It’s time for beaches to turn silver as grunion season launches

• April 6, 2023

Grunion season has arrived — an it’s a great excuse to go to the beach at midnight.

The annual Southern California celebration heralds the tiny fish that mate on the sand on beaches stretching from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

Orange and Los Angeles counties — and beyond — see lively grunion season activity from the tiny fish that seem to prefer sloping beaches where high tide pushes waves beyond the normal water line, protecting eggs.

Protected beaches, such as those behind the breakwater in San Pedro Bay, are especially popular with the fish. So San Pedro’s Cabrillo Beach (the inner harbor), for example, is known for hosting annual grunion runs that combine fun activities and education. That seasonal celebration kicks off at 9 p.m. Friday, April 7, and will continue through June 19.

This year’s schedule includes a special night on April 21, with World of Sound Productions bringing 500 headphones so guests can have a silent disco dance party at two locations, the Cabriillo Marine Aquarium and the beach.

“We are stoked to collaborate with Cabrillo Marine Aquarium,” said Adam Malovani, founder of World of Sound Productions, which also stages events in Hermosa Beach and Santa Monica. “This is an epic location.”

But the grunion will remain the star of the show.

During grunion season, the silvery, smelt-like fish sweep onto shore to mate, with crowds of people gathering to watch what has been called one of the most unusual phenomenon in the natural world.

The female grunion are the first to surf to shore, aiming for the highest point on the beach, pushing their tails into the sand.

Males follow, wrapping their bodies around the females for a 30-second mating ritual.

Then it’s right back out to sea for them.

The females take a bit longer to dig out of the sand, but they eventually follow.

The eggs left behind — there can be up to 3,000 of them in a pile — then stay buried until the next high tide rolls in a couple of weeks later, stirring the sand and helping the eggs hatch. The infants are then carried back into the water by the tides.

Then, it happens all over again.

Catching grunion — with a fishing license — is legal in March, June, July and August, but not in April and May, when you can only watch in order to allow the species to reproduce propagation.

Grunion can be cooked and the runs, during catching season, are a good way to get fresh seafood.

The spectacle can be seen on numerous beaches, including:

Corona Del Mar State Beach.
Newport Municipal Beach.
Bolsa Chica State Beach.
Seal Beach.
Belmont Shore Beach in Long Beach.
Long Beach City Beach.
Hermosa City Beach.
Manhattan County Beach.
Venice City Beach.
Santa Monica State Beach.
Topanga Beach.
Malibu Surfrider Beach.

The best runs, according to the California Beaches website, occur after new or full moons. Grunion, one of only a few species that come onshore to lay their eggs on sandy beaches, are most likely to surface after the highest tides and the largest numbers of fish can generally be seen about an hour after a run has begun.

Avoid using flashlights, though, as the illumination can scare the fish away. Regulations require that the fish, during catching seasons, can only be caught by hand, with no tools.

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But mainly, folks go to grunion runs because, well, they’re fun.

“It’s a great excuse to stay up late and go to the beach,” Crislyn McKerron, director of the Cabrillo aquarium, said in a recent news release.

Since 1950, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium has been curating grunion runs for the pubic and it remains one of the best places to observe the phenomenon.

At times, the beach can look like it’s covered in a blanket of silver as the fish arrive.

The aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, combines its events with a movie beforehand that teaches about the grunion, as well as opportunities to hatch grunion eggs and explore the rest of the aquarium before heading to the beach for the predicted run, which begings anywhere from 10:15 to 11 p.m.

“Meet the Grunion” program nights are:

9 p.m. Friday, April 7.
8 p.m. Friday, April 21.
8 p.m. Sunday, May 21.
8 p.m. Monday, June 5.
8 p.m. Monday, June 19.

Admission is $7 for adults, and $3 for seniors, students and children. Members of the Friends of the Aquarium are admitted for free.

Tickets can be purchased at cabrillomarineaquarium.org.

For the silent disco event on April 21, visitors must rent headphones for $20 per adult and $10 for children 12 and under at sunsetvibesevents.com. There will be other activities coordinated with that event as well, including a station geared for families.

Beach parking is $3 and the lot closes at midnight.

​ Orange County Register 

Here’s what’s happening and when during the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

• April 6, 2023

Long Beach’s biggest annual party is almost here — and when it arrives, there sure will be a lot to do.

The 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is set for Friday to Sunday, April 14-16, and is expected to draw more than 180,000 people to the city’s downtown across the weekend.

There will, of course, be plenty of racing. The titular IndyCar race on Sunday, April 16, is the headliner. But racing lovers can also catch American sports cars, Porches, trucks leaping off ramps, souped-up vehicles drifting — and even historic Formula 1 cars.

Then there’s the autograph sessions, two concerts and an exotic car parade, as well as two preludes set for Thursday, April 13.

So yeah, it will be a busy weekend.

To help you make sense of it all, below is a schedule of Grand Prix events.

Thursday, April 13

11 a.m.-noon: Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame Ceremony, on South Pine Avenue in front of the Convention Center.
6:30-10 p.m.: Thunder Thursday at The Pike Outlets.

Friday, April 14

7:30 a.m.: Gates open.
7:45-8:15 a.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup, practice No. 1.
9-10 a.m.: IMSA, practice No. 1.
10:15-10:35 a.m.: Historic F1, practice No. 1.
11:15-11:55 a.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup, practice No. 2
12:10-12:30 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks, practice No. 1.
12:45-2:30 p.m.: IMSA, practice No. 2.
3-4:15 p.m.” IndyCar Series, practice No. 1.
4:30-5 p.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying.
5:10-5:55 p.m.: IMSA qualifying.
6:30-8:30 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge No. 1.
6:30-8 p.m.: Fiesta Friday, featuring Boombox Cartel, at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center plaza..
8:30 p.m.: Gates close.

Saturday, April 15

7:30 a.m.: Gates open.
7:45-8:05 a.m.: Historic F1, practice No. 2.
8:45-9:45 a.m.: IndyCar Series, practice No. 2.
11:20-11:40 a.m.: Historic F1 Challenge Race No. 1.
12:05-1:20 p.m.: IndyCar Series qualifying and Fast 6.
1:30-2 p.m.: IMSA pre-race.
2-4 p.m.: IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix.
4:30-5 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks Race No. 1.
5:15-5:55 p.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup Race No. 1.
6:30-8:30 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge No. 2.
6:30-8 p.m.: Saturday night concert, featuring Kings of Chaos and special guests, at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center plaza.
8:30 p.m.: Gates close.

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Sunday, April 15

7:30 a.m.: Gates open.
9-9:30 a.m.: NTT IndyCar Series warm up.
10:45-11:05 a.m.: Historic F1 Challenge Race No. 2.
11:10-11:20 a.m.: Acura NSX Hot Laps.
11:25-11:40 a.m.: Mothers Exotic Car Parade.
11:45 a.m.-12:35 p.m.” NTT IndyCar Series pre-race.
12:35 p.m.: “Drivers, start your engines!”
12:45-3 p.m.: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
3:30-4 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks Race No. 2.
4:20-5 p.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup Race.
5:30 p.m.: Gates close.

​ Orange County Register 

Still need tickets to the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach? Here’s how much they cost

• April 6, 2023

Attending the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach doesn’t require breaking the bank — but you could if you so choose.

The Grand Prix has myriad ticket packages for the more than 180,000 people expected to attend the event, which will run from Friday to Sunday, April 14-16. You can be thrifty — or extravagant.

If you like standing on the side of the track or sitting on metal bleachers, there are packages for you.

If you want to hang in the paddock, you can — for a price. For those flush with cash, you can even attend exclusive clubs — for an even steeper price.

All told, tickets to the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach can run anywhere from $38 to $1,125, depending on which day or days you attend, as well as which package you choose. (You can also attend Friday for free if you pick up the Sunday, April 9, or Friday, April 14, print editions of a Southern California newspaper and look for a general admission ticket.)

Below is a breakdown of available ticket packages and their cost. To buy tickets, go to gplb.com/tickets.

General admission

General admission tickets come with unreserved seating on the first two days of the Grand Prix, but not during the Sunday finale. Tickets:

Friday: $38.
Saturday: $77.
Sunday: $82.
Three-day package: $112.

