Dejan Joveljic’s second-half goal helps the Galaxy hold off Austin FC

• October 6, 2024

CARSON — The key to any successful season is your play at home.

In recent years, the Galaxy have struggled at home, including last season’s 6-5-6 record.

This season, opponents haven’t been treated friendly at Dignity Health Sports Park and that continued in Saturday’s final home game of the regular season.

Dejan Joveljic’s 76th minute goal helped the Galaxy (19-7-7, 64 points) hold off a pestering Austin FC side for a 2-1 win in front of a sellout crowd of 26,574.

The win is the Galaxy’s 13th at home, giving them a regular-season home record of 13-1-3. The only loss came to LAFC at the Rose Bowl. The Galaxy earned 42 points at home this season.

“There was great energy in the stadium and it shows the amount of support this group has had,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “They rode it. The fans bring energy and the players are running, creating goal-scoring chances and it feeds into it.”

The celebration was held off due a 12-minute stoppage period that the teams had to play due to a hectic second half, that saw bodies hitting the floor as if it was a MMA fight.

Austin pushed for the equalizer during the marathon-stoppage time. In the seventh minute, Jon Gallagher got behind the Galaxy and popped in a header for the potential game-tying goal, but the linesman raised his flag for offside.

In 10th minute of stoppage time, Austin FC earned a free kick, that Alex Ring sent directly toward Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy, who wasted a little bit of time and eventually referee Ted Unkel blew the whistle.

Even later into stoppage, a near melee erupted as an Austin FC player took out Riqui Puig. Players from both sides had to be separated. The final card count was high: the Galaxy were assessed six yellow cards, Austin FC four and one red card.

Joveljic’s goal snapped a 1-1 tie after Austin FC has tied the game in the 55th minute on Sebastian Driussi’s goal.

Joveljic’s goal could be one of the biggest this season because it led to the Galaxy restoring their six-point lead ahead of second-place LAFC in the Western Conference.

LAFC has two games remaining, including next Sunday during the international break. The Galaxy has one game remaining and that’s on Decision Day, the final day of the regular season on the road against the Houston Dynamo.

The last thing the Galaxy has to clinch is their seeding in the Western Conference playoffs. There were possibilities that could have seen them clinch the No. 1 spot Saturday. However, LAFC defeated Sporting Kansas City to move to 58 points. The Galaxy could likely clinch the top seed after LAFC’s game against the Vancouver Whitecaps next Sunday.

Gabriel Pec opened the scoring in the 31st minute with his 15th goal of the season. Riqui Puig was credited with the assist, switching the ball to the right to Pec, who beat his defender, then went far post, alluding Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver.

The game went into halftime with the Galaxy leading 1-0.

“Today is a moment we have to grow from,” Vanney said. The playoffs are going to be another test for us, next we have Houston and that’s an important game seeing where things are at.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: Big Game Shohei … did you expect anything different?

• October 6, 2024

LOS ANGELES – There is a very good reason why the Dodgers-Padres NL Division Series will be playing in prime time in the East from start to finish, even with both New York teams still engaged in the postseason.

He wears No. 17, he has finally reached the playoffs in his seventh major league season, and it took him just two innings of Saturday night’s 7-5 Dodgers victory in Game 1 to make his presence known.

Or did you miss that dramatic bat toss in said second inning, after Shohei Ohtani turned on a 2-1 pitch from San Diego’s Dylan Cease and sent it screaming into the right field pavilion, wiping out a 3-0 Padres lead with one swing?

This is going to be an entertaining series for many different reasons, especially if Saturday night’s Game 1 is any indication.

It’s big brother vs. little brother, a big city glamor franchise vs. the only team left in its town with a fan base with a chip on its collective shoulder as wide as Mission Valley.

Plus, if you are lucky/unlucky enough to be in the ballpark and hear the speakers cranked up to 12, it’s an unofficial competition to determine who can produce the most noise. I’d give the Dodgers the edge because of a bigger ballpark, newer and more powerful speakers, and the echo effect in Chavez Ravine, which seems more effective than the buildings surrounding the Gaslamp Quarter and Petco Park.

