INGLEWOOD, CA — In prime time, and in front of a national audience, the Los Angeles Chargers got back in the winner’s column.

Justin Herbert and the Chargers routed the Minnesota Vikings 37-10 to improve to 5-3.

The Chargers took control of the game early. Herbert led the Chargers on three touchdown drives in the first half as team took a commanding 21-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Vikings couldn’t get anything going offensively in the second half and their defense provided little resistance as the Chargers were able to pad their lead.

Carson Wentz threw an interception with 12:02 remaining in the fourth quarter that prompted fans to head for the exits.

USA TODAY Sports was at SoFi Stadium for Thursday night’s Vikings vs. Chargers contest. Here are the winners and losers from the interconference matchup:

Winners

Record-setting Justin Herbert

Herbert completed 18-of-25 passes for 227 yards, to go with three touchdowns and one interception. The quarterback was in command and efficient for most of the contest.

Herbert has 2,146 career completions, the most completions ever by a player in his first six seasons.

Herbert entered Week 8 leading the league in passing yards (1,913) and ranked second in completions (183).

Chargers rushing offense

Th Chargers rushed for a season-high 207 yards.

Running back Kimani Vidal rushed 23 times for 117 yards and one touchdown.  

The Chargers’ season-high output on the ground came without first-round pick RB Omarion Hampton (ankle) who is on injured reserve.

Oronde Gadsden II shines

A week after producing 164 receiving yards, the fourth-most ever by a rookie tight end in a game in NFL history, Oronde Gadsden II tallied five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown.  

The Chargers found themselves a starting tight end for the present and future in Gadsden.

Slot receiver Ladd McConkey had a team-high six catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.  

Chargers D

The Chargers defense held Minnesota to four first downs, 93 yards and three points in the first half. Minnesota’s only touchdown drive came on a short field after a Justin Herbert interception.

The Vikings only gained 164 yards of total offense and went 3-for-11 on third downs.

The Chargers played most of the game without star safety Derwin James who suffered an ankle injury in the first half. No Derwin, no problem: rookie safety RJ Mickens had an interception in the fourth quarter that convinced fans to beat the traffic.

Control-Alt-deleted the Vikings

Chargers standout tackle Joe Alt returned to the lineup after injuring his ankle in Week 4. He had an instant impact as he help stabilize the Chargers O-line.

Thursday best

The Chargers wore their modern throwback all navy uniforms for Thursday’s primetime game. After their popular powder blue unis, it’s probably the second-most visually appealing set they have in the closet.

Losers

The Vikings offense….

Wentz, who had a brace on his left arm, was under duress for much of the game. He was sacked five times and hit eight. He finished with just 144 yards, one touchdown and one interception.  

Wentz was on the injury report with a left shoulder injury leading up to the game. He didn’t look like he was 100%.

Justin Jefferson was a bright spot for the Vikings, as the wide receiver surpassed 8,000 career receiving yards in the matchup. He’s the fastest player to reach 8,000 receiving yards in the Super Bowl era.

…and the Vikings defense…

Vikings CB Isaiah Rodgers had an interception overturned when he didn’t maintain possession of the football on the Chargers first offensive series. It was a huge missed opportunity that would’ve given Minnesota some much-needed momentum.

The Vikings defense gave up 266 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. Minnesota trailed 21-3 at halftime.

The Chargers compiled 419 yards and a season-high 37 points on Minnesota’s defense.

…and the Vikings’ travel itinerary.

The Vikings had international games Week 4 in Ireland and Week 5 in London, followed by a cross country trip to Los Angeles in Week 8. The team played jetlagged on Thursday night.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.

The NBA asked for this embarrassment.

It was only too happy to jump in bed with legalized gambling, thinking it could take the gaming industry’s money but inoculate itself from its seedy underbelly with a few terse warnings to its players and somber PSAs for fans.

It doesn’t work that way, though. There is always a price to pay for greed and associating with unsavory people, and the NBA’s bill just came due.

Rather than praise for Victor Wembanyama or debates about whether the New York Knicks are the real deal, the NBA woke up Thursday to find itself at the center of a massive betting scandal. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones all were arrested as part of a yearslong investigation into illegal gambling rings. With ties to the mafia, no less!

Billups was charged in connection with an illegal poker operation while Rozier was accused of manipulating his play during a game to benefit bettors. Jones was charged in both cases.

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness,” the NBA said in a statement, “and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”

Too bad the NBA ceded their right to that high ground long ago.

NBA embraced legalized sports betting

It is true that the NBA does not have a direct role in this scandal. But the enthusiastic embrace of legalized gambling by the league, as well as the NFL, Major League Baseball and just about every other sports organization, has fostered an environment where there are no guardrails.

When the NBA’s own website has a Fantasy page listing “authorized gaming partners and operators,” why should Rozier think it’s a big deal to take a play or two off to help out some bettors? When the NBA allows DraftKings to offer a “promotion” that includes three free months of NBA League Pass, why should Billups question whether it’s a good idea to partake in a shady poker ring?

