With 9:59 left in Monday night's game between the Lakers and the Pacers, a Wenyen Gabriel dunk off a Russell Westbrook assist put the Lakers up by 17 points and they looked well on their way to their 3rd consecutive win and their sixth victory in seven games.
In truly stunning fashion, however, as the 4th quarter buzzer sounded it was an Andrew Nembhard three pointer that swished through the net and completed an inspired Pacers comeback to beat the Lakers 116-115, snapping their two game winning streak and dropping them to 7-12 in the process.
Needing one final stop to secure the game, the Lakers were able to force a miss from Myles Turner on the initial shot attempt that possession, but a tip out rebound and a quick swing pass to an open Nembhard was met with a late arriving LeBron James closeout that wasn't able to disrupt the shot enough.
Only moments before that, though, it was James who nearly won the game for the Lakers, scoring on a short runner from the right wing after a set play designed to post him up. James' bucket gave the Lakers a two point lead and capped off a 21 point night on 8-22 shooting, including 2-8 in that fateful 4th quarter.
James, who turned his ankle in the 1st quarter, returned to the game to start the 2nd period after visiting the locker room but did not recapture the rhythm he began the game with when he scored the Lakers first seven points on 2-2 shooting from both the field and the foul line.
While James couldn't get his shot to fall with its normal regularity after his return, he got plenty of support in the form of Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
Davis was able to return from the calf contusion that kept him out of Saturday's game vs. the Spurs to score 25 points on 9-15 shooting while grabbing 13 rebounds and handing out six assists. Davis habitually hurt the Pacers attempts to double team him with smart passes to teammates, and when they didn't send help he beat them with aggressive moves to the hoop to get his own offense going.
Westbrook, meanwhile, scored 24 points on 10-18 shooting while dishing six assists, but also tallying six turnovers. Westbrook played with great energy throughout the game, helping to establish and grow the team's lead through good passes and aggressive finishes in the paint that got the crowd into the game. He also had several timely baskets in the 4th quarter, including a late-game three pointer and a mid-range jumper from the foul line area that nearly staved off the hard charging Pacers.
It was not enough, though, as the Pacers refused to go away and continued to chip away at the Lakers lead by sticking to their game plan of shooting the three-ball, crashing the offensive glass, and looking to speed the Lakers up into turnovers in order to play in transition. In the 4th quarter, Indiana hit six of their 13 three pointers and managed seven more shot attempts than the Lakers due to four offensive rebounds and three Lakers turnovers.
Tyrese Haliburton led the way for the Pacers, tallying 24 points to go along with 14 assists with zero turnovers. Rookie Benedict Mathurin was right behind him, adding 23 points of his own, including eight crucial points in the 4th quarter right in the middle of his team's push to get back into the game.
After the game, LeBron James said that to lose a game like this "everything has to go wrong" and that "everything did". He and his team will have a chance to get things going right again when they return to action against the Blazers on Wednesday.