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LeBron James rallies Lakers from 21 down in the fourth to stun the Clippers

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LeBron James rallies Lakers from 21 down in the fourth to stun the Clippers

LeBron James’ tongue wagged after he glided from right to left to bank in a runner off one foot. He shook his head after he drained another three-point shot.

And in the end, James lifted two hands in the air in celebration.

“He,” D’Angelo Russell said “did him.”

In the final Hallway Series showdown between the Lakers and the Clippers — unless the Crypto.com Arena co-tenants meet in the playoffs — the NBA’s all-time leading scorer ensured the meeting wouldn’t be forgettable

Despite the Lakers trailing by 21 in the fourth quarter, James brought them all the way back, and when they needed to get one last stop to ensure the win, James was there to meet the challenge.

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Kawhi Leonard’s baseline jumper missed short with James’ hand in his face, the Lakers winning 116-112 on Wednesday night after it looked like a blowout loss was on the way.

Ten seasons ago, the Clippers and their coach at the time, Doc Rivers, hatched a plan to cover the Lakers’ championship banners to make the arena they share feel more like their home. Wednesday, one of those banners read “Give no quarter.”

No matter. James was there to take the fourth.

He scored 19 of his 34 points in the quarter while dishing out four late assists, the Lakers getting huge shots from Rui Hachimura and Russell as they walloped the Clippers 39-16 in the final frame.

James scored or assisted on 11 of the 13 Lakers field goals in the fourth to wrap the Hallway Series era.

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“Sicko mode,” Anthony Davis said.

In the second half, James guarded Leonard – the second-straight game where the Lakers adjusted by using him as a defender.

“Just got to do what I gotta do,” James said. “If I’m in a lineup, if I’m on the floor, I got to make plays. Sometimes I got to make even more plays. And tonight was one of those moments where I had to make even more plays in order for us to even get back into the game and then ultimately win the game.”

Before the game, It felt like there would be some kind of resolution Wednesday.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was frustrated, the team having lost two of three since the All-Star break. The Clippers had pushed to the top of the Western Conference earlier in the month, looking like one of the league’s title contenders.

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But losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Sacramento Kings underscored slippage in execution and maybe some waning attention.

LeBron James beats Terance Mann for a basket in the second quarter.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Lakers coach Darvin Ham also was frustrated, the team also having lost two of three since the break.

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A run to end the first half of the season had created momentum, the team looking like a threat to make the playoff field and avoid the play-in tournament. But losses to the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns, plus a sloppy win against lowly San Antonio had the team trying to recapture rhythm.

The Clippers were looking to prove that their brief malaise was the kind of thing that happens to title teams — a let-up before refocusing for the final stretch.

And the Lakers?

“We needed one of these,” Ham said.

The Clippers, without All-Star forward Paul George and center Ivica Zubac, made a statement early, Terance Mann slamming a dunk over Davis in the opening minutes. And they reaffirmed it later, Kawhi Leonard walking into a three to extinguish a brief Lakers run in the second half.

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But there was no slowing James, not as he ensured the Lakers won the season series with the Clippers for the first time since 2012.

Rui Hachimura of the Lakers dunks over Terance Mann.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

The Clippers’ defense never fully activated, and the Lakers shot better than 50% for most of the game. But the stops for the Lakers never materialized, the Clippers hitting shots too often and too easily, Norman Powell ending the third with a buzzer-beating three in front of Austin Reaves, who was helpless to do anything other than roll his eyes in frustration.

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But in the fourth, James was otherworldly — the Lakers winning the potential final fight as the road team in their building.

“In the second half we got up and then we turned the basketball over, didn’t get back in transition, and then of course LeBron got it going and then offensively we weren’t very organized,” Lue said. “We didn’t get organized, we didn’t do things we were supposed to do and so I take full responsibility for that. Just making sure we’re organized, knowing what we’re supposed to do. And like I said, then LeBron exploded.”

