Gainbridge Fieldhouse was electric as if it was a playoff game against LeBron James just like old times. The 18-year veteran would carry the Los Angeles Lakers to a 124-116 overtime win over the Indiana Pacers.
In the opening quarter, Indiana shot 50% from the floor, out-rebounded the Lakers by two, and only turned the ball over once to lead 31-26. Unlike the last two games, Indiana extended their lead to 11 points on three different occasions with the last double digit lead (at the time) being 8:52 left in the first half. It didn’t take LeBron long to put the Lakers on his back. He would score 12 of his 17 first-half points in the quarter, but his team would still trail 66-60 at halftime. Indiana was led by Malcolm Brogdon (14p).
The second half would start much like the first handful of minutes of the second quarter. Indiana would double their halftime lead in the first 3:07 of the quarter, forcing the former Pacers head coach Frank Vogel to call a timeout. His team would respond and go on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit down to five. This would be a common theme in the quarter as Indiana found themselves up by double digits three different times, but Los Angeles would respond. They closed the quarter on a 9-1 run and even had a chance to take their first lead with less than 10 seconds to play, but Malik Monk committed an offensive foul.
Nail bitter would be an understatement. It took Indiana 83 seconds to have a little bit of breathing room like undoing a button on the pants after your first plate of food on Thanksgiving. Their two-point lead turned into a nine-point lead quicker than you could say boom baby at 91-82 with 10:37 remaining. It was just an absolute downward spiral from there. The Pacers were clinging onto a four-point lead (100-96) with 5:55 left. Then the offense disappeared. Los Angeles would take the lead for the first time at 103-102 with 4:24 remaining. For the final 5:55, Indiana shot 2/13 from the field, but they would still have a chance to pull out a win because of this MIRACULOUS shot by Chris Duarte.
The offensive struggles that surfaced in the final stages of the fourth quarter, would carry over into the overtime period. They would only score FOUR points on 2/11 shooting, and fail to get to the free-throw line the entire five minutes. LeBron would score eight of the Lakers 14 points to take a 124-116 victory in Indianapolis. Between the final 5:55 of the fourth quarter, and five minutes of overtime (10:55), the Indiana Pacers shot 4/24 (17%). The loss ends Indiana’s four game home winning streak.
TOP PERFORMANCES: LeBron James (39p/5r/6a), Malcolm Brogdon (28p/7r), Russel Westbrook (20p/7r/5a), Chris Duarte (17p), Domantas Sabonis (14p/12r/6a).
Next up for the Pacers are the Toronto Raptors on Black Friday. Tip-off is slated for 8:00pm EST with pre-game coverage on the Indiana Pacers Radio Network and Bally Sports Indiana at 7:30pm EST.
