Good morning, and happy Halloween. USC plays its biggest home game of the season tonight against No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 7 UCLA tries to get to 8-0 against Nevada this afternoon. The Kings, Galaxy, San Diego State, UNLV and San Diego FC all play too. Friday night was a bad one: the Lakers led Golden State by 25 and lost by 17, the Clippers lost their fourth straight, and the Golden Knights lost to New Jersey. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
🏀 25 points, gone. Golden State outscored the Lakers 38-15 in the second quarter and won 112-95 — Carlos Yakimowich at Chase Center.
🏀 Four straight. A 23-2 Minnesota run buried the Clippers, 127-101 — Colin Costigan at Target Center.
🏒 Hughes times two. Jack Hughes scored twice and the Devils beat Vegas 5-2 — Steve Carp at T-Mobile Arena.
🏈 Rams by one? Fernando Ramirez picks the Rams 23-22 over the 0-6 Chargers on Sunday — Fernando Ramirez.
🏈 Five on the report. Shelton, Parkinson, McDuffie and Whittington are questionable and Cardona is doubtful for the Rams — The Sporting Tribune.
🏈 Fix yourselves first. Steve Carp on the Raiders’ trip to the Jets — Steve Carp.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — FRIDAY
🏀 NBA Cup: Warriors 112, Lakers 95 · Timberwolves 127, Clippers 101
🏒 NHL: Devils 5, Golden Knights 2 · 🏒 AHL: Roadrunners 5, Reign 4
🏈 HALLOWEEN AT THE COLISEUM
No. 2 Ohio State at USC, 4:30 p.m., NBC, the Coliseum. It’s the Trojans’ biggest home game of the season, and it comes after their worst performance. USC (6-2) ran 25 times for minus-17 yards in a 24-7 loss at Wisconsin, its lowest point total since 2018.
Holdenn Graff writes that USC’s defense spent the week rebuilding trust before facing Jeremiah Smith, the Heisman front-runner and Ohio State’s career leader in catches, receiving yards and touchdown catches. The Buckeyes will start freshman quarterback Luke Fahey with Julian Sayin out for the season. “So it’s not about trying to completely eliminate him, but put a cap on him,” safety Prophet Brown said of Smith.
Lincoln Riley spent the week answering questions about his future. “This is where I want to be,” he said. “This is the right place for me. I’m the right person to be here.”
Nevada at No. 7 UCLA, 1:15 p.m., BTN, the Rose Bowl. UCLA is 7-0 for the first time since 2005, leads the Big Ten in takeaways and held Michigan State to 156 yards last week. Bob Chesney shut down talk this week that he’d leave for a bigger job: “I love it here.”
GO DEEPER
› Holdenn Graff: USC defense gears up for Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State (The Sporting Tribune)
› Holdenn Graff: “This is where I want to be”: Lincoln Riley answers the noise on his future head-on (The Sporting Tribune)
› Jack Haslett: Bob Chesney is building something at UCLA... and he isn’t going anywhere (The Sporting Tribune)
› Brady Charette: Key turnovers lead UCLA to 28-10 win over Michigan State (The Sporting Tribune)
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🏀 A ROUGH FRIDAY
The Lakers led 38-15 after one quarter. Luka Dončić, back from his back tightness, scored 21 in the first quarter alone. Then, Carlos Yakimowich writes, Golden State won the second quarter 38-15 to tie it at halftime, took the lead in the third and opened the fourth on an 11-0 run. Stephen Curry made eight 3-pointers and scored 31, and the Warriors’ bench outscored the Lakers’ 50-7. The Lakers had 22 turnovers, eight by Austin Reaves. Dončić finished with 37. “We got to be better. We win together, we lose together,” he said. The Lakers (4-2) host Toronto on Sunday.
The Clippers have lost four straight. They cut Minnesota’s lead to eight twice in the second half, then gave up a 23-2 run and lost 127-101. Colin Costigan writes that LaMelo Ball hit three 3-pointers in under two minutes in the fourth, and Darius Garland had 24 points and five more turnovers. The Clippers are at Golden State on Sunday.
Vegas has lost four of five. Jack Hughes and Arseny Gritsyuk scored twice each and Luke Hughes added one in the Devils’ 5-2 win at T-Mobile Arena. Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev scored for Vegas. “We started turning the puck over and gave them everything they wanted to do,” Barbashev said. The Golden Knights are second in the Pacific, a point behind Edmonton, and start a four-game East Coast trip Monday in Boston.
