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The Los Angeles Lakers have generally dominated the Pacers for the first 20 minutes of the game until a late rally by the Pacers cut the Lakers lead to three at the half at Staples Center. Kobe Bryant is leading all scorers from both teams with 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field with four rebounds. Pau Gasol is leading the Lakers in rebounding with five.
Metta World Peace is shooting well coming off the bench with nine points in nine minutes going 4 of 6 from the field.
David West has been the most efficient scorer for the Pacers and the game overall, making seven of ten shots from the field and 15 points to show for it.
The Lakers led the Pacers by 12 points with 4:23 left to go in the half, but West and Danny Granger were scoring at will against the Lakers defense, including a 3-pointer to end the half to conclude the first half by a score of 52-49.
The Los Angeles Lakers welcome a red hot Indiana Pacers team that have won six of their last eight games. With a suitable big man in the middle in Roy Hibbert and perimeter scoring, the Pacers find themselves fifth in the East standings in the middle of teams.
Records: Lakers 10-7; Pacers 10-4
Location: Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
Time: 6:30 p.m. PST
TV: Game will be televised on FS West with Bill MacDonald and Stu Lantz on the call.
Offensive Rating: Lakers 101.4 points per 100 possessions (18th out of 30); Pacers 101.3 points per 100 possessions (19th out of 30)
Defensive Efficiency: Lakers 99.1 (sixth); 97.4 (fourth)
Home cooking: The Lakers have won nine straight game at Staples Center with their lone loss in the season opener against the Chicago Bulls.
Even against the greats: On the Season the Lakers are 6-6 against teams with records of .500 or higher. The Pacers have only faced three teams with records above .500, in which they are 1-2.
For more news and information about the Lakers, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.
After losing on the road to both the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic by a combined 23 points, the Los Angeles Lakers return home to Staples Center for home cooking as they look to win their tenth straight victory in Los Angeles against the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers (10-4) are one of the better 3-point shooting teams as they hit 38.1 percent from the floor. This rangy team is also second in the league in rebounds led by center Roy Hibbert who has seen his rebound numbers have a healthy jump from last season's 7.5 to 10.1, a career high. He will face the Lakers' Andrew Bynum, who is coming off a dismal performance in Orlando where he had five fouls in 26 minutes of play.
Leading the offensive charge for the Pacers will be Danny Granger. Although he is seeing a dip in his points per game average with 16.2, he has made 20 or more points in three of his last five games, including a 26 point performance in Friday's game against the Warriors where he shot 10 of 16 field goals.
As stated before, the Pacers are a great perimeter shooting team so look for the Lakers to rely on their defense on the outside as Indiana knows how to spread the floor.
For more on the Lakers, please visit Silver Screen and Roll.
Lakers Vs. Pacers: LA Loses Third Straight As They Blow Lead To Pacers And Suffer Second Loss At Home, 98-96
The Los Angeles Lakers hoped to rebound from two difficult losses on the road with a home win tonight, instead, the Indiana Pacers came into Staples Center and handed the Lakers their second loss of the season when playing in Los Angeles as the Lakers drop their third straight game and falling to 10-8 in the season.
Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 33 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, but it was not enough to overcome a balanced scoring attack from the Pacers.
No Pacer had more than 20 points in the game, but six players scored over 10 with Roy Hibbert leading Indiana with 18.
Pau Gasol surprisingly led both teams in assists with 10, but only shot 4 of 12 from the field with 8 points and eight rebounds.
Indiana, who are a great perimeter shooting team, made 10 3-point field goals in the game and made 16 of 19 from the charity stripe. The Lakers on the other hand missed 11 free throws.
Lakers led by 12 with four minutes left to play in the first half until David West of Indiana got hot, making three field goals, two of them 3-point field goals, to cut the Lakers lead to three by the half. In the second half, both teams played a seesaw affair as there were seven lead changes in the fourth quarter with the Pacers ultimately going on top.
The Lakers will host the Clippers on Wednesday as they hope to end their three game losing streak. Gametime is at 7:30 p.m. PT.
For more information on tonight’s game, visit Silver Screen and Roll.
Jan 22 9:30p by Julio Nievas