(Although maybe the Dodgers are off their game a little bit in the ambiance department. My watch pinged only one “loud environment” warning Saturday night.)

But Shohei is the main attraction. He has been, for the Dodgers all year long and for the entire sport through August and September as his quest to join/launch the 50-50 club turned real.

I suggested, a couple of years ago when he was in the midst of an MVP season with the Angels as pitcher and hitter, that we all should have Shohei Alerts on our phones. The idea was that when he was due to come to the plate, the phone would buzz or ding with the message: Get to your TV, quick!

If you weren’t on the Dodger Stadium premises Saturday night, you probably could have used one.

Shohei’s first at-bat against Dylan Cease, against whom he was 4 for 15 lifetime with a double and two home runs, was a routine fly ball to lead off the bottom of the first, after Manny Machado – Dodger fans’ favorite villain – had smacked a towering three-run homer to give San Diego the lead.

Ohtani’s second at-bat? That’s the one that launched a ballpark full of clips and memes on social media.

On a 2-0 pitch, he fouled a 98 mph four-seamer off his right knee. He limped, and 50,000 people winced.

The next pitch was another four-seamer, 96.9 mph coming in … and 111.8 mph going out. It landed 372 feet away, in the first few rows of the right field pavilion, but it was enough of a no-doubter that Ohtani chucked his bat in the direction of the first base dugout. The subliminal message? This bat’s work is DONE.

Ohtani’s main job Saturday night seemed to be bailing out countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave up Machado’s homer in the first and Xander Bogaerts’ two-run double in the third.

Shohei came up in the fourth with men on first and second against reliever Adrian Morejon and hit a broken-bat looper that fell just in front of the glove of Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill to load the bases. It may not have inspired as many memes, but it kept the inning going; Morejon wild-pitched a run home, and after Mookie Betts was intentionally walked – with a 2-2 count, no less – and Freddie Freeman grounded into a force play at home, Teoscar Hernandez whacked a two-run single to give the Dodgers the lead.

Teoscar may not quite be the international superstar that Shohei is, but he’s been awfully important in this Dodgers season. Suggestion to the club: Find the money – it shouldn’t be that hard – and sign him to a new contract before he gets to free agency.

Ohtani had one more shot in the eighth against left-handed reliever Tanner Scott, against whom he was 1 for 9 coming into the evening. He struck out to make it 1 for 10 but you can’t say he got cheated, not with that big swing. Even when he doesn’t connect, it’s a thrill ride.

Ohtani probably had the highlight moment of the workout day Friday when, after being asked if he was nervous about his first postseason experience, he interrupted interpreter Will Ireton and blurted, “Nope,” in English.

“It’s always been my childhood dream to be able to be in an important situation, to play in important games,” he said then. “So I think the excitement of that is greater than anything else that I could possibly feel.”

Saturday night, he elaborated, or as much as Shohei ever elaborates.

Asked what his emotions were as he stepped to the plate the first time, he said, through Ireton: “The focus was really in my first at-bat to focus on just having my swing, the quality at-bat that I look for despite being in an excited high-intensity environment. And although I was out that at-bat, I felt pretty good and wanted to carry that on throughout the other at-bats.”

Later, asked how he flips the switch from excitement to calm, he said: “Nothing I did in particular … I was just really focused every single at-bat. If you were to ask me to look back on each at-bat, I would probably struggle to recall everything.”

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He shouldn’t be nervous. As manager Dave Roberts said last week, he’s played in important games in the World Baseball Classic – who can forget that game-ending strikeout of Mike Trout? – and he obviously is one of those who embraces the big moments, rather than running from them.

This came out in two ways Saturday: Flourishing in a playoff atmosphere, and succeeding in key situations. Ohtani was 2 for 3 with runners in scoring position Saturday, continuing a hot streak in those situations.

“It’s been insane how good he’s been with runners in scoring position,” Roberts said. “The key is to get those opportunities because, yeah, when he does get those opportunities you feel like he’s going to cash them in.

“He certainly has that switch, that focus that goes to excitement versus nerves and feeling pressure and trying too hard. You can even see it in his first at-bat, just the discipline in the strike zone, to get back into a count and then to fly out. But the big moments, I just really have never seen a guy in the biggest of moments come through as consistently as he has.

