Pacers 79, Lakers 77: George Hill converted a driving layup with one-tenth of a second remaining in the fourth quarter as Indiana overcame a 40-point performance by Kobe Bryant to post its third straight road win over Los Angeles.
Hill finished with a team-high 19 points and David West added 16 and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who kicked off their four-game road trip with just their fourth win in Los Angeles since 1992.
Bryant, who was battling flu-like symptoms, shot 12-for-28 from the field and 5-for-11 from 3-point range en route to his 114th career 40-point effort. He grabbed 10 rebounds but also committed 10 of the Lakers' 19 turnovers.
Bryant scored 13 of the 21 points produced in the first quarter by Los Angeles, which managed only 12 in the second - half of which were contributed by Dwight Howard, who finished with 17. Indiana led 40-33 at the half and increased its advantage to 13 in the third before Bryant poured in eight straight points to cut the Lakers' deficit to 55-50 with 2:56 left in the period.
A 3-pointer by Bryant with seven minutes remaining in the fourth drew Los Angeles within 67-66, and the superstar drilled another shot from beyond the arc with 24.5 seconds left to forge a 77-77 tie. But Hill let time wind down before making his game-winning basket, which handed the Lakers their third loss in four games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: After Indiana used an 8-0 run to take a 25-13 lead with just over three minutes left in the first quarter, Los Angeles answered with an 8-0 burst of its own, with Bryant scoring six straight points in the final 1:19 of the period. ... West hit a jump shot with 4:46 remaining in the second to snap a stretch of nearly four minutes without a point being scored. ... Bryant scored all 13 of his third-quarter points in the final 3:55. He and Howard combined for 42 of the Lakers' 57 points through three periods.
Indiana | L.A. Lakers | |
George Hill 19 | Scoring | Kobe Bryant 40 |
David West 8 | Assists | Metta World Peace 4 |
David West 10 | Rebounds | Metta World Peace 12 |
Ian Mahinmi 7 | Free Throws Made | Kobe Bryant 11 |
Paul George 2 | Steals | Kobe Bryant 3 |
Roy Hibbert 3 | Blocks | Dwight Howard 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Indiana | 79 | 36.7 | 4-19 | 17-27 | 17 | 50 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
L.A. Lakers | 77 | 31.6 | 6-28 | 23-43 | 13 | 56 | 5 | 10 | 21 |