One figured this would be a high-scoring night, given how the Indiana Pacers have arguably the best offensive team in the NBA all season, the Lakers have morphed over the course of the year into a juggernaut in their own right, and neither team should brag about their defenses of late. Yes, the Lakers were without D'Angelo Russell, but still, there's plenty of firepower to go around in L.A. But even by those standards, this 150-145 Lakers win was an insane shootout.
Four Lakers with 25+ points. 26 for Spencer Dinwiddie, starting in D'Lo's spot and having the best game of his purple and gold tenure. (On the heels of what had been his best L.A. game Friday against the Sixers.) 36 points for Anthony Davis, who made 15 of 21 shots and pulled down 16 rebounds just for fun. Even the Lakers' typically barren bench, led by Taurean Prince's 14 points, was respectably prolific.
Of course, the Pacers got in on the act as well, with Pascal Siakam exploding for 27 second-half points (36 in all), Myles Turner chipping in 20 and the team going 50 percent from distance. Indiana also outscored the Lakers 46-34 in the fourth quarter, including a late flurry of threes to make things very tense down the stretch. (To say the Lakers' late fourth quarter pick-and-roll defense got scrambled would be a grand understatement.)
But in the end, the Lakers pulled off the victory, which combined with a Warriors loss, has them sitting at the nine seed 2.5 games ahead of Golden State, and 2.5 behind Dallas/Sacto. A challenging but still winnable road trip awaits, and it would be nice to see the Lakers really put away a quality opponent. But the bottom line is they're stacking wins of late, and at least giving themselves a shot at climbing the standings as the season reaches its end.
Hosts: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
Segment 1: How the Lakers scored 150... and gave up 145.
Segment 2: Dinwiddie's role evolving?
Segment 3: Do the Lakers have a shot at moving up in the west?
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