Sergiño Dest and his date with destiny

The USMNT face the Netherlands in the Knockout Round of the World Cup on Saturday. For Dutch-born USMNT star Sergiño Dest, it’s the culmination of a modern journey of mixed identity and loyalty.

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1. Sergiño Dest and his date with destiny

The U.S. Men’s National Team face off against the Netherlands in the Knockout Round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Saturday. For Dutch-born USMNT star Sergiño Dest, it’s the culmination of a modern journey of mixed identity and loyalty. The Sporting Tribune’s Chandrima Chatterjee has more on the biggest storyline going into one of the biggest games in USMNT history.

As a young boy, Sergiño Dest played soccer on the streets of the newest city in the Netherlands. The quaint city of Almere is also the home of one of the most highly regarded midfielders in Dutch history, Frank Rijkaard who, like Dest, played for AC Milan and in the World Cup. And, just like Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt, his fellow Dutchman who will be playing on the opposing side on Saturday in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Knockout Round, Dest grew up a fan of Ajax. He even made 22 appearances with their first team, after de Light moved on from his own meteoric rise as the club’s youngest captain and joined Juventus.

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2. USC juggles Pac-12 title and CFP hopes in Utah rematch

USC plays Utah on Friday in the Pac-12 Championship Game in Las Vegas and a USC win would send the Trojans to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history and seal the Heisman Trophy for Caleb Williams. The Sporting Tribune’s Chris Bibona has more on the game in Sin City.

Both the AP Poll and College Football Playoff Committee awarded USC with a No. 4 ranking, sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams is a shoe-in to win the Heisman Trophy and the Trojans are in Las Vegas ready to play a conference championship game inside Allegiant Stadium. As head coach Lincoln Riley continues to lead this USC team to milestone after milestone, there is a certain composure to the Trojans as they prepare for Friday’s rematch against No. 11 Utah — the team responsible for their only loss of the season ahead of the Pac-12 Championship.

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3. Mann, Powell returning to form key to Clippers staying afloat

With Terance Mann and Norman Powell regaining their form, the Clippers have managed to stay in contention while they await reinforcements. The Sporting Tribune’s Eric Patten has more on the team’s “other” dynamic duo.

Terance Mann hardly seemed like himself. Mann played 32 minutes combined in a 3-game stretch in early November and seemed to be teetering on the fringe of Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue’s rotation. 

Norman Powell didn’t look like himself either. Through the season’s first 10 games, Powell, who is the third highest paid player on the Clippers roster, seemingly missed everything that came out his hand. Turnovers, already a problem for the team, exacerbated Powell’s rocky three-week stretch.

As the weather continued to cool and the Clippers (13-10) injuries mounted, Mann and Powell helped the Clippers by helping themselves. 

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4. Catching up with Ralph Lawler

Ralph Lawler, who retired from broadcasting as one of the all-time greats after the 2018-19 season, remains beloved by Clippers followers across the world. His longevity and talent made him as identifiable to fans as just about any player in team history. The Hall of Famer agreed to provide some personal insight into the season for The Sporting Tribune.  Here’s part of his latest dispatch.

I think the Orlando Magic are flat out fun to watch. “Huh?” you say. Spend an evening watching Bol Bol play and you will enjoy the game, for sure. The Magic are not there, yet, but they have some interesting pieces in place. The Sacramento Kings are further along. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis are young stars. Head coach Mike Brown’s team can really score the ball. You pretty much need to score over 120 points to beat them and that is a tall order in today’s NBA. Regarding parity. It exists today, for sure. I really think the fans prefer super teams. There are none right now. That does open the door for a lot of teams to have legit championship aspirations. I suspect contending teams to be aggressive approaching the trade deadline and the buyout market. It is going to be very interesting.

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5. Jaquez leads No. 21 UCLA in win over Stanford

UCLA built a significant lead early against Stanford but the Bruins overcame a late push by the Cardinal to win their Pac-12 opener. The Sporting Tribune’s Kamran Nia has more from UCLA’s big night.  

Maples Pavillion sounded like Pauley Pavillion within minutes. After Jaime Jaquez scored a transition dunk early in the first half, "U-C-L-A" chants were the only noises heard from the crowd. The No. 21 UCLA Bruins had opened up a 17-0 lead over the Stanford Cardinal. The Bruins' defense fueled their early success as they forced six turnovers and made all of their first eight shot attempts, many in transition following takeaways. "[The run] was a great way to come out and put our foot on their neck," said freshman guard Amari Bailey.

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6. Anze Kopitar tallies twice as Kings top Coyotes

Anze Kopitar scored two goals, including the game-winner in the third period, to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. The Sporting Tribune has more on the Kings winning the day after surprisingly waiving goalie Cal Petersen.

It was the 41st multi-goal game of Kopitar's career and his first this season. Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist and Trevor Moore and Carl Grundstrom also scored goals for Los Angeles, which snapped a two-game losing streak and won for just the second time in its past seven games (2-2-3). Jonathan Quick, pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots in a wild 9-8 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, stopped 18 of 21 shots.

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7. Odds and Ends presented by Circa Sports

Here are some odds at Circa Sports if you’re thinking about placing a wager today:

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8. Ticket Time presented by TickPick  

Here are the “get in” prices for tickets if you’re thinking about going to a game today:

USC vs. Utah (Pac-12 Championship Game): $80

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9. On the Air presented by Pirnia Law

Here are the game times and television channels for professional teams in the region:

4:30 p.m. – Los Angeles Lakers at Milwaukee Bucks – ESPN

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10. The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune 

On Thursday’s show, the crew talked about LeBron James and previewed USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game with The Sporting Tribune’s Nick Hamilton.

Listen to The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune on The Mightier 1090 ESPN Radio in Southern California, 98.5 The Fan in Las Vegas and the Hawaii Sports Radio Network 95.1 FM and 760 AM in Hawaii. You can also listen to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher.

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That’s it for today. Have a great weekend! Talk to you all on Monday!