Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez and Julius Randle came ready for a battle. But there was only so much they could do on a night when the rest of the roster was frigid.
That starting frontcourt shot a healthy 29-of-52 from the field, but the guards went just 4-of-14 and the bench 5-of-20. Meanwhile, they struggled to contain Indiana on the other end, resulting in a 110-100 loss in the first stop of a four-game road trip.
“I don’t think we were physical enough on that (defensive) end of the court,” coach Luke Walton said. “I think the hot start we got off to offensively led us to thinking this was going to be an offensive game, which we were mistaken.”
Indeed, the Lakers blitzed the Pacers at the start, jumping out to a 12-point lead late in the first quarter. But Indiana worked its way back to within two at halftime and then rolled over its guests in the third.
During that period, the Pacers shot 15-of-20 from the field, outscoring the Lakers by 14.
“A lot of that’s on us defensively,” Brook Lopez said. “We weren’t at our best or our sharpest, and it showed.”
Lopez held his own on the other end of the ball, providing 23 points — including 13 in that dominant opening quarter — on 10-of-15 shooting, primarily through a steady diet of post ups.
Frontcourt partner Julius Randle continued his hot streak with 21 points and nine rebounds, while rookie Kyle Kuzma outdid them both.
Starting at small forward due to multiple injuries at the wing, Kuzma dropped 27 points on Indiana. He shot just 3-of-10 from 3-point range, but went 7-of-8 inside the arc, including several tough shots, like an and-1 hook shot after losing his man with a crossover.
Yet the Lakers (31-39) also made too many mistakes against one of the NBA’s elite defenses.
They committed 13 turnovers — a satisfactory number against most teams, though the Pacers had only six. L.A. also shot just 8-of-33 from 3-point distance.
Meanwhile, pick-and-roll maestro Myles Turner led the Pacers (41-30) with 21 points, while all-star Victor Oladipo nearly matched him with 20.
Thaddeus Young added 18 on 9-of-12 shooting, as Indiana handed the Lakers their third straight loss.
Notes
Lonzo Ball had four points on only four shot attempts, plus eight assists. … Injured guard Josh Hart served as a guest in-studio analyst for the Spectrum SportsNet broadcast. … … An audience of 16,603 was in attendance at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.