LeBron James

Lakers Surrender 24-Point Lead Before Pulling Away Late Against Pacers

After surrendering a 24-point first quarter lead, the Lakers returned to life, bouncing back with a 104-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday Night at Staples Center.

"Now, boys, don't get caught watching the paint dry."

After surrendering a 24-point first quarter lead, the Lakers returned to life, bouncing back with a 104-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday Night at Staples Center.

LeBron James led all scorers with 38 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. He scored 12 of those 38 points in the final five minutes of the game as the 14-time All-Star took over down the stretch.

"That's been one of the challenging things I've been battling with since the season started," said James of when to take over and when to defer to his teammates. "How much do I defer and allow our young guys to try and figure it out and how much do I try and take over games? Tonight was one of those instances they looked at me and they wanted me to close the game."

The Lakers got a pregame speech from Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington on Wednesday, and then went out and played an inspired first half of basketball, leading 38-15 after the first quarter.

"We were very physical," said James of the first quarter surge. "We made them start their offense outside the timeline. Even when we made mistakes, we got back and got mulitple blocks. It was a good first quarter for us."

The 38 points tied a season-high in the first quarter for the Lakers, and the 15 points allowed was a new season-low (previous low was 16 points against the Utah Jazz on 11/23).

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Staring at a 24-point deficit on the road without their best player, Indiana did not wave the white flag, and continued to chip away at the lead, trailing by just six points at halftime.

"You just can't dig a hole for yourself and not come in here ready to play and not come out with a sense of urgency this time in the season," said Pacers head coach Nate McMillan. "I don't care where you are--on the road or at home--I don't have any words for that start.

The Pacers completed the comeback with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter when Tyreke Evans drained a three to give Indiana a 69-66 lead.

"Our main goal was to come out with energy, make a lead and contain it," said Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis of the second half. "It's tough to come back in 38 minutes, you have to burn a lot of energy."

The Lakers' struggles could directly be attributed to their three-point shooting as they started the game 3-for-5 before missing their next 10 shots from beyond the arc.

Josh Hart provided a spark off the bench, scoring 13 points as they Lakers came roaring back to get the win. Brandon Ingram had 14 points.

"It's a game of runs," said Hart. "We just focused on getting stops and converting on the offensive end. Nobody was panicking. Nobody was doubting."

Sabonis led the Pacers with a team-high 20 points and 15 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 14 points.

Pacers All-Star, Victor Oladipo, did not play in the game and has missed the team's last six contests with a right knee injury.

TIP-INS 

Pacers: Oladipo scrimmaged in half-court work before the game, but couldn't return. He could go through a full practice Friday. ... Indiana fell short of its eighth road victory already this season. Only Toronto and Utah have more.

Lakers: Lonzo Ball had two points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes while playing through an ankle injury. Ball sprained his ankle in LA's loss at Denver on Tuesday, but made good on his vow to play through it. ... Lance Stephenson played five scoreless minutes. He played in all 82 games last season for the Pacers in his second stint with the club, averaging 9.2 points. ... Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points.

UP NEXT

Pacers: At Sacramento on Saturday night.

Lakers: Host Dallas on Friday night.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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