For this Palmdale father, riding a handcycle in LA Marathon is ‘wildest dream’

• March 14, 2024

Participating in the Los Angeles Marathon has been on Walter Escamilla’s bucket list for many years.

But as a paraplegic who lost his ability to walk after a car accident about 16 years ago, Escamilla envisioned that as “the wildest dream.”

That dream finally became a reality after Escamilla, 49, found out that he could participate in the marathon with his handcycle.

“This is going to be the highlight of my life,” he said laughing. “I’m so powerful, you have no idea.”

Escamilla is one of the thousands of participants who will hit the streets on Sunday, March 17, to compete in the 39th annual Los Angeles Marathon.

The 26.2-mile race will kick in at Dodger Stadium continuing through iconic landmarks of Hollywood, Century City, and Beverly Hills with the finish line on Santa Monica Boulevard at Avenue of the Stars.

While a wheelchair marathon is generally faster than running, it’s considered one of the most challenging sports for participants due to safety issues for disabled participants.

The L.A. Marathon was the first to introduce wheelchair racing in 1986 with an official professional wheelchair division, and the next marathon to introduce it was the Boston Marathon. The world record for a marathon wheelchair race is 1:17:47 set in 2021 in Japan by Marcel Hug from Switzerland. His record was more than two minutes faster than the record set at 1:20:14 by his countryman Heinz Frei in 1999.

For Escamilla, who will compete in the handcycle division, rolling his bike alongside other runners and cyclists has been a major milestone.

“I would never thought even in any craziest dream that I would be part of the L.A. Marathon,” he said.

Escamilla, who lives in Palmdale, spent two years coming to terms with his injury — and with the fact that he couldn’t walk.

“I used to cry and see dreams that I was walking,” he said. “I would wake and see my wheelchair and I hated my wheelchair. I would go back to sleep, trying to get back to that dream where I was walking.”

His life drastically changed after discovering the Triumph Foundation and its sports clinic that offers wheelchair hockey, basketball, rugby, and racquetball. He became a volunteer for the group and later began working for them.

He was always passionate about riding a bike and it was “a game changer” when he found out that he was able to ride a bike even as a paraplegic.

“It sounds crazy but I love my wheelchair because it’s a tool that gives me freedom,” he said.

As a father of twin 18-year-old daughters, who were only two years old when he had his car accident, he eventually learned to do everything with them: taking them to Universal Studios, parks, and stores and even showing them how to drive.

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“I accomplished my American Dream to pay mortgage and taxes,” he said, laughing. “Now I have a new thrust for life. Anything I can do, I will do it to challenge myself and most importantly to show others who got injured that in this life we can triumph over any disability.”

On Sunday, March 17 he plans to wake up at 3 a.m. and head to Dodger Stadium with his brother Earnie who is going to help transport his handcycle.

He has been preparing since December, riding his handcycle twice a week and taking in a lot of protein and water.

“I always tell our patients who just got hurt: ‘Exercise is medicine,’” he said. “I’m doing this to show my fellow injured people that we can do anything. I’m not disabled, I just do things differently.”

​ Orange County Register 

After all the rain, gardeners can expect to pull plenty of weeds

• March 14, 2024

Five things to do in the garden this week:

1. With the heavy rainfall we experienced this winter, weeds are now a major concern. Interestingly enough, in a poll taken regarding the popularity of gardening tasks, weeding came in number 4 (behind planting, watering, and mowing the lawn). There is an obsessive element to the gardener’s personality and perhaps this explains the attractiveness of weeding. Besides, repetitive tasks are a boon to mental health. In any case, weeding presents a wonderful opportunity to get to know your plants up close, which is also an advantage of watering by hand. If you are in the market for a weeding tool, know that a Hori-Hori knife is highly worthy of your consideration. This implement has a wide, seven-inch-long blade that is suitable not only for weeding but for cutting through roots as well as digging planting holes for bulbs and for transplants of seedlings, annuals, and herbs.   

