INDIANAPOLIS — LeBron James’ buzzer-beating tip-in gave the Lakers a 120-119 win over the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.
The Pacers snapped a five-game winning streak and fell to 42-30 but stay in fourth place in the East. The Lakers improved to 44-28.
James finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 34 points, Austin Reaves had 24 points and forward Rui Hachimura had 14. Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 23 points. Tyrese Haliburton posted 16 points and 18 assists.
Here are three observations.
LeBron’s tip-in ripped Pacers’ hearts out
The Pacers came back from down 17 points after a horrendous second quarter and took a lead on a three-point play by Haliburton with 42 seconds to go. A Jarace Walker block got the Pacers the ball back but Mathurin missed a 3 to give the Lakers another chance.
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Doncic missed an attempt at a floater but James was there to tip it in right before the buzzer sounded to put he game away.
Pacers follow brutal second quarter with remarkable third
The Pacers seemed on their way to a blowout defeat at the end of a horrendous second quarter but managed to will themselves into it with a spectacular third to make for another fascinating finish.
The Pacers held a 33-28 lead at the end of the first quarter but allowed the Lakers to start the second quarter on a 21-3 run to take control and hold it. The Lakers won the second period 40-22 shooting 12-of-17 from the field and 12-of-12 at the line for the period posting 1.65 points per possession while the Pacers made just 7-of-25 field goals and posted 0.87 points per possession.
However the Pacers flipped it around with a third-quarter that was as brilliant as the second was awful. They made 12 of their first 14 shots and finished 14-of-19 from the floor, 4-of-8 from 3 and 5-of-6 at the line for 37 points, 1.71 per possession and the Pacers went into the fourth down just three points after being down 13 at the break.
Tyrese Haliburton continues streak
Haliburton didn’t have his best shooting night, finishing 7-of-16 from the floor and 1-of-9 from 3-point range, but he still scored 16 points and his absurd run of high-assist, low-turnover games continued with 18 assists against just one turnover.
That makes 12 straight points-assists double-doubles for Haliburton. In each of his 13 games since the All-Star break, he has at least nine assists and a total of 160 assists vs. 14 turnovers.