LAKERS -at- PACERS - 2-2-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Down to the Wire Again... Last time these two teams met, the Pacers came back down 17 to win at the buzzer. Tonight, the tables were turned.

The Pacers were bombing threes just like last time to start this game and pulled out to an 11-point lead on a 12-2 run in the first quarter. The Pacers made 7 threes in the first quarter. They extended their lead to as many as 15 in the first half, beating the Lakers on the break and from distance.

At the half, the Lakers made just 2-8 from three, the Pacers 12-22.

But the Pacers would turn into the Pavers in the second half, bricking at a high clip (4-19 from three). Give some credit to the Laker D as there were several strong closeouts.

The Lakers quickly cut it to 5 in the first couple of minutes of the second half with Schröder sinking a couple of threes himself and Bron and Bev scoring at the rim to force a timeout. The Pacers would keep the Lakers at arm’s distance all quarter, however, punctuating the end of the third with a massive putback jam. They were feeling themselves heading into the fourth.

The Laker second unit with Bryant, Hachimura, Beverley, Walker and Russ would hold the line defensively early on while LeBron and AD rested. The Pacers would go scoreless for a near three-minute stretch.

Had the Lakers made freethrows in the quarter, they might have won by a decently sized margin. The Lakers were in the bonus early and getting to the line consistently, but just weren’t sinking them. The lead was down to 5 when AD returned.

With 3:20 left, Pat Bev sunk a huge three to cut it to 1. He then picked his man clean at midcourt and would have gone in for an uncontested layup, but the refs called him for a foul (it was overturned after a challenge, but the Lakers wouldn’t score on that possession).

LeBron buried a three in transition to take a lead. The Pacers took it back. We found Bron under the hoop for FTs with a minute left, he’d make both clutch ones to take the lead. The Pacers responded again.

Then the game came down to Anthony Davis. On the offensive end, he got the ball in the post, spun into a fade, falling back, a tough shot, arching high…nothing but net. On the other end, the defensive play of the game. Haliburton tried to attack AD on iso and Davis ate up that drive with a smothering block.

“I saw when he left the ground, he had to shoot it so I just timed it, used my defensive instincts,” Davis said.

He then yapped at the fans as Pat Bev went to the line for two FTs. Bev would miss those. Once again, the Pacers would have a chance to snatch a win away from the Lakers at the buzzer. The Laker guards trapped Hield in the corner, he threw up a tough shot, it nearly went, but AD secured the board and the win, 112-111.

“AD did a hell of a job cleaning up the glass,” Ham said. This time the Lakers pulled off the comeback and took another close road win.


LeBron -- -- He would miss his first three shots, then knock down his next 11-16 after that. Threes, turnarounds from the baselines, drives for layups. He had a couple big ones late. He drained a huge three to get us over the hump and take the lead in the fourth quarter. He’d also make both clutch FTs with 1:09 left when Schröder found him under the hoop. Some great passes by Bron in this one, a no-look bullet to Bev who scored a layup and another to AD, as well. There was a stretch in the fourth we went with some small ball with Bron and Rui as the bigs. Bron played big during that stretch. He imposed his size and was active on the offensive glass. I believe defensively, we also saw some zone in the mix there with that group. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 11-19 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 7 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a -4.

Davis -- -- Very aggressive start as our guards seemed to be looking for him. He got a number of scores early on dump offs and finds in the paint. He was also putting pressure on the offensive glass, which allowed for some second chances. Defensively, great challenge in the third on a corner three to force an airball, he swatted another drive and controlled it. To close the game, that block on Haliburton was huge. This is our advantage. When the game is on the line, it’s the default of most teams to get a switch and attack a big. They tried attacking AD and paid the price. The Knicks tried attacking him with Randle and paid the price. You need to go somewhere else at the end of games. After AD scored that huge turnaround with 33 seconds left (AD was falling backwards), then blocked the shot, he let the crowd know it. Random play late from AD that I also wanted to mention. He found Bron for a score on a great read. LeBron was being fronted in the post. AD read the high-low, flashed to the middle up high, took the pass and instantly bounced to Bron for the layup. These two are great to watch. It would be nice to have a long, healthy stretch for the both of them. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 13-27 shooting (0-3 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 14 boards (5 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -6.

Hachimura -- -- Quiet night for Rui. His three buckets tonight were a mix. He attacked on iso, got to the middle of the lane and hit a short fade. He scored a layup on an inbounds under the hoop. He posted up and scored an And-1, up-faking the help defender after taking a pass over the top of the D. Later in the fourth, he’d draw FTs on the offensive glass. Good job on the glass. Prior to coming here, we’d been getting destroyed on the offensive glass. Rui happened to arrive with AD’s return and the Lakers have been holding the line. Pacers with just 6 tonight compared to 13 from L.A. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 steal and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -4.