Reserved seating

The Sunday tickets for this package vary based on where your seats are, though children 12 and under get a discounted price. Tickets:

Saturday: $84 for adults.
Sunday: $92 or $107 for adults, and $67 or $81 for juniors, depending on the seats.
Three-day package (no reserved seating on Friday): $124 or $175, and $95 or $135 for juniors, depending on the seats.

Paddock access

These packages provide access to the NTT IndyCar Series paddock. But they do not provide admission to the circuit, so you have to buy those tickets as well. Tickets:

Friday, Saturday or Sunday: $30.
Three-day package: $70.

Super Photo Ticket

This is the package for you if you want to take great photos of the racing.

The Super Photo Ticket includes three-day admission, paddock access, access to three special photo locations and limited access to the racing pit during practice and qualifying.

Minors aren’t not allowed, however, and there are other conditions. For more information, go to gplb.com/super-photo.

This package costs $340.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. One Turn Club

With this Sunday-only package, you can hang out at the iconic restaurant during the races. Bubba Gump Shrimp, 87 Aquarium Way, has views of multiple turns, and will also have television screens broadcasting the action. The package also comes with free buffet breakfast and brunch.

This package costs $260 for adults and $165 for juniors.

Club C300

This club is hosted by the Committee of 300, a nonprofit that has worked to benefit the community for more than four decades.

The club has a live television feed of the circuit, a dance floor, free breakfast and lunch, and other amenities.

This package, like the Bubba Gump Shrimp one, is an add-on, so you must first buy a reserved ticket. Tickets:

Saturday: $192.
Sunday: $220.
Three-day: $390.

Hospitality clubs

OK, here’s where we start talking about some serious dollar signs.

There are three clubs from which to choose — Vista, Seaside and Pit Lane.

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The Vista Club is on the 17th floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel and offers a view of the pits, the oceanfront straightaway, and turns 1 to 6, as well as the harbor and Long Beach skyline.

The Seaside Club is on the Seaside Way back straight and is usually the first to sell out, according to the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach website.

The Pit Lane Club is the most-exclusive, putting you right above the pit and the straightaway. It also comes with limited pit access.

While the complimentary meals vary at each club, all three offer a full bar with complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks on Saturday and Sunday.

But you can’t buy these tickets the way you do the others. Instead, you must fill out an order form, which is available at gplb.com/vip-club-packages. Tickets:

Vista Club: $400 for Friday or Saturday only; $460 for Sunday only and $760 for all three days.
Seaside Club (all three days): $760.
Pit Lane Club (all three days): $1,125.

​ Orange County Register 

Clippers’ Norman Powell seizes the moment against Lakers

• April 6, 2023

LOS ANGELES — He missed nearly a month, 27 days spent watching as his team worked toward the playoffs. He endured 11 games sitting on the bench with a bum shoulder, a fire burning inside to get healthy and return to the court.

And when Norman Powell finally slipped on his No. 24 jersey and got back to work, he did it with a vengeance. In his first game back, Powell scored 13 points and followed that with 16 points against the Memphis Grizzlies and 12 in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. It turns out, Powell was just warming up.

Against the Lakers on Wednesday night, Powell turned up the heat, scoring 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting and hitting all 10 of his free throws to pace the Clippers to a 125-118 victory against the Lakers, their fourth this season, at Crypto.com Arena.

Powell said his performance – highlighted by a high-arching lob to Kawhi Leonard, who dunked one-handed in the fourth quarter –  was simply a matter of staying in the moment, a moment that was building for weeks.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue credited Powell and Bones Hyland’s energy for giving the Clippers a needed spark when the game got close.

“They came in and changed the tempo of the game,” Lue said.

Powell said it was just a matter of “staying within myself. Just finding a rhythm.”

Powell, who also had four assists, two rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot, added that “I think it’s like my fourth game back coming off injury after missing 11 games so it was just being prepared and just staying mentally locked in and as Lue says, not playing so angry.”

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Powell said he earned the nickname “Angry Norm” from former Toronto Raptors teammate Kyle Lowry during his rookie season. He said his temper stems from his passion for basketball.

