The Los Angeles Lakers saw their nine-game winning streak snapped in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, but they got the best opportunity to bounce back as they took on the Indiana Pacers to finish out the road trip.
Unlike the Lakers, the Pacers are tanking the 2025-26 season so the expectation was the former would have no problem pulling off a win. That ended up being exactly the case as Los Angeles raced out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back.
While the Pacers made a couple of runs to trim the deficit, the Lakers were never truly in trouble as their offense got just about anything it wanted. Whether it was in the paint, mid-range or beyond the arc, Los Angeles generated quality shots almost every time down the floor.
The Lakers managed to go wire-to-wire and beat the Pacers 137-130, bringing their record to 47-26. Los Angeles now has a two-game lead over the Denver Nuggets for the third seed in the Western Conference.
Facing his former head coach Rick Carlisle, Luka Doncic seemed determined to show him and the rest of the league that he’s deserving of MVP. From the jump, Doncic bullied Indiana’s defense either as a scorer or a playmaker. Sensing that the Pacers had no shot of defending him, Doncic looked like he was enjoying himself as he almost casually dissected their defense.
Doncic’s offensive tear continued against Indiana, beating them with an array of stepback 3-pointers and post moves that kept defenders off balance. To no one’s surprise, Doncic was the game’s high scorer with 43 points on 15-of-30 shooting but he also added six rebounds, seven assists and one steal.
Austin Reaves, like Doncic, had no problems finding space to operate against the Pacers. Reaves was relatively quiet in the first half before finding his groove in the second half.
When Doncic was off the floor, Reaves took it upon himself to guide the offense and it resulted in a stat line of 25 points and eight assists.
Not to be outdone by his younger co-stars, LeBron James had a highlight-reel night. James was a terror in transition, throwing down several dunks and even putting defenders on posters.
James was efficient in his minutes and nearly had a triple-double as he finished the night with 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
What’s next for the Lakers
The Lakers return home to host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. They’ll then get a couple of much-needed days off before seeing the Washington Wizards on Monday and conclude their homestand by facing the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
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