“We’ve obviously had a lot of good players,” he added. “But when you get a player like Shohei, who clearly embraces these moments and has the ability to carry a ballclub, I do think that there’s something to the alleviating the – I hate saying ‘pressure’ – but the pressure for other players.

“I think there’s something to having that superstar player that can carry a ballclub.”

Ohtani was already an incredible bargain, thanks to all of the deferred money in his $700 million deal. If he truly can carry this club where it wants to go, this might go down as the biggest steal in the history of free agency.

And if this is what we can expect from Big Game Shohei, this could be an awfully fun – and lengthy – October for Dodger fans.

jalexander@scng.com

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers rebound after rough start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, take NLDS Game 1

• October 6, 2024

LOS ANGELES – October history threatened to repeat itself. But the Dodgers had an answer.

Nope.

The San Diego Padres scored five times in three innings against Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But the Dodgers responded in ways they hadn’t when put in the same predicament in last year’s postseason. The offense punched back, the bullpen covered for Yamamoto and the Dodgers won Game 1 of their National League Division Series, 7-5, over the Padres Saturday night.

After Yamamoto’s three-inning callback to his major-league debut in Korea against the Padres, five Dodgers relievers held the Padres scoreless on two hits over the final six innings.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday.

The win in Game 1 ended a six-game postseason losing streak for the Dodgers, stretching back to a Game 1 victory over the Padres in their 2022 NLDS.

The common theme in the back half of that six-game October losing streak was poor starting pitching. Yamamoto kept it going. The first two batters he faced reached base. A wild pitch and a passed ball set up a run-scoring ground out. Then Manny Machado sent a splitter from Yamamoto into the left-field pavilion for a two-run home run.

It brought back memories of Yamamoto’s start against the Padres in the Seoul Series when he lasted just one inning and gave up five runs.

He settled down this time – but only briefly. After Shohei Ohtani tied the game with a three-run home run in his second postseason at-bat, the Padres got to Yamamoto again in the third inning. A leadoff double by Fernando Tatis Jr. and a two-out walk of Jackson Merrill – when a 1-and-2 pitch call went against Yamamoto – set up a two-out, two-run double by Xander Bogaerts.

Over their past four postseason games, Dodgers starting pitchers have recorded a combined total of 23 outs while allowing 18 runs – 12 of those runs in the first inning of the games.

During the between-innings interview with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on the FOX broadcast, Roberts said that would be “the end of the line” for Yamamoto in Game 1.

It wasn’t the end of the line for the Dodgers.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Tommy Edman beat out a bunt single. Miguel Rojas singled to bring Ohtani up with two on again. This time, Ohtani dropped a broken-bat single into center field to load the bases for Mookie Betts.

A wild pitch brought in Edman and moved the runners up. With the count 2-and-2, the Padres sent Betts to first base with an intentional walk. Freddie Freeman (2 for 5 playing on his injured ankle) bounced into a forceout but Teoscar Hernandez dropped a soft line drive just in front of Merrill in center field.

Two runs scored on the two-out hit – a rarity during their postseason losing streak – and the Dodgers had their first lead in a postseason game since the seventh inning of Game 4 in 2022 against the Padres. They added to it with an unearned run in the fifth inning, again building it from the bottom of their lineup.

The bottom four hitters in the Dodgers’ lineup – Will Smith, Gavin Lux, Edman and Rojas – were on base eight times on five hits, two walks and an error (turning the lineup over and forcing the Padres to pitch to Ohtani) and scored four of the Dodgers’ runs.

The Padres’ best record in baseball after the All-Star break featured frequent comebacks and late rallies – Merrill alone had six go-ahead or game-tying home runs in the eighth inning or later. But the Dodgers passed their lead from Ryan Brasier to Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips, retiring 11 consecutive hitters at one point.

But Michael Kopech couldn’t find the strike zone. He walked two of the three batters he faced. Roberts went to Blake Treinen who got Bogaerts to pop out before he walked Jake Cronenworth to load the bases — then struck out Solano to strand them all.

