MANILA – Los Angeles Lakers kept its outright playoffs hopes alive following a 122-115 beating of Indiana Pacers in the 2020-2021 National Basketball Association season on Saturday (Sunday in the Philippines) at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Anthony Davis tallied a double-double of 28 points and 10 rebounds while LeBron James returned from a six-game absence with 24 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds for the Lakers.
Dennis Schroder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope posted 14 and 13 markers, respectively, while Andre Drummond and Talen Horton-Tucker ended up with 11 points each for the defending champion.
The Lakers led for most of the game and were comfortably ahead 111-97 in the fourth quarter before the Pacers scored 11 straight points to trim the lead to 111-108.
The Lakers kept the Pacers at bay as James unloaded seven straight points and widened the advantage to 118-110 with under two minutes left to seal the win for the defending champion.
With their third consecutive victory, the Lakers hiked its win-loss record to 41-30 and still have a chance of bagging an outright playoffs spot in the Western Conference.
A win by the Lakers against the New Orleans Pelicans at the close of the elimination, along with a defeat by the Portland Trail Blazers (41-30) against the Denver Nuggets (47-24) will hand the LA team the outright playoffs spot.
If ever the Lakers lose and the Trail Blazers win or if both the Lakers and Trail Blazers win, Portland will clinch the outright playoffs seat while the Lakers will be relegated to the play-in tournament for the last two playoffs spot.
Caris LeVert – who was questionable entering the game with a knee injury – dropped 28 points while JaKarr Sampson added 20 markers as the Pacers dropped to 33-38.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nets (47-24) bucked a slow start as they score a 105-91 victory over Chicago Bulls (30-41) to remain in second place in the Eastern Conference.
Kyrie Irving top-scored with 22 points, Jeff Green drained five triples and finished with 19 markers, while Bruce Brown tallied double-double 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets.
BOX SCORE:
LOS ANGELES 122 – Davis 28, James 24, Schroder 14, Caldwell-Pope 13, Drummond 11, Horton-Tucker 11, Harrell 9, Kuzma 6, Matthews 3, McLemore 3.
INDIANA 115 – LeVert 28, Samson 20, McDermott 17, Martin 15, J. Holiday 12, Bitadze 10, McConnell 8, Brissett 5, Stanley 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
36-28, 64-56, 96-88, 122-115./PN
