Game Rewind: Pacers 109, Lakers 123 (In-Season Tournament Championship)

Saturday, Dec. 9 at 8:30 PM ET at T-Mobile Arena

The Pacers' magical run in the inaugural In-Season Tournament came to an end on Saturday night at the hands of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Blue & Gold won over the hearts of fans across the NBA with their inspired play and All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton emerged as a legitimate NBA superstar in the new event, as the Pacers ran off a 6-0 record against Eastern Conference opponents, including wins over all the top four seeds from last year's East standings to reach Saturday's Championship.

But their dreams of being the first team to hoist the NBA Cup came to an end on Saturday with a 123-109 loss to the Lakers.

Davis was dominant, tallying 41 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks while going 16-for-24 from the field and 9-for-13 from the free throw line.

Haliburton finished with another double-double, tallying 20 points and 11 assists. Second-year guard Bennedict Mathurin added 20 points off the bench in the loss, going 5-for-11 from the field and 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

James continued to torment Pacers fans as he has for much of his career. After eliminating Indiana from the playoffs five times from 2012-2018 (including twice in the Eastern Conference Finals), he once again denied Indiana a championship on Saturday, finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

The Pacers trailed from 9:59 in the first quarter on, but kept it close throughout the night. The Lakers stretched their lead to 11 in the third quarter, but Indiana clawed back, cutting the deficit to three twice in the fourth quarter.

The latter occasion came following Myles Turner's three to beat the shot clock, which cut the deficit to 102-99 with 6:11 remaining.

But Cam Reddish hit a three on the other end and then Davis took over to put the game away for the Lakers. The seven-time All-Star scored the next 10 points, fouling out Turner in the process. That 13-0 run closed the door on any comeback hopes, as both coaches emptied their benches in the final minute.

Davis and the Lakers owned the interior all night, outscoring Indiana 86-44 in the paint en route to victory.

"We're sick, frustrated," Haliburton said after the loss. "We just got outplayed tonight from the start of the game to the end of the game. Just didn't do the job on loose balls, didn't rebound, didn't get enough stops when needed. They just outplayed us, and it's frustrating."

The Pacers relied on the outside shot early on Saturday, as Buddy Hield, Haliburton, and Toppin each hit a 3-pointer in the opening minutes.

But on the other end, Davis had it going, scoring eight of the Lakers' first 15 points. A James layup and Taurean Prince three-point play pushed Los Angeles out to a 20-13 lead midway through the first quarter.

Davis hit his first six shots and tallied 13 points and eight rebounds in the opening frame. The Lakers remained in front through the end of the quarter, taking a 34-29 advantage into the second.

James scored eight points in the first 3:41 of the next frame to push L.A.'s lead to eight. The Pacers continued to claw away at the margin for the remainder of the quarter, but could never take the lead.

Aaron Nesmith drew an offensive foul on James with 3:19 remaining in the half. It was James' third foul of the half, so the NBA's all-time leading scorer sat out the remainder of the quarter.

The Pacers had the lead down to two twice in the final two minutes, but Austin Reaves scored the Lakers' final nine points of the half. Los Angeles outscored Indiana 52-22 in the paint over the first two quarters to take a 65-60 lead into the break.

James attacked the rim more out of the intermission, scoring five quick points on an and-one and two free throws as the Lakers opened the quarter with a 7-1 run to push the lead to double digits for the first time.

The Pacers struggled to find any rhythm offensively for much of the third quarter, making just four field goals over the first eight minutes of the frame.

They finally strung together a few buckets when Mathurin hit a deep two and then Haliburton scored on layups on two straight possessions. That 6-0 run cut the deficit to 84-79 with two minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Lakers immediately answered with six straight points of their own — including a Prince three from in front of the Lakers' bench at the 1:11 mark that was Los Angeles' first 3-pointer of the night (they had missed their first 10).

Mathurin then provided another lift for Indiana, hitting a running three at the buzzer to make it a 90-82 game entering the fourth quarter.

After a Reddish layup pushed the lead back to 10, the Pacers continued their charge early in the fourth. Mathurin attacked the rim and converted a reverse layup, Toppin knocked down a three, and then T.J. McConnell swiped a Davis inbounds pass in the backcourt and dished to a cutting Mathurin for a basket.

Just like that, the deficit was down to 92-89 with 10:30 to play.

But the Pacers were unable to get any closer the rest of the way and the Lakers eventually pulled away in the final minutes.

"It was a tough game," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game coming in. We did a lot of good things to hang around in the fourth quarter. Getting over the hump was hard."

Nesmith had 15 points off the bench for Indiana in the loss, while Toppin added 13. Turner finished with 10 points and seven rebounds but went 3-for-11 from the field and played just 25 minutes due to foul trouble. Third-year big man Isaiah Jackson fought admirably in relief of Turner, tallying 10 points, five rebounds, and four blocks.

Reaves had 28 points off the bench for the Lakers — 20 in the first half — and went 9-for-15 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free throw line. D'Angelo Russell added 13 points and seven assists.

