New FSM Essential Recap: Lakers vs Pacers - Game 20

New FSM Essential Recap: Lakers vs Pacers – Game 20

Franchise Sports Media

Los Angeles Lakers (10-10)  |  Indiana Pacers (8-12)

 

The Los Angeles Lakers fought their way to an overtime victory against the Indiana Pacers by a final score of 124-116.

 

The Lakers had to go without Anthony Davis due to the flu-like symptoms he battled through in the game against the Knicks. Unfortunately for Davis, the symptoms persisted, and on a back-to-back, the big man ultimately had to sit this one out, leaving his role up in the air.

The game began with a hot start from the Pacers, as they went on a 9-4 run in the first 3:16 of the game, with Myles Turner scoring five of the nine points. Five minutes into the quarter, Los Angeles tied the game at 11 with free throws from LeBron James, but the Pacers broke the tie by Caris LeVert and Chris Duarte scoring six straight points for Indiana.

The Lakers could not answer early on as the Pacers continued to maintain their lead as the quarter reached the 2:00 mark with the LA deficit at seven. Down by eight with 1:21 left in the opening quarter, Carmelo Anthony hit a three to bring the game to within five. The deficit went unchanged for the remainder of the quarter as Torrey Craig hit two free throws while Malik Monk drove to a layup.

After one quarter, the Lakers trailed 31-26 as Indiana answered most of their scores early on. The second quarter began slowly for the purple and gold as Indiana went on an early 6-0 run with points from T.J. McConnell and Domantas Sabonis. Down 11 at the 8:45 mark, the Lakers fought back with their own 6-0 run as DeAndre Jordan threw down an alley-oop from James, and Wayne Ellington hit a three on the following possession. James’ short jumper cut the deficit to four, but the Pacers answered the Lakers’ run, much like we saw in the first quarter.

Malcolm Brogdon reestablished a seven-point lead for Indiana with a three to stop the run and followed up with a short jumper. Los Angeles tried to stay within reach as a three-point play from Anthony cut the deficit back down to five. With 3:33 left in the half, Russell Westbrook chopped the gap to four points with a jumper from mid-range. The Lakers brought the margin to one following a three-point play from James, but Indiana pulled back out with threes from Brogdon and Justin Holiday in the final minute.

 

The late threes by Brogdon and Holiday kicked the Lakers back to a six-point deficit as they trailed 66-60 at halftime.

 

The first 2:27 of the second half were even between the teams until Holiday scored five straight points in 23 seconds, followed by a Brogdon three to put the Pacers up by 12. It didn’t take long for the double-digit lead to dwindle as Talen Horton-Tucker scored four straight points to cut the deficit to eight. James hit a three with less than six minutes left in the third quarter to make it a five-point deficit once again.

Indiana once again had answers to the Lakers’ run as Duarte and Sabonis put the team back up by 10. Then, with just over two minutes left in the quarter, Monk hit a floater, followed by two points from Westbrook, and Monk nailing a step-back three, suddenly brought the game back to within three points. Then, after free throws from Westbrook and Craig, the score narrowed to 84-82 in favor of the Pacers.

Indiana’s fourth quarter began with yet another fast start, as a 7-0 run expanded the lead to nine. By the time four minutes passed, Los Angeles made three straight threes, two of them by Ellington, to tie the game at 93. The Pacers did not give up despite the run, as they built up a five-point cushion thanks in large part to a Holiday three.

With 4:35 left in the fourth quarter, Monk sank a three to give the Lakers their first lead of the game, only for a Westbrook flagrant foul to allow free throws from Sabonis to swing the game back in the Pacers’ favor. After Monk hit two free throws to take the lead back, James scored four points for Los Angeles after a Sabonis flagrant one foul. With 1:17 left, James hit a clutch three to build a six-point lead. Indiana continued to fight back as foul trouble by the Lakers kept the game close. Two free throws later, Holiday hit a three to make it a one-point game.

Westbrook hit both free throws after an intentional foul from Craig to make the score 112-109. Duarte decided the game wouldn’t end yet and hit a big three with 6.5 seconds left to tie the game at 112. Then, James’ three-point attempt with 2.1 seconds remaining failed to convert, and the game went to overtime. Two minutes into the extra frame, James untied the game with a three and followed up with another three a minute later to rebuild a six-point lead. Brogdon cut the lead to four, but James and the Lakers pulled away to steal the victory from behind by a final score of 124-116.

The Lakers saw five players scoring double-digit points, led by James with a game-high 39, followed by Westbrook with 20. The bench came through as Monk finished with 17 points while Ellington and Anthony each added 14.

The Pacers had a more collective effort with seven players in double figures, led by Brogdon with 28 points on the night. Duarte had 17 points off the bench, while Holiday had 16 points, including four threes. Sabonis had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, followed by Turner with 12 points and LeVert and McConnell, each ending with 10 points.

 

The next Lakers game will be on Friday, as the team heads back home to Staples Center to take on the Sacramento Kings. The game will begin at 7:30 and can be seen live on Spectrum SportsNet.

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– Matt Dobbs – Franchise Sports Media

Follow Matt on Twitter @RecordBowlerFSM

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