of especially being that Olympic gold medal hopeful. It was just something I can’t control now. The pressure of the Olympics, it’s really something different, and I think not a lot of people understand that. They only understand that from the inside and going into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good,” he added. “But it really just went by so fast I did not have time to process.”
But with some pressure off, Malinin was able to show who he truly is on the ice.
Gold medalist, Ilia Malinin from the United States waves before the medal ceremony after the men’s free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Malinin becomes the first skater to win three consecutive men’s world titles since fellow American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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