Sports
Shot-clock craziness and an Anthony Davis injury plague Lakers' loss to Warriors
It took 22 minutes for the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors to play the final 110 seconds Saturday night, their showdown in Los Angeles buried in an avalanche of replay reviews and shot-clock malfunctions.
“Guys are scrambling, competing their asses off,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “And then boom, everything just stops.”
It took the smallest edge of a sneaker to wipe a LeBron James three-pointer off the board.
“I’ve never seen that be called before like that,” James said after playing his 1,480th career game, and scoring 40 points.
And earlier it took 28 seconds for the Warriors to capitalize on one possession when the shot clock mysteriously reset.
“Their points didn’t get taken away ‘cause the clock malfunctioned,” Ham said. “They continue to play through but it is what it is.”
What it was, actually, was a bit of a mess — the Lakers losing, 128-121, a crucial game to the team directly behind them in the Western Conference standings, losing crucial ground on the ones ahead of them and, in the process, losing Anthony Davis after only one quarter.
Davis sustained a swollen left eye and blurred vision — the team called it an “eye contusion” — after he took an elbow from Warriors rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis late in the first quarter. The Lakers forward will be reevaluated in the lead-up to Monday’s game with Atlanta.
“He got an elbow to the left eye, wasn’t able to see out of that left eye, vision blurred,” Ham said. “But looking at the doctors, they were working on him from the time he left the floor and went back to the training room through halftime. So the biggest thing is just making sure he’s OK and we’ll get an update on him pretty soon.”
It was the most pressing question after the loss — how the Lakers handled (and didn’t handle) Davis’ absence.
“When you lose AD, it just hurts the balance of our team,” James said. “We’ve been pretty good, our coaching staff has been pretty good with having a certain rotation and how we work in our rotations, so now that changes a lot of things.
“So, it was, obviously, Golden State, you tip your hat to them. They played exceptionally well. Obviously, having [Stephen Curry] back changed their dynamic. You can see the difference between when Steph is on the floor and the last couple of games when he didn’t play. So it’s just tough when you have a big component to the puzzle and then you don’t have it.”
The Lakers (36-32) all understood that. The fourth quarter? Kind of a mystery.
It started early in the final frame after Taurean Prince made a three. The following Warriors possession, the shot clock jumped from 10 seconds back to the original 24. Jackson-Davis eventually scored, four seconds after the clock should’ve expired.
Lakers star LeBron James reacts after play was stopped because of a shot-clock malfunction during the fourth quarter Saturday.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
“The shot clock malfunctioned during live play at that time and that is not a reviewable matter,” crew chief David Guthrie said to a pool reporter.
In regard to the James three, Guthrie said the play can be overturned by review (all close threes/twos are) at a dead-ball stoppage.
“James’ left foot is out of bounds as he begins to shoot,” Guthrie said.
An image of the play on the game broadcast showed James’ heel over the sideline, but there appeared to be a shadow under his foot.
“I didn’t believe I stepped on the line, obviously,” James said. “I knew how much space I had over there. And when I shoot, I shoot on my tippy toes, so it’s kind of hard for me to have a heel down.”
The points were taken away during a review the Lakers initiated on an out-of-bounds call that resulted in a jump ball. After the Warriors won the tip, Draymond Green chased down the ball and threw it off Austin Reaves.
The Lakers again challenged, officials saying Green was out of bounds when he made the save.
Following that review, it took nearly nine minutes for play to restart because the shot clock wouldn’t run. Eventually, after four attempts, the game continued with Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter counting down the shot clock inside the final 10 seconds.
At one point during the delay, James looked over at the broadcast table and said “I’m too old for this s—.”
“It was just stay loose as much as we probably could. I mean, obviously, it was a lengthy pause of the game,” James said.
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The Seattle Seahawks locked down the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl on Saturday night with a season finale win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle also finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, clinching 14 wins for the first time ever.
The Seahawks held on to a 10-point victory despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173, and running 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against Ji’Ayir Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game on Jan. 3, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and turned the ball over on downs in the first quarter to waste two red zone drives, but dominated on defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back to haunt them.
The 49ers wasted their best drive of the night as well when quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted at Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter facing a 10-point deficit, which seemingly secured the game for the Seahawks.
NFL WEEK 17 SCORES: AFC NORTH, NFC SOUTH UP FOR GRABS AS PLAYOFF PICTURE ALMOST COMPLETE
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold redeemed a disappointing Week-18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a battle for the top seed against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said “Learning from mistakes, and staying calm from the pocket,” made the difference in his performance Saturday compared to a year ago, in a postgame interview with ESPN.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter of a game at Levi’s Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards with the late interception, and took a big hit on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle ran the clock out.
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When it’s Harvey Kitani versus David Rebibo in a high school basketball coaching matchup, you know it’s going to be a defensive grind. They demand defensive production, so Rolling Hills Prep and Harvard-Westlake went at it for 32 minutes on Saturday night at St. Francis.
It took four consecutive free throws by Joe Sterling in the final 21 seconds for Harvard-Westlake (17-2) to hold on for a 50-46 victory. About the only mistake Rolling Hills Prep (13-5) made was choosing to foul Sterling, well known as a clutch free-throw shooter. But the Huskies had no choice after a three by Aaron Heinze got them to within 48-46 with 2.6 seconds left.