James’ fourth quarter began with him three threes in four Lakers’ possessions, quickly flipping the blowout into a competitive game. And then as the Clippers’ began to adjust, he picked apart the defense, opening the door for Hachimura and Russell to finish the game off.

“He had to take the cape, tuck it under his seat on the bench, I guess. It was time for him to whip it out. He definitely did that, put the cape on, and just got aggressive and got into good rhythm,” Ham said. “He’s been shooting the ball extremely well this whole entire season. And that was just another case of it. Once he got in rhythm and with his playmaking skills, he sets the tone with his shooting and going downhill. But then once they start scheming and trying to hit double team late, he was able to pick them apart with the pass and that’s just who he is.”

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Ex-NFL star implores Russell Wilson to hang it up: ‘Do your TV thing’

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Ex-NFL star implores Russell Wilson to hang it up: ‘Do your TV thing’

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Russell Wilson has had his share of ups and downs in his NFL career.

He helped the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2013 and was named to the Pro Bowl four times. But the last few years of his career arguably did some damage to his legacy as he’s spent the last three seasons with three different teams.

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New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 9, 2025. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)

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Wilson is still on the free-agent market as he looks to latch on to a new team for 2026. However, former NFL star Aqib Talib implored Wilson to hang up the cleats.

“Do your TV thing, Russ. It’s over with, man. Once you’ve got to decide, do I even want to play?” Talib said on “The Arena: Gridiron.” “I think you don’t really want to play. I hate when guys get to the later part of their career and then they start doing the bounce-around thing and they’re not going to win. There was no chip in New York. That’s just going to be another stop on your resume.”

Wilson reportedly garnered some interest from NFL teams.

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson stands on the field before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on Oct. 26, 2025. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)

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He told the New York Post that the New York Jets were one of them.

Wilson also was reportedly a candidate to take Matt Ryan’s spot on CBS’ “The NFL Today” after Ryan left to take a front office job with the Atlanta Falcons.

Wilson has 46,966 passing yards and 353 passing touchdowns in 205 career games, but the 2025 season with the New York Giants was one to forget.

Wilson started three games and made some bizarre decisions in a loss against the Chiefs. Jaxson Dart was named the starting quarterback. As he came in to take a few snaps while Dart was being checked for a concussion, Wilson was booed.

New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second half against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 19, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)

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Should he end up signing with another team, Wilson will be entering his age-38 season.

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Artists, community come together to welcome World Cup to Inglewood with murals and more

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Artists, community come together to welcome World Cup to Inglewood with murals and more

A lot has changed since Jacori Perry attended Morningside High School.

Perry is now a renowned artist who goes by the names Mr. Ace and AiseBorn.

The school is now known as Inglewood High School United.

And the lecture hall on that campus now features a large, ornate mural of a soccer ball being grasped by the hands of two people — freshly painted by the 2004 Morningside graduate as the city of Inglewood prepares to host eight World Cup games at SoFi Stadium starting next month.

Local artist Mr. Ace works on his mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11. The artists, whose real name is Jacori Perry, attended the school when it was known as Morningside High more than two decades ago.

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(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

“If you told me that I would be back here painting one of the walls on this campus when I was in high school, I don’t think that I necessarily would have foreseen it,” Mr. Ace said as he was putting the finishing touches on his mural last week. “So I’m a little in amazement about just the way life works in that sense.”

He was one of several Los Angeles-based artists to participate in a Road to World Cup Community Day last month at Inglewood High United. Many of the artists — including Juan Pablo Reyes (“JP murals”), Michelle Ruby Guerrero (“Mr. B Baby”) and Angel Acordagoitia — sketched designs on portable panels (12-feet by 8-feet) and picnic tables for community members to paint.

The picnic tables will remain at the high school in front of Mr. Ace’s mural. The mobile murals will be placed throughout LAX to welcome visitors arriving for the World Cup.

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Kathryn Schloessman, CEO of the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee, said in a news release that the event was “just one example of how the energy of the World Cup can be felt in neighborhoods across our region.”

