LOS ANGELES — The game-winner, for all intents and purposes was hit with 8:29 remaining in Tuesday’s contest.

The game was not over, of course. But the Lakers (38-11) acted like LeBron James’ 3-pointer, hoisted while being fouled by Jakob Poeltl, and completing a run of three straight 3-pointers in 52 seconds, was the end-all, be-all of the night. They rushed from the bench to smother him with pats and hugs in a raucous celebration.

The San Antonio Spurs (22-28) were technically still kicking, but the hopes for a comeback felt severely undermined. James’ 15-point outburst in three-and-a-half minutes was essentially the final word in a 129-102 win for the Lakers, their first at home since Jan. 13.

It was notably the Lakers’ first Staples Center victory since the trauma of a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 that killed Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others in Calabasas. Their Friday return had weighed heavy with the sorrow of the tragedy, leading some players to say it hadn’t felt much like an actual game.

But this one felt closer to business, and the Lakers’ spirit on that shot by James – one of six 3-pointers he shot on the night – showed something that’s been hard to find in the past week-and-a-half: joy.

“It was good to see guys enjoying themselves,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

James led the way with 36 points (19 in the fourth quarter), nine assists and seven rebounds. He sparked the 21-13 fourth-quarter run, which also included two 3-pointers by Kyle Kuzma. It transitioned a game in which the Lakers had been inching ahead to a full-fledged blowout. The Lakers barely had to sweat out the rest of the period.

To that point, the Lakers had gotten their edge on the Spurs with size: Anthony Davis scored all 18 of his points in the first three quarters, on the receiving end of outlets and long lobs, as well as a few tough midrange jumpers. He finished 8 for 12 from the field but didn’t check in during the fourth quarter as the Lakers put a rout on their visitors.

JaVale McGee added 14 points, Dwight Howard added 12 points and 11 rebounds and the Lakers’ size against the smaller lineup of the Spurs helped give them the decisive rebounding edge (58-28) while not sacrificing speed (27 fast-break points). The Spurs grabbed only three rebounds in the fourth quarter while the Lakers went 16 for 24 from the field.

DeMar DeRozan was a different beast, gliding around the court and making difficult shots: fadeaways, floaters, off-the-glass leaners. He made one such bank shot before the halftime buzzer, keeping his team within 10 points during the intermission. He finished with 28 points, the game’s most dangerous scorer for the first three quarters of the game.

Kuzma’s 18 points and 12 rebounds paced all bench performers, his late 3-pointer rally helping meet his energy that he showed off the glass for most of the night.

Fans chanted “KO-BE, KO-BE” as the clock ticked off, a chorus that is sure to become a near-constant homage to the star, who still had his initials on the court and on the Lakers’ uniforms. His jerseys still were the only ones on display in the Staples Center rafters, lit up by spotlights.

More to come on this story.

LeBron goes 5-5 from deep in a 3-minute span, including triples on 3 consecutive possessions

: @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/XAF29oSUl4

— NBA (@NBA) February 5, 2020

"You have to have people around that you trust and can lean on to give you strength…" @KingJames (36 PTS, 9 AST, 7 REB) with @LakersReporter on his teammates lifting each other to an impressive 129-102 win. pic.twitter.com/g9UuolOyRf

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 5, 2020

Frank Vogel talks postgame about the #Lakers taking some time to find their groove, LeBron's big shot providing a boost on the court and in the stands. pic.twitter.com/LDKIjwx3Hk

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 5, 2020

.@kylekuzma (18 PTS, 12 REB, 4 AST) talks with @LakersReporter about his aggressiveness on the boards spreading throughout the team in tonight's #Lakers win. pic.twitter.com/cbIyPjchNZ

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 5, 2020

"It still hurts to this day…I didn't get a chance to tell him how appreciative I was for our time together." @DwightHoward opens up about Kobe's passing. pic.twitter.com/c5n87n4wTA

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 5, 2020

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts promised it two months ago, during a conversation with the media at the Winter Meetings in San Diego.

“I think that you’ve got to shuffle the deck sometimes,” he said. “…  I think that you don’t ever want to get stagnant and complacent.

“I think this is probably the most turnover we’ll have from one season to the next. I think that’s fair.”

At the time, we interpreted that conversation as a harbinger of big news during the meetings. It didn’t happen then, didn’t happen through December, didn’t happen through January, and had a restive Dodger fan base even grumpier than usual. The assumption was that Andrew Friedman and his immediate boss, Stan Kasten, cared more about room under the luxury tax than winning a World Series.

I guess not.

On Tuesday night the Dodgers went deep. Upper-deck deep.

The flurry of trades that brought 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts to Los Angeles changed the trajectory of the offseason, and maybe changed the trajectory of 2020 in its entirety.

This is big, and it is nervy, given that (a) Betts is determined to be a free agent after this season regardless, and (b) the Dodgers made this trade without getting a negotiating window first to see if Betts would be willing to sign an extension.

Why should he? Betts will get Mike Trout-level money, or maybe even more, from somebody next winter. If that’s the case, it means he’s done his job here. And if he’s helped bring the Dodgers a championship parade in the process, their fans should be OK with whatever happens.

And if you’re thinking this is similar to the way the Lakers are rolling the dice with Anthony Davis knowing that he’ll be a free agent this summer … well, let’s give our local teams credit for thinking high risk, high reward instead of staying timid.

For the moment, incidentally, we will set aside talk of whether he had undue assistance in that 2018 season while leading the league in runs (129), batting average (.346) and slugging percentage (.640) and WAR (10.9) and registering a 1.078 OPS and 186 OPS+.

His WAR is 33.8 the last four years. Trout’s in that span is 35.6. So if we stipulate that Trout, the 2019 AL MVP, is the game’s best player, Betts is in the conversation.

(And can we also stipulate that summer evenings in SoCal will be even more dynamic than before, with three of the game’s last four MVPs playing for the home teams?)

There is another factor here. Friedman and club president Stan Kasten really do hear the voices of the fans. It’s fair to assume – heck, Kasten all but came out and said it – that they’re sick and tired of the assumption that they care less about winning a World Series than the fans do. This move should put that meme to rest for a while.

And Friedman accomplished this without touching the club’s very best prospects, as he has done consistently in major deals. Middle infielder Gavin Lux and hard-throwing right-hander Dustin May are still Dodgers, as are the top prospects lower in the system.

To do that required taking on most, if not all, of the three years and $96 million remaining on David Price’s contract. Price is not the pitcher he was when he signed that contract before the 2016 season. But if healthy – and he hasn’t been completely so the last two years – he still can be a serviceable left-hander in a rotation that will look much different in 2020, with Hyun-Jin Ryu in Toronto and Kenta Maeda and the recuperating Rich Hill in Minnesota.

So yes, there’s been some serious deck shuffling. Fan favorites have been sent elsewhere. It will be weird seeing Verdugo in a Red Sox uniform, and stranger seeing Joc Pederson in Angels red. (Can we assume the Dodgers will be setting up their rotation to throw all left-handers during the Freeway Series?)

However, before we announce that the Dodgers won the offseason and anoint them the favorites to end that 32-year championship drought, one caution. Until proven otherwise, the bullpen will remain the subject of so much fan angst. A Blake Treinen returning to anywhere close to his 2018 form may yet be the most crucial acquisition of the Dodgers’ offseason, Betts or no Betts.

But hey, maybe Mookie can pitch, too.

Each week, publications from the The Southern California News Group’s 11 properties (Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts, Whittier Daily News and Pasadena-Star News) nominate Athletes of the Week for their respective region.

Each nominee is entered into the overall Southern California Athlete of the Week county-wide vote.

Click on the newspaper links below the athlete’s name to read about their performance from last week, and then vote for who you think is the best athlete this week.

Readers are allowed to vote multiple times. Voting ends at midnight, but final totals aren’t always immediately reflected due to processing.

BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK VOTING

The overall winner will be announced on Friday, Feb. 7

Voting poll at bottom of the page.

Jadyn Lee, Peninsula: Lee helped lead the Panthers to two wins in the Bay League. The freshman guard had 20 points in a 50-41 win over Leuzinger and followed that with a 19-point effort in a 78-41 win over Centennial. The wins moved Peninsula into a tie for second place heading into the final week of the regular season.

Nicole Dallin, Paloma Valley: Dallin scored three goals as the Wildcats defeated Riverside Poly 4-0 to remain undefeated in the Ivy League and clinch the league title. It was Dallin’s seventh hat track of the season and the 17th of her career. Dallin, who has signed with Arizona, has scored 32 goals this season. She scored 55 goals as a sophomore and was The Press-Enterprise’s Player of the Year that season.

Krystle Medrano, Don Lugo: Medrano had a big week last week in wins over Ontario and Montclair and a nonleague loss to Burbank Burroughs. She averaged 15.7 points in the three games, making four 3-pointers in each game. The Conquistadores are 8-0 in the Mt. Baldy League.

Libbie McMahan, Saugus: McMahan has been the catalyst for Saugus’ unbeaten run in the Foothill League. She tallied 16 points, five assists and five steals in a lopsided win against Golden Valley in just 23 minutes. In a victory against West Ranch, she had 13 points and four steals in just 11 minutes. The week prior, in a showdown with Valencia, McMahan scored 29 points in Saugus’ victory. McMahan’s top sport isn’t even basketball. The standout athlete is committed to UC Davis to play softball.

Sydney Brumfield, Pasadena: Brumfield scored a game-high 19 points and had five steals in a 49-40 home victory over Burroughs that catapulted the Bulldogs into first place in the Pacific League standings. The junior is averaging 17 points a game while filling in for the injured Kamesha Moore.

Aniah Cutler, Long Beach Poly: The striker had a hat trick in a 3-2 victory against Wilson in the Moore League. Her winning goal against the Bruins, which was her 27th of the season, came in the second minute of stoppage time. She also had a goal and two assists in a 5-0 win over Jordan.

Mackenzie MacMillan, Santa Margarita: The Boise State-committed forward scored twice to help the Eagles upset first-place Mater Dei 3-2 in the Trinity League. She also had two goals and one assist in a 4-0 triumph against Rosary. Santa Margarita (13-2-2, 6-2) is in second place in the Trinity League.

Each week, publications from the The Southern California News Group’s 11 properties (Orange County Register, L.A. Daily News, Press-Enterprise, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Long Beach Press-Telegram, The Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts, Whittier Daily News and Pasadena-Star News) nominate Athletes of the Week for their respective region.

Each nominee is entered into the overall Southern California Athlete of the Week county-wide vote.

Click on the newspaper links below the athlete’s name to read about their performance from last week, and then vote for who you think is the best athlete this week.

Readers are allowed to vote multiple times. Voting ends at midnight, but final totals aren’t always immediately reflected due to processing.

GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK VOTING

The overall winner will be announced on Friday, Feb. 7

Voting poll at bottom of the page.

Emilio Franco, Corona Del Mar: He went 4-0 with four pins as the Sea Kings won the CIF-Southern Section Dual Meet Division 6 championship on Saturday. Franco, the team captain, is 41-6 with 33 points this season. and placed in all of his tournaments this season. Franco is a two-time Sunset Conference champion.

Jonah Sanchez, St. John Bosco: The junior played a pivotal role as the Braves won the CIF Southern Section Division 1 dual meet championship. He pinned two opponents and posted a major decision in St. John Bosco’s victories over Norco (quarterfinals), Villa Park (semifinals) and Servite (championship match). Sanchez is 14-10 this season.

Andre Henry, St. Francis: Henry has had several outstanding games this season, but none was more important that his 28-point effort that led St. Francis to a 71-55 victory over Loyola that clinched second place in the Mission League. The Knights improved to 22-6 overall and 4-2 in league and will take that record into the playoffs next week.

Kyle MacLean, Westlake: MacLean’s play led the Warriors to their first Marmonte League title since 2014. He scored 32 points in a win over Calabasas before leading his team with 20 points in a victory against Oaks Christian. The Warriors are 7-0 in league and ranked second in this week’s CIF-SS Division 3AA poll.

Mohammad Awad, Bloomington: Awad averaged 25 points, four rebounds and two steals while playing only the first half of blowout wins over Colton and Fontana last week. Bloomington is 8-0 in the Sunkist League and has clinched a share of the league title.

Jeremiah Minegar, Linfield Christian: Minegar scored 29 points as the Lions handed Aquinas its first loss in Ambassdor League play. Linfield Christian snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Falcons. Minegar also scored 18 points and 14 points in games against Western Christian and Rubiodux last week. He is averaging 22.1 and six rebounds per game.

Caike Godoy, Redondo: Godoy had 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals in a 69-30 win over Centennial and 12 points and six rebounds in a 72-65 win over Palos Verdes. The Sea Hawks head into the final week of the regular season 16-9 overall and 6-2 in the Bay League.

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SANTA ANA – Another season, another league championship.

Mater Dei’s boys basketball team clinched the Trinity League championship Tuesday with a 60-54 win over St. John Bosco at Mater Dei.

The Monarchs are 8-1 in league, guaranteeing at least a share of the league championship. St. John Bosco is 7-2 in league. Both teams have one league game remaining – Mater Dei at JSerra on Thursday, St. John Bosco at Santa Margarita on Thursday.

Mater Dei has won 37 league championships over Coach Gary McKnight’s 38 seasons at the school and has won a CIF Southern Section-record 32 league titles in a row. The leagues the Monarchs have been in during that period are the Angelus, South Coast, Serra and Trinity.

Juniors Devin Askew and Wilhelm Breidenbach each scored 22 points for Mater Dei (21-6 overall), which is in its usual No. 1 position in the Orange County top 25. Askew scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. Breidenbach had seven rebounds.

Harrison Hornery, another Mater Dei junior, scored eight points with nine rebounds.

Wynton Brown scored 23 points for St. John Bosco (21-6).

Mater Dei went through some struggles in the first half of January but seem to have righted the ship. The Monarchs were crisp on offense, active on defense and aggressive on the boards.

“It really helps get open shots when everybody’s moving around,” Breidenbach said. “We really rotated well on defense, rebounded and pushed it. We got back to our style of basketball.”

McKnight said he was pleased by the effort as much as the result.

“That was vintage Mater Dei basketball,” said McKnight who has coached the Monarchs to 23 CIF Southern Section championships. “It reminds me a lot of the old wins. We came through in the fourth quarter and played well as a group.”

The Monarchs trailed 44-42 going into the fourth quarter in which they would outscore the Braves 18-10. Askew made a 3-pointer to put Mater Dei on top to stay 49-46. He next blew through the lane for a layup and followed with a steal and pass to teammate Ryan Evans, who was fouled on a lauyup attempt, made the resulting free throws and it was 55-46 with 4:21 remaining.

The Monarchs lost to St. John Bosco 70-62 on Jan. 17 at St. John Bosco.

St. John Bosco is No. 6 in the state rankings compiled by CalHiSports.com. Mater Dei is No. 10 in the state top 20.

Both teams are among the 13 teams on the “watch list” of 13 candidates for the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs. Selections to the Open Division will be announced Friday. Playoffs brackets will be released Sunday.

A man struck by gunfire in Fullerton died Tuesday, Feb. 4.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting along the 3100 block of Pearl Drive, near Quartz Lane, at about 5:55 p.m., Fullerton Police Sgt. Eric Bridges said. First responders encountered a man suffering from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was later declared deceased.

