Good morning. The Lakers aren’t unbeaten anymore. Portland shot 59%, went to the free-throw line 41 times and won 136-129 despite 41 points from Luka Dončić. The Lakers don’t have long to think about it: they play the Clippers tonight at 7:30 at Intuit Dome. On Tuesday night, the Ducks led Vancouver 5-2 with 12 minutes left and lost 6-5 in overtime, the Kings lost in Chicago, and Adin Hill made 24 saves as the Golden Knights ended a three-game losing streak. LA28 has a slogan, too. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
🏀 First loss. “We got broken down a lot,” JJ Redick said after Portland beat the Lakers 136-129 — Carlos Yakimowich at Crypto.com Arena.
🏒 “Terrible.” The Ducks blew a 5-2 lead and lost 6-5 to Vancouver in overtime — Zach Cavanagh at Honda Center.
🏒 Skid over. Adin Hill made 24 saves and Raphael Lavoie scored his first NHL goal in a 4-1 win over Ottawa — Steve Carp at T-Mobile Arena.
🏒 3-2 trip. The Kings lost 2-1 in Chicago to finish their road trip — Nick Wire at United Center.
🏅 “Stars Align.” LA28 unveiled its official slogan for the 2028 Games — Arash Markazi.
🏈 Staying put. Bob Chesney and Lincoln Riley both shut down talk about their futures — Jack Haslett and Holdenn Graff.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — TUESDAY
🏀 NBA: Trail Blazers 136, Lakers 129
🏒 NHL: Golden Knights 4, Senators 1 · Blackhawks 2, Kings 1 · Canucks 6, Ducks 5 (OT)
🏀 NO STOPS, FIRST LOSS
The Lakers scored 129 points and shot better than 56%, and it wasn’t enough. Carlos Yakimowich writes that Portland shot 59%, made 18 of 36 3-pointers and attempted 41 free throws, 21 of them in the first half, as the Lakers committed 29 fouls. Ja Morant and Deni Avdija scored 23 each, Jrue Holiday had 22 off the bench, and Damian Lillard’s sidestep 3 with 43 seconds left sealed it.
Luka Dončić scored 41, Austin Reaves had 26 and seven assists, and Sandro Mamukelashvili hit a 3 at the halftime buzzer for a 73-68 lead. Portland is 3-0, and the Lakers are 3-1.
“If we score 129 points at home, we should be able to get enough stops to win,” JJ Redick said. “The game plan discipline, KYP personnel discipline wasn’t where it needs to be.” Walker Kessler took it on himself: “I pride myself on being the leader on the defense and I didn’t perform tonight.”
Tonight: Lakers at Clippers, 7:30, Spectrum SportsNet, Intuit Dome. It’s the second night of the Lakers’ first back-to-back. The Lakers won the first meeting 125-117 on Friday, when the Clippers turned it over 26 times. The Clippers (1-2) have lost two straight on the road, most recently 108-101 in Oklahoma City. “Tonight we lost, but we got another opportunity tomorrow night to go get a win,” Reaves said.
GO DEEPER
› Carlos Yakimowich: Lakers can’t get stops, suffer first loss of season (The Sporting Tribune)
› Fredo Cervantes: How Matisse Thybulle ended up with the Lakers (The Sporting Tribune)
› Colin Costigan: Clippers drop consecutive road games following loss to Thunder (The Sporting Tribune)
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🏒 TWELVE MINUTES
The Ducks led 5-2 with about 12 minutes left. A.J. Greer scored twice, and Jeff Malott, Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson also scored. Then Jamie Oleksiak scored 30 seconds after Greer’s second goal, and Zach Cavanagh writes Vancouver outshot Anaheim 8-2 the rest of regulation. Sam Colangelo iced the puck trying for an empty-netter, Greer couldn’t clear, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored twice with his goalie pulled, the second with 1:57 left. In overtime, a Sennecke high stick and an Alex Killorn interference penalty gave Vancouver a five-on-three, and Filip Hronek won it with about 10 seconds left.
“That was a terrible loss,” Joel Quenneville said. “It’s unacceptable. We can’t let up like that at all,” Jackson LaCombe said. It came three nights after the Ducks snapped a five-game losing streak by coming back from two goals down twice to win 5-4 in Philadelphia, with Beckett Sennecke ending an 0-for-17 power-play drought. The Ducks are 5-6-1 and have lost six of seven. Buffalo is at Honda Center on Thursday.