“Students, artists, and volunteers came together to create a work of art that will live on well beyond the end of the tournament,” Schloessman said. “It’s a reflection of the creativity, diversity, and community pride that makes our region so special as we prepare to host the world for FIFA World Cup 2026.”

Community members were encouraged to take part in the painting process, no matter their skill level.

“We made it easy enough for people that have zero experience to a proficient level of experience, for them to all be involved,” said Reyes, who designed and helped paint two mural panels and three tables. “We did the sketch, and then I tried to dab a little bit of color — whatever color is supposed to be there, I dabbed a little bit of color right there, so they would have a guide. …

People stand on a scaffold and on the ground while painting a mural on a large panel.

Students and community members help paint a mural panel during a Road to World Cup Community Day event May 2 at Inglewood High School.

(Dawn M. Burkes / Los Angeles Times)

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“I was right there, kind of supervising, making sure that everything went as planned. And if anybody has questions, they’re more than welcome to let me know about them. But, yeah, it’s pretty easy for them to kind of be involved and feel that sense of ownership and have a sense of pride that, ‘Yeah, I was part of that mural-creation process.’ It’s a rich experience for them.”

Acordagoitia sketched several table-top designs for the public to paint at the event.

“They did great,” he said of the community members. “They helped a lot. They were asking questions. They got all the other colors correct. So, yeah, they were excited. A lot of kids were excited to see the live painting, because now kids are used to being on their phones. So that was a great experience for them.”

Acordagoitia also opted to paint a mural panel on his own because “it was a little more technical,” involving portraits of his 8-year-old son, a nephew and a friend.

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“I wanted to focus more on the youth because that’s really our future,” he said. “So that’s, that’s the main thing about the mural, just about the kids, soccer, culture, community. It’s exciting for me, because I grew up playing soccer and to include soccer with art, it’s just a dream come true.”

Guerrero said “the community was a big help in filling in all the background colors that I need in order to build the detail and layers” on the two mural panels she designed.

“My whole style is based on culture. And I think that there’s a connection there with the World Cup and how I feel like it brings together all the culture and just, like, celebration,” Guerrero said. “It kind of goes hand in hand with the type of work I do, because my stuff is really festive, celebrating culture. And just as an L.A.-based artist, I think the collaboration made sense.”

The four artists also took part in another Road to World Cup Community Day in downtown L.A. at Gloria Molina Grand Park on March 14. At that event, the artists sketched designs on large sculptures shaped like soccer balls and an oversized picnic table, also for community members to paint.

While Mr. Ace opted to paint his permanent mural at Inglewood High School United on his own, he was sure to include the community theme into his work.

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“The idea was really centered around just creating something that was community-based — something that represented the World Cup but also represented some sense of community,” he said. “And so what I did was try to create something that was symbolic, very direct in terms of its relationship to soccer and figuring out through that how to create something simple that [brings] into that a sense of community. And that’s how I landed on the two hands holding the soccer ball.”

A man stands in a lift and paints on a wall with blue paint as part of a mural with an ornate design.

Local artist Mr. Ace works on his World Cup-themed mural at Inglewood High School United on May 11.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

Back when he was a student on that campus, Mr. Ace said he was always involved in art and knew he wanted a career as an artist. He struggled to come up with the right words to describe how it felt being back there creating a work of art to be shared with the students, all of the community and everyone who happens to see it on the way to a World Cup match.

“I guess there’s no words to really describe it,” he said. “I think if any artist gets the opportunity to paint at their own high school — especially if they’ve been doing large-scale works around the city, the country or the world — I think that is a little touching. When it’s attached to something like the World Cup … you know, a large part of my childhood was spent in Inglewood, so coming from my circumstances and life, I think it’s even more intriguing.”

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Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

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Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History

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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.

It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.

So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.

We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).

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10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)

After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.

9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)

How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.

8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)

This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.

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