D2 FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
Italy’s Serie A gets its season started this weekend while Liv-
erpool and Arsenal meet in a game that can leave only one
team perfect three weeks into the English Premier League
schedule. In Spain, meanwhile, winless Barcelona is hoping
for the return of a healthy Lionel Messi.
EPL: Liverpool is the reigning European champion. Arsenal
was the Europa League runner-up last season. And two
weeks into the new season, they’re the only unbeaten, untied
teams remaining in the Premier League. At least one of them
won’t be able to say that after Saturday, when the teams
square off at Anfield (NBC, Universo, 9:30 a.m. PDT). Liver-
pool hasn’t lost in its last eight meetings with Arsenal, going
4-0-4.
La Liga:Lionel Messi, who has been sidelined because of a
calf injury, was expected to practice with his Barcelona team-
mates Friday and will probably play for the first time this sea-
son Sunday when his team plays host to Real Betis (BeIN
Sports, noon PDT). Without Messi, the two-time defending
La Liga champions were shut out in their opener, a 1-0 loss to
Athletic Bilbao. Betis has won just one of its last 16 league
matches against Barcelona, but that match was the last time
the teams played at Camp Nou in November 2018.
Serie A:The Italian league will be the last of Europe’s five
major circuits to get started, kicking off this weekend with a
schedule that includes Genoa traveling to Roma on Sunday
(ESPN, ESPN Deportes, 11:45 a.m. PDT). Roma, sixth last
season, hasn’t lost a league game to Genoa since May 2014.
—Kevin Baxter
WEEKEND SOCCER ON TV
Major League Baseball
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Favorite Underdog
at Chicago -125 Washington +115
at Pittsburgh -105 Cincinnati -105
Philadelphia -170 at Miami +158
at New York -175 Atlanta +163
at Milwaukee -150 Arizona +140
at St. Louis -210 Colorado +190
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Favorite Underdog
at Baltimore OFF Tampa Bay OFF
at Cleveland -170 Kansas City +158
at Minnesota -200 Detroit +180
Texas -142 at Chicago +132
at Houston -290 ANGELS +260
Toronto -115 at Seattle +105
INTERLEAGUE
Favorite Underdog
at DODGERS -150 N.Y. Yankees +140
Boston -115 at San Diego +105
College Football
TODAY
Favorite Line (O/U) Underdog
Florida 7 (47) Miami
Arizona 11 (74) at HawaiiNFL
TODAY
Favorite Line (O/U) Underdog
Cleveland 3 (42^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Tampa Bay
Buffalo 2 (42) at Detroit
SATURDAY
at Minnesota 61 ⁄ 2 (42^1 ⁄ 2 ) Arizona
at Indianapolis 21 ⁄ 2 (38) Chicago
at Dallas PK (40) Houston
New Orleans 3 (42^1 ⁄ 2 ) at N.Y. Jets
at Kansas City 31 ⁄ 2 (45) San Francisco
at RAMS 1 (36^1 ⁄ 2 ) Denver
Seattle 3 (41) at CHARGERS
SUNDAY
at Tennessee 21 ⁄ 2 (40) PittsburghODDS
For the first time this
season, the Sparks had all 12
players active. The result
Thursday night was em-
phatic: a 98-65 victory over
the Indiana Fever, a 10th
consecutive win at home
and a spot in the WNBA
playoffs.
Donned incharcoal and
pink jerseys to celebrate
breast health awareness
night, the Sparks took some
time to find their footing.
After a sloppy first quar-
ter that ended with the
Sparks down 18-14, Los An-
geles turned things around.
A 43-16 run spanning the
second and third quarters
all but sealed the game,
qualifying the Sparks for
their eighth consecutivepostseason appearance.
Guard Riquna Williams
played for the first time
since July 14 after serving a
10-game league suspension
for a domestic violence ac-cusation. She led the team
in minutes and finished with
10 points, five rebounds and
three assists.
“I’ve been up since 4
a.m.,” Williams said. “I’ve
been super excited. ... My
teammates love me, they
trust me, they know what
I’m capable of. I’ve been
with them every step of the
way.”
The Sparks strung to-
gether one of their most
well-balanced games of the
year. On offense, the ball
darted around the court to
the tune of 26 assists, as the
Sparks tied their season
highfor points.
They forced 21 turnovers
and held Indiana to one of-
fensive rebound. Los Ange-
leshad a 41-27 advantage in
rebounds.
“We were really active as
a team tonight,” coach Der-
ek Fisher said. “A lot of times
it’s not strategy, etc., it’s just
a willingness to be the first
person to the ball when it’s
in the air.
“A lot of our players made
that effort tonight. It was a
collective effort. We’ve been
on our guards about beingbetter rebounders, and I
thought that they made an
effort to do that tonight.”
