Game Rewind: Pacers 100, Lakers 105

The Pacers had been playing from behind too often heading into the All-Star break, dropping five of six contests to end the first half of the season.

That wasn't the case in their first game post-break on Friday night at Staples Center, where Indiana had a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. But the Lakers (25-13) rallied to hand the Pacers (16-20) a 105-100 defeat in the first stop of a three-game Western Conference road trip.

The Pacers led for much of the night and had an 86-74 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the contest. But Kyle Kuzma scored 12 points during a subsequent 24-7 Lakers run to give the hosts a 98-93 lead with 4:38 to play.

Neither team scored over the next two-plus minutes of game time until Malcolm Brogdon's jumper with 2:02 remaining broke the drought and made it a one possession game.

But Montrezl Harrell converted a three-point play on the other end to push the Lakers' lead back to six. Domantas Sabonis and Dennis Schröder traded baskets on the next two possessions before Sabonis hit one of two free throws with 1:10 remaining to make it 103-98.

After a Schröder miss, Sabonis again got to the foul line, this time hitting both shots with 36.8 seconds to play. The Lakers went to the hot hand on the other end, but Myles Turner challenge Kuzma at the rim, forcing a miss. The Pacers secured the rebound and took a timeout with 9.9 seconds left to try to set up a look to force overtime.

But they couldn't even run their set, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope intercepted Brogdon's inbounds pass intended for Sabonis and then hit both free throws with 8.5 seconds remaining to effectively seal the win.

Brogdon finished with 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting (4-of-7 from 3-point range), seven rebounds, and six assists in the loss. Sabonis added 20 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists.

Brogdon looked refreshed to start the game, coming out on fire early in Friday's contest. Brogdon scored 18 of Indiana's first 24 points in the first quarter, going 7-for-10 from the field and 3-for-3 from 3-point range, as the Blue & Gold took a 28-20 lead into the second quarter.

The Lakers surged ahead early in the second quarter, however. Wesley Matthews and LeBron James each converted three-point plays on consecutive possessions. Goga Bitadze was then whistled for goaltending James' layup attempt to tie the game at 28 and then Kuzma drained a 3-pointer to complete an 11-0 Lakers run over the first 2:01 of the frame.

Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren took a timeout and his team quickly regrouped, as Aaron Holiday and T.J. McConnell converted two buckets each as Indiana reeled off eight straight points out of the break to retake the lead.

Indiana's starters returned shortly thereafter and used a 9-2 run to stretch their lead to double digits at 49-39. Brogdon added another three and a runner before the break to help the Pacers take a 54-46 lead into the intermission.

The Pacers led 57-46 following Myles Turner's fastbreak dunk 1:18 into the third quarter before James scored six points during a 15-2 Lakers run to give the hosts a brief lead. Once again, the Pacers had an answer, promptly rolling off nine unanswered points, with old-fashioned three-point plays by Doug McDermott and Sabonis sandwiching a Justin Holiday 3-pointer.

The Blue & Gold maintained the lead for the remainder of the third quarter, taking a 79-71 lead into the final frame.

The Pacers led 86-74 following Goga Bitadze's 3-pointer with 10:04 to play, but the Lakers charged back with a 12-2 run over the next 2:14.

That prompted another Pacers timeout, but this time it didn't turn the tide. Kuzma's jumper tied the game at 88 with 7:07 to play. Brogdon answered with a bucket of his own on the other end to put Indiana briefly back in front, but Kuzma knocked down back-to-back threes on the next two Laker possessions and then James added a layup.

Just like that, the Lakers were up 96-90 with 5:28 remaining, a lead they would not relinquish.

"I feel like we had the game in control," Sabonis said after the game. "Those two, three minutes in the fourth, it felt like the game got away from us."

McDermott finished with 13 points and four rebounds, while Aaron Holiday added 10 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting for Indiana.

Kuzma had a team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds off the bench for the Lakers. James added 18 points and 10 assists, while Schröder tallied 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals.

The Pacers will have to regroup quickly, as they play again on Sunday night in Phoenix against a Suns team that is currently ahead of the Lakers and in second place in the Western Conference standings.

Caris LeVert plans to make his debut in a Pacers uniform on Saturday. The versatile guard was acquired on Jan. 16 from Brooklyn in a four-team deal but has been unable to play after undergoing surgery to remove renal cell carcinoma on his left kidney that was discovered during a post-trade physical. LeVert returned to practice shortly before the All-Star break and confirmed to reporters on Friday that he plans to play against the Suns.

Brogdon went 4-for-7 from 3-point range, but the rest of his team was a combined 4-for-29 from beyond the arc.

Sabonis tallied his team-leading 26th double-double of the season on Friday.

The Lakers went 30-for-39 from the free throw line on Friday, the most free throw attempts by a Pacers opponent in a game this season.

Turner had eight points and two blocks for Indiana, extending his streak of games with at least one block to 52, the longest active streak in the NBA.

"I feel like we had silly turnovers and we actually had good looks. I feel like we got some stops when we needed to, but we just couldn't knock them down on the offensive end." -Sabonis on the fourth quarter

"We're all every excited for him. We're all super excited, can't wait to have him on the court. That's going to give us extra energy...He's going to come out being aggressive, he's a great player. He's going to help us a lot, he's going to get guys open. We're just really excited for his addition." -Sabonis on LeVert's impending debut

"The attention that he'll demand on the floor being a dominant scorer, a proven rising star in this league. I think people respect him. Just having eyes on him and having defenses trying to scout against him and put their best defenders on him and stuff like that, that lessens the load for me and Domas and Myles and everybody else." -Brogdon on how adding LeVert can help the Pacers

Seven of the Pacers' 16 turnovers came in the fourth quarter and the Lakers scored 10 crucial points off those giveaways in their come-from-behind-win.

The Pacers head to Phoenix to take on Devin Booker and the Suns on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday, March 13 at 10:00 PM ET.

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