Pacers’ 3-point flurry buries Lakers in James’ worst loss
Iprevious 18 games with an injured groin. He missed three of his first five shots, was beaten three times early on defense and had five firsthalf turnovers before finishing with 18 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and six turnovers.
JaVale McGee added 16 as the Lakers lost for the sixth time in eight games amid the continuing swirl of trade rumors, something Pacers fans noted by repeatedly chanting “LeBron’s gonna trade you.”
“I know it has to be tough on a lot of our guys — especially our young guys,” James said. “They’ve just never been a part of it and they’re hearing it every single day. I know that the worst thing you could right now is be on social media and I know all young guys love social media. So, that definitely can’t help.”
The Pacers, meanwhile, remained focused on regrouping.
After losing four straight immediately following Oladipo’s seasonending knee injury, they’ve rebounded with three straight wins. On Tuesday, they produced a seasonhigh 69 points in the first half, a season-high singlegame total and their widest victory margin of the Eason.
They made it look easy, too.
After Bogdanovic opened the game by scoring all of the Pacers’ points in a 10-2 spurt, the Lakers never recovered. Myles Turner finished with 22 points while Thaddeus Young had 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
“We look at it as another win, but it does feel good,” Young said. “It’s not really about beating them by 42, but we played a complete game.”
Lakers: Played without Lonzo Ball (sprained left ankle) and Josh Hart (left patella tendinitis) . ... James became the fifth player in league history to top the 32,000-point mark. ... Los Angeles has lost six straight in Indy, where it last won in March 2013. ... Lance Stephenson had 13 points while Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram each had 12.
Pacers: Avoided their first season sweep by the Lakers since 2009-10 . ... Coach Nate McMillan tied Jack McKinney for No. 7 on the franchise’s NBA victories list with 125 . ... Indiana improved to 10-1 this season when seven or more players score in double figures. Domantas Sabonis, Aaron Holiday and Edmond Sumer each had 17 points . ... The Pacers have won four games this season by 30 or more points, matching their highest single-season total since 1993-94.
Lakers: “There are a million excuses that we could come up with — the travel, first game coming across the country, all the trade rumors and everything else,” Walton said. “The bottom line is we’ve got to be better And we will be.”
Pacers: “We’ve had a couple good games, but it’s still going to take some time for us to really establish the way we want to play, not just establishing the way we need to play,” Turner said. “We’ve got to keep going.”
Lakers: Visit Boston on Thursday night, their fourth stop on a six-game trip.
Pacers: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.