“It just shows how much I love the game and how much I commit to it, and my preparation every single day,” Powell said. “So, I expect to have a high expectation for myself, so I put a lot of internal pressure on me to be great, for myself and for the team. So, when it’s not going a certain way, I get a little frustrated and get a little mad.”

Powell kept a level head throughout the game, especially at the line. His free throws enabled the Clippers to maintain their lead when the Lakers staged a 19-2 run that cut the Clippers’ double-digit lead to eight points in the third quarter. He said the Lakers were focusing on Leonard, which opened lanes.

“I was able to get some fouls that I thought I didn’t get in the first quarter,” he said. “I was talking to the refs a little bit, but just being in attack mode and seeing how the game was going and what they were giving me, I just took it.”

POWELL UP.
KAWHI DOWN.

The @LAClippers are HYPED!

ESPN pic.twitter.com/2B4v17TCsj

— NBA (@NBA) April 6, 2023

​ Orange County Register 

Dénis Bouanga, LAFC top Vancouver to open CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal

• April 6, 2023

LAFC got another electric performance from Dénis Bouanga and took a big step toward advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals with a 3-0 rout of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the first leg of their quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday night at BC Place in Vancouver.

LAFC scored all three goals during a 10-minute stretch of the second half, with Bouanga scoring twice and assisting on the other.

Bouanga first drove a right-footed shot from distance over Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and off the underside of the crossbar in the 55th minute.

Bouanga set up the second goal six minutes later when he took the ball away from Vancouver’s Andrés Cubas at the top of the Whitecaps’ penalty area. The loose ball rolled into the middle of the box for Mahala Opoku, who took a quick dribble before burying a left-footed shot inside the left post.

Bouanga closed the scoring in the 65th minute, taking a pass from Timothy Tillman and eluding three defenders to score on a left-footed shot into the top left corner of the net.

Bouanga leads the tournament with five goals in three games heading into the second leg, which is Tuesday night at BMO Stadium, where LAFC just needs to avoid a loss by three goals or more to reach the semifinals for the second time in four seasons.

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​ Orange County Register 

Surging Oilers hand Ducks their 9th straight loss

• April 6, 2023

ANAHEIM –– Already tumbling through the longest losing streak of a season to forget, the Ducks faced down the team that had beaten them most handily during this funk, the Edmonton Oilers, and lost again, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Honda Center.

That score accurately reflected a far more competitive game than their 6-0 defeat at Edmonton’s hands just four days earlier.

The victories for the Ducks might have been moral, but they were by no means insignificant: they prevented the NHL’s two top scorers (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) from scoring until McDavid’s late empty-net assist, they afforded Edmonton’s top-ranked power play just one fruitless opportunity and they got back a pair of key players. Winger Troy Terry played for the first time since March 25 and forward Adam Henrique returned to action after sustaining a knee injury on Feb. 21.

“Honestly, I thought it was a good hockey game. At this point in the season, because we’ve lost so much, it’s hard to not be upset when we lose and there’s definitely things we can do better,” Terry said. “But, as a whole, we shut down probably the two best players in the world and we played a good game that probably could have went either way.”

Terry – who had missed the team’s recent four-game trip with his wife expecting the couple’s first child – scored for the Ducks. He won’t travel to Arizona for Saturday’s game because of the pregnancy, the same position Henrique and his wife were in a few short months ago. Lukas Dostal stopped 30 of 32 shots he faced.

“Troy was excellent. He had the puck on his stick all night. I think he ended up with six shots on net and even more attempts,” said Ducks coach Dallas Eakins, who also credited Dostal’s key saves with helping quiet the Oilers’ weapons of mass destruction.

Klim Kostin scored the first Edmonton goal and assisted on the second by fellow towering forward Nick Bjugstad. Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recorded his 100th point of the year setting up Zach Hyman’s empty-netter. Former Kings goalie Jack Campbell made 27 saves in a calm, collected effort.

While the Ducks have had competition aboard the fail boat – Arizona has lost eight straight and Chicago has kicked its losing ways into high gear by posting the worst record since the trade deadline – there’s little doubt about who the hottest team in the NHL has been since the swaps stopped. Edmonton has gone 15-2-1 since March 1, the Oilers debut of newly acquired defenseman Mattias Ekholm, posting a points percentage of .861. That mark is 83 percentage points higher than any other team in the league. Meanwhile, the Ducks have four games remaining, which could put them past their franchise-worst streak of 11 winless games last season.