Details regarding what led up to the shooting or a description of any possible suspect were not immediately available. Detectives were in the process of interviewing possible witnesses as of 9:30 p.m., and were expected to remain in the area well into the night, Bridges said.

The identity of the man who died was not made public as of Tuesday evening.

The Santa Ana Council voted Tuesday night to disband council committees that deal with issues like public safety, code enforcement, legislative affairs and youth, education and community services.

In a 4-2 vote, council members disbanded four committees, including a joint committee with the Santa Ana Unified School District that hasn’t met in about a year-and-a-half .

The council first created such committees in 1999 and it reviews them each year to evaluate whether they are still necessary and who should be on them, according to staff members. City Manager Kristine Ridge said the committees that were disbanded cost the city about $55,000 each year.

Councilman Phil Bacerra said they were redundant. Mayor Miguel Pulido questioned the purpose of the committees and called some “dysfunctional.” Bacerra and Pulido joined Councilmen Vicente Sarmiento and Juan Villegas to disband them.

Council members David Penaloza said he was OK with dismantling the joint committee that had not met in a long time, but wanted to keep the others because “the community… likes having that additional layer of government where they can participate and give constructive input.” Councilman Jose Solorio, joining Penaloza in a nay vote, said eliminating all the committees is “bad for public engagement and transparency.”

Councilwoman Cecilia Iglesias was absent from the meeting. In a brief interview Wednesday, she said she was surprised by the council majority’s vote and questioned the $55,000 cost when most of the people who attend the meetings are salaried employees.

Residents who addressed the council prior to the vote said they were concerned following a letter from the Police Officers Association, which asked the council to remove Villegas and Iglesias from the public safety committee, saying “they have demonstrated by their statements and actions that they are not fit to oversee this vital function of city government.”  Villegas and Iglesias last year opposed police pay raises. The police association is funding a recall against Iglesias.

A funeral service for Christina Mauser, one of the nine people killed in the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash, will be held at her alma mater Edison High in Huntington Beach on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m. said Dave White, her former basketball coach at the school.

The service will be held in the school’s gym.

Mauser, 38, served as Kobe Bryant’s top assistant coach on the Mambas youth girls basketball team and was en route to a game when the helicopter crashed in Calabasas.

She is survived by her husband, Matt, also a former Edison student and swim coach, and three young children.

More information to come

Kirk Douglas has finally left us after 103 years. But he’ll always be Hollywood’s forever man.

The ragman’s son turned self-made superstar embodied the American dream — and the dream the movies promoted, too. Loved by millions, kind of married into aristocracy, started a dynasty and in more than one way, he proved heroic offscreen as well.

Well, not always in his films. Perhaps the main thing that Douglas the actor will be remembered for is how powerfully and consistently he’d go to the dark extremes of human behavior without tarnishing the “popularity” that was so important to stars of Hollywood’s golden era.

From the greatest of films noir “Out of the Past” (1947) to his breakout role as an unscrupulous boxer in “Champion” (1949), “Ace in the Hole’s” (1951) despicable journalist and “The Bad and the Beautiful’s” (1952) manipulative producer, Douglas early on established himself as a guy you had to watch whether you liked him or not.

He wasn’t the first star to do that, nor to transfer successfully into such moral role models  as “Spartacus” (1960) and “Paths of Glory’s” Colonel Dax. But the impactful energy and palpable commitment he brought to those and a variety of other roles felt like something new and powerful at the time, and remains unforgettable.

As was the man and his life story.

Born Issur Danielovitch to Jewish immigrant parents from what is now Belarus, the famously cleft-chinned boy grew up poor in Amsterdam, N. Y., with a dysfunctional dad, six sisters and a desperate longing to get out.

Drive, fast-talking charisma and, especially, genuine talent eventually got the still-broke Douglas a special scholarship to New York’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Betty Joan Persky (the future Lauren Bacall) and the daughter of a knighted British official, Diana Dill. She became his first wife and the mother of Michael and Joel Douglas, who of course followed their father into show business careers.

Although Douglas acknowledged being a hard guy to deal with professionally and often personally, it certainly said something about the guy that he and Diana remained on cordial terms after their divorce, even coming back together late in their lives to make a movie together with their superstar offspring Michael, “It Runs in the Family,” in 2003. Kirk stuck with his second wife, Anne, from 1954 until the end, by most reports happily. Their sons Peter and Eric also pursued the family business. Sadly, Eric died of a drug overdose in 2004.

Whatever real-life darkness there was that Douglas was able to call on for those memorable early roles, however, those who got to know him later in life pretty much had to take his word about how awful he could be from his best-selling books, including the autobiographical “The Ragman’s Son.” A total charmer in public, Douglas had a way of making people he encountered feel like he wanted to be their best friend.

I did several interviews with Douglas, all of which were sheer, open-hearted delights. Two were the most memorable.

One was with his famously cranky pal and colleague Burt Lancaster for “Tough Guys” (1986), during which Douglas vulnerably, almost neurotically acted like it was his duty to be extra cordial for the both of them.

The other: When “It Runs in the Family” opened, half a dozen years after the devastating stroke he fought so long and determinedly to recover from. At the start of the interview he shook my hand with a steel-vice grip I can still feel, and would not be deterred from giving voice to every thought fully, however much it was a struggle for him to do so.

Kirk and Anne’s philanthropic endeavors have been no less inspiring (and awe-inspiring), from funding school playgrounds throughout Los Angeles to the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City — which dimmed its lights in his honor Wednesday evening — to Harry’s Haven (named after Kirk’s father), the dementia care facility at the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Woodland Hills retirement campus that’s just been completely overhauled and improved with money from the Douglases.

It was on the business side of the show business equation, however, where Kirk Douglas arguably became the truest hero.

Though he downplayed his Jewish background while climbing Hollywood’s ladder, Douglas reconnected with his faith and was one of the first Hollywood stars to make a Holocaust-themed film in Israel, “The Juggler” (1953).

In 1955, he became one of the more successful actors to get out of their studio contract and start his own company, Bryna Productions, named after his mother. That led to two of the films that kick-started Stanley Kubrick’s directing career, “Paths of Glory” and “Spartacus.” The latter was instrumental in breaking the Hollywood blacklist against hiring suspected Communist sympathizers when producer/star Douglas insisted on giving banished screenwriter Dalton Trumbo full on-screen credit.

For years Kirk failed to get a screen version of a property he controlled, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” off the ground. On Broadway, he’d played its protagonist — the anti-authoritarian icon Randall Patrick McMurphy, who feigns mental illness to elude being sent to a prison work farm — but eventually sold the film rights to his son, Michael. The subsequent,1975 production starring Jack Nicholson is one of just a handful of movies that have ever won all top five Oscars.

For all his accomplishments, Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas never snagged a competitive Oscar (he was nominated for “Champion,” “Bad and Beautiful” and portraying Vincent Van Gogh in the 1956 “Lust for Life”). He was given an honorary Academy Award in 1996 “for 50 years as a creative and moral force in the motion picture community.”

Which, of course, he was.

Perhaps, though, we can find one final, revealing thing about Kirk Douglas in what he said was the favorite of all his films. “Lonely Are the Brave” (1962), was a low-key contemporary Western, scripted by Trumbo, in which the actor underplayed (for him) a cowboy at odds with the modern world, whose primary act of courage was to be who he was no matter how difficult it made life for him.

Kirk Douglas made a lot about his life appear magical, which of course is the eternal Hollywood dream. The star was at his most indelible, however, when he dealt with something as hard as his steely, post-stroke grip.

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Scores and stats for the Orange County games on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

ORANGE LEAGUE

Anaheim 82, Savanna 11

Ana: Ileleji 24 pts, Macias 14 pts, Salgado 12 pts, Martinez 11 pts.

Note: Anaheim win Orange League title for the third consecutive year.