Vegas stopped the slide. Braeden Bowman scored late in the first, Shane Pinto tied it on a power play early in the third, and Raphael Lavoie scored his first NHL goal to put Vegas ahead for good. William Karlsson and Jack Eichel added empty-netters. Adin Hill stopped 24 of 25, including a diving save on Tim Stützle in the second. “It’s been a long time coming. It feels real good,” Lavoie said. “He gave us a chance to win the hockey game,” Ryan Craig said of Hill. The Devils are at T-Mobile Arena on Friday, Nevada Day.
The Kings finished their trip 3-2. Samuel Helenius scored his first point of the season in the first period, but Roman Kantserov tied it in the second and Wyatt Kaiser won it for Chicago early in the third. Anton Forsberg made 25 saves. “The record could be a lot different if we’re closing out third periods,” Peter Laviolette said. The Kings (3-6-2) start a seven-game homestand Thursday, and they are 0-3-0 at Crypto.com Arena.
GO DEEPER
› Zach Cavanagh: Ducks blow 3-goal lead to cellar-dweller Canucks in “terrible” OT defeat (The Sporting Tribune)
› Zach Cavanagh: Ducks 5, Flyers 4 (Oct. 24 recap) (The Sporting Tribune)
› Steve Carp: Hill comes to the rescue as Knights snap three-game skid (The Sporting Tribune)
› Nick Wire: Kings drop final game of road trip to Blackhawks (The Sporting Tribune)
🏅 STARS ALIGN
LA28 has a slogan: “Stars Align.” Arash Markazi reports the organizing committee unveiled it Wednesday with a 60-second film set to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Can’t Stop,” pairing Olympic and Paralympic moments with the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory. “Los Angeles is the place where dreams take flight, and the Olympics show us what’s possible when the world unites,” LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman said. The Olympics open July 14, 2028, and the Paralympics on Aug. 15.
The coaches aren’t going anywhere. No. 7 UCLA’s Bob Chesney was asked Tuesday about online talk that he’d leave for a bigger program after a 7-0 start. “No messages for them,” he said. “I love it here.” Across town, Lincoln Riley answered questions about his job after the 24-7 loss at Wisconsin. “This is where I want to be,” he said. “This is the right place for me. I’m the right person to be here.” He called athletic director Jen Cohen “a tremendous AD.” USC hosts Ohio State on Saturday at the Coliseum, and UCLA hosts Nevada.
GO DEEPER
› Arash Markazi: LA28 unveils ‘Stars Align’ as official slogan for 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games (The Sporting Tribune)
› Jack Haslett: Bob Chesney is building something at UCLA... and he isn’t going anywhere (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)
🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
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The board is dark this morning. The Lakers lost, so no Jack in the Box tacos. The Ducks lost at home, so no McGriddles. The Kings didn’t score in the final minute of the second period.
Tonight’s trigger: a Lakers win at the Clippers brings back two free tacos at Jack in the Box on Thursday with code LETSGOLAKERS.
🏟️ TWO GAMES, ONE WEDNESDAY
San Diego FC at Whitecaps at 7:30 on Apple TV. San Diego drew Seattle 2-2 on Saturday.
Lakers at Clippers at 7:30 on Spectrum SportsNet, at Intuit Dome. The second game of the Lakers’ back-to-back.
Thursday: Sabres at Ducks, and the Kings open a seven-game homestand. Friday: Devils at Golden Knights. Saturday: Ohio State at USC, Nevada at UCLA, Washington State at San Diego State, Austin at Galaxy.
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
How Thybulle got here. Fredo Cervantes writes that JJ Redick and Luka Dončić both recruited Matisse Thybulle, who signed a one-year, $3.3 million deal this summer after a long July conversation with Redick about his role. Redick first met him in Philadelphia in 2021. “I’m really excited that we got him,” Redick said.
GO DEEPER
› Fredo Cervantes: How Matisse Thybulle ended up with the Lakers (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28
⚽ MLS: San Diego FC at Whitecaps — BC Place — 7:30 p.m. — Apple TV
🏀 NBA: Lakers at Clippers — Intuit Dome — 7:30 p.m. — Spectrum SportsNet
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
🏀 Lakers at Clippers — Intuit Dome — $60
🏈 Ohio State at USC — Coliseum (Saturday) — $63
🏈 Nevada at UCLA — Rose Bowl (Saturday) — $20
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in 2028. In which two years did it host before?
Answer at the bottom.
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Trivia answer: 1932 and 1984.
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