Approaching the five-minute mark of the third period, the Ducks halved their deficit. Henrique stole the puck near the blue line, flipping it to defenseman Simon Benoit. He kicked the puck ahead to Terry in the left circle before occupying the stick and then the body of defenseman Brett Kulak. The drive by Benoit opened up room in the low slot for Terry to rip home his 22nd goal of 2022-23, which tied him with center Trevor Zegras for the team lead.

“(Mason MacTavish) made a good read trying to cover McDavid on the far side, which maybe held them a little longer than they wanted, we were just able to turn it over,” Henrique said. “(Benoit) made a good play jumping into the rush trying to take advantage and getting it to Troy, who had a lot of opportunities tonight and finally got one.”

The Ducks managed to get Dostal pulled from his cage but with 1:42 to play the Oilers turned an intercepted pass into an empty-net goal, with all three members of their top line touching the puck before Hyman deposited it into the net.

They nearly made it through half the match without giving up a goal, but with 10:24 left in the second period Edmonton opened the scoring. Kostin and linemate Mattias Janmark dovetailed into the slot before splitting abruptly, at which point Janmark swept the puck to Kostin for a redirection goal, his 11th and first since March 1, as he fell to the ice.

Kostin would play the role of playmaker 3:10 later. A feeble clearing attempt found Kostin’s stick below the goal line, allowing him to thread a pass through traffic to Bjugstad for his 17th goal of the campaign. Since his acquisition via trade from Arizona on March 2, Bjugstad has four goals and six points.

The Ducks could live with Edmonton’s supporting cast beating them, rather than a supercharged power play and dynamic scoring duo that Terry said the Ducks knew they would have to contain to have any chance of prevailing. Draisaitl poured in a hat trick against the Ducks on Saturday, but he saw his 13-game point streak, which encompassed 27 points, snapped Wednesday.

“We kept our pace high. We tried to stay in their face. Those guys find time and space all over, it’s hard, but our guys did a good job,” Henrique said.

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The Ducks also lost a role player of their own as they played much of the match sans winger Brock McGinn, who exited the game with an upper-body injury and did not return.

With four games left to play, the playoffs are a fantasy and the only records that could be set would be ignominious ones. So what do the Ducks hope to accomplish as the finish line nears?

“We’ve done an excellent job of negativity out of our room,” Eakins said. “We want to keep our work ethic high, that has not only been evident in the game but in practice too. If we can do that and really invest in each other and look after each other, I think it’d be a good way to end the season.”

NOTES

The loss guaranteed the Ducks will finish with the fewest points in a full 82-game season in franchise history. The previous low was 65 points in 1997-98, which was the fourth-worst record in the league that season. … This is the third straight season the Ducks have had a winless streak of at least nine games. … Nugent-Hopkins became the third Edmonton skater to reach 100 points this season, joining McDavid and Draisaitl. The last time a team had three or more players with at least 100 points was Pittsburgh in 1995-96 with Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis. … McDavid’s assist moved him within two points of 150.

​ Orange County Register 

Swanson: Clippers’ Russell Westbrook serves up revenge against Lakers

• April 6, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Let Russ be Russ. That’s the credo. Long been.

As if there were an alternative.

As if pepper could not be peppery, as if salt could be sweet.

But it can be an acquired taste, the way Russell Westbrook plays basketball. It’s distinctive and rather rich. Hard to stomach for some folks, more palatable to others.

Better, clearly, in a stew with enough other strong complementary flavors. Best, perhaps, like revenge: Served cold.

The Clippers – who added Westbrook on a veteran’s minimum contract after the trade deadline – had more in the cupboard to pair with the hard-charging if imperfect veteran point guard. And they believe he’s delivered, even though they’re just 9-10 since he joined them following Wednesday’s 125-118 victory over Westbrook’s former employer.

They’ll tell you they’ve been well served by him being, well, him.

He pushes the pace and he’s pushed his teammates in practice. He’s sprinkled plenty of swagger and spice into an otherwise mild-mannered squad. Plenty more turnovers too, but that comes with the change in pace.

