The Indiana Pacers beat the LA Lakers 104-92 to end their final extended west coast road trip 3-2, improving their league-leading record to 35-9.
It wasn't a petty game despite the fact that the Pacers only turned it over a seaosn-low four times. The defense still isn't quite in synch and the offense looked predictable at times. They were just lucky the Lakers were worse, allowing the Pacers to blow open a close game in the fourth quarter.
Paul George was an awful 4-21 from the field and finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. David West had 19 on 8-14 shooting. Roy Hibbert had a quiet double-double with 11 and 10, George HIll had 13 and Lance Stephenson had 15, 14 and 6. Danny Granger shot just 3-10 and finished with 10 points.
The Pacers started off great on this trip against the Warriors, got blown out by Phoenix, edged Sacramento in OT and got run off their feet in Denver. They haven't played well, giving up more than 100 points in the first four games, turned the ball over and struggled against teams they would normally beat comfortably at home. The last game of the road trip is often the hardest, and fortunately for the Pacers, they played the woeful Lakers.
They must be desperate to get back to Indiana to work some kinks out. They'll need to in order to hold on to their lead against the Heat, and if you're looking at the league as a whole, the streaking Thunder.
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