SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

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Anthony Davis sat on the bench

with a little more than a minute left

in the Lakers’ contest against the

Philadelphia 76ers, having left to a

standing ovation. But he didn’t

stay on the bench for long. He got

up, waved his arms and watched as

his teammates finished a game he

had put away.

He’d done everything Tuesday

night, from electrifying dunks to

stellar three-point shooting — four

for five on the night.

Davis scored 37 points in the

Lakers’ 120-107 win over the 76ers,

who were missing three starters in-

cluding stars Joel Embiid and Ben

Simmons, knocking down further

a team once thought to be an NBA

Finals contender.

“It’s everything I expected and

more,” LeBron James said of

playing with Davis. “Obviously

that’s why I wanted him here.

When you get a generational talent

like that and you got an opportuni-

ty to get him, you just try to do

whatever you can to get him.”

Davis added 13 rebounds, four

steals and two blocks. James had

DWIGHT HOWARDof the Lakers challenges the shot of Philadelphia’s Glenn Robinson III during the first half at Staples Center.

Mark J. TerrillAssociated Press

It’s Super Two Day

Davis-James is a winning

ticket for the Lakers while

the 76ers sorely miss

Embiid and Simmons.

LAKERS 120

PHILADELPHIA 107

By Tania Ganguli

[SeeLakers,D4]

OKLAHOMA CITY — With

pursed lips and a quick pace,

Thunder coach Billy Donovan

walked up three steps to a raised

platform late Tuesday night inside

Chesapeake Energy Arena. Set-

tling into a chair behind a micro-

phone and a desk covered in a

Thunder-blue sheet, he looked out

over a handful of journalists.

His was one of the most unique

vantage points in the NBA.

As the league begins to turn its

eyes toward a postseason that be-

gins in less than six weeks, debat-

ing potential matchups and calcu-

lating championship odds, no one

right now has a better perspective

on a pair of championship con-

tenders than Donovan and Okla-

homa City.

Three days after the Thunder,

CLIPPERS GUARDLandry Shamet looks to pass against playing on the second night of a

Oklahoma City’s Steven Adams during the first half.

Garett FisbeckAssociated Press

Like Bucks,

Clippers

don’t stop

here either

CLIPPERS 109

OKLAHOMA CITY 94

By Andrew Greif

[SeeClippers, D5]

Even as Olympic leaders

reiterated their confidence

that the coronavirus

outbreak would not force the

cancellation of the upcom-

ing 2020 Tokyo Games, a

Japanese official suggested

the host city has a contrac-

tual right to postpone the

competition until the end of

the year.

The dueling pronounce-

ments came Tuesday as the

International Olympic Com-

mittee’s executive board

convened for a regularly

scheduled meeting in Lau-

sanne, Switzerland. Board

members devoted much of

the day to discussions on the

matter.

“We remain very confi-

dent with regard to the suc-

cess of these Olympic

Games,” IOC President

Thomas Bach said.

Half a world away, a ques-

tion in the Japanese parlia-

ment prompted that coun-

try’s Olympic minister to

discuss nuances of the con-

tract that all host cities must

sign when they are awarded

the Games.

“The IOC has the right to

cancel the Games only if

they are not held during

2020,” Seiko Hashimoto told

parliament, according to the

Associated Press. “This can

be interpreted to mean the

Games can be postponed as

long as they are held during

the calendar year.”

Hashimoto added that

officials “are making the ut-

most effort so that we don’t

have to face that situation.”

IOC downplays

coronavirus threat

But Japanese official

suggests host city has

right to postpone the

Summer Olympics.

By David Wharton

[SeeOlympics,D6]

PHOENIX — He nailed
the dismount.
If outfield prospect Zach
Reks can carve out a mean-
ingful role with the Dodgers
over the next few years, this
could be the catchphrase
that launched his major
league career.
Reks, 26, is in his first big
league camp, a remarkable
achievement considering he
quit playing baseball in col-
lege in 2014.
“I still can’t believe it,”
Reks said as he scanned a
spring training clubhouse
teeming with highly paid
stars such as Mookie Betts,
Cody Bellinger, Clayton Ker-
shaw and Kenley Jansen.
“It’s surreal.”
So is the story of how
Reks got here.
A standout player at Carl
Sandburg High School in

JUMPING AT HIS CHANCE

Dodgers prospect Reks once quit baseball on unlikely journey to camp

ZACH REKS,26, is batting.417 with one homer and three doubles this spring. An

athletic leap off a scooter at Kentucky helped turn around his baseball fortunes.

Ralph FresoGetty Images

By Mike DiGiovanna

[SeeReks,D2]

SATURDAY’S GAME

UCLA vs. USC

AT GALEN CENTER

TV: Channel 2, 12:15 p.m.

As the camera panned
the crowd inside Pauley Pa-
vilion, showing one UCLA
legend after another on the
video board, it felt like an ode
to generations of Bruins
greatness.
Hey, there’s Sidney
Wicks, the power forward
who sparked UCLA’s 88-
game winning streak. Wow,
that’s Lucius Allen, the
guard who helped the Bru-
ins freshmen stomp the var-
sity team. Oh, man, there’s
Jamaal Wilkes, the small for-
ward whom coach John
Wooden once described as
his ideal player.
The icons fixed their fo-
cus elsewhere, consumed by
a batch of Bruins who had a
losing record only 1½
months ago. Things have
changed considerably over
the last six weeks with this
team capturing the imagina-
tion of its revered prede-
cessors every bit as much as
that of the casual fan.
“I don’t think, of all the
UCLA teams that have ever
put on that uniform, that the
fans, the alumni, those who
follow UCLA could be more
proud of than this team
here,” said Gail Goodrich.
He was the honorary cap-
tain Saturday during the
Bruins’ 69-64 victory over
Arizona that gave them a
seventh consecutive win and
sole possession of first place
in the Pac-12 Conference.
The 6-foot-1 Goodrich
was an undersized, overa-
chieving guard on Wooden’s
first two national champi-
onship teams. He was
known for his ability to ab-
sorb a physical pounding
with a shrug, the perfect
metaphor for the current
Bruins.
“This team has demon-
strated over the last seven
games that they’re playing
the best they’re capable of
playing,” said Goodrich, a
member of the Naismith Me-

Bruins’

late run

inspires

respect

Former UCLA

basketball greats are

proud of how team

turned things around.

By Ben Bolch

[SeeUCLA, D3]