Lakers vs Pacers Recap: Close But No Victory Cigar

Late game heroics from Paul George helped the Pacers cling to a 115-108 win against the Lakers on Tuesday night in Indianapolis, spoiling what would’ve been a helluva first road win in the Luke Walton Era.

George hit a trio of long 2-point jumpers in the final three minutes of the game, staving off an LA comeback spearheaded by the firepower of Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams, and the tireless defensive energy of Larry Nance Jr.

The Lakers took a 106-105 lead late in the fourth quarter off a hellacious Nance put-back dunk.

But from there, it was all Paul George.

The all-star and Olympian from Palmdale, CA, showed why he gets paid “the big bucks,” in the words of the great Stu Lantz, scoring 30 points – including the final 12 points for the Pacers.

Still, The Lakers had a golden opportunity to pull out the road victory. Trailing by three with 35 seconds to play, Julius Randle found Jordan Clarkson open in the corner, who faked the 3-pointer and missed on a drive to the rim.

The miss effectively closed the game for the Pacers, as George would put the game on ice at the foul line.

It was a tale of two halves for the Lakers, who seemingly couldn’t get out of their own way in the first half. The Pacers capitalized on the Purple and Gold’s sloppy play, scoring 19 points off 11 first half turnovers for LA.

The first 24 minutes were especially rough for D’Angelo Russell — who picked up his second foul less than 40 seconds into the game and was banished to the bench. After returning midway through the second quarter, Russell was quickly benched again by coach Walton after failing to hustle back in transition, as noted by Silver Screen & Roll’s Ben Rosales.

But as ugly as the first half was for the Lakers, they came out a different squad in the third quarter. Russell was especially aggressive, putting together his best stretch of the game in the first four minutes of the third, finding Nick Young with a nifty bounce pass for a transition three, assisting on a pick-n-roll to Mozgov, and hitting a pretty step-back jumper to bring LA within a point of Indy.

Nance was called up early in the third when Mozgov was poked in the face, sending the Russian to the bench.

The big Ruski would come back late in the third, only to suffer another blow to the face. The “left eye contusion,” as Mark Medina reported, sent Mozgov to the locker-room and knocked him out of the game. He’ll be checked for an orbital fracture tomorrow in Atlanta.

Nance filled in admirably, though, collecting six steals and a block as the Lakers went small in the second half. Williams and Clarkson contributed to the near-comeback with a combined 34 points off the bench.

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The loss was similar to the previous two games for this young Lakers squad. They’ve shown moxie and an ability to battle back and keep games close on the road, and not to celebrate moral victories, but it’s much more than you could say about the teams lead by Byron Scott.

Coach Walton said after the game he was “thrilled” with the effort in the second half, and I’m sure most fans would agree. The next step in the evolution of this Lil Lakers team is to find a way to harness their hustle into victories.

The Lakers will now head to Atlanta to take on Dwight Howard and the Hawks on Wednesday night. Remember when people were actually trying to get #DwightBand going on Twitter? Dark times.

Next: Bold predictions for this season

Random Notes

Metta World Peace holds an eternal spot in Lakers’ lore, thanks to his 3-pointer and blown kisses in game seven vs. the Celtics back in 2010, but he shouldn’t be getting minutes unless it’s a blowout. He was summoned into the game after Moz was TKO’d, and to his credit hit the two FTs. But he’s just not an NBA player right now, as he’s routinely beat off the dribble and can’t knock down open jumpers. Billy Mac mentioned on the telecast MWP would love to play 20 years in the league, and hey I’d love to take Emma Stone to The Nice Guy, but it’s not going to happen.