Other scores:

Century 44, Magnolia 42

Katella 37, Santa Ana Valley 24

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

Tesoro 74, Dana Hills 37

Tes: Schwan 19 pts 13 rebs, Pinto 13 pts.

DH: Will 14 pts, Renaud 12 pts.

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

San Juan Hills 46, El Toro 33

SJH: Freeman 12 pts (4 3ptrs), Edwards 10 pts, Gentry 7 pts 10 rebs.

ET: Quigley 11 pts.

Note: San Juan Hills wins league championship.

Laguna Hills 54, Mission Viejo 26

LH: K. Chang 36 pts, Wiklem 18 rebs

TRINITY LEAGUE

Rosary 64, Orange Lutheran 20

Ros: Byon 22 pts 4 asts, Rodriguez 17 pts, Boznanski 9 pts 6 rebs 5 stls, Santos 9 pts 5 rebs 4 stls, Avinger 6 asts 5 stls.

Note: Rosary clinches a share of league title.

Mater Dei 84, JSerra 51

MD: Frescas 28 pts, Demetre 21 pts, Amosa 6 pts.

Note: Mater Dei claims a share the Trinity league championship, their 13th consecutive title.

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Saddleback 46, Santa Ana 18

Calvary Chapel 51, Orange 20

BOYS BASKETBALL

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

Fairmont Prep 74, Orangewood Academy 47

FP: Cisse 19 pts, Niang 17 pts, Wright 12 pts.

OA: Lewis 18 pts.

Note: Fairmont Prep and Pacifica Christian both clinch a share of the league title.

Other scores:

Pacifica Christian 72, Saddleback Valley Christian 49

PC: Paschal 23 pts, 6 3-ptrs. Brown 14 pts, 9 reb, 5 asst. Sims 12 pts, 7 reb.

SVC: A. O’Neill 19 pts. McDowell 9 pts.

SURF LEAGUE

Newport Harbor 50, Edison 29

NH: Spooner 18 pts. Bashore 16 pts.

Edi: Collins 10 pts.

Los Alamitos 70, Corona del Mar 51

LA: Olcomendy 16 pts. May 15 pts. Ke. Kent 15 pts.

CdM: Stone 14 pts.

WAVE LEAGUE

Laguna Beach 51, Huntington Beach 30

LB: Kravitz 19 pts, Hall 17 pts, Naess 8 pts.

Fountain Valley 66, Marina 64

FV: Davis 22 pts, 8 reb. Casarez 18 pts, 6 3-ptrs. AMarillo 9 pts, 9 reb. Anderson 8 pts, 10 stl.

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Estancia 72, Costa Mesa 41

Note: Estancia wins league championship outright.

Other scores:

Calvary Chapel 88, Orange 62

Santa Ana 49, Saddleback 39

ORANGE LEAGUE

Century 73, Magnolia 36

EXPRESS LEAGUE

Brethren Christian 71, Tarbut V’ Torah 42

NONLEAGUE

Santa Margarita 69, Sage Hill 36

GIRLS SOCCER

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Calvary Chapel 4, Orange 0

Goals: (CC) Stocker, Thompson, Seidel, Stack.

TRINITY LEAGUE

Rosary 2, Orange Lutheran 0

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Bolsa Grande 2, Los Amigos 0

Loara 2, Santaigo 0

ORANGE LEAGUE

Anaheim 6, Savanna 1

Katella 6, Santa Ana Valley 0

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Northwood 3, Beckman 2

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Capistrano Valley 2, Laguna Hills 0

Note: Capo Valley wins league title.

Trabuco Hills 3, El Toro 0

Goals: (TH) Schwartz, Ohlwiler, Terry

Saves: Lucich (TH) 5. Porter (TH) 1

BOYS SOCCER

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Los Amigos 6, Bolsa Grande 1

Goals: (LA) Villegas, Leyva, Felipe, Alarcon, Millan, Gutierrez

Other scores:

Santiago 2, Loara 2

Rancho Alamitos 5, La Quinta 0

TRINITY LEAGUE

Servite 10, Orange Lutheran 0

Goals: (Ser) Pineda 3, Hirsch 2, Leathem, Ponce, Mitzner, Alvarado, Hodson.

Other scores:

JSerra 5, Mater Dei 0

Santa Margarita 4, St. John Bosco 1

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Santa Ana 1, Saddleback 1

Orange 2, Calvary Chapel 1

WAVE LEAGUE

Fountain Valley 3, Marina 2

Huntington Beach 2, Laguna Beach 1

SURF LEAGUE

Edison 1, Nepwort Harbor 0

Goals: (Edi) Roghair.

Note: Edison wins fourth consecutive league championship.

Los Alamitos 2, Corona del Mar 1 (OT)

Note: Nick Hodge scores game-winner in overtime for Los Alamitos.

SAN JOAQUIN LEAGUE

St. Margaret’s 7, Webb 0

SMES: Groeninger 2, Olvera-Harle 2, Mouchawar, Sullivan

Note: St. Margaret’s wins league championship.

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Portola 6, Irvine 0

Northwood 1, Beckman 0

NORTH HILLS LEAGUE

Esperanza 1, El Modena 1

Yorba Linda 2, Canyon 0

GOLDEN WEST LEAGUE

Godinez 2, Ocean 0

NONLEAGUE

El Dorado 3, Villa Park 1

Goals: (ED) Bethencourt 3

GIRLS WATER POLO

EMPIRE LEAGUE

Tustin 14, Kennedy 7

Cypress 10, Pacifica 9

GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE

Rancho Alamitos 8, La Quinta 6

Los Amigos 10, Bolsa Grande 8

ORANGE COAST LEAGUE

Costa Mesa 19, Estancia 2

Santa Ana 9, Saddleback 3

ORANGE LEAGUE

Savanna 20, Magnolia 10

Santa Ana Valley 13, Katella 8

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Beckman 6, Northwood 5

Irvine 8, Portola 2

Woodbridge 10, University 4

SOUTH COAST LEAGUE

El Toro 9, Dana Hills 6

An operation to fight human trafficking in California resulted in the arrests of over 500 people last week.

Agencies from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties participated in the effort, formally known as “Operation Reclaim and Rebuild,” which was conducted between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1.

Operation Reclaim and Rebuild resulted in 20 victims of human trafficking located & rescued, 106 suspects arrested https://t.co/pOxRkwsDDQ pic.twitter.com/QJgrFQQvyp

— San Bernardino County Sheriff (@sbcountysheriff) February 4, 2020

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said the operation focused on rescuing victims of human trafficking, and providing them with services. The operation also went after people suspected of doing the trafficking, as well as customers of prostitution and human trafficking.

“Don’t do business in Los Angeles County or the State of California,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. “We will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

Villanueva said there were 518 arrests statewide for various crimes. Among those arrested were 27 suspected “human traffickers and exploiters” and 266 customers.

Investigators rescued 76 adults and 11 children from the human traffickers, Villanueva said. Federal, state and local agencies participated in the operation.

January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month doesn't conclude for APD or members of the OC Human Trafficking Task Force who are fighting daily for justice for victims.#BeTheOne Help by calling 1-888-373-7888 or texting 233-733 or visit https://t.co/6F3EAXvvYE#humantrafficking pic.twitter.com/XxFlukoqRd

— Anaheim PD (@AnaheimPD) January 31, 2020

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said as part of the operation it arrested 106 people on suspicion of violations associated with prostitution and other crimes.

“Operations were conducted throughout the county and specifically within the cities of San Bernardino, Loma Linda, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Hesperia and Victorville,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a press release on Tuesday.

Pomona police noted that officers from its Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Team and officers from the Azusa Police Department worked together and arrested four women and three men on suspicion of prostitution-related crimes.

The operation stretched across Southern California, and the Corona Police Department was among the participating agencies. The Corona Police operation was conducted on Jan. 28 at a local motel. Nine men and three women were arrested on suspicion of solicitation of prostitution, with everyone transported to the Riverside County Jail afterwards.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said it arrested over 70 people on suspicion of prostitution-related crimes. The arrests were made in Temecula, Hemet, Corona, Moreno Valley and Palm Desert. Those arrested were between 19- and 66-years-old.

The Huntington Beach Police Department said its Special Investigation Bureau participated in the operation and arrested one man on suspicion of pimping and pandering.

“Detectives also identified and provided assistance to multiple victims of commercial sex trafficking,” Huntington Beach police said.

Authorities said the operation was planned in Los Angeles, with detectives from over 200 federal, state and municipal law enforcement agencies in attendance.

Victims that were found by law enforcement were taken to various victim service providers in each county.

LOS ANGELES — It’s officially hang-onto-your-hat season in the NBA, with the trade deadline bearing down at noon PT on Thursday.

As the Miami Heat prepared to face the Clippers on Wednesday at Staples Center, word came – via an Adrian Wojnarowski tweet – that veteran forward Andre Iguodala was on his way from Memphis to Miami, where he will receive a two-year, $30 million extension. He was said to be part of a three-team, multi-player deal that also includes Oklahoma City.

The Clippers (and Lakers) reportedly were among the teams that coveted Iguodala, a three-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors.

“I cannot discuss anything right now,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said minutes after notifications began chiming on phones of NBA followers everywhere. “This is all rumor. I’m just here to talk about the game. I’m the coach.”

Miami started a lineup of Jimmy Butler, Kendrick Nunn, Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson and Kelly Olynyk (in place of the injured Meyers Leonard.) The Heat’s inactive list included forward Justise Winslow, who had played only 11 games this season because of injuries and was one of the players reportedly involved in the swap.

A season ago, the Clippers did some heavy lifting at the trade deadline, dealing away Tobias Harris, Mike Scott, Boban Marjanovic, Avery Bradley and Mike Muscala (whom they’d just acquired for Harris, Scott and Marjanovic) in a series of moves. They brought in Landry Shamet, Ivica Zubac and JaMychal Green, as well as Garrett Temple and Wilson Chandler and some key draft picks. And they waived Marcin Gortat.

It all helped set the table for this past offseason, when they traded for Paul George and acquired Kawhi Leonard in free agency.

And now, what did the Clippers have in store in the 18 hours between Doc Rivers’ regular pregame chat with the media on Wednesday and the deadline? In addition to Iguodala the Clippers also were said to have interest in Robert Covington (who was dealt to Houston) and Marcus Morris (for whom the New York Knicks were said to want Landry Shamet in return, an ask that Wojnarowski reported was a non-starter for the Clippers).

And if a move is made, what might that do to the team’s fledgling continuity? That nebulous thing that’s developing in earnest at last as the Clippers enjoyed a fully healthy roster Thursday for just the fourth game all season?

“I got a feeling it will be the same,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said, “but you just never know.”

Times sure have changed, though, Rivers said.

“This is a different generation,” said the 21st-year head coach, who played from 1983 to 1996. “We didn’t have social media, we didn’t have all this stuff. When we found out we got traded, Stan Kasten would call our house and you would say, ‘Hey, what’s Stan calling for?’ And he would tell you you’re traded.

“But now everyone knows everything, there’s no secrets in the league. I would guess it’s a lot tougher on players now than it was 10 years ago for sure.”

Clippers reserve guard Rodney McGruder said there isn’t much that players can do.

“Control what you can control,” he said. “Whatever’s gonna happen, is gonna happen. You have no control over it, so just come out here, compete, stay focused, stay sharp and that’s all you can control.”

“I want to win,” he said with a smile. “That’s the objective of the game, you know? You want to win and compete and I’m sure they want to do the same.”

PAUL GEORGE’S NOSE

Paul George said at shootaround Wednesday that he was still feeling the effects of having been elbowed in his nose by DeMar DeRozan in Monday’s victory over San Antonio.

“It’s bad,” George said of his swollen nose. “Hopefully at some point, it’ll go down, but it’s bad right now.

“It hurts. It’s hard to breathe a little bit, little stuffy from it. It’s a little pain, but I missed enough games, man, I’m gonna keep it rolling.”

With the @NBA trade deadline coming up tomorrow, Doc Rivers gives his brief State of The @LAClippers address 50 games into the season.#ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/xFTo21scPT

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) February 6, 2020

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Football Club has been without some of its most important players to this point in preseason training. LAFC had six players away on international duty, most engaged in the CONMEBOL Olympic qualifying tournament that will decide which under-23 teams will compete in Tokyo during the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Midfielder Jose Cifuentes rejoined the team earlier this week after Ecuador’s elimination, but Diego Rossi and Francisco Ginella remain with Uruguay while Eduard Atuesta and Eddie Segura are still with the Colombian U-23s.

Center back Walker Zimmerman’s time with the U.S. national team was not spent vying for Olympic glory; Zimmerman was with the U.S. senior team for its annual January camp in Qatar, which ended over the weekend after an exhibition match against Costa Rica in California.

Zimmerman played all 90 minutes in the Americans’ 1-0 victory. Now back in LAFC training, Zimmerman has limited time to adjust before LAFC’s CONCACAF Champions League match against Leon on Feb. 18 in Mexico. His time with the national team has Zimmerman feeling physically match fit, but there are other challenges the 25-year-old defender faces as he settles into the LAFC backline.

“January camps are a good chance to get things started early. I know this year was a similar timeframe for LAFC because of Champions League, but it’s a kickstart to try and build your fitness before getting with your club and preparing for the season,” Zimmerman said after practice on Wednesday. “I’m excited to be back with LAFC, excited to see all my friends and a lot of new faces as well. I’m trying to get to know them on a personal level. It’s a lot of culture-building conversations.”

During his time at LAFC, Zimmerman has established himself as a leader in the locker room. Learning his new teammates and building those relationships outside of the game ahead of the regular season are important goals for him. Setting his fitness level aside, Zimmerman feels his transition from the U.S. backline into LAFC’s defense is still something that requires considerable work on his part. Between his time with FC Dallas and LAFC, Zimmerman is no stranger to juggling the football ideas of the national team program and his league club, but he concedes that it’s not yet a simple as flipping a switch.

“There’s a little bit of difficultly there, just transitioning from doing things a certain way. (Going from team to team) it varies, it changes. That part is an adjustment. The fun part is getting to know new players. Learning their tendencies will take a bit of time,” Zimmerman said. “‘What foot are they? Are they fast? How do they like to receive the ball?’ I don’t know these things because I haven’t been around. Picking up on their tendencies will be a process as well.”

While Zimmerman and Eddie Segura have been away, the depth of LAFC’s backline has been on full display. Zimmerman says the time that Dejan Jakovic, Diego Palacios, Mohamed El Munir and even Latif Blessing have gotten on the backline during the preseason is a positive for the team as Champions League play and the regular season approach.

“It’s always about trying to get better. The good news about having me and Eddie gone, it’s a great opportunity to get everyone plugged in right away,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a great chance for them to get those reps, get those games under their belt. We’re going to need everyone, so them getting that exposure, it only helps us.”

Zimmerman doesn’t expect to play in Thursday’s match against FC Dallas, the third of LAFC’s preseason. If he doesn’t appear against his old club, then Zimmerman will only have one match, the preseason finale against Toronto FC on Feb. 12, to prepare for Leon. The accelerated pace is a challenge that Zimmerman is eager to meet.

“In terms of match fitness, my ability to finish 90 minutes, I’m confident with where I am. When it comes to the acclamation from the national team to LAFC, that’s what I’ll have to adjust to the quickest,” Zimmerman said. “I’m excited to see what that looks like next week. Hopefully, it’ll come quickly.”

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Previews of the top boys basketball games on Thursday, Feb. 6.