The Padres put the tying runs on base with two outs in the ninth, bringing up Machado who homered twice off Treinen during the regular season. He struck out to end the game.

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​ Orange County Register 

Newport Harbor’s undefeated boys water polo team sinks Harvard-Westlake to capture Elite 8

• October 6, 2024

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STUDIO CITY — Newport Harbor’s boys water polo team isn’t losing sight of the finer points as it continues to rack up goals and victories at an impressive pace.

The Sailors showed their situational execution on Saturday night in defeating host Harvard-Westlake 16-7 in the finals of the Elite 8 tournament to improve to 19-0.

In the finals seconds of first period, No. 1 Newport Harbor coolly pulled goalie Luke Harris for a 7-on-6 player advantage on an after-goal play.

With 15 seconds left, the Sailors placed a spare goalie cap on attacker Weston Hartel and had him join a possession that ended with left-hander James Mulvey scoring off an assist from left-hander Mason Netzer for a 5-3 lead with one second on the clock.

Harris quickly re-entered after the goal and closed the frame with a save.

Newport Harbor then scored eight unanswered goals to put away the Wolverines, who dethroned reigning tournament champion JSerra 11-10 in the semifinals.

The Sailors outscored Harvard-Westlake 6-0 with a sizzling second-period performance but their execution at the end of the first stood out. The rule that allows a goalie to join the attack has only existed about three years but coach Ross Sinclair’s team made it seem like a common play.

“It’s the first time we scored this season on it,” Sinclair said with a chuckle. “(It’s) ‘Hey, seven-on-six, let’s go.’ … We practice it.”

The play seemed to typify Newport Harbor’s approach to a season in which it is increasingly being viewed as a heavy favorite for the CIF-SS Open Division title. The Sailors won the South Coast Tournament last month.

“There’s always more work — that’s kind of our thing,” said Newport Harbor junior attacker Kai Kaneko, who scored two of his three goals in the second period. “The details.”

Newport Harbor also used the tournament to insert its sitout transfers — Mulvey (JSerra) and Santino Rossi (Mater Dei) — to its rotations.

Mulvey shined in the second period with a goal and assist. Rossi added a goal from center in the frame in which he emerged from below to the surface to beat three crashing players.

“I’ve felt acclimated from Day 1,” Mulvey said of his transition at Newport Harbor.

Mulvey helped cap the second period by tossing a cross pass to Lucca Van Der Woude for a power-play strike and 11-3 lead.

Harvard-Westlake notched its first victory against JSerra under third-year coach Jack Grover but dropped its fourth match to Newport Harbor this fall and eighth straight overall.

Harris played a key role in Harvard-Westlake struggling with the extra attacker. The USC committed senior made six of his nine saves against the power play.

Jack Shapiro snapped a 9-0 run by Newport Harbor with a power-play goal with 2:48 left in the third.

“It’s promising,” Grover said of the Wolverines’ runner-up finish. “This Newport team is really, really strong. What they do really well is any time you make a mistake, they capitalize.”

“You can’t deny at all that they are a very-well coached team,” he added. “It’s one thing to get transfers. … but it’s a whole another thing to actually coach them and incorporate them in your system.”

Newport Harbor beat Oaks Christian 13-5 in the semifinals.

In the third-place match:

JSerra 13, Oaks Christian 9: Taylor Bell scored five goals to lead the Lions, who led 9-5 going in the fourth period.

In roster news, strong-shooting sophomore Porter Birdsall is no longer with JSerra, coach Brett Ormsby confirmed.

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​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers ‘closing the door’ on Clayton Kershaw pitching in 2024

• October 6, 2024

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are “closing the door” on Clayton Kershaw pitching again in 2024, Dave Roberts said Saturday.

Kershaw has not pitched since leaving his Aug. 30 start in Arizona with pain in his left foot. The pain is being caused by bone spurs and ligament damage. But Kershaw had been continuing to throw, trying orthotics and different cleats to try to relieve the pain. He even threw an approximately 80-pitch bullpen session during the Dodgers’ series in Miami near the end of the regular season.