2. Each foray into the garden is an opportunity to check on the water status of our plants. In this regard, do not be fooled by the soil surface which may appear dry even though there is plenty of moisture in the root zone. As long as you do not cultivate the ground or break the crust on the soil surface, water that is in the soil below may be retained for an extended period of time. A report on San Fernando Valley agriculture in 1917 described 2-3,000 acres of vineyards between Burbank and Sunland that were “usually grown without irrigation. . . table, raisin, and wine varieties are grown, but the wine grapes predominate.” In this same area, apricots and peaches were grown “with and without irrigation.” And the Indigenous peoples of the Southwest would grow corn without any water except what came down from the heavens. It is wise to synchronize automatic irrigation time with garden visits since we can then regularly check for any breaks or leaks in the watering system as we inspect our plants.

3. Proper harvesting of vegetables, fruits, and herbs is essential to getting the best crops, in both quality and quantity, from these plants. Harvest vegetables as soon as they are ripe since their texture and flavor can deteriorate when harvest is delayed. You will also get more crop by harvesting on a continual basis, whether peas, beans, tomatoes, or peppers are involved. Once orchard fruit is ripe (with the exception of citrus, that becomes sweeter with time), it should also be removed immediately. Leaving fruit on the tree encourages poaching by birds and squirrels and disease and insect pests are more likely to become a problem. Herbs also demand continuous harvesting in order to prevent them from flowering which curbs new growth of their culinary and/or medicinal foliage.

4. When thinking about what to plant for the spring, container gardening is an option to consider. Certain rampant growers such as mint might make more sense to plant in a container than in the garden. Plants sensitive to temperature extremes can be moved, according to the weather, giving them less sun in scorching heat and, if cold-sensitive, placing them up against a sun-absorbing wall (or even in the garage) when frost is forecast. With the exception of succulents and other slow-growing plants, whose soil may be left alone for years, it is a good idea to annually change the soil in your containers, especially where you are growing fruit trees, vegetables, bulb plants, annuals, or leafy flowering perennials.

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5. Pineapple guava (Feijoa/Acca sellowiana) is a highly recommended species for growing in a container. It can be cultivated as a shrub or trained into a tree, either as a multi-trunked or as a standard (single-trunked) specimen. Some plant lovers consider it to be the perfect small tree as it grows to 15 feet tall and wide and has ornamental appeal throughout the year. The flowers, which should be blooming soon, have snowy white petals that are sugary sweet and that your kids will love to munch. If you have a self-fertile variety, you will eventually see blue-green fruit shaped like little mice with a perfumed aroma when cut. Fruit sometimes form on Southern California-grown trees, but seldom reach maturity in our hot summer climate. Should you be lucky enough to see fruit, do not pick but wait for it to reach its maximum ripeness, allowing it to fall from the tree, having placed a tarp underneath to prevent bruising. 

Foliage is green above, silver underneath and, being in the myrtle family, its exfoliating bark is always a pleasure to behold. Pineapple guava lends itself to clipping and shaping. Grow it as a hedge or train it up a trellis or as an espalier. If anyone has a source for a feijoa variety that regularly produces a tasty crop in Southern California, please advise.

Please send your questions and comments to [email protected].

​ Orange County Register 

President Biden’s corporate tax proposal is economically foolish, populist nonsense

• March 14, 2024

In the latest volley of policy proposals that seem more rooted in populist rhetoric than economic knowledge, President Joe Biden’s budget plan to hike the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28% strikes me as particularly misguided. This move, ostensibly aimed at ensuring a “fair share” of contributions from corporate America, is a glaring testament to a simplistic and all-too-common type of economic thinking that already hamstrings our nation’s competitiveness, stifles innovation, and ultimately penalizes the average American worker and consumer.