GO DEEPER
› Carlos Yakimowich: Lakers squander 25-point lead in loss to Warriors (The Sporting Tribune)
› Colin Costigan: Clippers collapse in late-stage surge to Timberwolves (The Sporting Tribune)
› Steve Carp: Devils 5, Golden Knights 2 (The Sporting Tribune)
🏈 THE FREEWAY GAME
Chargers at Rams, Sunday, 1:25 p.m., FOX, SoFi Stadium. The Chargers are 0-6 and score a league-low 15 points a game. The Rams are 3-4 and favored by 6.5. Fernando Ramirez picks the Rams, 23-22, and says Aaron Donald and Braden Fiske could give the Chargers’ line trouble. Derwin James is out for the Chargers, and Joe Alt is back.
The Rams have injury questions of their own. Center Coleman Shelton, tight end Colby Parkinson, cornerback Trent McDuffie and receiver Jordan Whittington, whose back locked up Friday, are questionable, and long snapper Joe Cardona is doubtful. “You don’t replace playmakers like those guys,” Sean McVay said of Davante Adams and Terrance Ferguson.
The Raiders are at the Jets on Sunday. Steve Carp writes they need to fix their slow starts and offensive line instead of worrying about the reunion with Geno Smith. “We’re going to keep shaking it up until we find the right mix,” Klint Kubiak said.
GO DEEPER
› Fernando Ramirez: Chargers vs. Rams preview, prediction and how to watch (The Sporting Tribune)
› Rams face injury concerns ahead of Chargers game (The Sporting Tribune)
› Steve Carp: Raiders-Jets preview column (The Sporting Tribune)
🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
Active today across Southern California — brought to you by Ike’s Sandwiches, home of the world famous Arash Markazi sandwich, which has fried chicken, purple slaw, wasabi mayo, honey mustard, and cheddar on a Dutch Crunch roll. Just ask for the 500 at any Ike’s location.
The board is dark this morning. The Lakers lost, so no tacos.
Today’s triggers: a Galaxy goal against Austin in their last home game turns on Norms free hotcakes for 48 hours through NORMS Rewards, and a Kings goal in the final minute of the second period against Buffalo gets a free McFlurry at McDonald’s.
🏟️ SEVEN GAMES, ONE SATURDAY
San Diego FC at St. Louis City at noon on Apple TV. San Diego’s season ended Wednesday with a 4-1 loss in Vancouver.
Sabres at Kings at 1 on ABTV. The Kings (4-6-2) won 6-5 in overtime over Ottawa on Thursday. Buffalo beat the Ducks 7-6 the same night.
Nevada at UCLA at 1:15 on BTN.
Austin FC at Galaxy at 2 on Apple TV, the Galaxy’s last home game. They’re trying to hold a play-in spot after letting a 2-0 lead get away in El Tráfico. They finish at Real Salt Lake on Nov. 7.
Washington State at San Diego State at 4 on CBSSN. The Aztecs (3-5) need wins to get bowl eligible.
Ohio State at USC at 4:30 on NBC.
Northern Illinois at UNLV at 7:30 on CBSSN, UNLV’s first game since losing at Air Force.
Also: Canelo Alvarez fights unbeaten WBC super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli in Riyadh on DAZN. Sunday: Chargers at Rams, Raiders at Jets, Senators at Ducks, Raptors at Lakers, Clippers at Warriors, Wave at Bay FC.
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
Remembering June Jones. In case you missed it Friday: TST’s obituary of the former Hawaii coach, who died Thursday at 73.
The Reign blew a lead. Ontario led Tucson 2-0 after two periods and lost 5-4, its third home loss.
GO DEEPER
› Legendary Hawaii coach June Jones dies at 73 (The Sporting Tribune)
› Reign blow 2-goal lead to Roadrunners in third home loss (The Sporting Tribune)
› Michael Huezo: Canelo vs. Mbilli preview (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31
⚽ MLS: San Diego FC at St. Louis City — Energizer Park — 12:00 p.m. — Apple TV
🏒 NHL: Sabres at Kings — Crypto.com Arena — 1:00 p.m. — ABTV
🏈 College football: Nevada at UCLA — Rose Bowl — 1:15 p.m. — BTN
⚽ MLS: Austin FC at Galaxy — Dignity Health Sports Park — 2:00 p.m. — Apple TV
🏈 College football: Washington State at San Diego State — Snapdragon Stadium — 4:00 p.m. — CBSSN
🏈 College football: Ohio State at USC — Coliseum — 4:30 p.m. — NBC
🏈 College football: Northern Illinois at UNLV — Allegiant Stadium — 7:30 p.m. — CBSSN
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California and Las Vegas — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
🏈 Ohio State at USC — Coliseum — $42
🏈 Nevada at UCLA — Rose Bowl — $11
🏈 Chargers at Rams — SoFi Stadium (Sunday) — $57
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith is the Heisman front-runner. Who was the last USC player to win the Heisman Trophy?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
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Trivia answer: Caleb Williams, in 2022.
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