When the NBA has no problem with its teams having sports books at their arenas, how can it demand that players and coaches keep the gaming industry at arm’s length? When the NBA is sending such mixed messages — problems from gambling are bad! but profits from gambling are good! — why should anyone respect the league’s moral authority?

The league opened the door to this, all of it, and it cannot be surprised or indignant now that it’s gone sideways.

Dangers of sports betting came hand-in-hand with profits

There was a reason every sports entity in the United States resisted any association with legalized gambling for as long as they did. They knew the troubles it would bring because they saw it playing out in real-time overseas. Corrupt people trying to influence games. Gambling addictions. Players being threatened or harassed by bettors and, worse, organized crime.

Ultimately, though, the money was just too good to pass up. NBA commissioner Adam Silver even wrote an op-ed in the New York Times in 2014 encouraging widespread legalization of sports betting. For the good of humanity, of course. People were already gambling, Silver said, so why not bless it?

“I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated,” Silver wrote then.

What’s a little integrity when there are billions in potential profits to be had, right?

By giving their approval to legalized gambling, the NBA and other leagues might as well have handed an arsonist a match.

There is no daylight between gaming and its toxic byproducts, especially when smartphones make irresponsible gambling and abuse of players so easy. Warnings posted in small print, be they in locker rooms or online, are no match for human frailties, temptations and fears, and the NBA owns today’s shame as much as Billups, Rozier, Jones and everyone else who was arrested.

The NBA was well aware of the dangers that come with sports betting and it didn’t care because it wanted the gaming industry’s money more. There’s no more damning indictment than that.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

TORONTO — The Los Angeles Dodgers will be without left-handed reliever Alex Vesia for at least the first two games of the World Series after the club announced that he and his wife were dealing with a “deeply personal family matter.’

Vesia and his wife, Kayla, have been expecting their first child.

“The entire Dodgers organization is sending our thoughts to the Vesia family,’ the Dodgers said in a statement, “and we will provide an update at a later date.’

The Dodgers now have the option, according to an MLB official, of placing Vesia on the “family medical emergency list.’ If Vesia is placed on leave, he would be required to stay for a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven days.

Vesia, who has pitched for the Dodgers since 2021, has been one of their valuable left-handed relievers. He pitched in 68 games during the regular season with a 3.02 ERA and five saves, and appeared in seven of the Dodgers’ 11 postseason games, yielding three hits and striking out four in 4 ⅔ innings.

Veteran reliever Tanner Scott could replace Vesia on the roster. Scott, who signed a four-year, $72 million contract last winter, struggled during the season and lost his closer’s job to Roki Sasaki. He did not pitch the first round of the postseason against the Cincinnati Reds and had been left off the postseason roster the last two rounds after undergoing an abscess incision prodecdure on his lower body.

“I think right now, we’re in the mode of trying to understand the process, the rules, a way that we could sort of try to navigate the roster,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So I think we have a little bit of time (10 a.m. ET, Friday)  to finalize our roster. But, yeah, we’re going through the process of trying to backfill his spot on the roster. …

“Honestly, I think we’re just going day-to-day with really no expectations.’’

If there was ever a day for Amazon Prime announcer Al Michaels to avoid mentioning sports betting lines for a ‘Thursday Night Football’ game, it would have been Oct. 23.

Hours after the NBA was rocked by a massive sports betting scandal, Michaels was on air discussing the gambling implications of a field goal attempt in the final minutes of the Los Angeles Chargers vs. Minnesota Vikings game.

‘You know, occasionally, a game like this, you think it is over, but it’s not quite over,’ Michaels said, seemingly referencing the game’s over/under line. ‘You know what I mean? I’ll be punished again – what can I tell you? It’s close to being over. I don’t want to call it ‘over’ with three minutes to go.’

The pregame over/under line for the Chargers’ win on Oct. 23 was set at 44.5 points. Michaels started referring to the line in the final three minutes of the game as the Chargers played out their final drive with 44 total points on the board.

‘Sometimes you never know when that half will destroy you,’ Michaels said, referencing the 0.5 points still necessary at that point of the game for an ‘over’ bet to hit.

When Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker lined up for a 45-yard field goal attempt moments later, Michaels returned to referencing the betting line.

‘Meanwhile, you have a 45-yard attempt, which will draw a little interest,’ he said.

Dicker knocked down the 45-yarder, leading to Michaels’ final betting-related comment of the night:

‘And there it is,’ he said as the ball sailed through the uprights. ‘Now you can say it is ‘over.”

The NBA staged two games on Thursday night and both needed more than 48 minutes to be decided.

After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 55 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to victory, it was Stephen Curry’s turn to put on a show in the nightcap. The longtime Warriors star scored 42 points to lead his team to a 137-131 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets.

Many of Curry’s buckets came in the clutch, including his game-tying 3-pointer with 21.9 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. The four-time champ scored 16 consecutive points for the Warriors across the end of the fourth quarter and into overtime.