Beyond the president’s class warfare rhetoric, the lure of putting his hands on more revenue is one of the factors behind the proposal. Biden likes to pretend he is some sort of deficit cutter, but his administration is the mother of all big spenders. He’s seeking $7.3 trillion for next year without acknowledging the insolvency of Social Security coming our way or addressing what happens when Congress makes the Republican tax cut permanent in 2025 for people earning less than $400,000 a year.

Unfortunately, no fiscally irresponsible budget is complete without soothing individual taxpayers by promising to tax corporations. Never mind that the burden of corporate income tax hikes isn’t shouldered by corporations. Yes, corporations do write the checks to the Internal Revenue Service, but the economic weight will be partially or fully shifted to others, such as workers through lower wages, consumers through higher prices, or shareholders through lower returns on investment. That means that many taxpayers making less than that $400k will be shouldering the cost of the corporate tax hike.

It is worth expanding on the fact that much of a corporate tax increase will be shouldered specifically by workers. A recent Tax Foundation article, for instance, explained that “a study of corporate taxes in Germany found that workers bear about half of the tax burden in the form of lower wages, with low-skilled, young, and female employees disproportionately harmed.”

Biden’s planned tax hike would raise revenue for sure. Kyle Pomerleau at the American Enterprise Institute told me that it would raise roughly $1 trillion over a decade. However, it will do it in the most damaging way possible.

Indeed, it is well-established by the economic literature that increasing corporate taxes is the most economically destructive method due to its impact on incentives to invest. Investments that were previously feasible at the lowest rate of capital are now out of reach. Firms forgo machinery, factories and other equipment, reducing their capital stock. That in turn reduces productivity, output and overtime wages.

The good news is that the reverse is also true. That’s what the Republicans did in 2017 when they cut the federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% while broadening the tax base. Chris Edwards at the Cato Institute recently noted that the move increased investments and wages as one would hope — and it also managed to boost federal corporate tax collections from $297 billion in 2017 to a projected $569 billion in 2024.

While this spike was attributed to temporary factors — the revenue is anticipated to decrease to $494 billion in 2025 — it also reduced tax avoidance from firms who repatriated much of the revenue they used to keep abroad. Instead of avoiding higher tax rates, they invested more in America and boosted wages along the way.

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In addition, for all the concerns about fairness expressed by the administration to justify its tax hike, the corporate tax is quite unfair. Profits are already subject to taxation at the individual level when distributed as dividends or realized as capital gains. Increasing the corporate tax rate will exacerbate the issue of double taxation, distorting investment decisions and reducing economic efficiency, not to mention encouraging aggressive planning for more tax avoidance.

Last, the administration’s plan ignores one of its usual priorities: the fact that many U.S. companies must compete on the international stage. Raising the corporate income tax at home makes them less competitive abroad. According to the Cato Institute’s Adam Michel, if Biden is successful in raising the corporate income tax to 28%, the U.S. would have the second-highest such rate among the market-oriented democracies that make up the OECD. America would instantly become less attractive for multinational corporations and mobile capital.

In an era where economic literacy should guide policymaking, reverting to such tax hikes is a step backward — a misstep we can ill afford amid the delicate dance of post-pandemic recovery and an increasingly competitive global economy.

Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

​ Orange County Register 

President Bush visits ‘Portraits of Courage’ exhibit at Nixon Library with Army veterans

• March 14, 2024

Alex Glenn-Camden, an Army infantryman injured in Afghanistan, stood next to President George Bush looking at a portrait the former president had painted of him.

Though the Temecula resident has met “43” before at other openings of “Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors,” Glenn-Camden never before had the opportunity to view his portrait while standing one-on-one with Bush as he did Wednesday, March 13, at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum in Yorba Linda.

“In the beginning, you’re just kind of speechless,” he said of seeing his own image painted by a president. “It hits you that a president sat there for some time and painted you. It’s almost a little emotional.

“To know he saw something in myself and then to sit there and take his time and paint is extremely humbling.”

