NBA Hoops

L.A. loses heartbreaker to Pacers

L.A. loses heartbreaker to Pacers

After a three-game road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers returned home on Monday to face an Indiana Pacers team that has been heating up lately.

Los Angeles gradually built a sizable lead in the first three quarters of the game. It led by six at halftime and by 17 early in the fourth quarter, but then the Pacers got themselves going.

They went on a 10-0 run to cut the Lakers’ lead to seven, and after the Lakers flexed a bit, a 13-3 run by Indiana made it a nail-biter down the stretch.

Up by two with 20.9 seconds left, L.A. forced a missed 3-pointer by Myles Turner with 5.6 seconds left, but the Pacers got an offensive rebound, and rookie guard Andrew Nembhard threw in the game-winning trey at the buzzer.

The Lakers contributed to their 116-115 loss by walking the ball upcourt and milking the shot clock in the fourth quarter, and it killed their offensive rhythm, which resulted in numerous turnovers and empty possessions down the stretch.

As the San Antonio Spurs did on Friday, the Pacers threw lots of double teams at Davis. Those doubles held him to 15 shot attempts, but he made nine of them while hitting 7-of-10 from the free throw line to finish with a very solid 25 points, to go along with 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Davis took advantage of Indiana’s double-teaming strategy to dish out six assists, five of them coming in the first half.

James got off to a hot start, scoring the Lakers’ first seven points, but after that, it got a little ugly. He finished 8-of-22 from the field and 3-of-10 from 3-point range, scoring 21 points and managing just three assists.

He tweaked his ankle in the first quarter and went out for several minutes, but he returned and played the rest of the contest.

However, James was a major reason the Lakers’ offense ground to a halt in the fourth quarter, as he stopped attacking and started getting deliberate.

Brown hit just 1-of-5 from the field, but he went 1-of-2 from 3-point range. His big contribution was his 10 rebounds, and he also blocked one shot in 29 minutes.

After a breakout performance on Saturday versus the Spurs, Schroder struggled against Indiana, going 2-of-6 overall and 1-of-4 from downtown. He finished with eight points, three rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Walker has been playing very well of late, but he came back to earth on Monday. He played just 22 minutes and went…

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