Although it was a total
team performance — all 12
playersparticipated and 11
scored — it was the produc-
tion of theOgwumike sis-
ters that led the way. For-
ward-center Nnekaled all
scorers with 17 points and
had seven rebounds and five
steals, and center Chiney
came off the bench to score
15 points on seven-for-eight
shooting.
“Playing with Nneka, I
know it like the back of my
hand,” Chineysaid. “But it’s
also building those relation-
ships with others that I
cherish. ... I think we get our
identity from the defensive
side, and then that carries
over to the offensive side.”
The Sparks (17-10) will
take on the Connecticut
Sun on Sunday at Staples
Center, where they haven’t
lostsince June 18.
Los Angeles holds the
fourth seed for the playoffs,
which would result in a first-
round bye and a second-
round single-elimination
game at home.The desire to cut the
amount of horse racing in
California was put on hold
by the California Horse Rac-
ing Board on Thursday
when it decided to postpone
the decision on dark weeks
and Los Alamitos. Instead,
the CHRB awarded dates to
only Santa Anita and Del
Mar.
The action came during
an angst-filled meeting at a
hotel near Del Mar that
started outside with anti-
horse-racing protesters out-
numbered by counter pro-
testers and ended manyhours later with a public
comment period during
which horse racing came
under attack.
The 20-item agenda
stalled when it reached No.
18, a discussion of the 2020
racing dates. For about an
hour the discussion revolved
around who was involved in
the decision. The California
Thoroughbred Trainers and
Los Alamitos expressed dis-
may that they were not party
to any private discussions on
next year’s racing dates.
Jack Libeau, a vice presi-
dent at Los Alamitos, and
Alan Balch, executive direc-
tor of the trainers associ-
ation, believed the process
was not inclusive. Their ani-
mosity was not directed at
the CHRB as much as the
Thoroughbred Owners of
California, Santa Anita and
Del Mar, whose private dis-
cussions led to next year’sracing schedule.
Under the now-approved
partial schedule, Santa Ani-
ta has race dates from Dec.
18 to June 23. However, the
pre-Christmas dates are for
simulcast revenue only and
the track won’t open until its
usual Dec. 26. In addition,
the track was awarded 12
flex or rain dates when they
can cancel racing. The ex-
pectation is these dates
would occur when the
weather was bad or the track
had difficulty filling cards
with horses.
The second meeting will
be Sept. 9 to Oct. 27. The
track will race three days a
week in September and four
in October.
Del Mar was awarded
dates from July 8 to Sept. 8,
with the first two weeks be-
ing simulcast only. The fall
meeting would be from Oct.
28 until Dec. 1. The summermeeting would be five days a
week with the fall meeting
only three days, except
Thanksgiving week.
Under the current plan,
Los Alamitos would be cut to
four weeks. Two would be
from June 24 until July 7, in
which the first week belongs
to the track and the second
week to the L.A. County Fair.
The second fair meeting will
be from Dec. 2 to Dec. 15.
Ed Allred, chairman and
owner of Los Alamitos, said
that with fewer daytime
thoroughbred dates, his
track couldn’t survive with
just nighttime racing during
those weeks. He said the
track needs a thoroughbred
lead-in so that his nighttime
quarter-horse racing can
survive.
Los Alamitos dates and
Northern California dates
will be discussed next
month.Horse racing dates for 2020 draw criticism
Santa Anita, Del Mar
are set. Los Alamitosofficials say they feel
left out of discussions.
By John CherwaJames Harden of the
Houston Rockets scored
36.1 points per game last
season, more than anyone
in NBA history not named
Michael Jordan or Wilt
Chamberlain. But he wasn’t
named the NBA’s most
valuable player, finishing
second in voting to Giannis
Antetokounmpo of Milwau-
kee. Why? Well, it’s obvious:
It was the media’s fault.
Harden appeared on a
Houston radio station on
Wednesday to explain.
“It’s out of my control. I
think once the media, they
create a narrative about
somebody from the begin-
ning of the year. I think they
just take the narrative and
run with it the entire year. I
don’t want to get into any
details, but all I can do is
control what I can do. I went
out there and did what I was
supposed to do at a high
level, you know what I’m
saying?”
Harden doesn’t explain
exactly what the narrative
was that cost him the MVPaward, but Morning Briefing
apologizes for that item that
talked about his amazing
30-point scoring streak and
is sincerely sorry if that cost
him votes.Ask Hershiser
Readers of our Dodgers
newsletter were recently
able to ask all-time Dodgers
great Orel Hershiser some
questions. Here are a couple
of highlights:
Andrew Helman asks:
Who were one or two of the
toughest batters you had to
face?