Glenn-Camden, who served from 2010 until he was shot in the neck in 2012 while deployed to Afghanistan, along with former Sgt. Daniel Casara, 49, of Ramona, who served in the Army from 1994 to 2008, enjoyed a private tour of the visiting exhibit with the former president Wednesday evening before it opens to the public on Thursday, March 14. Both men are Purple Heart Medal recipients; Casara’s legs were crushed in 2005 in Baghdad when an antitank mine flipped the armored personnel carrier he was riding in, also killing fellow soldiers.

The exhibit includes 66 full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by Bush of 98 members of the U.S. military who served the nation since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and whom he has come to know personally since leaving office. The exhibit will be at the Nixon Library through May thanks to a loan from the Ambassador and Mrs. George L. Argyros Collection of Presidential Art at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

“We are thrilled to welcome the display for its first showing on the West Coast,” said Jim Byron, president and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, adding that the exhibit aligns with the library’s recent emphasis on helping students and the public understand the elements of civic engagement. “The exhibit fits perfectly into this framework.”

In addition to the private tour, the Army veterans took part in an invite-only dinner that also included the president and 300 library patrons. Nixon Foundation Chairman and former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien interviewed Bush onstage during the dinner.

For Glenn-Camden and Casara, seeing Bush again was an honor, they said, especially because it was in their home state. Both have met the president before, first at one of his Warrior Open golf events, and Casara also participated in a Warrior bike ride the Bush Foundation put on.

Both men said they appreciate the former president’s down-to-earth personality and agreed he had a great sense of humor.

“I’m proud to be part of this event,” Casara said, adding that he is also extremely appreciative that there continues to be such interest in the portraits and in those who serve the country. The exhibit was first displayed in 2017 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus in Dallas.

“It’s great seeing people out there that show their respect for the men and women who put on the uniform,” he said. He also credited Bush for his deep respect for veterans and his continued support of veterans programs through his foundation. Bush painted the veterans’ portraits from photos taken of them at events he held.

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Casara said Bush has a tremendous memory and when the former president approached Casara as he waiting near his portrait, Bush immediately recognized Casara and called him by a familiar nickname: “Danny C, The Preacher.” (Bush even references the nickname in the description he penned to go with the portrait, saying about a 2014 address Casara gave at a dinner event, “He had the entire audience captivated with his story and its lessons. He was so good, I nicknamed him The Preacher.”)

“He then asked about my wife and my golf game,” Casara said of their brief reunion Wednesday evening. “Then we had a laugh and took some pictures.”

Glenn-Camdem, who grew up in Long Beach, said he had been lucky enough to be invited to a dinner table with Bush several years ago following a golf tournament. There, the 34-year-old said he was first introduced to Bush’s plan for painting veterans.

“His idea was, ‘Why don’t I paint veterans who made an impact on me or the community?’” Glenn-Camden recalled Bush saying. “He asked us what we thought, and we said we thought it was great.”

Discussing his project in a video accompanying the portraits exhibit, Bush says part of his inspiration came from a former art teacher, Sedrick Huckaby, who knew he had painted portraits of world leaders. Bush said the teacher suggested to him, “Why don’t you paint people no one knows.”

“It pretty quickly dawned on me painting wounded warriors would be an interesting project,” Bush said. “Interesting because I wanted to honor them and talk about their sacrifice to the country, and I wanted to remind the American people of what a tremendous national asset they were in the military and will be in the future of the country.”

Related links

OC pauses to remember the lives lost on 9/11 and the heroes at work
Vietnam War POWs gather, remember at Nixon Library reunion
Nixon Library adds monument to Vietnam War veterans on 50th anniversary
Leaders come to life at Presidents Day celebration

​ Orange County Register 

Taco Bell’s new Cantina Chicken Menu will arrive March 21

• March 14, 2024

Taco Bell will introduce its new Cantina Chicken Menu on March 21, but loyalty members can start trying it out a week early.

The menu was part of Taco Bell’s big reveal on Feb. 9, when the Irvine-based fast food giant previewed its plans for 2024 at a fan event in Las Vegas.

