Clippers’ Lue laments ‘we’re soft’ after loss

Pascal Siakam scored 31 points to lead Indiana to a 133-116 win over the Clippers late on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

The Clippers lost their fifth consecutive home game.

“The only way we’re gonna get out of it is playing hard for 48 minutes, doing things right every single night, every single possession,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “Not two out of five, not two out of six. Every time, just do the right thing, and you’ll be able to get out of this rut.”

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George each scored 26 points for the Clippers, and Russell Westbrook had 14 points and seven assists in his return after missing 12 games because of a fractured left hand.

“Right now, do we have an identity?” Lue said. “I think, yeah, we’re soft. That can be an identity if you want to call it that. We got to be tougher, mentally and physically.”

Myles Turner had 24 points and seven rebounds, helping the Pacers to their sixth win in their last seven road games. Tyrese Haliburton finished with 21 points and nine assists.

• Evan Mobley scored 17 points in his second game back after he was sidelined for nine games due to a sprained ankle, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Charlotte Hornets 115-92 on Monday night. Mobley, from Murrieta, Temecula Rancho Christian High and USC, also had a career-high eight assists, along with seven rebounds in only 25 minutes.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL Coach: Utah shaken by racist hate at NCAA Tournament

Utah coach Lynne Roberts said her team experienced a series of “racial hate crimes” after arriving at its first NCAA Tournament hotel and was forced to change accommodation during the event for safety concerns.

Roberts revealed what happened after Utah lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAAS on Monday night. Roberts didn’t go into detail but said there were several incidents that happened Thursday night after the team arrived in the Spokane, Washington area for the tournament and were disturbing to the traveling party to the point there were concerns about safety.

Utah was staying about 30 miles away in Coeur d’alene, Idaho, and was relocated to a different hotel Friday.

“We had several instances of some kind of racial hate crimes toward our program and (it was) incredibly upsetting for all of us,” Roberts said. “In our world, in athletics and in university settings, it’s shocking. There’s so much diversity on a college campus and so you’re just not exposed to that very often.”

Utah deputy athletic director Charmelle Green told Ksl.com that on Thursday night the basketball team, along with members of the band and cheerleading team, were walking to a restaurant when a truck got near them, revved its engines and someone yelled the N-word before speeding off.

“We all just were in shock, and we looked at each other like, did we just hear that? ... Everybody was in shock — our cheerleaders, our students that were in that area that heard it clearly were just frozen,” Green, who is Black, told Ksl.com.

Two hours later, as the team started to leave the restaurant, two trucks were there with revving engines and someone again yelled the N-word, Ksl.com reported.

Utah, South Dakota State and UC Irvine were all staying at hotels in Idaho even with Gonzaga as the host school because of a lack of hotel space in the Spokane area.

“Racism is real and it happens, and it’s awful. So for our players, whether they are white, Black, green, whatever, no one knew how to handle it and it was really upsetting,” Roberts said. “For our players and staff to not feel safe in an NCAA Tournament environment, it’s messed up.”

• Dusty May, who went 126-69 in his six seasons at Florida Atlantic, was hired to replace Juwan Howard as Michigan’s men’s basketball head coach.

• Kenny Brooks, who guided Virginia Tech to the ACC regular-season championship a year after winning the tournament title and reaching its first Final Four, will take over as Kentucky’s women’s basketball head coach, the school said.

NHL Kopitar propels Kings past Canucks to fourth straight win

Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist and the Kings held up against a late extra-man attack to beat the Canucks, 3-2, in Vancouver, British Columbia, late Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Blake Lizotte and Kevin Fiala also scored for the Kings, and Cam Talbot finished with 21 saves.

“It got a little hairy there at the end, there’s no question,” Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said. “A couple of saves by (Talbot) and guys blocked some shots, got it done. It’s a good team. We’re proud to beat them.”

Brock Boeser and Sam Lafferty had goals for Vancouver, which snapped a three-game win streak. Casey Desmith had 16 saves.

NHRA Winternationals rescheduled

The Winternationals finals, rained out Sunday at In-n-out Pomona Dragstrip, will be run April 6 at the Arizona Nationals in Phoenix, the NHRA announced.

Mid-afternoon heavy rain, along with lightning and a hailstorm, made it impossible to complete the Winternationals’ final round in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock. The Pomona champions will determined by races run at the end of Saturday qualifying in each class at Firebird Motorsports Park.

Justin Ashley and Tony Schumacher will square off for the Top Fuel title; it will be Matt Hagan versus John Force in Funny Car, and Erica Enders and Dallas Glenn will vie for the Pro Stock title.

SOCCER MLS, referees have labor deal

Major League Soccer and its referees announced a seven-year labor contract Tuesday, ending a 37-day lockout that led to the use of replacement officials. The Professional Referee Organization and the Professional Soccer Referees Association said they had ratified an agreement reached last week that runs until Jan. 31, 2031.