Pacers at Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers suffered through a terrible performance at Denver on Tuesday, but the next chance to redeem themselves is right around the corner. The Lakers will try to bounce back and avoid a three-game slide when they host the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.
Los Angeles shot 39.1 percent from the floor and went 5-of-35 from 3-point range in the 117-85 setback at Denver, and veteran center Tyson Chandler felt the team let its shooting impact other areas of the game. "It can't be just about hitting shots and feeling good about yourself," Chandler told the Los Angeles Daily News. "It has to be all the time. Like, we got to be able to hit teams with waves. That's the only way we’re going to have real success and try to wear teams down. And if we're relying on our shots, we'll have long nights." The Pacers took the first two stops of a four-game road trip, blowing out the Utah Jazz on Monday before sneaking past the Phoenix Suns 109-104 the next night. "We weren’t sharp in this game, but you have to find a way to win games like that," Indiana coach Nate McMillan told reporters after beating the Suns. "I thought they gutted it out in that fourth quarter. We didn't even win that fourth quarter. We were able to get this one."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (11-9): LeBron James scored a season-low 14 points on Tuesday but the most concerning part of the loss for Los Angeles was when point guard Lonzo Ball went down with a sprained ankle and had to be removed from the game. X-rays came back negative and Ball insisted that he will play on Thursday, but the Lakers are being cautious. "It hurts," coach Luke Walton told reporters of being without both Ball and fellow point guard Rajon Rondo (wrist). "We have other guys that we trust - Brandon (Ingram), LeBron that can play that for us - but they do other things for us, too. So, it's not ideal, but we'll get a better feel for what we're looking at probably after this flight and into tomorrow morning with (Ball)."
ABOUT THE PACERS (13-8): Indiana played its last five games without leading scorer Victor Oladipo (21.4 points) due to a knee injury, but is finding ways to score up and down the roster. The reserves took charge in Tuesday's win, with power forward Domantas Sabonis collecting 21 points and 16 rebounds and small forward Doug McDermott scoring 21 points while knocking down 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. "I think I'm just getting a little better rhythm, getting some screens, some pin-downs, just getting a little ball movement out there," McDermott told reporters. "It's really helping us out a lot. Domantas has done a really good job of setting the tone and finding me and screening me, which has been huge, because as a shooter I rely on big guys like him."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers PG Darren Collison handed out 11 assists in each of the last two games.
2. Lakers SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is 4-of-20 from the floor over the last three games, including 2-of-13 from beyond the arc.
3. The home team took the last five meetings in the series.