“It was getting pretty mentally exhausting to continue to pitch,” Kershaw said Saturday. “It just kept hurting so I got another MRI. And I made it worse. So there’s no point at this point to keep going.

“It’s unfortunate. I mean, obviously, super frustrated but, yeah, it’s not getting better so I can’t pitch.”

Kershaw said he had to give himself “a chance” at pitching in the postseason but repeated “I probably made this worse – but I had to try.”

The toe problem has plagued Kershaw for some years. This most recent stretch was “more acute, a little different” and might require surgery during the offseason if Kershaw wants to pitch in 2025.

“It’s definitely in the conversation,” he said. “I haven’t solidified anything yet. But there’s a chance that I might need to fix it, yeah.”

Kershaw had surgery last offseason to address a shoulder injury and didn’t make his 2024 debut until July 25. He made seven starts for the Dodgers, going 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 30 innings. He is 32 strikeouts short of 3,000 in his career. Only 19 pitchers in baseball history have struck out 3,000 or more.

Kershaw’s incentive-laden contract paid him just $7.5 million this season and includes a player option for 2025. The 36-year-old would not talk about his plans for next season.

“I’ll talk about it after the season,” he said. “Right now, I think the focus should be trying to beat the Padres and that’s what I’m thinking. I’m gonna try and be a good cheerleader as best I can.

“But yeah, we’ll think about it. The offseason comes quick.”

Kershaw said he does feel healthy – except for the big toe on his left foot.

“Yeah, my shoulder feels great. My back feels great. All that stuff,” he said. “Look, I don’t know. Obviously I don’t want to get hurt all the time. Like, it’s not fun to do that But I also really love to pitch, too. So you just have to weigh everything. I’ll talk to Ellen (his wife) and figure it out. We’ll see how it goes.”

FREEMAN STATUS

Hours before Game 1, Roberts was asked if Freddie Freeman would be in the starting lineup.

“I’m still hopeful – maybe not as hopeful as I was yesterday,” Roberts said.

Freeman said his injured right ankle was “sore” after he went through a full workout for the first time Friday. But it improved as he received treatment during the day Saturday and he was in the lineup when it came up.

Roberts acknowledged that Freeman’s mobility will be watched carefully. Replacing him with a pinch-runner or defensive replacement in a close game will definitely be considered.

ROSTER CHOICES

The Dodgers announced their roster for the NLDS on Saturday morning. It included four rookies – pitchers Landon Knack, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the biggest surprise, Edgardo Henriquez, as well as outfielder Andy Pages.

Henriquez made his big-league debut just 11 days ago and pitched only 3⅓ innings before making the roster. A spot became available when veteran reliever Joe Kelly came down with a sore shoulder again after pitching in a simulated game this week.

“Joe Kelly, his last pitch in a simulated game, throwing a change-up, he felt something in his shoulder. So that kind of put him out of the conversation,” Roberts said. “That was really disappointing, obviously, for Joe. He’s just not even viable being such a big piece of this and what he’s done in past postseasons.”

Kelly will not be an option again until a potential World Series roster, Roberts said. He spent time on the injured list with shoulder inflammation during the regular season as well.

GAME TWO

Right-hander Jack Flaherty will start Game 2 on Sunday. Over his last two regular-season starts, Flaherty’s fastball velocity was down – just 91.8 mph against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 19 and again Sept. 25 against the Padres, compared to a season average of 93.3 mph.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the drop was due to “a little bit of delivery stuff that I know Connor (McGuinness, assistant pitching coach) and Mark (Prior, pitching coach) and BMac (Brandon McDaniel, vice president for player performance) have been attacking.

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“Jack’s great. He gets it, gets after it,” Friedman said. “He feels really confident that his delivery is in a really good place.”

Flaherty said he was less concerned with recovering velocity and more concerned with his command of all of his pitches.

“The velocity is going to be whatever it is,” he said. “It just comes down to executing. But we just put in the work over the week and try to figure some things out. Just try to be more consistent more than anything. Gotta locate the ball and spin the ball the way I want to.”

