The Sports Report: Adem Bona returning to UCLA, Jaylen Clark leaving

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Ben Bolch: The last two UCLA basketball players contemplating their futures have rendered a split decision.

On the final day that players could withdraw from the NBA draft, Adem Bona pulled out in favor of another season with the Bruins while Jaylen Clark barreled ahead toward a pro career at a time when he’s recovering from an Achilles injury.

Their choices leave UCLA with just one returning starter in Bona during what promises to be a season of change for a team that also will lose mainstays Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyger Campbell and Amari Bailey, among others.

Clark’s decision presumably means he’s optimistic that he can find an NBA team that will draft him with the understanding that he may not play next season while rehabilitating his injury. The 6-foot-5 guard comes with enticing upside after being selected the Naismith College Defensive Player of the Year, as well as questions related to how effective he will be after his recovery.

Clark’s father, Cornelius, told The Times that doctors discovered during surgery that his Achilles was unusually tight and they were able to loosen it to improve mobility.

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Holiday Bowl sues Pac-12 and UC regents over UCLA’s 2021 withdrawal from game

DODGERS

From Helene Elliott: It’s time for the Dodgers to drop the hammer on their Thor Experiment.

Noah Syndergaard showed again he’s impossibly far from being the commanding, near-invincible pitcher he was before the right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020. His four-seam fastball has no thunder. His changeup won’t do what he wants. He has made tweaks and has tweaked those tweaks but nothing has happened to make his time with the Dodgers feel like anything besides a failed $13-millon experiment — and one that should end soon.

The latest case in point was his five-inning, five-run, seven-hit, three-home run performance Wednesday in the Dodgers’ 10-6 loss to the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium. After he gave up six runs in six innings at Tampa Bay on May 26, he expressed frustration and vowed to make adjustments. Whatever he did clearly had no positive impact: He induced only one swinging strike among the 96 pitches he threw and his four-seam fastball was nearly indistinguishable from his changeup.

Afterward he was visibly downcast, his voice barely audible as he spoke to reporters.

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Noah Syndergaard and relievers give up five home runs in Dodgers’ loss to Nationals

L.A.’s Blake Treinen and Nationals’ Trevor Williams slam Dodgers for Sisters invite

ANGELS

Shohei Ohtani homered in consecutive innings, including a 459-foot drive that was the longest of his Major League Baseball career, and drove in four runs to lead the Angels over the Chicago White Sox 12-5 Wednesday.

Mike Trout put the Angels ahead 2-0 with a 476-foot home run in the first that was four rows shy of clearing the left-field bleachers. Taylor Ward also went deep as the Angels hit four two-run homers plus a solo shot.

“Those are the guys you lean on,” manager Phil Nevin said. “They can certainly put the team on their backs and carry us and that’s what they did today.”

Shaikin: Athletics believe a move to Las Vegas is worth the gamble, will pay off

RAMS

From Gary Klein: On a Rams team that features nearly 40 new players, it does not take much to qualify as a seasoned veteran.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford is preparing for his 15th NFL season but many of the players who will be counted on this season are second- and third-year pros.

Observations from an organized-team activity workout on Wednesday.

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BOXING

From Melody Gutierrez: California is overhauling the nation’s only pension plan for retired boxers following a Times investigation that found the safety net for vulnerable fighters is failing its most critical mission — informing those owed benefits.

The California State Athletic Commission, which administers the little-known 40-year-old pension plan, said it will begin sending annual statements to all vested boxers beginning early next year and that it has brought in state investigators to search for fighters with unclaimed money — some of whom have been owed for decades.

Roughly 200 boxers could have claimed a pension last year, but only 12 of them (6%) did, according to The Times’ investigation.

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LAFC

From Kevin Baxter: For all of LAFC’s accomplishments during its first six seasons, there is still one thing missing from the club’s trophy case: a CONCACAF Champions League crown.

And the team has a lot of work to do if it wants to add that prize this season after giving up a pair of first-half goals in a 2-1 loss to León in the first game of the two-leg CCL final Wednesday in Guanajuato, Mexico.

But it could have been worse: a third León goal was erased when Osvaldo Rodríguez was called for a foul just before scoring on a header in stoppage time. Four minutes later, Denis Bouanga scored for LAFC, halving the margin his team will have to make up in the playoff’s return leg Sunday night at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

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GALAXY

Memo Rodríguez and Tyler Boyd scored two minutes apart late in the second half to rally the Galaxy to a 3-2 victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night.

The Galaxy (3-9-3) trailed until Rodríguez took passes from Riqui Puig and Calegari in the 72nd minute and scored for the first time this season. Boyd delivered the winner two minutes later, using assists from Calegari and Dejan Joveljic to net his second goal.

Neither team scored until Gastón Brugman found the net for the first time this year on a penalty kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time to give the Galaxy a halftime lead.

ANGEL CITY

Morgan Weaver’s goal in the third minute of second-half injury time lifted the Portland Thorns to a 3-2 victory over Angel City FC in the Challenge Cup.

The Thorns took a 2-0 lead when Izzy D’Aquila scored in the 46th minute.

