Indiana Pacers: Player grades from narrow loss to the Los Angeles Lakers

Despite leading for most of the contest, the Indiana Pacers succumbed to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in overtime to kick-off their three-game homestand, snapping a two-game win streak, and falling to 8-12 on the season, including 5-3 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Losing the services of Anthony Davis, who sat this one down with an injury, the Lakers rode the shooting of James, who returned after serving a one-game suspension, and their bench snipers Malik Monk and Wayne Ellington, who combined to shoot seven of 12 from rainbow country as they erased the Pacers’ lead in the fourth quarter before taking control in the closing minutes.

Averting a complete meltdown despite leading by as much as 12, Chris Duarte played hero for Indiana in regulation, sinking an off-balance three-pointer to send the game to overtime, where the Pacers eventually failed to generate much offense and LBJ suddenly got hot from downtown to pull away.

Malcolm Brogdon led the Blue and Gold in scoring, tallying 28 points and sinking a season-high five three-pointers. Duarte, even in a relative off night, finished with 17 markers while Justin Holiday continued his recent surge, ending the game with 16. James paced LA, scoring a game-high 39 points, while Russell Westbrook chipped in 20.

As the Indiana Pacers (and the league) take a day off for Thanksgiving before another meeting with the Toronto Raptors, here are player grades from their narrow loss at home to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Malcolm Brogdon led the Indiana Pacers crusade against The King and the Lakers

To call this one as a disappointing loss in an understatement. After all, the Indiana Pacers were essentially on the driver’s seat for almost the entire game. The main reason? Look no further than Malcolm Brogdon, who continued to play at an All-Star level against the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers.

Scoring a team-high 28 points on nine of 21 shooting overall, including a season-best five three-point makes on ten tries, Brogdon constantly punished LA’s defenders despite being taxed all night as LeBron James’ primary defender. While The King ultimately nabbed the W with some unbelievable shots, he never had an easy shot attempt in this game, and Malcolm was the main culprit.

That being said, while the Pacers are probably better off outing a more well-rounded attack, it’s hard to argue when Brogdon is in the zone (at least until overtime). He wasn’t perfect—his two dimes tied for his season-low tally, and his passing was iffy against the Lakers, particularly when feeding the post, but he was Indiana’s brightest on this one.

Nah, scratch that. He’s been the brightest for most of the season. Now, give him some All-Star love.

Malcolm Brogdon: A

Player grades for the Indiana Pacers starters against the Lakers

Justin Holiday: B

Holiday sunk four three-pointers for the third consecutive game, finishing with 16 points. Though they came at the cost of 12 attempts from downtown, he continues to cause confusion for defenders with his timely movement off the ball, giving the team more room to attack.

Domantas Sabonis: B

A 14/12/6 stat line is far from unremarkable, but this is Domantas Sabonis we’re talking about. The Pacers are at their best when Domas is imposing his will on the block, but he simply hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunities to score one-on-one, though that may not be his fault. Nine shot attempts for your lone All-Star in the last two seasons? I’d say it’s a crime.

Myles Turner: B-

Myles was great on D as usual, but he struggled offensively, hitting just one out of six three-point attempts. Still, he finished the game with a positive plus/minus. The lack of Turner minutes in crunch time (before OT) was and has been perplexing, though.

Caris LeVert: C+

Still clearly hampered by his back injury, LeVert had another rough shooting night. In 27 minutes, he registered 10 points on five of 13 shooting from the field. His three-point shot has been virtually absent this season and continued to be marginal against the Lakers, as he missed all of his three tries from downtown.

Player grades for the Indiana Pacers bench against the Lakers

Torrey Craig: B-

Torrey Craig has been the same in every outing, bringing solid defense and rebounding off the bench, but his three-point shot has to climb back to at least a league-average rate. His 27.9 percent clip from downtown is simply troubling.

Chris Duarte: A-

Before cooling down in overtime, Duarte was stellar off the bench. Finishing with 17 points, this was easily his best performance since way back against the Spurs.

Anyway, his miraculous shot to send the game to OT was…special.

Oh, and that was a clear foul. Kindly fix your whistles, NBA refs.

TJ McConnell: B+

10 points and eights assists WITHOUT a single turnover? Sounds like a “TJ-McConnell-sparks-a-Pacers-win game”, except that the team actually lost.

Kelan Martin: C-

Rough-shooting Kelan Martin, who’s in the rotation for his energy off the bench, deserves a modest roasting here. Let’s do it on alphabetic denominations, or maybe switch it up a little when the young gun is struggling.