Lyou Indiana Pacers stripped this Wednesday the miseries of Los Angeles Lakers, who failed on their field against one of the worst teams in the league and once again proved to be an extremely weak and inconsistent team (104-111).
the pacers, third from bottom in the East and that they had only won one of their last ten matches, swept the Angelenos in the last quarter (24-35) and they shattered the illusions of some Lakers who arrived with renewed hopes after their victory on Monday against the Utah Jazz (101-95).
Little or nothing remains of that optimism in some Lakers with their project of veteran stars in very low hours and with their coach, Frank Vogel, on the tightrope.
an exceptional Caris LeVert, with 22 points in the last quarter for a total of 30 points and 8 rebounds, he was in charge together with Domantas Sabonis (triple-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists) to inflict on the Lakers one of the most painful defeats of his season.
LeBron James I pulled the car again (30 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists), but it was not enough for the Lakers who lost the battle for the rebound (40 vs. 48) and who showed many problems in the toe (5 of 17 attempts for Russell Westbrook and 0 of 5 in triples for Carmelo Anthony).
Dominican Chris Duarte played 32 minutes for the Pacers in which he had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block.
from more to less
Still buoyed by their heartwarming win over the Utah Jazz on Monday, the Lakers started the game strong, LeBron James he went into rapid combustion and his defense deactivated some little connected Pacers (9-2 with 9.06 on the clock).
Domantas Sabonis, the only defensive resource for the Indiana team at the start, received the help of Malcolm Brogdon on the outside and Goga Bitadze in the paint to rejoin as soon as possible (15-12 with 5.06 to play).
The reaction of the Lakers was commendable, especially from the players who came off the bench.
Talen Horton-Tucker y Carmelo Anthony They launched the locals (29-17 with 2.26) against some visitors who entrusted themselves to Chris Duarte to resist.
Very brave and brave, the Dominican made a triple with additional, placed a great block to Austin Reaves and he fought with everyone under the rim to score another important basket that left the game tighter than what was seen on the court suggested (32-23).
LeBron and Horton-Tucker continued in the second quarter knocking down everyone who got in front of them, but the purple and gold quintet couldn’t find a way to stop a Sabonis who began to grow (44-31 in the absence of 7.04 for the break).
The Pacers defense was a drama, but the Lakers, perhaps too confident, missed the opportunity to blow up the game and instead conceded a 7-0 run (47-40 with 3.49 left).
The Lakers didn’t finish the first half with great feelings (56-50 after having a 15-point lead), but at least they saw LeBron on the last play (18 points at halftime) flying to hit a fantastic “alley-oop” served by Malik Monk.
For their part, the Pacers were not inspired from the triple in the first two quarters (3 of 12), but they made up for it with 34 points in the paint (20 for the Lakers) and rebound control (27 for 22).
The ghost of the third quarter
Among his many evils in that season, one very prominent of the Lakers is his inability to perform at his best in the third quarter.
Those birds after passing through the locker room have taken him to the last quarters on numerous occasions on the edge of a knife or – worse yet – have taken him out of the match before time.
Tonight the script was repeated with a sloppy start and nothing intense in the third quarter, so much so that the Pacers began to believe in their chances and tied the score (64-64 with 5.27)
Brogdon pocketed the game in that third quarter and led the Pacers to their first leads of the game, but the Lakers responded with Anthony in charge and -this time s- a defense to match to go ahead to the last quarter (80-76).
Frank Vogel cast his lot in a low quintet, as dynamic in attack as unprotected in defense, and Caris LeVert revealed the shortcomings of the Lakers and regained the advantage for the visitors (87-88 with 8.45 to go).
LeVert seemed absolutely unstoppable by then and Vogel had to stop the game again because the Lakers were missing (87-95 with 6.53 to go after a 0-7 run).
The locals wanted to run before going on their comeback, but two triples in a row by LeVert and Sabonis, with less than three minutes to go, sentenced some sunken Lakers who left between murmurs and some whistles from their fans.