“I think he fits a bunch of needs,” acknowledged Lakers coach Darvin Ham, noting that Westbrook is helping the Clippers fill the void created by All-Star Paul George’s absence with a right knee sprain. “He provides a steady veteran, a guy that’s been through many wars, and who’s going to give it all he has.”

And that’s pretty much exactly what the Clippers ordered.

“He’s a guy who’s vocal, can help our guys in the locker room,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before tipoff. “But also just what we asked him to do, he’s done.”

That’s included watching – and cheering, engaging, advising – from the bench at the end of some games. Including Wednesday’s.

Surprise, surprise?

Actually, yeah, Lue said.

“You never know,” said the coach, who had been clamoring for a “traditional” point guard before the Clippers signed Westbrook. “I mean, when you’re dealing with a Hall of Fame player and a guy who’s played a certain style of basketball his whole career, sometimes it could be difficult. But he’s been great.”

All that made Westbrook a pivotal presence in his first game on the Clippers’ side in the local rivalry game, which happened to be the most meaningful in recent memory: With the victory, the Clippers’ 11th straight over the Lakers, they improved to 42-38 and moved into fifth place in the Western Conference standings, passing the idle Golden State Warriors (42-38) via the tiebreaker.

The Lakers stayed in the play-in field, in seventh place after the New Orleans Pelicans’ victory over Memphis.

During pregame introductions, Westbrook was greeted by a roar of emotion – positive and not – from the charged, split crowd of 19,068. He shook no hands before tipoff. And then he opened the game by swatting Austin Reaves’ jumper and throwing a lob to Ivica Zubac, the other former Laker on the Clippers.

Well rested after three days off, they dutifully dispatched the Lakers, who came in limping and on fumes after an overtime victory Tuesday night in Salt Lake City.

The Clippers rode Westbrook’s energy to a 19-point lead in the first half Wednesday. The Lakers whittled the advantage to as few as seven points with 4:13 left in the third quarter and made a late charge. But the game belonged to the host Clippers.

“Man, I felt like Russ was ready to go for 40,” said Clippers guard Bones Hyland, Westbrook’s understudy who took the baton in the second half, scoring all 14 points of his points after the break. “Russ had a great start, man, he came out there, aggressive. …

“We’ve been telling Russ for the past two days, ‘Russ, we’ll match your energy. We got your back. We’re gonna come out with this win.’”

A former Lawndale Leuzinger High and UCLA standout, Westbrook played the past season and a half for his hometown Lakers, a tenure that left a bad taste in the mouths of everyone involved.

After they finally traded him, to Utah at the deadline, ESPN reported that an unnamed someone with the team likened Westbrook’s departure to removing a vampire from the locker room.

He was bought out and then signed with the Clippers, whose players recruited him publicly despite the reported complaints and how poorly he fit with the Lakers during his tenure with them.

That the Lakers, who started the season 2-10, found themselves in position to even pressure the Clippers this late in the schedule has much to do with the roster improvements they made by trading away Westbrook and his expiring $47.1 million salary at the early February trade deadline. They were able to flip him for some key missing ingredients: a dash of defensive length (Jarred Vanderbilt) and a couple of measures of floor-spacing shooting threats (Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell).

And it’s come out pretty well: Entering Wednesday, the Lakers were 16-8 (and boasting the NBA’s best defensive rating) since Westbrook’s departure on Feb. 9 – despite having played most of those without LeBron James, who has missed time with a foot injury.

They’d entirely closed the gap on the Clippers, climbing out of 13th into a tie for sixth.

The Clippers, meanwhile, fought to tread water in the wild Western Conference, their struggles having had more to do with the team pre-Russ – depth at wing is great, but the Clippers are proving it’s possible to have too many cooks in a kitchen, stirring the same pot or manning the same station.

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They were in fifth place when they acquired Westbrook on Feb. 27. And with Wednesday’s result, they’re still in fifth.

“It’s not about individual stuff, but we knew what was said about him and when he came over here, it’s the complete opposite of who he is,” Zubac said. “He’s a great dude, a great leader, always happy, always positive, always helping everyone on the court, helping a lot.

“So we just wanted to prove everyone wrong. Prove all those rumors, all that stuff that was said about him, it just makes it better that it came in the biggest game of the season.”