NO. 6 CANYON (18-9, 5-0) VS. NO. 7 VILLA PARK (24-3, 4-1)

Where, when: Villa Park, Thursday, 7 p.m.

Stakes: Crestview League championship

Outlook: Canyon routed Esperanza on Tuesday to clinch a share of its third consecutive Crestview League championship. If the Comanches lose to Villa Park, the two teams will share the league title for the second straight year.

The Comaches are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the county. Seniors Nathan Williams and Jake Martin are in the top 10 in Orange County in 3-pointers made. Martin leads the county with 96 3s.

Villa Park has won its last two league games by an average of 35 points. Riley Schroeder is the Spartans’ leading scorer and Villa Park also gets big contributions from Damien Parker and 6-foot-9 Garrett Andre.

Canyon beat Villa Park 53-52 on Jan. 24 in one of the most exciting games of the season. Martin made six 3-pointers and had a game-high 24 points.

This is one of the best rivalries in Orange County basketball and this is the best game of the night.

NO. 8 SONORA (22-5, 9-0) VS. NO. 16 LA HABRA (19-8, 8-1)

Where, when: La Habra, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

Stakes: Freeway League championship

Outlook: Sonora has already clinched a share of the league championship by beating Buena Park on Tuesday. La Habra won the league championship last season with an unblemished record.

La Habra gave Sonora its toughest league game of the season on Jan. 21. The Raiders outlasted the Highlanders 59-56 in a game that came down to the final possession. Tobin Igros made a free throw to extend Sonora’s lead to three with 14 seconds remaining. La Habra attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer but missed.

Igros had a team-high 14 points for Sonora in that game and Daniel Esparza and Ian Jones each scored 13.

Dylan Damico had a game-high 19 points for La Habra, and Erik Howland scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half.

This is also one of the bigger rivalries in high school basketball and will be played in front of a capacity crowd.

NO. 23 DANA HILLS (18-7, 5-2), VS. SAN JUAN HILLS (10-17, 4-3)

Where, when: San Juan Hills, Thursday, 7 p.m.

Stakes: Second place in Sea View League

Outlook: These are two of the most unique teams in Orange County this season. Dana Hills has been widely considered to be a good team that would beat up on bad teams and lose to anyone with a winning record. The Dolphins shattered that reputation by beating Tesoro on Jan. 24.

San Juan Hills coach Jason Efstathiou has been coaching with neuropathy, a disease that attacks your nerves and affects just one percent of diabetics.

The Stallions have had close losses against highly ranked teams like Santa Margarita, Cypress, Newport Harbor and Tesoro.

Adam Weingard leads the Stallions and scores in double figures regularly. John Mcfadden had a game-high 12 points when San Juan Hills beat Dana Hills on Jan. 10. Cooper Kitaen, Niko Trimino and Ryan Perucci are always threats to have a big game as well.

Dana Hills is a lock for a playoff spot in Division 3AA. The Dolphins have an experienced lineup full of seniors who have started multiple years. Harrison Wiese is 6-foot-7 and the team’s best player. Miles Ettinger and Grayson Holtby have played well in league play and Chris Na is a point guard who runs the offense.

NO. 1 MATER DEI (21-6, 8-1) VS. NO. 2 JSERRA (21-6, 6-3)

Where, when: JSerra, Thursday, 7 p.m.

Stakes: JSerra can earn second-place finish with a win and St. John Bosco loss

Outlook: It’s usually exciting when the top two teams in the county play each other, but the first meeting between the two teams was a blowout and the anticipation for the second meeting has been tepid.

Mater Dei jumped to a 31-point lead at halftime and beat the Lions 64-27 on Jan. 22. Five Monarchs scored in double figures with Devin Askew leading the pack with 16 points.

JSerra shot just 27 percent from the field in that loss, but the Lions have been playing better as of late. Utah signee Ian Martinez has been out with an injury but the young Lions have picked up the slack. Mac Bowman scored 27 points in a win against Orange Lutheran on Tuesday and made seven of 12 3s. Justin Williams had 10 points and 10 assists.

Mater Dei has the size advantage with Wilhelm Breidenbach, Nick Davidson and Harrison Hornery, all of whom are at least 6-foot-8. It’s difficult to score inside on the Monarchs, but JSerra should shoot better than it did in the first meeting and make it a more competitive game.

NO. 10 MISSION VIEJO (22-5, 4-3) VS. NO. 3 CAPISTRANO VALLEY (25-2, 7-0)

Where, when: Capistrano Valley, Thursday, 7 p.m.

Stakes: None. Just a fun matchup.

Outlook: Capo Valley is the best public school team in Orange County this season and it’s not close. The Cougars had a 17-game winning streak before losing to St. Augustine of San Diego in the Nike Extravaganza last weekend. Capo bounced back and beat Trabuco Hills to clinch the outright South Coast League title Tuesday.

The last time Capo Valley won a league title was in 2018 when they won the Sea View League and went on to win the CIF-SS Division 2AA championship with All-County guard Dawson Baker. The Cougars have a mixed offensive attack this season with contributions from Conner Gleason, Langston Redfield, Zach Roberts, Brody Sumner and Spencer Egbert.

Mission Viejo has guaranteed a second-place finish in league, but will share it with San Clemente if the Tritons beat Trabuco Hills on Thursday and the Diablos lose. The Diablos suffered an upset loss to Aliso Niguel on Tuesday, but are a virtual lock to make the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs with 22 wins.

Mission Viejo is led by experienced seniors Nathan Hewitt, Griff Higgins, Rey Cabiling and Jake Conerty, who have all started at least two years for coach Troy Roelen. Junior Presley Eldridge is also a key contributor for the Diablos.

The Diablos gave Capo Valley its toughest league test of the season in a 41-40 loss on Jan. 8. Capo Valley only scored 43 points against Trabuco Tuesday and a season-low 36 against St. Augustine. If Capo Valley has a poor shooting night, it could be ripe for an upset before the playoffs begin next week.

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NEWPORT BEACH –- Four teams tied for the Surf League boys basketball championship last season.

This season it’s only two.

Newport Harbor defeated Edison 50-29 in a Surf League game at Newport Harbor High on Wednesday, the final day of the league season.

Newport Harbor and Edison conclude the regular season as Surf League co-champions, both finishing with 4-2 league records.

Edison and Newport Harbor will compete in Division 2AA of the CIF Southern Section playoffs that begin next week. A coin flip that followed the game was won by Newport Harbor, making the Sailors the Surf League’s No. 1 representative in the playoffs and Edison the league’s No. 2 team.

Being a league’s No. 1 has advantages. As the Surf League’s No. 1 team, Newport Harbor will get a first-round home game against another league’s No. 2 or No. 3 team or perhaps an at-large team.

Edison as a No. 2 might get a first-round home game against another league’s No. 2 team or No. 3, or might get a first-round away game against another league’s No. 1 or No. 2 team.

Playoffs brackets will be released Sunday.

Newport Harbor senior Robbie Spooner, a 6-4 forward, led the Sailors (22-6 overall) with 18 points, all in the second half. Luke Bashore, a 6-7 senior forward, scored 16 points of which 14 were scored in the first half. Spooner made four 3-pointers, Bashore two.

Junior forward Connor Collins scored 10 points to lead the Chargers (17-11).

Edison, which beat Newport Harbor 60-43 on Jan. 24, shot 31 percent from the field, making 15 of 48 attempts. The Chargers, who took only two free throws, were held to single-digit scoring in the second, third and fourth quarters.

Newport Harbor was 18-for-46 shooting for 39 percent.

The Sailors, ranked No. 15 in the Orange County top 25, trailed only briefly early in the first quarter. Their 21-point winning margin was their biggest lead over the No. 14 Chargers.