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It is intended to boost lunch business for a chain known for its late-night clientele, and to that end has recruited Jason Sudeikis of “Ted Lasso” fame for the advertising campaign, according to a news release.

There are five items on the menu: a Cantina Chicken Soft Taco, about $2.99; Cantina Chicken Crispy Taco, $2.99; Cantina Chicken Burrito, $5.99; Cantina Chicken Quesadilla, $6.49; and a Cantina Chicken Bowl, $7.99.

Taco Bell Rewards Members can preview the crispy taco and the quesadilla beginning Thursday, March 14, and the soft taco, burrito and chicken bowl beginning Monday, March 18.

Taco Bell launched the first of its 2024 innovations, a Cheesy Chicken Crispanada, for a limited time beginning Feb. 15 and tested three others seasoned with Tajín late last month in Irvine.

Information: tacobell.com

​ Orange County Register 

Mater Dei boys volleyball beats Servite in a wild five-set Trinity League match

• March 14, 2024

ANAHEIM – If a book is ever written about the history of the Mater Dei-Servite sports rivalry, their volleyball match Wednesday deserves a page or two.

Mater Dei won the first two sets. Servite won the next two sets. In the decisive fifth set, Servite and Mater Dei traded match-point chances before Mater Dei took the set and the match for the victory, 25-18, 25-17, 24-26, 23-25, 23-21.

Servite had a 14-12 lead in the fifth set.

“That was one of the most fun games I’ve ever played in,” said Mater Dei senior outside hitter Eli McGhee. “I loved every second of it.”

Owen Keely with the match-winner for Mater Dei … a 23-21 fifth set(!!!). MD beats Servite 3-2 pic.twitter.com/UtL0PScO4y

— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) March 14, 2024

It was the Trinity League opener for both teams. Mater Dei is 9-7 overall. Servite is 8-6.

In the CIF Southern Section Division 1 and Division 2 combined rankings Mater Dei is No. 8 and Servite is No. 10.

McGhee had a team-high 19 kills with 12 digs. Monarchs senior outside hitter Owen Keely added 14 kills. Freshman setter Jeremiah Potasi had 43 assists.

Servite 6-foot-6 senior outside hitter Eamon Rigdon had 24 kills, many of them with the velocity of a Nolan Ryan fastball. Senior middle blocker Cooper Truong had 22 kills.

Led by Rigdon, who was All-Orange County second team last season, Servite had the lead through most of the fifth set and was on the verge of closing out the victory. With the Friars ahead, 14-12, a Servite service error and a point by Mater Dei libero Matthew Wheel tied it at 14.

Mater Dei and Servite took turns serving at match point. The Monarchs had a 21-20 lead when Truong delivered a kill to tie it. Then McGhee, who was All-County fourth team last year, made a kill and Keely smashed the match-winner for the 23-21 win.

“That was an emotional rollercoaster,” said Mater Dei coach Jake Nuneviller. “You think you’ve got it, you think you’re under control. And then (Servite) played way better in that third set.”

Servite coach Matt Marrujo said the Friars needed to settle down and did so starting with the third set.

“We started three sophomores, so a lot of it was just our guys getting comfortable,” Marrujo said. “We talk a lot about being present in the moment. I think at the beginning there was a little distraction.

“I get it. The emotions are there. The competitiveness is there. Our guys did a good job of calming down.”

Jake Schutt with the block for the winning point for Servite 26-24. Tied at 2 sets each. Here comes the fifth set … ⁦@ocvarsityguy⁩ pic.twitter.com/6yZOdUp5MI

— Steve Fryer (@SteveFryer) March 14, 2024

Rigdon was the match’s dominating player from the third set forward.

“The best player on the court started playing like the best player on the court,” Marrujo said.

Mater Dei’s next game is a league home game against JSerra on Friday. Servite plays at St. John Bosco in a league game Friday.

The next Mater Dei-Servite game is March 27 at Mater Dei.