Westbrook didn’t stick around postgame to chat with reporters about it, but his contribution to the biggest win of the season: 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including hitting two of his four 3-point attempts. He also logged four assists, three rebounds, three turnovers and a steal in 21 minutes, including none in the fourth quarter.

And as Lue has come to expect, Russ was Russ late too, locked in and serving up energy and expertise from the sideline.

​ Orange County Register 

Clippers handle Lakers easily, extending 11-game win streak vs. rivals

• April 6, 2023

LOS ANGELES — There was nothing at stake when the Lakers and Clippers squared off Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. Nothing, that is, but an improved playoff seeding, the likelihood of avoiding the NBA’s dreaded play-in tournament and a possible change in Hallway Series fortunes.

By night’s end, this L.A. hoops story was a familiar one, with the Clippers taking their 11th consecutive victory over the Lakers, a 125-118 decision that kept them ahead of their erstwhile rivals. Kahwi Leonard’s dunk midway through the fourth quarter provided an exclamation point for the Clippers.

It also gave the sixth-place Clippers a commanding 112-92 lead over the seventh-place Lakers, whose four-game winning streak would soon come to an end in what was a rather routine result.

For a time, it appeared the much-anticipated game between the teams would not live up to expectations, with the Clippers leading by as many as 24 points in the opening minutes of the third quarter and the Lakers looking sluggish after four straight road games and a late-night trip home from Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

The teams had played and played and played some more over the years, but it had been decades since they had played a meaningful game. In fact, the Clippers have dominated in recent seasons, despite the megawatt stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers’ roster.

The mere presence of James and Davis in the Lakers’ starting lineup Wednesday underscored the significance of the game. It wasn’t really a must-win for either team, but a victory for either with only two regular-season games left sure couldn’t hurt their chances for higher seeding.

James scored 30 of his 33 points in the second half – finishing with eight rebounds, seven assists and six turnovers – as the Lakers attempted to rally from an early double-digit deficit. Davis had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Apart from a brief flurry midway through the third, they couldn’t get the Lakers where they needed to be and the streak continued.

Norman Powell led the Clippers with 27 points, Leonard had 25, and Russell Westbrook had 14 points in his first game against his former team. The Clippers, still playing without injured All-Star Paul George, trailed only once, at 26-25 late in the first quarter.

The Clippers were well rested, having been idle since losing to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday. The Lakers were road-weary, having taken an overtime victory Tuesday over the Utah Jazz, the final game on their four-game trek around the nation.

Wednesday’s game was a homecoming of sorts for the Lakers, a home game for the Clippers. The teams entered a roiling cauldron at the Crypt with matching 41-38 overall records, including at home (20-20) and on the road (21-18), adding intrigue to a matchup that rarely delivered the goods.

The Clippers started with a laser focus; the Lakers did not. The Clippers jumped on the Lakers from the opening tip, building leads of 8-0 and 15-3 before Coach Darvin Ham had seen enough and called for a timeout 8:26 into the game. The Clippers started 6 for 9 from the field and the Lakers started 1 for 7.

Save for a brief run that gave the Lakers their only lead of the half, the Clippers dominated. Their shooting was sharper and so was their defense on James, in particular, and the Lakers in general, deflecting his passes and stripping him of the ball on several empty trips down the court.

James had only three points on 1-for-6 shooting in the half as the Lakers trailed 71-52 at halftime. Davis had six points on 3-for-6 shooting to go with seven rebounds. The rest of the Lakers’ offense went through D’Angelo Russell, who had 11 points, and Austin Reaves, who had 10.

It wasn’t a winning formula.

In the opening minutes, Westbrook seemed bound and determined to shred his former team, playing an active role in the Clippers’ fast start. He looked for his shots, of course, but he also was content to quarterback their offense with passes to open teammates. He didn’t force the action.

The only question by halftime was whether the Lakers could rally.

Or whether it was worth it.

The Lakers’ final two regular-season games are Friday night against the fourth-place Phoenix Suns and Sunday afternoon against the Jazz – both at home. The Clippers’ final two regular-season games are a home date Saturday afternoon with the Portland Trail Blazers and Sunday afternoon against the Suns in Phoenix.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register