Spooner was 0 for 7 in the first half. He was certain the shots eventually would fall and they did – he was 6 for 8 in the second half, including 4 for 5 on 3-pointers.

“I’m just going to keep shooting,” Spooner said. “No matter how many I miss, I’m going to keep shooting. I know they’re going to find their way.”

Newport Harbor coach Robert Torribio gave Spooner the green light and figured Bashore should launch it from outside, too, to counter other teams’ sagging defenses used against Bashore when Bashore sets up inside.

“So we said ‘Hey, Lukie, it’s your last game at home,’” Torribio said. “’Let’s go out with you firing the ball.’”

LOS ANGELES — Something got into the Clippers’ shooters on Wednesday night – which is to say, a whole bunch of 3-pointers got into the bucket.

The Clippers went deep Wednesday, making a franchise-record 24 3-pointers on a season-high 54 attempts in a rousing 128-111 victory over the Miami Heat at Staples Center.

It was the first time since 2016 that the Clippers made at least 20 3-pointers – which on Wednesday accounted for more than half of their 89 field-goal attempts.

No, but really: Everyone was hitting afar – even a fan was on the money, sinking a $10,000 half-court shot during a break in the second half.

That shooting showcase helped the home team – fully stocked for just the fourth time this season – put away their banged-up, tough-nosed, never-say-die visitors.

The Heat (34-16) were performing with the uncertainty of being at the center of a major, multi-team trade shaking out as they battled on the court. Adding adversity to a tough night, All-Star Jimmy Butler went to the locker room in the second half with a sore shoulder.

Nonetheless, early on, it looked to be the Clippers (36-15) in disarray. They missed each other on passes (nine first-half turnovers) and were missing the mark on the majority of their shots, shooting (10 for 27 in the first quarter).

But after an uneven first half, Doc Rivers’ squad established itself, lifted largely by a season high-equaling nine 3-pointers in the third quarter. The Clippers made 16 of 27 (59 percent) of their 3-point shots after halftime.

It was the 13th time in team history that eight players finished in double figures, and the first time this season the Clippers recorded 35 assists. Seven Clippers made at least one 3-pointer, led by second-year sharpshooter Landry Shamet (season-high 23 points) who buried six from behind the arc.

Paul George (23 points and a season-high 10 assists) hit five 3-pointers and Kawhi Leonard (14 points, nine assists and seven rebounds) made four.

The Clippers’ shooting lifted them in Miami too. The Heat have lost only five times this season at home, including once to the Clippers, who went 16 for 35 from deep in their 122-117 victory there on Jan. 24.

Rivers remembered that before Wednesday’s start.

“We move the ball, we shoot the ball well, we drive the ball, and those three things I think help when you’re going against zones, and when you’re getting trapped a lot, so that’s what we did well,” he said of facing Erik Spoelstra’s Heat. “They’re tough, they move, they play at times like an inverted offense where the point guard is a 5 and you gotta really guard from their cuts, their movement, and their 3.”

Apparently, those lessons still were fresh for the Clippers, who improved to 22-5 at home on the eve of the NBA trade deadline.

More to come on this story … 

Doc Rivers reflects on tonight's franchise record night from three-point land, which included a 16-27 mark (59%) in the second half.#ClipperNation • @LAClippers pic.twitter.com/AAkDLEIz77

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) February 6, 2020

Shots were falling tonight from distance

It was a franchise-record 24 made threes tonight for the @LAClippers!#ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/tQXFiU40dy

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) February 6, 2020

"I just know we're dangerous when we play like that"#ClipperNation • @LAClippers pic.twitter.com/3atCiZAxjw

— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) February 6, 2020

Back in January when the Oscar nominations were announced, it sure seemed like the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences had finally entered the 21st Century.

The traditionally behind-the-curve organization announced that “Joker,” a movie inspired by Batman’s most infamous enemy, would compete in 11 categories, more than any other movie from 2019, including such more conventionally “awards worthy” films as Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood” and the World War I-set, tour-de-technical-force “1917.”

On the heels of last year’s Oscar race, in which “Black Panther” became the first superhero movie ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, “Joker’s” surprise showing certainly appears to indicate that the Hollywood establishment’s quality mavens, i.e. academy voters, have at last accepted the dominant popular genre of the past two decades — comic book movies.

Ask veteran observers of both those kinds of films and Oscar contests, though, and they’ll say not so fast, Flash.

The 92nd Oscars on TV:  Sunday, Feb. 9, 5 p.m., ABC-TV

“What you’re seeing here is not a change in general in the world of academy voters, or a shift in the zeitgeist of any kind,” observed Anne Thompson, editor-at-large for the website Indiewire.com and one of L.A.’s most respected movie awards columnists. “It’s still hard for ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Avengers’ or any number of genre film to be taken seriously outside of the tech categories at the Oscars. That’s still a thing.”

Asked if he sees comic book movies regularly getting considered for top Oscars from here out, Blair Marnell, managing editor of the comics and fantasy film/TV-focused SuperHeroHype website, was only a little more optimistic.

“On a regular basis?” Marnell responded. “No, not at all. Remember, the Marvel and DC movies aren’t designed to win Academy Awards. They’re made to bring in $1 billion or more worldwide. That said, superhero movies can and probably will have more top Oscar nominations at some point in the future. It’s a genre like any other. In the hands of the right filmmakers, a great cast, and a talented crew, superhero movies can fly just as high as the other films.”

It did take remarkable filmmaking for superhero movies to get even this far with the fantasy-averse academy rank-and-file. Not counting the historical footage-altering “Forrest Gump,” the only Best Picture winners ever built around impossible elements were 2003’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and 2017’s “The Shape of Water.” The 2014 winner, “Birdman,” was about an actor who played a superhero, but it was a realistic character study with limited fantastic moments that could mostly be written off as psychological delusions.

That’s not because the functionaries who run the Academy Awards show, and are therefore always concerned with its broadcast ratings, haven’t been trying for more than a decade to encourage voters to get with the popularity program. The main impetus for increasing the Best Picture nominee field from five to as many as 10 at the start of the 2010’s was the failure of “The Dark Knight,” by any measure a superbly crafted and hugely profitable Batman film, to garner a Best Picture nomination.

Still, practically the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe – an unprecedented, multi-quality cinematic achievement – and a massive effort to bring younger and more diverse members into the academy, had passed before the desired effect was achieved. It came, after nearly 10 years, with “Black Panther.”

Arguably, that film was the most remarkable cultural and commercial entry in the genre since “Dark Knight.”

But then, so was “Avengers: Endgame” in the next annual cycle.

So why was 2019’s 22-hit-capping supermovie only nominated for visual effects in the same year Joker – a 10-figure grossing worldwide blockbuster to be sure, but hardly on the scale of “Endgame’s” all-time record $2.798 billion – got a load of major noms?

“ ‘Joker’ resembled some of the great Scorsese films,” Marnell said of director Todd Phillips’ psychological drama, clearly influenced by “Taxi Driver” and “King of Comedy.”

“’Avengers: Endgame’ was just the ultimate superhero blockbuster,” Marnell said. “The Academy rarely rewards blockbusters, even the great ones. ‘Endgame”‘ was well-crafted, with affecting performances and an engaging story. Regardless, it just wasn’t enough to win the Academy’s love. And that’s OK. Disney and Marvel aren’t going to complain. They’re more than happy with ‘Endgame’s’ box office records.”

Thompson was even more blunt in her assessment of why academy voters preferred “Joker” to “Endgame.” One was unmistakably a superhero supershow, while the other . . .

“ ‘Joker’ is not a comic book movie, OK?” she said. “ ‘Joker’ is an elevated movie that happens to ride a wave of commerciality based on the fact that it’s using a DC character. It’s a question of how voters perceive the genre.”

Indeed, while it may not be very plausible, everything that happens in “Joker” could occur in the real world – and the movie has gotten prestige mileage out of varying perceptions that it’s a commentary on troubling, contemporary issues, something which has always been Oscar catnip.

Whatever it has going for it, however, “Joker” does not look like it will be the big winner on Sunday. At this year’s gazillion-odd pre-Oscars, industry awards orgies, only lead actor Joaquin Phoenix has consistently come away with all the prizes (as, it must be noted, Heath Ledger pulled off a similar sweep, posthumously, for playing the same – albeit more criminally capable – character in “Dark Knight”).

Smart money is on “Joker” snagging only the Best Actor statuette — and maybe one other Oscar, likely for composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Original Score.

Why? Well, even though no less an eminence that Scorsese had some apparently quite minor, early influence on “Joker’s” development, it’s his public disparagement last fall of Marvel movies as equivalent to “theme parks” that resonates more deeply with many academy veterans.

“The academy looks down on comic book movies,” Thompson pointed out. “I never thought Martin Scorsese’s comments were ever going to hurt him with the academy, because they all agree with him. They’re all mourning the loss of a certain kind of mid-budget drama that used to be their bread-and-butter. A lot of people don’t have any work because those kinds of movies aren’t getting made any more.”

Well, not exactly. Such award-fodder projects still get green-lit on Netflix, which was the only Hollywood entity willing to back Scorsese’s own, expensive “Irishman” project. Whether or not the academy’s prejudice against made-for-streaming movies will ever be overcome is the other big, 21st Century question that the Oscars will have to come to terms with one of these days, and hopefully before the 22nd Century. But knowing them . . .

“The academy would probably be more comfortable giving the award to Scorsese himself for ‘The Irishman’,” than to “Joker,” Marnell wryly observed. “Even if that would give Netflix the vindication that it’s been trying to buy for years.”

Regardless of Sunday’s outcomes at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, the door’s at least been opened by the loved-just-about-everywhere-else comic book movie crowd.

Maybe all the genre needs to generate Oscar superstars is to evolve in some new, interesting, compelling directions. That’s what popular genres have always had to do to remain viable creatively and commercially. And as hidebound an institution as the academy tends to be, many of its members can probably appreciate the artistry that comes out of that process.

“I think that they’re exploring how to expand genre and established intellectual property so that there are more intelligent options for moviegoers,” Thompson said. “To broaden the palate a little bit. The studios have to figure that out to stay alive, and I think they’re doing what they’re supposed to do.”

The blockbuster three-way trade that would bring All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts and starting pitcher David Price to the Dodgers remained held up Thursday because of questions regarding the health of one player involved in the deal, though officials with the teams remain confident it will be completed, multiple media outlets reported.

The deal, which would send Betts and Price to the Dodgers, outfielder Alex Verdugo and pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol to the Boston Red Sox and starter Kenta Maeda to the Minnesota Twins, was not completed Wednesday after being agreed upon Tuesday night. The Red Sox reportedly were concerned about a medical review of Graterol, the hard-throwing 21-year-old right-hander who has undergone Tommy John surgery and missed time in 2019 because of a shoulder injury.

There are alternative options to complete the deal, according to reports. The players involved could be amended, as could the amount of money Boston is sending to the Dodgers to cover a portion of the $96 million still owed Price (any trade involving a cash exchange of more than $1 million also requires the approval of the commissioner’s office). The Dodgers and Red Sox could theoretically opt for a two-team deal or involve a different third team; Graterol is currently with the Twins.

The likelihood of the trade of Betts to the Dodgers falling apart altogether, is reportedly slim, as medical-related impasses are typically worked around. Although the negative reaction in Boston to trading Betts, a homegrown franchise player, was considerable, it was not a driving force behind the holdup, an ESPN report said. Boston simply wants to ensure that it receives a commensurate return for the 27-year-old right fielder, who is entering his final season before free agency and is expected to seek a contract well in excess of $300 million and perhaps even $400 million.

The three-way trade is tied to another proposed deal in which the Dodgers would reportedly send outfielder Joc Pederson, starter Ross Stripling and prospect Andy Pages to the Angels for infielder Luis Rengifo and one or two prospects. By trading Pederson, the Dodgers would remain underneath the $208 million luxury-tax threshold, even after taking on the hefty salaries of Betts and Price.

Another factor in the holdup of these trades, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported, was Pederson’s Thursday arbitration hearing. Pederson wanted $9.5 million, while the Dodgers offered $7.75 million; a decision from the arbitrator likely would come within 24 hours of the hearing’s conclusion. It’s unclear why Pederson’s hearing would cause a delay, but it’s possible the Dodgers simply needed to get it done before trading him. Another possibility is that the Angels want to know his salary before finalizing terms with the Dodgers.

Boston’s motivation to dip beneath the threshold was a strong part of its motivation to trade Betts, sources said. Packaging Betts and Price allows Boston to shed more than $40 million in payroll this season and reset future luxury-tax consequences instead of exceeding the threshold for the third consecutive season and compounding the penalties for doing so.

The holdup, first reported by The Athletic, “is a problem but one we can figure out,” a source involved in the deal reportedly told ESPN. With pitchers and catchers due to report to Red Sox and Twins camp on Tuesday and Dodgers camp on Feb. 13, the incentive to find a quick resolution is strong.

A small fire in a backstage area at Disneyland prompted the closure of Adventureland on Thursday night, Feb. 6. The fire was quickly extinguished.

A Disneyland official said an area of vegetation burned. Disneyland’s fire department and Anaheim Fire & Rescue put out the flames. Main Street remained open.

No guests or employees were injured, and no structures were damaged, the official said.

A video posted on Twitter showed flames rising above a fence near where the Jungle Cruise boats are stored. The make-believe Disneyland fire station is in the frame, to the left of the flames. Some park guests stopped to watch while a cast member blocked off the area.

Anaheim Police Department Sgt. Shane Carriger said Anaheim Fire & Rescue responded just after 6 p.m. The first crew to arrive canceled the rest of the response and had the fire out within minutes, Carriger said.

The Disneyland official did not say how the fire started.

Park guests posted on social media that the electricity was out in some areas.

Disneyland is evacuating everyone due to a fire behind Main Street, nearing the Fire Department and Walt’s Candle, and I’m shaking. This video has been going around like crazy. pic.twitter.com/shji8FbahP

— ivy marie (@ivysaysrawr) February 7, 2020

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Festival Pass for Thursday, Feb. 6

A lot of recurring festivals mix up the lineup year after year. For example, it’s super rare to see someone play at Coachella two years in a row.

But at the One Love Cali Reggae Festival, recurring visits from fan favorites have helped build the event’s brand.

While there isn’t a lot on the festival front this week, there are a ton of Southern California bands announcing tour stops in the region. Read on.

Good vibes

The One Love Cali Reggae Fest returns to Long Beach this weekend and the event has grown leaps and bounds since its first year in Santa Ana.

Reporter Richard Guzman talked with Iration, which has played every year of the fest, about what makes it so special.

Satisfaction in San Diego

The Rolling Stones will kick off the 2020 run of the No Filter tour in San Diego. Get the details and ticket information.

Appetite for Inglewood

Guns N’ Roses will be the first rock band to play SoFi Stadium. The LA-rooted group plays the new football stadium in August. Find out how to get tickets.

Glendale’s finest returns

System of a Down is coming to Banc of California Stadium with Korn and Faith No More. Get details on when and how to get tickets.

Pardon me while I get tickets

Another Southern California rock band, Incubus, has announced a summer tour coming through the area, including a date in Irvine. Wish you were there? Here’s how to get tickets.

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And now for a little something extra…Here are three must-reads on entertainment, culture and events we think you might like.

1. Jauz talks about his “Baby Shark” remix at Coachella
2. Metallica’s James Hetfield is parking his custom cars at the Petersen
3. How often is Rise of the Resistance breaking down at Disneyland?

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