INDIANAPOLIS — After a historic three quarters on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers for reasons reasons the Lakers and LeBron James likely wouldn’t want, attention shifted toward whether James’ double-digit scoring streak would continue.
The streak stayed alive and the 40-year-old James made the biggest shot of the game, tipping in a putback of a Luka Doncic miss as time expired to secure a 120-119 victory over the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse that ended the Lakers’ three-game losing streak.
James finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, with all four of the field goals he made coming in the fourth quarter, including the dramatic final basket.
Doncic had 34 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Austin Reaves had 24 points, five assists and four rebounds as the Lakers (44-28) won for just the fourth time in their past 11 games and moved into a tie with Memphis for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
The Lakers next face the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, which will be the second night of a back-to-back set and the third game of a four-game trip that ends Saturday in Memphis.
For the first time in his 22-season NBA career, with Wednesday being his 1,553rd regular-season game, James didn’t make a field goal in the first three quarters, having just three points off of free throws and going 0 for 6 from the field entering the final period with the Lakers leading 95-92.
James helped provide the Lakers with a cushion early in the fourth, scoring eight of the team’s first 10 points of the quarter on a pair of layups, a couple of free throws and an 18-footer for a 105-92 lead.
Bennedict Mathurin (team-high 23 points off the bench) led the Pacers on a 11-0 run that cut the Lakers’ lead to two with less than eight minutes left, and neither team led by more than six the rest of the way.
The Lakers took a 118-112 lead after a pair of 3-pointers from Rui Hachimura, who finished with 14 points in his first start since returning from a left knee injury.
The Lakers sputtered late behind turnovers and defensive mistakes, but after a Mathurin 3-point miss, James made the hustle play the team needed to end its drought.
Tyrese Haliburton had a season-high 18 assists and 16 points, the last of which gave Indiana a 119-118 lead with 42.2 seconds left. Indiana had streaks of five straight wins overall and eight straight at home snapped.
More to come on this story.
