This game was sloppier than a nightclub bathroom on a Friday night after 3 AM folks. I felt like I just watched two and a half games of basketball based on the rise and fall of Laker emotions. The Lakers played their best quarter of the entire year en route to a 23-point first quarter lead against the Victor Oladipo-less Indiana Pacers - then they let them tie the game in the early third! The Pacers pushed, but LeBron took over in the crucial moments of the fourth (38 pts, 9 rebs, 7 assists, 15/27 FG, 13 fourth q points) to get the Lakers back on track with a 104-98 win on Thursday night.
Check the quarter-by-quarter breakdown below! Experience my various stages of a near-mental breakdown!
Game Recap
First Quarter
The Lakers started the year off pounding the floor in transition, but they've swayed away from their ways in the recent weeks. This time around, they got out running in the first three possessions which was encouraging as hell. LeBron was noticeably aggressive, but he still couldn't hit his free throws for the life of him. It didn't matter though, as the Pacers started out shooting putridly going 0/11 from the field before they made their first shot! LA was up 13-2 in the early going.
After a timeout, the Laker train kept rolling! The defensive/rebounding effort was incredible relative to their previous performances. They weren't letting the Pacers get anything up at the rim. Even Lonzo Ball joined the rim protection party with an absolutely monstrous LeBron-esque chasedown block. Everybody in a Laker jersey was clicking on all cylinders and it all stemmed from their emphasis on defense. They established an encouraging lead after the first twelve minutes of play, 38-15. Not having to go against Victor Oladipo will do that against you. If they kept this level of play up it was going to be done early!
Second Quarter
You could tell the Lakers were tired, but they kept that same defensive energy through the first few minutes of the second. Luke ran more Ingram and Point Guard lineups which I've slowly become a hater of. He needs to have LeBron or Lonzo in there running point at all times. I just don't trust Ingram's shot selection and ability to take care of the ball right now. Still, they managed to keep it around a twenty-point-game during the first six minutes - but it didn't look pretty.
Domantas Sabonis looked like the only guy doing anything for the Pacers. They were down by 20-plus early, but he was still down low battling. He bruised down low for a dunk and nailed a triple to cut it to a twelve-point game.
And of course, the Pacers came back! The Lakers are just awful at putting their foot on their enemy's throats. This game had all the makings of a blowout after that strong first quarter but now it could be all tied up with only a few strong possessions by the Pacers. Lakers called a timeout to regroup with five minutes to play in the half, 52-40.
The starters(LeBron, Ingram, Kuzma, Lonzo) were all back in plus Tyson Chandler from the bench. The Lakeshow drew up some serious momentum with a great sequence of plays by Kyle Kuzma. They had a serious chance to push their lead back to twenty but a Lonzo Ball botched played seemed to shift it all. Lonzo got a cunning steal while the entire Pacers team was at the other side of the court. All he had to do was lay it up and it'd send them back up twenty - but he passed unnecessarily to Tyson Chandler! The Pacers got the ball and swung that momentum right back into their playing field to close the half only down by six, 50-56. The Lakers were up by 23 after the first quarter...and now only six.
Third Quarter
Things just snowballed in the third for the Lakers as the Pacers came charging out of the gate to and make it a three-point game. The Pacers had the ball with it all tied up at 66 and took the freakin' lead on a Tyreke Evans three-ball. Pacers ahead 69-66. It was a monumentally embarrassing result after being up by 23 in the first quarter, and the Pacers didn't even have Victor Oladipo! The Lakers just looked like a dumpster fire on both ends of the floor.
This disgusting showing up a game prompted LeBron to finally take control of the team. He started cutting, dishing and driving hard to the hoop for buckets and assists. LA managed to give themselves some breathing room after an emotion-heightening run from their star. They led by eight at the conclusion of the third, 75-83.
Fourth Quarter
And the third quarter's ugliness reared it's head into the fourth. Luke Walton kept rolling with the BI at PG lineup which resulted in some scattered defense and suspect offense. He finally brought LeBron back in after Indiana whittled the lead to four 83-87. The failures from the second quarter were still haunting this Laker squad. They just couldn't break free from Indy. A little under seven minutes to play.
With a spinning and-1 layup, LeBron pushed the Laker lead to seven 88-95. Four minutes left to play and it felt like we had four more quarters. The Pacers had a ton of opportunities to go ahead in this game but they kept blowing them in an embarrassing fashion. The latest of which was a wide-open Tyreke Evans layup that he let go too early that MISSED SHORT OF THE FREAKIN RIM.
After that hilarious play, the Lakers actually managed to close this game strong on a run. That was honestly the last thing I expected. By the way they gave up that lead I thought we were headed for a down to the wire slugfest. It was no so tonight. What a weird game. They must've gotten their "blowing the game" energy out in the second and third quarter. Lakers win 104-96.
Takeaways
What a shitshow of a game. The Lakers have done this a couple times this year. They've come out BLAZING to start the first doing everything they're supposed to do. Defend like the 2004 Pistons, gang-rebound, run in transition like Showtime, and all-around dominate the competition. But then the second quarter comes around...and they forget how to play basketball. Given, Indiana shot awfully in the first period, but if the Lakers kept that same first-quarter energy for every quarter they could beat any team in the league. It's too bad that just doesn't seem sustainable.
That first quarter was beautiful. Brandon Ingram was being utilized more as a cutter instead of a shooter and it led to great success(cue Borat thumbs up face). But then he was thrown in a point guard role in the second which he has struggled mightily with. He played some great minutes at point guard last year when Lonzo went down but I don't know...this year he just doesn't have it. He turns it over and chucks awful airballs all while looking quite unsure of himself. Maybe it's a mental thing for him, knowing that he's the one in the spotlight and he's expected to succeed. The point guard situation had less pressure last year. He looked like a completely different player when asked to play point. I hope Luke somehow comes to his senses and has either LeBron, Lonzo, or Rondo on the court at all times as the main rock-handler.
Give the Lakers credit though. A big reason they came back to win it at the end was because of their defense in the fourth. The D led to offensive opportunities and home crowd momentum. Josh Hart had another incredibly efficient outing with limited opportunities. I feel like he never plays Josh Hart enough for how well he performs, but tonight Hart put up 13 points and 3 steals on 6/7 shooting in 25 minutes. He was a serious spark plug when the Lakers were down in the middling quarters.
I hope Luke gives Josh Hart the starting role soon. He has arguably been the most consistent guy in terms of pure effort out of everyone on the team! Maybe JaVale would be close, but Hart's energy in the starting unit would aid in setting the tone strong from the get-go. They started things well tonight with him coming off the bench, but in those closer games on the road you're going to want a warrior like Josh in with the starters.
This game was a walk through hell and back, but every win counts in the 2018-19 Western Conference. Us dropping this winnable one would've been another frustratingly hard pill to swallow. A one or two game skid can be the difference between currently being a middling playoff seed and falling out of the top eight. Overall, I'm pleased with the result. All of their bad habits made an appearance tonight but they battled when they were punched back.
Check out the game highlights below
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