Schröder -- -- He helped the Lakers get off to a good start in the second half, sinking a couple of threes early. Some solid play in the fourth. He drew a few FTs, unfortunately, the poor FT shooting also caught him as he missed both on one trip to the line. Normally, he’s been reliable. He attacked and fed AD for a dunk. He found Bron under the hoop for FTs with 1:09 left. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -4.

Beverley -- -- Early on, he was setting up teammates at a high clip. He found Bryant for a three. He hit AD after probing baseline for another score. He found Brown cutting off Bev’s drive. A couple of blocks in this one, including a nice closeout on a three. In the fourth quarter, he was mixing it up with big plays. He pressured his man to step on the sideline. Got a good challenge in on a Turner three to force a brick. He denied Haliburton on a drive. Then sank a three to take the lead on the other end. Then, he was robbed of a huge steal that he would have taken for a score. Had he gotten that, his stamp was all over this W. But the refs whistled a foul and we had to challenge and get it overturned. He then had a great steal defending the two-man game as he switched onto the big and was able to swipe the pass away. He led the team with a +16. Next highest was a +5. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +16.

Bryant -- -- Short stint, but a pretty decent one. He made everything he took, scoring 11 in just 12 minutes. He had a pick and pop three on his first touch, working with Bev. He changed ends with speed for a dunk. In the second half, another rim run and Russ found him for a layup. He’d also score on an offensive board and putback. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 blocks and no fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +4.

Westbrook -- -- While Bron would miss his first few, then score on a highly efficient basis the rest of the way, Russ did the opposite. He’d make a couple of midrange jumpers early on, then he’d miss his next 13 shots in a row. It probably wasn’t as painful as you might imagine because he mixed in some getting to the line with a number of good passes to setup teammates. But still, nothing was going for him. Thankfully, he didn’t force the issue down the stretch. We closed with a smaller guard trio instead of Rui in this one. Russ stayed out of trouble mostly down the stretch (there was a bad defensive sequence where he got stuck on a screen, but no loud mistakes). The Stats: He scored 10 points on 2-16 shooting (0-5 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 10 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +0.

Brown -- -- Not much in this one. His only bucket was a layup he scored in the first quarter cutting off a Pat Bev drive to take a pass. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 fro, three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -3.

Walker IV -- -- Also a quiet night from Lonnie as well. He got a layup in transition as his only hoop and earned some FTs. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +5.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: I guess let’s go with the final defensive stand, since the Lakers got killed against the Pacers last time on their final stand. First, the Lakers were had a foul to give and Bev took that after a few seconds. The Pacers then got the ball into Hield, but he was in the corner. Our guards pounced on a trap and forced him into a tough angle shot behind the backboard (nearly went it, but that wasn’t an easy look). AD got the board and secured the win. Ham said the trap was just a read by the guards and not planned.

Key Substitution: The Lakers started the fourth with Bryant/Rui/Walker,/Russ/Beverly lineup. No AD or LeBron. By the time LBJ checked in with 9:22, the Lakers had chipped a few points off the lead. The 12-point lead would be down to 5 by the time AD would return. Great job by those units holding the Pacers scoreless for a few minute stretch.

Key Stats: The Pacers were Jekyll and Hyde in the two halves from behind the arc as mentioned above. They also beat the Lakers 15-5 on the break in the first half. The FTAs were massively different in this one. The Lakers shot 22-31. The Pacers shot 5-6. The Pacers were in trouble getting into the penalty early in the fourth. Had the Lakers not gone stone cold from the line, they might have won the fourth something like 35-15 instead of 28-15.

Coach’s Challenge: After Pat Bev hit a three to cut it to 1, he looked like got a clean steal on a reach that would have let him go in for an uncontested layup. The refs called a foul and the Lakers decided to challenge. The challenge was successful and the Lakers got the ball. Too bad he didn’t get to score, too, that would have been huge. The Lakers ended up not scoring on that possession (despite Ham calling another timeout after our first miss.

[JM]

Thanks for recap.

[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB! I was at a family event checking my phone every 5 minutes (to my wife's disapproving looks). A win is worth her being miffed.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[pio2u]

"The Lakers snatched victory from the jaws of defeat." Thx DB

[Hanging from Rafters]

Thanks DB! Appreciate the write up.

The team is in desperate need of a 6'7" or taller SF that can defend off the bench to allow Ham to move away from the Walker/Russ/Bev type of line-ups. In fairness to them...they did shave 7 points off the deficit cutting the Pacer lead from 12 to 5 points before starters began to return but still...need an upgrade there to compete consistently at the level needed for the type of success desired.
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Just win baby!!!

[Laker4lifer4real]

I have a hunch NBA says AD fouled Halliburton to make it look like we were recipients of a no foul call, like they did us a favor. Clean block, but they could say he pushed Halliburton down.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[ThePageDude]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[danzag]

AD ON THE (bleep) WAY