Angel City rallied behind goals from Clarisse Le Bihan in the 61st minute and Claire Emslie in the 66th minute.

NBA PLAYOFFS

From Andrew Greif: When the NBA Finals begin Thursday, point guard Reggie Jackson will be in uniform just as he’d hoped in September when his 12th season began.

It’s how he got there that was not part of the plan.

Once a Clippers linchpin, Jackson is now with Denver as the Western Conference’s top seed plays in the franchise’s first Finals against Miami, the first eighth seed to advance to the final round since 1999.

Jackson, 33, reached the Finals at the end of a season that has been personally difficult but also professionally fortuitous: While injuries stalled the Clippers’ championship hopes in the first round, Jackson still is playing in June.

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Results, schedule
All times Pacific
NBA Finals

No. 1 Denver vs. No. 8 Miami
Thursday at Denver, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Sunday at Denver, 5 p.m., ABC
Wednesday at Miami, 5:30 p.m., ABC
Fri., June 9 at Miami, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Mon., June 12 at Denver, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Thurs., June 15 at Miami, 5:30 p.m., ABC
*Sun., June 18 at Denver, 5 p.m., ABC

*-if necessary

NHL PLAYOFFS

Results, schedule
All times Pacific
Stanley Cup Finals

Vegas (P1) vs. Florida (WC2)
Saturday at Vegas, 5 p.m., TNT
Monday at Vegas, 5 p.m., TNT
Thurs., June 8 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
Sat., June 10 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
*Tues., June 13 at Vegas, 5 p.m., TNT
*Fri., June 16 at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT
*Mon., June 19 at Vegas, 5 p.m., TNT

*-if necessary

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1925 — Lou Gehrig bats for Pee Wee Wanninger in the eighth inning and replaces Wally Pipp at first base to start his streak of 2,130 consecutive games.

1946 — Assault, ridden by Warren Merhtens, wins the Belmont Stakes to become the seventh horse to capture the Triple Crown.

1968 — Stage Door Johnny, ridden by Heliodoro Gustines, wins the Belmont Stakes in a record time of 2:27 1-5 and spoils the Triple Crown bid of Forward Pass, who finishes 1 1/4 lengths behind.

1975 — Nolan Ryan of the Angels pitches his fourth no-hitter to tie Sandy Koufax’s record, beating the Baltimore Orioles 1-0.

1975 — Kathy Whitworth wins the LPGA tournament by one stroke over Sandra Haynie.

1979 — NBA Finals: Seattle SuperSonics beat Washington Bullets, 97-93 for a 4-1 series victory; Seattle’s first major pro sports championship win.

1986 — Pat Bradley wins the LPGA tournament and becomes the first to win all four major women’s tournaments, beating Patty Sheehan by one stroke.

1992 — The Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup for the second straight year, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 for a four-game sweep.

1993 — Phoenix Suns guard Dan Majerle sets a then NBA playoff record by sinking 8 three-pointers during the Suns’ 120-114 win over Seattle in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.

1994 — Indiana guard Reggie Miller drills an NBA playoff record five three-pointers in the fourth quarter of the Pacers’ 93-86 win over host New York Knicks in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

1996 — The LSU women win their 10th consecutive NCAA track team title with 81 points, the longest victory string in women’s college sports.

2002 — Detroit advances to the Stanley Cup finals for the fourth time in eight years with a 7-0 win over Colorado in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Colorado becomes the first NHL team to play in four consecutive Game 7s. Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek sets an NHL record by recording his fifth shutout of the playoffs.

2002 — In a battle of former heavyweight boxing champions in Atlantic City, Evander Holyfield beats Hasim Rahman by TKO; fight stopped 1:40 into 8th round because of giant welt above Rahman’s left eye.

2004 — Detroit and Indiana combine for just 60 first-half points in the Pistons’ 69-65 victory, breaking the NBA playoff record of 62 set by the Pistons and Nets during the second round.

2008 — Hillary Will is the 11th woman in NHRA history to win a national event when she takes the Top Fuel event at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals. Will drives her dragster to a 4.744-second run at a top speed of 304.53 mph, beating No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon for her first career win in Top Fuel.

2010 — French Open upset specialist Robin Soderling strikes again, rallying past defending champion Roger Federer in a rainy quarterfinal, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4. The loss ends Federer’s record streak of reaching the semifinals in 23 consecutive major events.

2012 — Johan Santana throws first no-hitter in the New York Mets’ 50-year history when he beats the St. Louis Cardinals, 8 – 0.

2012 — Jonathan Crawford pitches the seventh no-hitter in NCAA tournament history, shutting down Bethune-Cookman in a 4-0 victory in the opener of the Gainesville Regional.

2012 — Alex Miklos hits a go-ahead RBI triple in the 21st inning as Kent State outlasts Kentucky 7-6 in the second-longest game in NCAA tournament history.

2019 — Mexican-American boxer Andy Ruiz Jr produces a huge upset when he stops English champion Anthony Joshua in 7 at Madison Square Garden; wins IBF, WBO, IBO and WBA world heavyweight titles.

—Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally…

Every out of Johan Santana’s no-hitter for the Mets. Watch and listen here.