The Nuggets were led by Aaron Gordon, who was red-hot from 3-point range. He hit 10 of his 11 3-point attempts, part of a 17-for-21 shooting night. Gordon scored 50 points.

Check out highlights from Thursday night’s thrilling Nuggets-Warriors clash:

Nuggets vs. Warriors highlights

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Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is one of 31 defendants accused of helping mobsters swindle millions of dollars from unsuspecting poker players during a series of rigged games.

All this was outlined in a federal indictment that dropped Thursday, Oct. 23, leading to the arrest of Billups and others. According to the indictment, defendants allegedly used wireless cheating technology to run rigged poker games in places including the Hamptons, Miami, Las Vegas and Manhattan.

Billups, who was not the coach of the Trail Blazers at the time of his alleged involvement but merely a former NBA player, was one of the draws that helped lure victims to the illegal poker games.

‘What the victims, the fish, didn’t know, is that everybody else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players — including the face cards — were in on the scam,’ U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said. ‘Once the game was underway, the defendants fleeced the victims out of tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars per game.’

But exactly how much money did these poker games allegedly defraud from victims?

According to the federal indictment, the alleged conspiracy ’caused losses to the Victims of at least $7,150,000,’ though the amount that Billups and other alleged participants earned from the scheme was not listed in the document.

The indictment, however, does cite specific examples to illustrate the scope of the operation.

In one case, during an alleged rigged poker game around April 2019 in Las Vegas, the indictment alleges that a rigged shuffling machine was used to defraud victims of at least $50,000. Billups was listed among the alleged participants at that game.

The indictment lists other illegal poker games around June and July 2023 in Manhattan that allegedly defrauded one specific unnamed victim of around $1.8 million. Billups was not implicated in this example, which also used a rigged shuffling machine to allegedly dupe the victims.

Another alleged rigged poker game took place around June 2023 in East Hampton, New York, that defrauded a pair of unnamed victims of $46,500 and $105,000, respectively. Billups was also not listed in that alleged game, nor was he listed in a final example that took place in Miami in September 2024 that defrauded another unnamed victim of $60,000.

The indictment doesn’t list the full accounting of all the money alleged to have been earned from the operation.

Billups was arraigned Oct. 23 on charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, Oregon.

Charges in this scheme include wire fraud conspiracy, illegal gambling, money laundering, robbery, and extortion. This case is unrelated to the insider sports-betting conspiracy that led to the arrest of Miami Heat player Terry Rozier.

The NBA said it investigated “unusual betting activity’’ related to Terry Rozier in 2023 and did not find a violation of league rules. But now Rozier has been charged in the Eastern District of New York as part of a federal probe into illegal sports betting.

The outcome of the two investigations drew interest after Rozier was arrested Oct. 23.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones were also arrested for their alleged involvement in the operation, though they are facing different charges. Rozier and Billups have been placed on immediate leave by the NBA.

The NBA had initially cleared Rozier following its own investigation. On Jan. 30 2025, news of the investigation in the Eastern District of New York first came to light. At that point, the NBA said it would cooperate with federal authorities.

“In March 2023, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity related to Terry Rozier’s performance in a game between Charlotte and New Orleans,’ NBA spokesman Mike Bass confirmed to USA TODAY Sports at the time. ‘The league conducted an investigation and did not find a violation of NBA rules. We are now aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York related to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation.”

NBA spokesman Mike Bass, when asked about the different outcomes of the two investigations, told USA TODAY Sports by email, ‘The NBA does not have the same authority or investigatory resources as the federal government, including subpoena power to obtain information from anyone, law enforcement surveillance, wire-tapping, and search warrants.”

Ismail J. Ramsey, a former U.S. Attorney, said the federal government’s decision to indict Rozier could be wrong. But he also stressed the subpoena power granted to governments but not private entities can prove to be significant.

Ramsey pointed out that with subpoena power federal investigators are able to obtain text messages, bank records and phone records. And so the government could know things an employer doesn’t.

‘(Federal investigators) can bring other witnesses in to talk to who may cooperate because they’re worried about their own future,” Ramsey said. ‘I mean the NBA can’t necessarily do those things. (The NBA) definitely can’t call to get the cooperation of witnesses whom aren’t NBA employees or tied to the NBA, whereas feds could subpoena someone or just ask for their cooperation.”

Rozier is accused faking an injury in 2023 as part of an illegal betting scheme when he played for the Charlotte Hornets. The scheme was designed to allow gamblers to make money off a prop bet related to Rozier’s performance in a game.

The game in question took place on March 23, 2023. Rozier played for the first nine minutes and 36 seconds before leaving the game. He cited a foot injury and did not play in the final eight games of the season.

Rozier, a 31-year-old point guard, is a member of the Miami Heat and in his 11th NBA season. He did not play in the Heat’s season opener on Wednesday, Oct. 22. He has averaged 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists in his NBA career.

Jim Trusty, an attorney representing Rozier, said ‘Terry was cleared by the NBA and these prosecutors revived that non-case.’’