Tonight’s contest, the last before the NBA All-Star game break, the (11-43) Los Angeles Lakers have taken a one hour flight 263 miles, 229 nautical miles northeast (62 degrees from north) from Indianapolis, Indiana to Cleveland, the second largest city in the state of Ohio for a run with the (37-14) Cavaliers at the Quicken Loans Arena. In their previous game, the furious rally the purple and gold put on to overcome a 17-point third quarter deficit came up short. Playing his final game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Kobe Bryant gave the fans one last thrill, heated up after a cold shooting start, then cooled off again, even knocked down three consecutive shots from behind the three-point arc to give the Lakers a three-point lead, 82-79, with 2:30 remaining. …show more content…
The game provided three clear positives for the Lakers; five players scored in double digits (Kobe Bryant 19, D’Angelo Russell 16, Julius Randle 15, Lou Williams 13 and Jordan Clarkson 10 points), Julius Randle posted another double-double scoring 15 points and securing 19 rebounds and the purple and gold were competitive against a playoff team on the road ranked eight in the NBA defensively. The numbers you need to know; 53, 44, 31, 23, 12, 11 and 8. The Lakers surrendered 53 rebounds to the Pacers, allowed 44 points in the paint, shot 31.2-percent from the field, also shot 22.9-percent (8-35) from behind the three-point arc in addition to committing 12 turnovers resulting in 15 points off said turnovers. The Lakers lost two games to the Pacers decided by a grand total of 11 points. Both the Pacers and Lakers shot poorly, but let’s be honest there is nothing more disheartening than losing a close winnable game by two points knowing that you missed five free