Los Angeles Lakers Lose to the Indiana Pacers 118-117

In an unexpected defeat, the Lakers lost to the Indiana Pacers 118-117 last night after becoming unglued in the fourth quarter. Approaching the fourth quarter the Pacers had a 16-point deficit but they were able to overcome it to beat the Lakers largely due to a last-second tip-in by forward Troy Murphy. Lakers coach Phil Jackson told the L.A. Times the play that basically ended the game was “fortuitous.” As for Pacers coach Jim O’Brien, he said the game was “special … a great, great feeling for everyone who is a Pacer.” The Lakers posted 30-36-35 across the first three quarters but fell apart in the fourth, 32-16.

Lakers Lamar Odom weighed in on the loss: “That’s what happens when you put yourself in a position against a team that we should have beat by 10 or more points. We had them down 16 in the fourth. That was our first letdown of the season.” The Lakers had only 18 assists to the Pacers’ 27 and although the Lakers were awarded more than double the free throws of the Pacers, they were only able to capitalize on 73.3% (33 of 45) of them while the Pacers made 95.2% (20 of 21). To summarize Kobe Bryant told the Times, “We could have done much better, obviosuly, defensively. We’re not happy about that. We’ve got to get back on track.”

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