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Game Rewind: Pacers 95, Lakers 108

Game Recap

The Indiana Pacers fell victim to a big second half in a 108-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night at Staples Center.

Two nights after the Pacers (22-20) used a 65-point second half to come back and beat the Sacramento Kings, the Lakers (16-31) flipped the script. L.A. outscored the Pacers 57-43 in the second half after Indiana held a 53-51 halftime lead.

"I just saw them scrap harder, they wanted the ball more," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said after the game. "You certainly can't allow a team to out-scrap you in order to get a road win."

Both teams had a bit of a choppy first quarter, combining for 11 turnovers in the frame. Each Pacers starter scored, led by Paul George with seven, but the Lakers led 27-24 after one.

Al Jefferson, coming off a season-high 20 points in Wednesday's win over the Sacramento Kings, tied that mark in the first half alone. He poured in 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in just 11 minutes. He added five rebounds and two steals.

L.A. led by as many as five early in the second quarter, but the Pacers went on an 8-0 run to take a 38-35 advantage. The teams traded the lead back and forth a couple more times the rest of the quarter, and the Pacers also led by no more than five before settling for the two-point lead at the break.

Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell went down early in the first quarter with a mild MCL sprain in his right knee. He missed the rest of the game. Julius Randle and Lou Williams led the Lakers with 12 points at the half.

The Lakers used two big third-quarter runs to build an 11-point lead heading into the fourth.

L.A. strung together a 15-2 run early in the quarter to take a 69-59 lead, in large part thanks to rookie Brandon Ingram, who scored eight quick points and helped turn the momentum in the Lakers' favor. Ingram finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

A Thad Young 3-pointer capped a Pacers 7-0 run to cut the lead to 69-66, but the Lakers responded right back with an 11-2 run of their own to open up a 12-point lead with 2:20 to go in the third. The Pacers headed into the fourth trailing 86-75.

Myles Turner opened the fourth with a long two-point jumper to cut the deficit to nine, but the Pacers would get no closer the rest of the way. The Lakers' lead ballooned to as much as 20, 108-88, with 3:30 left.

Indiana's offense never got into much of a rhythm, something Jeff Teague took blame for.

"It was my fault," Teague said. "It was not the right flow tonight."

George led the Pacers with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Jefferson was held scoreless in the second half, and Turner (15) and Jeff Teague (11) also scored in double-figures. Williams led all scorers with 27 points.

The loss drops the Pacers' road record to 6-15.

"We've yet to find our identity on the road, but for some reason we know how to play at home," George said. "I don't know what it is but we are totally different when we play on the road."

The Pacers forced a season-high 24 turnovers, but committed 21 of their own, and were outrebounded 51-37. They were also uncharacteristically inaccurate from the free throw line, hitting 72 percent (18-25), ten percentage points below their season average.

"You have to value the ball, you have to take care of it, and you have to take good shots," McMillan said. "We were just loose with the ball all night long."

Indiana will finish the road trip Saturday night against the Utah Jazz, tipping off at 9:00 PM ET.

Inside the Numbers

The Lakers were effective inside and out, outscoring Indiana 52-36 in the paint while also making 14 3-pointers to Indiana's 10.

Indiana set a season high in steals with 17.

The two teams combined for 45 turnovers and 57 points off turnovers.

The Lakers grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, the third-most Indiana has given up this season.

You Can Quote Me On That

"Some of the turnovers we made were head scratching, careless with the ball, absolutely no value with that basketball. You have to value the ball, you have to take care of it, and you have to take good shots. We were just loose with the ball all night long." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"I think as a team we always could be better. I think we think we let a lot of teams that we should have got slip away." -Jeff Teague

"Defensively, we made them force so many tough shots. We got out in transition, got steals. We were playing together. Making the extra pass on offense. We were knocking down shots. We were having fun today." -Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson

Stat of the Night

The Pacers failed to hit the century mark for just the second time in their last 10 games.

Noteworthy

  • Both teams shot below 50 percent from the field.
  • This marks Indiana's third straight game nabbing double-digit steals.
  • After hitting 2-of-3 3-pointers tonight, CJ Miles is shooting 41.2 percent from deep in January.

Up Next

The Pacers will make their only trip to Utah on Saturday to face the Jazz at 9:00 PM ET. This will be the teams' first meeting of the season. The Jazz feature four players with Indiana ties (George Hill, Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack, and Trey Lyles).

Tickets

The Pacers return home following their Western Conference swing on Monday, Jan. 23 for a primetime matchup with the New York Knicks. Tipoff is slated for 8:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »