Granger leads Pacers back from 15-down as Murphy's tip-in upends Lakers

INDIANAPOLIS -- Danny Granger scored 32 points and led Indiana back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit, and Troy Murphy's buzzer-beating tip-in completed an improbable 118-117 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.

The Lakers came into the game with seven straight wins, the league's best record and reigning MVP Kobe Bryant. But even another terrific night from Bryant, who scored 28 points, wasn't quite enough.

Indiana trailed 101-86 at the start of the fourth quarter, but methodically chipped into the lead.

Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

Lakers - Pacers Preview

The Los Angeles Lakers have sandwiched seven-game winning streaks around their lone loss of the season, looking every bit like the NBA's most dominant team.

It would be very surprising if they don't get to eight straight wins this time.

Los Angeles will put its perfect road record on the line on Tuesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse, as it begins a three-game eastern trip against the struggling Indiana Pacers.

The Lakers (14-1) won their first seven games by an average of 17.0 points, displaying perhaps the league's deepest roster around reigning MVP Kobe Bryant. They stumbled for the first time on Nov. 14, losing 106-95 at home to Detroit, but haven't lost since.

Los Angeles averaged 104.7 points during its 7-0 start, but has turned up the offense during its latest seven-game win streak, scoring 112.7 points per game.

Good defense has keyed the Lakers' 5-0 record on the road, where they are allowing 90.6 points per game and forcing an average of 18.2 turnovers.

They held an opponent below 40 percent from the field for the sixth time this season on Sunday in a 112-99 win over Toronto. Pau Gasol led the way with 24 points and Bryant added 23 on 9-of-14 shooting for Los Angeles, which is off to its best start since opening 16-1 in 2001-02.

"I think (starting) 10-5 would have been great with us, but we've been playing well enough to get that momentum," coach Phil Jackson said. "Now we're just playing on momentum most of the time."

Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal averaged more than half of Los Angeles' points seven years ago, leading the franchise to its third consecutive championship, but this team features better balance. Bryant scores 24.4 points per game - his fewest in five years - but six other Lakers average between 8.9 and 16.9 points.

One of those players is Andrew Bynum (12.4 ppg), who has started all 15 games after recovering from a knee injury that shut him down after mid-January last season. The 21-year-old center has a small bone spur in his right foot, suffered in a win over New Jersey last week, but has had back-to-back 18-point, 10-rebound games.

"There's going to be a period of adjustment he has to go through," Jackson said. "... But unless this moves around in his foot, we're in pretty good shape if he can adjust his play to accommodate that."

Bynum was around for both of the Lakers' wins over Indiana (6-10) last season, shooting 14-for-17 from the field while averaging 20.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks.

The duo of Gasol and Bynum may be too much for the Pacers to handle, particularly considering their struggles against one of the league's best big men in their latest game. Dwight Howard had 32 points and 21 rebounds as Orlando handed Indiana its seventh loss in nine games, 110-96 on Saturday.

Despite the loss, coach Jim O'Brien saw progress from rookie center Roy Hibbert, who had 10 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes as Troy Murphy and Rasho Nesterovic battled foul trouble.

"We just do not have a dominating inside presence right now," O'Brien said. "We think Roy is going to grow into one but, by and large, we get our points in the paint off movement. We don't have a dominating low-post game."

The Lakers lead the league in points in the paint (48.5 per game), but the Pacers are also in the top 10 (42.8 ppg).

One player who's scored all over the court is Indiana forward Danny Granger, who's sixth in the league in scoring (24.2 ppg) and is averaging 31.5 points in his last two games.

The Pacers had won four straight at home against the Lakers before a 134-114 loss on Nov. 20, 2007.

Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

GAME NOTES
NOTES & CONNECTIONS

The Lakers swept last season’s series with Indiana (2-0) after having split each of the previous four season series with the Pacers 1-1. This will be the 70th meeting between the two franchises with the Lakers leading the all-time series 51-18. The Lakers are 6-4 in their last 10 overall games against the Pacers. Last season, the Lakers snapped a four-game losing streak at Indiana with a 134-114 victory November 20 but are still just 3-6 at Conseco Fieldhouse since it opened in 1999. At STAPLES Center, however, the Lakers are 9-0 all-time against Indiana in the regular season and 3-0 in the playoffs. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 11-5 against Indiana in the regular season and 4-2 in the playoffs. In 21 career games (18 starts), Kobe Bryant is averaging 24.0 points against the Pacers and owns the series scoring record with 45 points 1/9/06 vs. Indiana at STAPLES Center. In 13 career games (all starts) against Indiana, Pau Gasol (21.3 points) is also averaging 20-plus points versus the Pacers for his career with a high-game of 31 points. Only Bryant, Derek Fisher and current Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw were on the court for Los Angeles in the 2000 NBA Finals versus Indiana while no players remain from the Pacer’s 2000 Eastern Conference Champion team. Additionally, Pacers forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. is the son of former Lakers head coach and current Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr. as well as a former Lakers ball boy.

