Despite not having Lonzo Ball or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers were too much for the Indiana Pacers.
The Indiana Pacers shouldn’t have lost to the Los Angles Lakers, but they did. The Lakers were short-handed on Friday night yet somehow they managed to control the game and hand the Pacers an L on the tail end of a back-to-back.
This isn’t to insult Los Angeles, but at 16-29, it’s clear they aren’t ready for prime time just yet. The Pacers may have been in a SEGABABA, but they looked outclassed.
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One the pick-and-roll was taken away from Indiana their offense looked clueless. The Lakers are one of the better teams in the NBA when it comes to defending the roll man, but one would think the Pacers should have found more success at least for their ball-handlers.
For what it’s worth Victor Oladipo got 25 points, but it came on 11 of 26 shooting (42.3%). Domantas Sabonis actually found success when he got to the rim in the PnR, finishing the night with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
On the bright side of things, at least we got to see Victor Oladipo somehow come out of a spin move and find the ability to dunk the ball. It doesn’t seem physically possible to gather yourself and launch yourself as he did, but it happened. We have video evidence of it.
Looks like an All-Star to me.https://t.co/sxfBkQWeje
— 8 Points, 9 Seconds (@8pts9secs) January 20, 2018
However, hardly anyone else could find success as the rest of the team combined for a 20 of 61 (32.8%) shooting night.
The Good: Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo continue to take away the pain from the trade last summer. Who would have expected both to play as well as they are?
Domas tried to murder the rim. https://t.co/FSNR5x1CG2
— 8 Points, 9 Seconds (@8pts9secs) January 20, 2018
The Bad: The Pacers got worked over by Jordan Clarkson and his 33 points. He came off the bench and wrecked havoc by going 14 of 19 (73.7%) from the field and 3 of 6 from deep. He beat his previous season-high by 8 points, so really, Indiana, what were you doing?
MVP: Domas is probably the only Pacers than can feel particularly good about himself in the loss. He isn’t one to think that way, but even Oladipo struggled to make shots in Los Angeles.
LVP: Lance Stephenson’s funk continues as he went 1 of 12 on the night, ending with 3 points. He’ll bounce back, but he needs to build up his confidence to get things going.
Next: 8p9s Roundtable: Surprises and disappointments
The Pacers take on the San Antonio Spurs at 7 p.m. on Sunday to close out the Western Conference road trip.