“It’s great to get this win here,” Nuneviller said of the Monarchs’ road victory. “This is a tough place to play.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Lakers fade in Sacramento as Kings complete season sweep

• March 14, 2024

SACRAMENTO — The Lakers have shown throughout the season that they’ll raise their level of play in big-time games.

That wasn’t the case in Wednesday night’s 120-107 loss to the Sacramento Kings – a matchup that had significant implications in the Western Conference standings.

Despite having the rest advantage, with the Kings playing on the second night of a back-to-back set after beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday and the Lakers having two days off, and having just played last week, the Lakers once again didn’t have the solutions to slowing down the Kings.

Uncharacteristic shooting nights from LeBron James (18 points on 6-for-16 shooting, 13 rebounds and nine assists) and Anthony Davis (22 points on 7-for-18 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists) didn’t help, with the Lakers lacking offensive firepower outside of strong performances from Austin Reaves (28 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Rui Hachimura (20 points on 9-for-11 shooting).

D’Angelo Russell (six points on 2-for-9 shooting) also struggled.

“We had some guys that didn’t shoot the ball well, got great looks they normally make,” Coach Darvin Ham said. “But just in the sense of team basketball, just continuing to have a next-play mentality. You turn the ball over or it’s a quick shot or we’re not, our shot selection is a little bit off, you have to recalibrate and try to play the right way. And again, do it as a unit, not just individually trying to get yourself going.

“If you’re trying to get yourself going, we’re staying organized within what we’re supposed to be doing, then great. But we can’t skip the details.”

What’s become clear is that the Kings (38-27), just like the Denver Nuggets, have the Lakers’ number and are a bad matchup for them.

With Wednesday’s loss, the Lakers have dropped the last five matchups against Sacramento dating to last season, and eight of the past nine.

“They had our number this year,” James said, “for sure.”

The Kings created similar issues for the Lakers defensively to the ones they did in last Wednesday’s 130-120 victory in Los Angeles.

But instead of inflicting their damage from inside the paint, the Kings made the Lakers pay from behind the arc, making 19 of 41 3-point shots (46.3%) against a Lakers team that was slow with closing out on shooters all night.

“It was miscommunication,” Davis said. “Some, we were over-helping trying to help. And they’re a drive-and-kick team that can get to the paint and try to spray out to their shooters. They did a great job of making shots. We did a good job of protecting the paint, it was just the outside shot that beat us tonight. Trying to help our guys out to guard De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. They can get downhill. Trying to help them, help our guys, when they get downhill and they did a great job spraying out.”

Harrison Barnes made seven 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 23 points for Sacramento. Domantas Sabonis had his league-leading 23rd triple-double of the season with 17 points, 19 rebounds and 12 assists, extending his double-double streak to 48 games.

“Heck of a game by him versus a very, very physical team,” Kings coach Mike Brown said of Sabonis. “He was getting hit, bump and all that stuff and he just stayed in there.”

Fox had 21 points and seven assists. All five Kings starters scored at least 14 points.

The Lakers also kept getting in their way with self-inflicted wounds, turning the ball over 14 times.

Sacramento pulled away in the third quarter after a close first half, starting the quarter on a 10-2 run to open a double-digit lead and holding the visitors to four field goals in the frame. Fox’s consecutive baskets to end the third gave the Kings a 15-point lead.

The Lakers cut the deficit to nine early in the fourth, but Barnes and Monk answered with consecutive 3-pointers to give the Kings a comfortable cushion again.

The Kings also had nine offensive rebounds for 16 second-chance points.

“It’s the ones where you stop an offensive team like that and then they get a second chance and they kick out, those are the ones that are kind of demoralizing,” James said. “When you play 24 seconds or whatever the case may be of great defense and a ball bounces the wrong way and they get an offensive rebound and they hit a 3. Those are always the ones that kill you.”

