On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 88-87 after Kobe Bryant hit the game-winning shot with 12.4 seconds to play in the game.
Bryant would finish with 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals in another efficient performance that saw the Lakers' superstar shoot 50 percent from the field.
From the opening tip, Bryant looked focused. He made four of six shots and finished the first quarter with nine points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist. Unfortunately, Bryant did not have much help early, as his Lakers' teammates came out cold. With the exception of forward Ed Davis, Bryant's teammates made only one of 11 shots in the opening 12 minutes.
The Lakers trailed by 13 points after one quarter, and that lead would carry throughout most of the second period. In the second quarter, the Lakers' bench helped keep the Pacers within reach, and Nick Young's three-pointer at the halftime buzzer helped the Lakers from entering the locker room down double digits.
"The shot Nick Young had at the buzzer going into halftime was big for us," Lakers forward Ed Davis said after the game. "We needed that momentum."
Young scored 12 points in the quarter and finished with a game-high 22 points. For the Pacers, guard C.J. Miles was particularly lethal in the first half, scoring 17 points before the intermission.
After the break, the Lakers looked like a new team.
Despite the cold start from his teammates, Bryant continued to trust the team and pass the ball. In the second and third quarters, Bryant only attempted four shots. Instead, the aging and evolving guard continued to find teammates.
Despite the Lakers out-shooting the Pacers 44.8 percent to 36.4 percent in the third quarter, Indiana carried a six-point lead into the final 12 minutes. The visitors were able to hang onto their lead due to a healthy advantage on the offensive glass. On the night, the visiting Pacers out-rebounded the Lakers 16-5 on offensive rebounds, and those extra chances led to a 26-2 advantage on second chance points.
In the fourth and final quarter, the Lakers stuck with a bench unit that looked to be gaining traction. With the Lakers' bench displaying good energy at the tail end of the third quarter, Lakers coach Byron Scott kept Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer and Young in for nearly all of the final quarter.
Young guarded Miles and muzzled the Pacers' shooter. Miles would only score two points in the second half and only one point in the final quarter.
"[Young] did a heck of a job on C.J. Miles in the second half," Scott said after the game. "Nick guarded him 90 percent of the time in the second half, so he did a great job."
Along with the aforementioned three bench contributors, Ryan Kelly played small forward during the fourth quarter in only his second game back from injury. With Wesley Johnson not returning from halftime due to a strained right hip flexor, the Lakers tried a square peg in a round hole, and for one night, it somehow fit.
When the game was on the line, however, Bryant came in and did his thing. Just as he had scored nine points in the opening quarter, Bryant hit the Pacers for another nine points in the fourth quarter. His final basket came with 12.4 seconds to play to give the Lakers an 88-87 lead.
The Pacers could not get their act together on the final shot, and the buzzer sounded to 18,997 fans standing and applauding. The streamers dropped from the rafters, and fans in attendance heard those strangely unfamiliar yet sweet words: "Everybody gets tacos!"
Notes: Boozer pushed Roy Hibbert during the fourth quarter, and after a review, Boozer was handed a flagrant foul. Scott and Bryant were both critical of the NBA's current definition of a flagrant foul after the game. Scott went as far as to call college basketball a more physical form of the game. Johnson will have an MRI on Monday, so he will not travel with the team. The Lakers will be short two starters against Portland on Monday night: Bryant and Johnson. Scott said Bryant would stay home to rest, as flying the 36-year-old up to Portland for the second night of a back-to-back did not make much sense. The coach pointed out that the Lakers play three games in four days. The Lakers “travel” to play the LA Clippers on Wednesday.