Sterling finished with 16 points. Pierce Thompson had 14 points and Dominique Bentho added 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Welch Jr. had a big game for Rolling Hills Prep with 21 points on eight-for-14 shooting. Carter Fulton added 10 points.
Santa Margarita 72, Fairfax 41: The Eagles (19-2) opened a 21-2 lead after the first quarter and cruised to victory at St. Francis. Brayden Kyman scored 21 points, Kaiden Bailey had 17 and Drew Anderson had 15.
St. Pius X-St. Matthias 67, JSerra 62: Kayleb Kearse finished with 27 points in the victory. Jaden Bailes had 30 points for JSerra.
Sierra Canyon 77, Phoenix St. Mary’s 45: The Trailblazers (13-1) tuned up for the start of Mission League play with a rout in Arizona. Brandon McCoy scored 18 points and Brannon Martinsen had 17.
Chaminade 70, Palos Verdes 44: Temi Olafisoye had 17 points for the 18-1 Eagles.
Thousand Oaks 53, Oak Park 46: The Lancers won their 16th consecutive game to stay unbeaten. Gabriel Chin had 14 points.
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 67, Layton Christian (Utah) 64: NaVorro Bowman led the Knights (13-4) with 24 points. Josiah Nance added 16 points.
Bishop Montgomery 71, Palisades 68: Austin Kirksey had 24 points and Tarron Williams scored 22 points to help Bishop Montgomery improve to 15-2. Freshman Phillip Reed scored 24 points for Palisades.
Crespi 60, Modesto Christian 49: The Celts improved to 13-6.
St. John Bosco 62, Chandler (Ariz.) Basha 54: Christian Collins scored 31 points and Max Ellis had 22 for the Braves in a win in Arizona.
Mayfair 69, Cypress 56: Josiah Johnson’s 27 points helped Mayfair improve to 8-5.
Inglewood 98, Pasadena 97: Jason Crowe Jr. made the game-winning shot in overtime and finished with 51 points for Inglewood.
Girls basketball
Harvard-Westlake 51, Phoenix Desert Vista 39: Freshman Lucia Khamenia finished with 24 points for Harvard-Westlake.
Brentwood 59, Cardinal Newman 53: The Eagles improved to 9-4. Kelsey Sugar scored 24 points.
Saugus 57, Birmingham 52: Kayla Tanijiri had 16 points for Birmingham (13-3).
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Only one more week of the 2025 NFL regular season remains, as Week 17 brought about some more playoff implications and even 2026 NFL Draft key positions.
The biggest takeaway from the slate of Week 17 is that two divisions in the NFL — the AFC North and NFC South — will be determined by whoever wins key matchups in Week 18.
First, it’s the Pittsburgh Steelers getting upset by the Cleveland Browns at home, as Aaron Rodgers couldn’t find Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a controversial game-ending play in the end zone. That loss sets up the AFC North title game between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, which is only possibly thanks to a road victory where Derrick Henry scored four touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers.
Then, despite both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers losing their respective matchups, the NFL tiebreakers make their Week 18 bout the NFC South title game.
Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts during the second quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
And while everyone was focused on the NFL playoff picture, the two-game 4 o’clock slate gave us the New York Giants against the Las Vegas Raiders, the winner of which owning the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The Giants would’ve solidified the pick with a loss, but Jaxson Dart and the Giants’ offense blew out Geno Smith and the Raiders to relinquish the pick, which now belongs in Sin City.
NFL WEEK 16 SCORES: PLAYOFF PRESSURE LEADS TO THRILLING FINISHES ACROSS LEAGUE
Here’s how every NFL game played out:
THURSDAY, DEC. 25
– DALLAS COWBOYS 30, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS 23
– MINNESOTA VIKINGS 23, DETROIT LIONS 10
– DENVER BRONCOS 20, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 13
Dak Prescott (4) of the Dallas Cowboys celebrates after his team’s touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter of a game at Northwest Stadium on Dec. 25, 2025 in Landover, Maryland. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
SATURDAY, DEC. 27
– HOUSTON TEXANS 20, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 16
– BALTIMORE RAVENS 41, GREEN BAY PACKERS 24
SUNDAY, DEC. 28
– CINCINNATI BENGALS 37, ARIZONA CARDINALS 14
– CLEVELAND BROWNS 13, PITTSBURGH STEELERS 7
– NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 34, TENNESSEE TITANS 26
– JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 23, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 17
– MIAMI DOLPHINS 20, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 17
– NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 42, NEW YORK JETS 10
– SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 27, CAROLINA PANTHERS 10
– NEW YORK GIANTS 34, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS 10
– PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 13, BUFFALO BILLS 12
– SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS-CHICAGO BEARS (TBD)
Bundle FOX One and FOX Nation to stream the entire FOX Nation library, plus live FOX News, Sports, and Entertainment at our lowest price of the year. The offer ends on Jan. 4, 2026. (Fox One; Fox Nation)
MONDAY, DEC. 29
– LOS ANGELES RAMS-ATLANTA FALCONS (TBD)
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