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Fox sealed the Kings’ victory with a 3-pointer off an assist from Sabonis with 57.2 seconds left, giving Sacramento a 118-105 lead.

Ham called a timeout following the shot and pulled his rotation players off the court.

“You’re gonna have nights where things don’t go your way, shots don’t go in,” Ham said. “You have to find other ways to impact the game. Without looking at the film, just feel like it’s a lot of little things that we didn’t do as a unit.”

The Kings pulled even with Phoenix for sixth place in the Western Conference, three games ahead of the ninth-place Lakers. The 10th-place Warriors, who are one game behind the Lakers, have won 13 of their past 19 games ahead of Saturday’s game against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.

“We already knew we were in the gauntlet of our schedule,” James said. “We already knew we had all the teams that were coming in, everybody positioning and jockeying. Some of the best teams in the league. We knew it was a tough stretch for our ballclub. But even with the loss to Denver, even with the loss to Sac both times, we’ve still been playing some good ball.”

“They have our number this year, for sure.” LeBron James talks about Sacramento’s offense and what happened to the Lakers down the stretch. pic.twitter.com/kaxDZHwHg5

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 14, 2024

Darvin Ham: “We’ve been doing a good job of bouncing back from devastating losses and getting that bad feeling and taste out of our mouths, and we’ll do the same with this game… learn from it and get ready for the Warriors on Saturday.” pic.twitter.com/a3LTPzfIOV

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 14, 2024

LeBron James drives and throws down the acrobatic slam

LAL-SAC Live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/ETg2CK0fvq

— NBA (@NBA) March 14, 2024

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers looking to take advantage of a lighter schedule

• March 14, 2024

SACRAMENTO — By NBA standards, the Lakers are in the midst of an easier stretch.

Wednesday night’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center was the first of just three games across 11 days.

They had two days off entering Wednesday; they’ll have two more days off ahead of Saturday’s home game vs. the Golden State Warriors and will have three days off between hosting the Atlanta Hawks on Monday and the Philadelphia 76ers on March 22.

“It makes us even more comfortable to pour everything – our mind, body and spirits into [Wednesday],” Coach Darvin Ham said before Wednesday’s game. “And then we’ll get into Golden State in the next couple of days.

“But it starts with [Wednesday]. Not looking over the Kings’ shoulder and trying to see what’s going to happen in that game, who’s going to be in the lineup, who’s not going to be in the lineup for them. We have to put all of our focus on what’s exactly, immediately in front of us and that’s Sacramento.”

Wednesday’s game and the Warriors matchup are especially important for the Lakers and their playoff pursuit.

The Lakers entered Wednesday two games behind the Kings for the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference standings and one spot ahead of the Warriors for the No. 9 spot.

Wednesday was the last time the Kings and Lakers matched up this regular season, with Sacramento already winning the regular-season series after being victorious in the first three matchups.

The Lakers-Warriors season series is tied at one win apiece. They’ll play their final regular-season matchup on April 9.

“Like you said, two important games, two games that we need to win as far as the standings are concerned,” Anthony Davis said after the team’s morning shootaround. “But we just want to keep our energy, our momentum going as well. So it’s good.

“We don’t get that much practice time. We have not had that much practice time. Now we’re able to get a couple of days to practice, touch on some things for the other team, ourselves. Also, having so much time in between games is letting guys get back healthy as well.”

REDDISH UPDATE

Forward Cam Reddish, who missed his second consecutive game because of a sprained right ankle, is “day-to-day,” per Ham.

Reddish missed 14 consecutive games from Jan. 23-Feb. 28 after suffering the ankle injury in their Jan. 23 loss to the Clippers.

He’s been in and out of the lineup recently because of the ailment.

“He was cleared,” Ham said. “I mean, it’s a matter of you still have to get into the rhythm of the game and see how your body responds to that activity. And so, if they respond well, then we are where we are.”

A starter earlier in the season, Reddish has played in just 40 of the Lakers’ 67 games so far.

​ Orange County Register