The Pacers want to play up and down the floor in transition. They want to get the ball into...
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LAKERS UPDATES

STRONG STARTS
At 10-1, the Lakers are off to their best start to a season through 11 games since 2001-02 when Los Angeles started the year 10-1 and ultimately extended their one-loss record to 16-1, the most wins ever accrued by the Lakers before their second loss. The Lakers best undefeated start to a season came in 1997-98 when they opened the year a franchise record 11-0 and ran their record to 12-1 before losing their second game. In all, the Lakers have been 10-1 through 11 games FIVE times - 2008-09: 10-1, 2001-02: 16-1, 1997-98: 12-1, 1989-90: 10-1, 1985-86: 11-1. Phil Jackson led teams have won at least nine games before their second loss on four occasions, twice with the Chicago Bulls and now twice with the Lakers – 2008-09: 9-1, 2001-02: 16-1, 1996-97: 17-1, 1995-96: 10-1. With their 95-106 loss to Detroit November 14, the Lakers suffered their first defeat of the 2008-09 season. The loss snapped a seven-game win streak that was the team’s longest to start a season since opening the 2001-02 season 7-0. Only twice in franchise history had the Lakers started the season with a better mark, going a franchisebest 11-0 to open the 1997-98 campaign and 8-0 to start the 1987-88 season. This was the second time under head coach Phil Jackson that the Lakers have opened the season 7-0 (2008-09, 2001-02). Only once has a Jackson-led team opened the season with a better record, with the 1996-97 Bulls going 12-0 to begin the season.

POINTS ABOUT POINTS
The Lakers are currently ranked 2nd in the NBA in points scored (140.8) and 3rd in the NBA in points allowed (91.3) through 11 games this season. Since the NBA went to a four-division format prior to the 1970-71 season and expanded to six divisions prior to the 2004-05 season, no team has ever led the league in scoring while also leading the league in fewest points allowed.
Since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles, they have led the NBA in scoring four times (1965-66, 1971-72, 1985-86, 1997-98) but have never led the NBA in fewest points allowed. Additionally, the Lakers are winning by an average margin of 13.5 points per game through 11 games this season. The next closest team in point differential to date is Cleveland at +7.7 points per game. While still early in the season, it may be worth noting that the franchise record for point differential in a season is +12.3 established by the 1971-72 Lakers. The next highest mark in franchise history was +9.3 by the 1986-87 Lakers, making the ‘71-72 season the only year in which a Lakers team has ever averaged victory by double-figures. Phil Jackson’s 1999-00 Lakers rank third on this list with a +8.5 average margin of victory.

BRYANT CLOSES IN ON 22,000 POINTS
With 35 points November 28 vs. Dallas, Kobe Bryant moved within 38 points of 22,000 for his career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, should Bryant reach 22,000 points Sunday, November 30 vs. Toronto, he would become the youngest player to reach 22,000 points in NBA history, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain (30 years, 100 days) who achieve the milestone on November 26, 1966, by one day. The next youngest to 22,000 points were Oscar Robertson (31 years, 117 days) on 3/21/70 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31 years, 350 days) on 4/1/79. Additionally, should Bryant, who will be playing career game #880 and will be 30 years, 99 days of age on November 30, reach 22,000 points before game #906, he would become the 12th fastest player ever to 22,000 points in terms of career games. The youngest player in league history to accumulate 12,000 – 20,000 career points, Bryant became the 12th fastest to 21,000 points in terms of games, reaching the mark in 845 career games. Through his career, Bryant has been the 29th fastest to 15,000, the 22nd fastest to 16,000, the 20th fastest to 17,000, the 16th fastest to 18,000, the 15th fastest to 19,000 and the 15th fastest to 20,000 points in terms of games. Earlier this season, with 29 points November 14 against Detroit, Kobe Bryant moved past both Larry Bird and Gary Payton on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Bryant (21,962) now trails Clyde Drexler (22,195) for 21st on the all-time list. Bryant, now in his 13th NBA season, passed Bird in his 874th career game. Bird reached 21,791 points in 897 career games over 13 seasons while Payton reached 21,813 points in 1,335 games over 17 NBA seasons. Last season, Bryant became the 25th player in NBA history to score 21,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 21,000 points (29 years, 194 days) and second ever under the age of 30 behind Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 184 days). Michael Jordan was the third youngest to 21,000 (30 years, 40 days). Earlier in the season, Bryant, at 29 years, 122 days, became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points and the third player ever to reach 20,000 points under the age of 30, ranking ahead of Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 134 days) and Michael Jordan (29 years, 326 days).