While it ended in disappointing fashion, it was still a special run for the Pacers and especially Haliburton. The 23-year-old guard averaged 26.7 points, 13.3 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from 3-point range. He received votes for In-Season Tournament MVP even though the Pacers finished as the runner-up.

"Obviously, Tyrese Haliburton is now a name that everyone knows," Carlisle said. "He's going to be in the conversation for a lot of things from All-Star to All-NBA to MVP based on not just this tournament, but what he's been doing every single game this year."

The Pacers will get right back to the regular-season grind, traveling to Detroit to open a four-game road trip on Monday. They will also play at Milwaukee, Washington, and Minnesota before returning to Indiana to host the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 18.

Haliburton vowed that the Pacers would use their In-Season Tournament success as a springboard into the rest of the regular season.

"We've done some great things to get here, competed against some really good teams and battled, and you can't let that happen for no reason," Haliburton said.

Saturday's Championship was not a regular season game and therefore all stats from Saturday do not count toward the season stats, a unique wrinkle.

Both teams struggled from 3-point range on Saturday. The Pacers went just 10-for-41 from beyond the arc (24.4 percent), while the Lakers were only 2-for-13 (15.4 percent). It was the first time a team made two or fewer 3-pointers and still won a game since Memphis made just two threes in a win over Detroit on Feb. 3, 2020.

The Lakers limited Haliburton to just 14 shot attempts (which would have tied his season low) and 2-for-8 3-point shooting, but the Pacers' All-Star guard still managed to record a double-double for the 16th time in 19 games this season. After tallying 28 assists with no turnovers across the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, Haliburton had three of Indiana's nine giveaways on Saturday.

Davis had four career games with 40 or more points and 20 or more rebounds entering Saturday, but had never previously achieved those stats in a game where he also blocked four shots or dished out five assists.

The Pacers committed 33 fouls, which would have been a season high. Both teams were at the free throw line frequently on Saturday, with Indiana going 29-for-33 (87.9 percent) and the Lakers going 27-for-35 (77.1 percent).

Indiana stayed in the game for much of the night in part by forcing the Lakers into 20 turnovers. The Pacers outscored Los Angeles 21-8 in points off turnovers.

The Lakers outrebounded the Pacers 55-32.

"I just want to express such a high level of pride for our guys...Our guys had an amazing run over whatever this was, five or six weeks, starting with Cleveland (on Nov. 3) and right on through. They brought a lot of attention to Pacer nation. They brought a lot of attention to an exciting group of young players." -Carlisle on the Pacers' run

"This whole experience was a positive experience for us. It was a playoff experience for a young team who a lot of guys had never experienced the atmosphere of what a playoff game feels like, and ever since the Boston game to the Milwaukee game to this game today, the atmosphere was electric. The games were intense. The little plays mattered." -Nesmith

"Our guys got a real taste of what the elevated stage is all about. It's so important to have this experience, to feel the intensity, to feel the glare and the glow, and to find out what it means to be totally together in an effort to conquer it. We conquered a lot of challenges along the way. This one tonight was a little too steep." -Carlisle on lessons the Pacers can take from the In-Season Tournament experience

"I think tonight was interesting. There was a lot of putting two on the ball and making me make reads out of it. I had a couple early turnovers, bad ones, but then after that I don't know what we shot from three, I don't have it in front of me, 10 for 41 or something like that. We missed a lot of good looks, and it happens. It's a make-or-miss league, and for me it's understanding how teams are going to guard me moving forward." -Haliburton on how the Lakers guarded him

"The one thing that stands out to me is that he was completely unfazed by the limelight, and it brought his game to a higher level. Now, they committed two to him for the majority of the game, so he had to get off the ball, so his stats aren't as gaudy as they've been in other games. But he's unfazed. Like Reggie Miller, a guy that is very similar to him in body type, stature, personality, and just overall character, he wants the responsibility for winning and losing. He wants it unconditionally, and that's special." -Carlisle on Haliburton handling the spotlight from the Pacers' In-Season Tournament run

"It was a lot of fun. Like you said, I relish these opportunities to guard these phenomenal tier 1 players. My game plan with him this evening was really
just wear on him for 48 minutes. Even when he's running down the court, bump him while he runs, make sure he feels me, make sure I make him fight for every step that he takes." -Nesmith on embracing the challenge of guarding James

"They did a great job. Everybody competed. I think at the end of the day it was just one great — I'm just talking to a great and congratulating him on the win and moving on. I think that he's shown me love constantly since I've came in the NBA, and obviously I have him for the majority of my life. It was great to compete against him and that team, and they're a good team and earned that win." -Haliburton on his conversation with James following the game

The Lakers outscored Indiana 86-44 in points in the paint on Saturday. Interior defense has been an Achilles' heel for the Pacers throughout the season, but those 86 points in the paint were still 10 more than the Blue & Gold had allowed in any of their 20 regular season games this season.

The Pacers tip off a four-game road trip at Detroit against Cade Cunningham and the Pistons on Monday, Dec. 11 at 7:00 PM ET.

The Pacers return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>