Game Rewind: Pacers 87, Lakers 88

The Pacers were in control for much of Sunday night, seemingly on their way to their first three-game winning streak of the season. But the Lakers rallied in front of their home crowd, with Kobe Bryant coming through in the clutch to lead Los Angeles (11-23) to an 88-87 win over Indiana (13-22) at Staples Center.

With the Pacers clinging to a one-point lead, Bryant drove left from the top of the key, spun back into the paint and knocked down a right-handed hook shot over Solomon Hill to give the Lakers a lead with 12.4 seconds to play.

The Blue-and-Gold had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but only managed an 18-foot jumper from Roy Hibbert that was well off the mark.

Bryant scored the Lakers' final nine points to seal the victory. The NBA's third all-time leading scorer finished with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting and also tallied six rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

"He just made some plays," Pacers forward David West said. "But we didn't execute well enough offensively to get the sort of looks we were supposed to get."

The Lakers took an early 9-2 lead in the opening minutes of Sunday's contest, but the Pacers outscored them 26-6 over the rest of the first quarter. Indiana scored the final 14 points of the period and went 6-for-8 as a team from behind the 3-point arc. C.J. Miles led the way, going 3-for-4 from long range and tallying 11 points off the bench in the opening frame.

The Blue-and-Gold went cold from beyond the arc after the first quarter, missing their next 16 3-point attempts. Still, they remained in front of Los Angeles for most of the night.

"I thought we had opportunities in the third quarter to separate from them," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said. "We failed to do so, let them hang around. And great players made great plays."

The Lakers didn't tie the game until 7:19 remaining in the fourth quarter and didn't take the lead for several more minutes after that.

The home team finally moved in front when Kobe Bryant dribbled out to the left corner and sank a fadeaway 3-pointer over David West to make the score 84-82.

But Solomon Hill answered on the ensuing possession when Bryant didn't come out to guard him on the left wing. Hill quickly raised up and buried the triple to put the Pacers back in front.

Bryant drew a foul on the other end and knocked down both free throws to retake the lead.

West airballed a jumper on the next trip down the floor, but Hibbert made an acrobatic rebound along the baseline to extend the possession. Donald Sloan wound up knocking down a midrange jumper just before the shot-clock buzzer to make the score 87-86 with 1:01 remaining.

Bryant got to the rim but missed on the next Lakers possession, but West missed a 3-pointer on the other end that gave the ball back to L.A. and set the stage for Bryant's heroics.

The Pacers shot 37 percent from the field, but held the Lakers to just 38 percent. The difference on the night was at the foul line, where the Lakers went 28-for-30 and outscored Indiana by 15 points.

"They marched them to the free throw line in the fourth quarter and they shot 93 percent from the foul line," Vogel said. "We preach defending without fouling all the time. We didn't do that."

Miles led Indiana with 19 points, but only scored two after halftime. Donald Sloan, starting at point guard due to injuries to George Hill and C.J. Watson, flirted with a triple-double. Sloan finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists in 36:15.

Four other Pacers players scored in double figures. Hibbert had 12 points and 11 rebounds, while West added 11 points and eight boards. Both Rodney Stuckey and Solomon Hill finished with 10 points.

Nick Young led the Lakers with 22 points off the bench. Carlos Boozer added 12 points, Ed Davis contributed 11, and Jeremy Lin finished with 10.

Indiana will look to bounce back on Monday night in Salt Lake City, where they will take on Gordon Hayward and the Utah Jazz at 9:00 p.m. ET.

"Obviously we have to leave this one here," West said. "Just try to prepare as best we can tonight and tomorrow to come out and give a good effort in Utah."

Miles led the Pacers in scoring for the third straight game. He entered Sunday having averaged 16.9 points per game and shot 42.2 percent (38-90) from 3-point range over his last 12 games. Miles went 3-for-9 from beyond the arc on Sunday.

Sloan's nine assists were a season high. He had previously dished out seven assists on five separate occasions.

Hibbert's double-double was his team-leading eighth of the season.

The Blue-and-Gold lost despite dominating the boards. Indiana outrebounded the Lakers 50-37 overall and 16-5 on the offensive glass.

The Pacers finished with 16 turnovers to the Lakers' 11. West had five giveaways.

After going 6-for-8 from 3-point range in the first quarter, the Pacers made just two of their final 20 attempts from beyond the arc. They missed 16 straight 3-pointers until Rodney Stuckey hit one with 6:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.

"We settled too much," Pacers head coach Frank Vogel said after the game. "(The Lakers) were packing it in. You've got to take what the defense gives you to some degree, but at some point, you've got to attack the basket, too."

Indiana will look to bounce back on Monday night in Salt Lake City, where they will take on Gordon Hayward and the Utah Jazz at 9:00 p.m. ET.