​ Orange County Register 

Red hot Mets rally in 8th to stun Phillies in NLDS Game 1

• October 6, 2024

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo keyed another late comeback in New York’s electric run through the National League playoffs, helping the Mets break through for five runs in the eighth inning against a pair of All-Star relievers as they rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 on Saturday in Game 1 of their Division Series.

The Mets had been stymied by Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, held to just one hit while trailing 1-0 and unable to muster any real scoring chances over the first seven innings.

With Wheeler lifted after nine strikeouts and a startling 30 swings-and-misses over 111 pitches, the Mets — whose whirlwind week included a victory in a makeup doubleheader at Atlanta to clinch a postseason spot and three games in the Wild Card Series at Milwaukee — pounced against losing pitcher Jeff Hoffman and fellow reliever Matt Strahm in the eighth.

In true New York fashion this October, the Mets had to rally, not just on the scoreboard, but on a gut-check in each at-bat.

Francisco Alvarez hit a leadoff single against Hoffman before three straight batters reached base after facing 0-2 counts. Francisco Lindor worked a walk from his 0-2 count and Vientos followed with a tying single. Nimmo laced a go-ahead single off Strahm past a drawn-in infield for the 2-1 lead.

Pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez added an RBI single and Pete Alonso, who hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning in the Wild Card Series clincher in Milwaukee, and Starling Marte each added a sacrifice fly in the eighth for a 5-1 lead that sent the Mets into a frenzy in the dugout.

Leave it to the Mets to win this one late — they have scored 18 runs in the eighth and ninth innings in six games since Monday. New York joined the 1980 Phillies and 1999 Mets as the only teams to win consecutive playoff games after trailing in the eighth inning or later.

The Phillies were left reeling headed into Sunday’s Game 2 after they wasted their ace’s splendid outing.

Citizens Bank Park, once home to Red October, has turned into a nightmare the last two seasons. The Phillies held a 3-2 series lead last season in the NLCS but lost Games 6 and 7 to Arizona at home.

Kyle Schwarber launched Kodai Senga’s third pitch into the second deck in right field, extending his playoff record for leadoff homers to five.

At 425 feet, the homer — a Schwarbomb, as his homers are affectionately called in Philly — went about as far as the rest of the hits combined by an anemic offense.

Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and the rest of a homer-happy offense failed to tack on against Senga and four relievers.

Senga was a surprise starter for New York after throwing just 5 1/3 major league innings all season because of shoulder and calf injuries. He lasted two innings in his second start of the year, throwing 31 pitches. The right-hander struck out three and walked one; Schwarber’s homer was the only hit he allowed.

David Peterson, who earned his first career save in the Wild Card Series clincher against Milwaukee, kept the Mets in the game with three innings of shutout relief. Reed Garrett tossed perfect innings for the win.

The Mets were thrilled just to have Friday off after a wild week that included a doubleheader Monday in Atlanta and then three games in Milwaukee.

“It was much needed,” manager Carlos Mendoza said ahead of Game 1. “Intense games, the traveling, the back-and-forth, doubleheader, celebrations, and just everything that we went through. So being able to get here and have kind of like a reset day for everyone was really good.”

The reset came from — no, not from a playoff pumpkin — but a staff that struck out eight and muted Phillies fans that had spun their red rally towels like helicopter rotor blades from the moment they snagged them at the gate.

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UP NEXT

The Mets send RHP Luis Severino to the mound in Game 2. He won Game 1 of the Wild Card Series in Milwaukee. Severino allowed eight hits and four runs — three earned — in six innings.

The Phillies have All-Star and new dad Cristopher Sánchez on the mound for Game 2.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers’ LeBron James, Anthony Davis expected to make preseason debuts Sunday

• October 6, 2024

PALM DESERT — After sitting out of the Lakers’ preseason-opening 124-107 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are expected to make their preseason debuts against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday at Acrisure Arena.

James said after the team’s practice Saturday that he plans to play against the Suns, while coach JJ Redick said Davis is also expected to be available.

The Lakers’ star duo sat out the first exhibition, with Redick citing their gold-medal run with Team USA at the Paris Olympics over the summer and their workload during training camp as why they didn’t play.

