Game Rewind: Pacers 145, Lakers 150

Sunday, March 24 at 10:00 PM ET at Crypto.com Arena

The Pacers had enough firepower on Sunday night in Los Angeles to come away with a sixth straight road win. Unfortunately for Indiana, the Lakers had a little bit more.

Four Lakers scored 25 points or more as Los Angeles (39-32) bested Indiana (40-32) in a 150-145 shootout.

The Pacers led by double digits at one point in the first quarter, but were outscored by 23 over the next two frames and trailed by 19 entering the fourth. They clawed their way back within four midway through the final frame, but ultimately ran out of gas.

Eight Pacers reached double figures in the loss, with Pascal Siakam leading the way with 36 points on 16-of-29 shooting and 12 rebounds. 27 of Siakam's points came in the second half, including 19 in the third quarter.

But Anthony Davis matched Siakam with 36 points for the Lakers on 15-of-21 shooting to go along with 16 rebounds, LeBron James added 26 points and 10 assists, while Spencer Dinwiddie (26 points and five assists), and Austin Reaves (25 points, five boards, and eight assists) also had big nights.

Myles Turner finished with 20 points and T.J. McConnell tallied 17 points and seven assists off the bench in the loss for the Pacers, who remain in sixth place in the Eastern Conference but saw their lead over Miami and Philadelphia shrink to just a half-game after the Heat and 76ers both won on Sunday. The top six teams in the final standings advance directly to the playoffs, while the teams that finish seventh through 10th must compete in the Play-In Tournament.

"We fought hard," Siakam said. "I think everyone played hard. It's tough. A couple calls here and there, the game got away from us a little bit...But there's no quit on our team. We've got guys that want to fight out there. It's always good to have that and we're going to need that as we continue to get to the end of the season and into the playoffs."

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Andrew Nembhard and Turner carried the Indiana offense in the early going on Sunday night. Nembhard scored seven of the Pacers' first 10 points and then Turner scored seven of their next nine.

Turner's outburst started a 13-2 run by the Blue & Gold that Siakam capped with a poster dunk over Taurean Prince to put the visitors up 25-17. They remained in front for the rest of the opening frame.

Back-to-back threes from Doug McDermott in the final two minutes of the period pushed the lead to 34-23. The Lakers answered with seven straight points before McConnell's layup on the Pacers' final possession of the quarter made it 36-30 after one.

Davis carried the offense for the Lakers by scoring 15 points in the first quarter, but James took over early in the second. James scored six points and assisted on five more as the hosts opened the frame with 11-4 run to surge ahead.

After a timeout, the Pacers quickly countered with nine unanswered points, with Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith knocking down 3-pointers and Isaiah Jackson converting an old-fashioned three-point play.

The two teams traded the lead five times over the course of the quarter. A 9-0 Lakers run put the hosts in front 68-62 with two minutes to play in the first half and they maintained the advantage up until halftime, taking a 72-68 lead into the intermission.

The Lakers quickly built a cushion in the second half, with Dinwiddie — starting at point guard in place of an ill D'Angelo Russell — knocking down threes on Los Angeles' first two possessions to push the lead to double digits.

Pascal Siakam was the Pacers' offense in the third quarter. The 6-8 forward repeatedly got to the rim, scoring 17 of Indiana's first 19 points in the frame.

But on the other end, the Pacers couldn't get any stops. The Lakers erupted for 44 points in the quarter, with Davis and Reaves each tallying 11, Dinwiddie scoring nine, and James adding eight. Los Angeles went 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) from the field, 5-for-8 from 3-point range, and 13-for-14 from the free throw line in the third quarter.

The hosts led by as many 19 in the frame and took a 116-99 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Pacers' second unit came out firing at the start of the fourth quarter and were able to shoot Indiana back within striking distance. McDermott hit two more threes and another jumper as the Blue & Gold opened the final frame with a 17-7 run to trim the deficit to 123-116 with 8:24 to play.

The starters reentered shortly thereafter and continued the charge. Nesmith's three with 5:33 to play cut the Lakers' lead to 127-123.

The margin was still four two minutes later when James drilled a three with 3:29 remaining. On the other end, James stole McDermott's pass and Reaves eventually converted a layup off a dish from Davis to push the lead back to 136-127.

The Lakers seemingly had the game won with a 144-136 win with under 40 seconds to play. But as the Pacers played the foul game, Toppin hit a three with 37.5 seconds left and then Tyrese Haliburton made two more with 28.5 and 21.6 ticks remaining, the final one cutting the deficit to 148-145.