Hershiser: Statistically, if
people look it up, they are
probably going to come up
with different names than I
will. Statistically, I think
Craig Biggio was the ulti-
mate right-handed hitter
against me, and Davey
Concepcion is the guy I
dominated the most.
But in the back of my
mind, as far as the way I
pitched, I would say low-
ball-hitting left-handed
hitters were the biggest
challenge. Being a sinker-
ball pitcher, it was strength
vs. strength. So, it was a guylike Gregg Jefferies, Wally
Backman, Keith Hernan-
dez, Barry Bonds. But the
low-ball-hitting lefty in my
generation was a very tough
out for me.
Tony Cortes of San
Pedro asks: Are you in favor
of the electronic strike
zone?
Hershiser: I have come
over in favor of the elec-
tronic strike zone fully this
year. I was not quite in favor
before because I would get
feedback from a player that,
“Hey, be careful when talk-
ing about our eye, because
the strike zone is off by
about three inches tonight.”
I don’t hear any talk from
the players like that this
year. So, that makes me now
on board with it.
Elliot Powers of San
Diego asks: Are you for or
against the DH in the Na-
tional League?
Hershiser: I like the
diversity in the game right
now, with the NL not having
a DH and the AL having
one. Some will say, “Fans
don’t want to see pitchers
hit.” I understand that, but
also, it brings a lot of strate-gy into the game. Do you
hit for the pitcher now or
wait? Roster configuration,
defensive replacements,
double switches — it creates
a lot of strategic interest.
But I also like the DH ex-
tending the careers of great
players. You can play a guy
who is slightly injured and
you can give a guy a day of
rest from fielding but still
have him hit. Both those
things allow your stars to
play more often. I like that
part of the game too, so I
think we get the best of both
worlds right now, with no
DH in the NL and the DH in
the AL.Sports poll
Many Lakers fans seem
extremely concerned that
the team could reunite with
Dwight Howard in their
quest to find a replacement
for the injured DeMarcus
Cousins. So our new poll
question is: Should the
Lakers acquire Dwight
Howard? You can vote
online at poll.fm/10389250 or
you can email me at houston
[email protected] with
your answer.MORNING BRIEFINGHarden proving he can get defensive
By Houston MitchellJAMES HARDENof Houston, shown guarding eventual MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee, says a
media “narrative” cost him the award last season. Harden’s average of 36.1 points led the league.Stacy RevereGetty ImagesTIME EVENT ON THE AIR
AUTO RACING
3 p.m. IndyCar, Bommarito Automotive Group 500,
qualifyingTV:NBCSNBASEBALL
11:15 a.m. Washington at Chicago Cubs TV:MLB
4 p.m. Atlanta at New York Mets TV:MLB
5 p.m. Angels at Houston TV:FSW R:830,
1330
7 p.m. New York Yankees at Dodgers TV:SNLA R:570,
1020
7 p.m. Boston at San Diego TV:MLB
BASKETBALL
4:30 p.m. WNBA, Las Vegas at Connecticut TV:NBATV
4:30 p.m. WNBA, Atlanta at New York TV:CBSSN
9 p.m. USA Showcase, USA vs. Australia TV:NBATV
BOXING
7 p.m. Vladimir Shishkin vs. DeAndre Ware, Shohjahon
Ergashev vs. Abdeil RamirezTV:ShowtimeCOLLEGE SOCCER
7 p.m. Women, Iowa State at UCLA TV:Pac-12
GOLF
6:30 a.m. LPGA Tour, CP Women’s Open, second round TV:Golf
10 a.m. Tour Championship, second round TV:Golf
3 p.m. PGA Korn Ferry Tour, Albertsons Boise Open,
second roundTV:Golf5 p.m. PGA Tour Champions, Boeing Classic, first round TV:Golf
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
3 p.m. Mallard Creek (N.C.) at Dutch Fork (S.C.) TV:ESPN2
6:30 p.m. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) at De La Salle
(Concord, Calif.)TV:ESPNU7:30 p.m. Corona Centennial at Santa Ana Mater Dei TV:Prime
HORSE RACING
Noon Saratoga Live TV:Prime
1 p.m. Racing Coast to Coast featuring Saratoga TV:TVG
1:30 p.m. Saratoga Live TV:FS2
3 p.m. Trackside Live! Del Mar TV:TVG
6 p.m. Trackside Live! Tranquility Lake TV:TVG
7 p.m. Trackside Live! Del Mar TV:TVG
8 p.m. The Quarters featuring Los Alamitos TV:TVG
PRO FOOTBALL
4:30 p.m. Cleveland at Tampa Bay TV:NFL
5 p.m. Buffalo at Detroit TV: 2
6 p.m. CFL, Winnipeg at Edmonton TV:ESPN2
SOCCER
10:15 a.m. Turkey, Besiktas vs. Goztepe TV:beIN1
10:45 a.m. Spain, Granada vs. Sevilla TV:beINES
11:15 a.m. Germany, Cologne vs. Borussia Dortmund TV:FS2, FOXD
11:45 a.m. England, Aston Villa vs. Everton TV:NBCSN
12:45 p.m. Spain, Levante vs. Villareal TV:beIN1, beINES
4:30 p.m. Mexico, Veracruz vs. San Luis TV:UDN
5 p.m. MLS, Atlanta at Orlando City TV:ESPN, ESPND
6:45 p.m. Mexico, Santos Laguna vs. Monterrey TV:FS1, FOXD
6:45 p.m. Mexico, Morelia vs. UNAM TV:UDN
7 p.m. MLS, Seattle at Portland TV:ESPN, ESPND
TENNIS
8 a.m. U.S. Open, qualifying, final round TV:ESPNews
10 a.m. Bronx Open, semifinals TV:Tennis
4 p.m. ATP, Winston-Salem Open, semifinals TV:Tennis
SURFING
3:30 p.m. World Surf League, Tahiti Pro Teahupo’o, Day 3 TV:FS2TODAY ON THE AIR
PRO CALENDAR
FRI. SAT. SUN. MON. TUE.
23 24 25 26 27
DODGERSN.Y.
YANKEES
7
SNLAN.Y.
YANKEES
1
SNLA, FS1N.Y.
YANKEES
4
ESPNat San
Diego
7
SNLAat San
Diego
7
SNLAANGELSat Houston
5
FSWat Houston
4
FSWat Houston
11 a.m.
FSWTEXAS
7
FS1GALAXYat LAFC
7:30
FS1LAFCGALAXY
7:30
FS1SPARKSCONN.
2
SpecSN,
NBA TVat
Washington
4
ESPN2Shade denotes home game
RAMS:Saturday vs. Denver (exhibition), 6 p.m., Ch. 2
CHARGERS:Saturday vs. Seattle (exhibition), 7 p.m., Ch. 7, NFL Network
Western Conference
Team W L Pct. GB
x-Las Vegas...................19 9 .679 —
x-SPARKS .....................17 10 .630 11 ⁄ 2
Seattle .........................15 13 .536 4
Minnesota ....................14 15 .483 51 ⁄ 2
Phoenix ........................13 14 .481 51 ⁄ 2
Dallas ............................9 19 .321 10
Eastern Conference
Team W L Pct. GB
x-Washington.................20 7 .741 —
x-Connecticut ................19 8 .704 1
x-Chicago .....................16 11 .593 4
New York ........................9 18 .333 11
Indiana ..........................9 19 .321 111 ⁄ 2
Atlanta...........................5 22 .185 15
x—clinched playoff berthSPARKS 98, FEVER 65
INDIANA—Burke 2-8 3-5 7, Dupree 5-7 0-0 10, McCowan 2-7
2-2 6, T.Mitchell 1-7 4-4 6, Wheeler 1-6 0-0 2, Achonwa 2-4 2-2
6, K.Mitchell 5-12 0-2 14, Kea 1-1 0-0 3, Laney 3-5 0-0 7,
Mavunga 1-1 0-2 2, McCall 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 23-60 13-19 65.
SPARKS—Gray 4-9 0-0 10, N.Ogwumike 7-16 3-3 17, Parker
3-8 2-4 8, Ruffin-Pratt 3-6 3-3 11, Williams 4-12 1-2 10, Beard
1-1 0-0 2, Brown 3-4 4-6 10, C.Ogwumike 7-8 1-2 15, Jones 0-1
0-0 0, Mabrey 1-2 1-2 3, Vadeeva 4-8 0-0 8, Wiese 1-1 1-1 4.
Totals 38-76 16-23 98.
Indiana ............................... 18 13 11 23—65
Sparks............................... 14 29 27 28—98
Three-point goals—Indiana 6-17 (K. Mitchell 4-9, Kea 1-1,
Laney 1-2, Burke 0-1, Wheeler 0-4), Sparks 6-20 (Ruffin-Pratt
2-3, Gray 2-4, Wiese 1-1, Williams 1-8, Vadeeva 0-1, N.Ogwumike
0-1, Parker 0-2). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Indiana 27 (Mc-
Cowan 7), Sparks 41 (Vadeeva, N.Ogwumike 7). Assists—Indiana
18 (Wheeler 6), Sparks 27 (Parker 5). Total fouls—Indiana 22,
Sparks 18. Technicals—McCowan. A—8,816 (18,997).WNBA
Sparks clinch a playoff spot
They blow the game
open with a big run,
qualify for eighth
postseason in a row.
SPARKS 98
INDIANA 65By Brady Klopfer