“We want to carry over with what we did [Saturday] at practice,” James said. “We were very intent on what we want to accomplish going forward. [Friday] was one of those first games. It’s been a while since a lot of guys have played in a game setting. And it looked that way.”

While the moment when James and his son Bronny James, the Lakers’ second-round pick in June’s NBA draft, shared the floor didn’t happen Friday, the elder James had an up-close view of Bronny’s preseason debut.

Bronny James scored two points on 1-of-6 shooting and led the team in blocked shots with three.

“For him, it’s obviously an adjustment,” LeBron James said. “Every rank that you climb, it’s always an adjustment to get used to it. When he went to high school, from middle school from high school to USC and now to the pros, it’s always an adjustment to make. The more time he’s out on the floor with pros, the speed, the cadence, you get better and better the more time you put on the floor.

“And you’ve got to think that he lost pretty much a third of last season because of the condition. But he’s gotten better and better every day. He continues to put the work in. And it’s up to us as the veterans and the guys out here to try to help him, help Dalton [Knecht], help all the young guys to get him better and better every day to help them accomplish what we want to accomplish.”

LeBron was complimentary of Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round pick who scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 2 of 5 on 3-pointers.

“He’s a pro,” LeBron said of Knecht. “He’s ready to go now.”

HONEST ASSESSMENT

Redick, coming off coaching his first NBA game, was honest in his assessment of Friday’s game.

“Defensively the carryover from practice, in terms of some of our switching rules and our pick-and-roll coverage, wasn’t great,” Redick said Saturday. “We cleaned that up a little bit. They’ve been really good at it in practice. And sometimes the game starts and it’s the first time playing in a game in a few months and you can lose focus.

“Offensively I mentioned organization [Friday] and that’s the biggest thing that stood out on that end. And then, some small attention-to-detail stuff just in terms of how we want to run different sets.”

The team’s screening was one of the “attention-to-detail” aspects of Friday’s game that could’ve been better.

“The screening was [expletive], but we’ll get better,” Redick said. “It’s something we’ve emphasized. We’ve really implemented it in player development. We didn’t focus – and it was intentional, it’ll be intentional, really, thorough the preseason – we’re not focused right now on the opponent.

“When you play a team like Minnesota, there’s a specific emphasis you have to make on your screens in terms of our four screening options. We didn’t emphasize that in the pregame meeting. That’s on us. But we’re more focused on what we’re doing versus the opponent right now.”

Redick said he was most disappointed with the Lakers’ execution of their one-through-four switching on defense.

“We didn’t execute that at all,” he added. “We maybe executed it less than 10% of the time. It’s something we’ve drilled and it was very clear in the pregame meeting that that’s what we were doing. So you certainly question, like, am I not making this clear? Is it something I’m doing?”

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Redick said before Friday’s game that he’d try to give himself some grace when it comes to some of the nuanced stuff the Lakers are looking to execute.

But when it came time to watch the film, he couldn’t help being hard on himself.

“A little bit,” Redick said. “But again, we talked about it [Saturday] morning in our film session. We’re all on the same page.”

SUNS AT LAKERS

When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Acrisure Arena, Palm Desert

TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet, 710 AM

​ Orange County Register 

OC Pride hosts celebration of LGBTQIA+ community at fairgrounds

• October 6, 2024

OC Pride hosted its Colors of Strength festival and parade on Saturday, trying out a new venue for the annual celebration of the  LGBTQIA+ community.

At the OC Fair & Event Center the day kicked off with the Blaze it Forward parade around the parking lot, a showcase of the culture and unity of the community, and a remembrance of Blaze Bernstein, a 19-year-old Lake Forest man killed in 2018 in what a jury this year called a hate crime. His parents, Jeanne and Gideon Bernstein, served as the grand marshals.

Following the parade, the fairgrounds filled with crowds enjoying music and more. The move from downtown Santa Ana to the fairgrounds offered more room and more security for the event, organizers said.

“OC Pride is more than just a celebration,” Manny Muro, vice president of the OC Pride board, said ahead of Saturday’s festivities. “It is a movement that brings our community together and reminds us of the strength that we find together.”

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​ Orange County Register