After Dinwiddie made one of two free throws, Haliburton hoisted another three to try to cut the deficit to one, but James got out to contest the shot and force a miss that sealed the victory for the Lakers.

"Sometimes when you have difficult challenges, it's easy to drop your head and just say, 'Hey, it's not our night,'" Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "But our guys don't do that. The second unit battled their butts off in the second half. That last four, five-minute stretch, the first unit came back in there and they were defiant about hanging in the game.

"At a certain point, you've got to play absolutely perfectly and that was going to be very, very difficult. But the level of fight is something that we can continue to build on."

Nembhard finished with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting and five assists for Indiana. McDermott tallied 14 off the bench, going 4-for-7 from 3-point range, while Nesmith added 13 while going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. Toppin scored 11 and was 3-for-5 from distance as well.

Haliburton had a quiet night offensively until his late flourish, but still managed to record a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists, going 5-for-13 from the field and 2-for-6 from 3-point range.

Prince was the only Lakers reserve to reach double figures, finishing with 14 points in 19 minutes on 6-of-8 shooting (2-of-3 from 3-point range).

The Pacers are now 2-1 on their ongoing five-game road trip. They will be back at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night to face the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back, then wrap up their road trip on Wednesday in Chicago before returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a rematch with LeBron and the Lakers on Friday night.

Siakam's 36 points were his most since joining the Pacers via trade on Jan. 17 and his 16 rebounds matched his season high, which he set in Friday's win at Golden State.

The Pacers shot 50 percent from 3-point range, going 18-for-36 from beyond the arc on Sunday. It was the 17th time this season that the Blue & Gold made 18 or more threes, but only the second time they've done it in the last two months.

Haliburton's double-double was his 41st of the season, tying him with Dallas' Luka Doncic for the league lead among guards.

The Pacers' bench outscored the Lakers' reserves, 49-28.

McDermott's 14 points and four 3-pointers were his highest totals since returning to Indiana via trade on Feb. 9.

The Pacers scored a season-high 46 points in the fourth quarter. Their previous high in the final frame was 39 against Detroit on Nov. 24.

Indiana's 145 points are the most in franchise history in a loss in regulation. Their previous highest output in a regulation loss was 143 points in a four-point loss to Philadelphia on March 6, 2023.

"We like to play up-and-down like we did in the first quarter. But when the game's being stopped a lot, a lot of free throws being shot — that's really been the story of both games we've played (against the Lakers), that they've dictated the pace because there's just been so many free throws shot. We've just got to do a better job of not fouling, playing through that, and doing what we can." -Haliburton on the Lakers dictating the pace of the game

"Any time we were struggling to create shots, he was great. He created something — got to the paint kicked it out, got it in the basket, got an and-one. He was tremendous." -Carlisle on Siakam

"Just trying to get back into the game, trying to attack the paint as much as I can. To me, I just feel like every time down the floor I can always do that. If it's not open, I can always make the right play." -Siakam on his big second half

"Whenever our offense gets stagnant, he's a guy that we can just throw the ball to, whether it's the elbow or the post. He kind of can break things loose and get the ball going, break the seal off the basket a little bit. He's huge." -Nesmith on Siakam's offensive impact

"It helps our pace game and our spacing game and obviously our 3-point game. Doug's also a very good playmaker and he battles on the boards and within the system, he knows his job and he works hard at it." -Carlisle on McDermott knocking down shots

"With shooting, there's going to be some weird pockets every once in a while. I wasn't shooting it great, but I knew every time I shoot the ball, it's got a chance of going in. So just got to keep that belief and keep firing away. These guys are so unselfish and they were finding me tonight." -McDermott on rediscovering his rhythm

"Kudos to them, they're a good team, they've got good defenders. I thought Dinwiddie was good, (Cam) Reddish was good again. But I feel like it was more on me than anything. Just not making shots. It happens over the course of the season. Obviously, we've been in the struggle. It's nothing new. Great thing is we play tomorrow." -Haliburton on the Lakers' defense against him

The Lakers had a massive advantage from the free throw line, where they outscored Indiana by 29 points. Los Angeles went 38-for-43 (88.4), while the Pacers were just 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from the charity stripe. Reaves alone outscored the Blue & Gold from the free throw line, going 11-for-12. Dinwiddie was 8-for-9, James 8-for-8, and Davis 5-for-5.

The Pacers will stay in Los Angeles to take on Paul George and the Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back on Monday, March 25 at 10:30 PM ET.

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After a five-game road trip, the Pacers will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, March 29 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets >>