INDIANAPOLIS—It was due to happen, the Los Angeles Lakers living large off a three-game winning streak that included a stunner in San Antonio and a milestone in Minneapolis.
Call this one the fiasco at the fieldhouse, where the only life the Lakers could find was in the arena sponsor’s name.
Playing erratically on the second night of a back-to-back set on the road, they scored 27 points in the first half on Monday night and really did nothing of note in a 110-91 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Nobody predicted the Lakers (8-17) would make the playoffs during their modest streak, but a 33-point halftime deficit was their worst since moving to Los Angeles in 1960, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Momentum came nowhere near the Lakers’ bench a night after Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan for third on the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) all-time scoring list.
Bryant was part of the misfiring against Indiana, missing nine of his first 10 shots as reporters kept scrambling to look up team futility records.
The Lakers shot 15 percent in the first quarter (almost a record low) and were 30 seconds from their lowest-scoring half ever until Bryant and Wesley Johnson hit back-to-back three-pointers.
Bryant finished with 21 points on eight-for-26 shooting against a team that had lost eight consecutive games. Jeremy Lin missed all six of his shots, Ed Davis all five of his attempts.
“We couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean sitting on a boat. Tonight was one of those nights,” Bryant said. “Sometimes you’ve got to pat yourself on the back for such an atrocious job.”
Rodney Stuckey had 20 points for the Pacers (8-17), who held a 39-point lead in the second quarter on the way to ending their longest losing streak in five years.
“They came out like they ain’t had a meal in a long time. Some hungry dogs,” said the Lakers’ Nick Young, who scored 18 points.
The Lakers couldn’t be too upset. They went 2-1 on their brief trip and took home some memories for their kids one day, courtesy of Bryant.
Maybe there was an emotional hangover from Bryant’s passing Jordan. Or the Lakers finally fell into fatigue with three road games in four nights.
“We could take all that into consideration but that, to me, is an excuse,” Coach Byron Scott said.
Bryant actually grabbed more history on Monday, though it was nothing that led to a game-ball presentation at halfcourt.
He committed four fouls, giving him 3,226 in his career and a Lakers record, pushing him past the 3,224 committed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“I don’t think we’ll all look back at that and say, ‘Man, Kobe was a hacker,’ “ Scott said. “When you play 19 years, you’re going to accumulate some fouls.”
It certainly wasn’t met with the same media interest and team enthusiasm as Bryant’s passing Jordan.
The flight attendants didn’t decorate the Lakers’ charter plane like they did the previous night. No more celebratory cake for everybody. And, thankfully, Jordan Clarkson didn’t again sing “Congratulations, Kobe Bryant” over the plane’s sound system to the tune of “Happy Birthday,” part of his duties as an NBA rookie Sunday night after Bryant’s milestone.
Of which Scott said on Monday, “Listening to Jordan Clarkson sing to Kobe, I’m glad he plays basketball.”
Bryant’s lone highlight against Indiana was a dive into the scorer’s table that upended the plastic box holding the Indiana players’ chewing gum. He failed to corral the loose ball but it was a fine effort.
“If this was 15 years ago, I would have got that….,” he said, adding some colorful language and a smile.
There have been plenty of these nights for the Lakers this season. After a few victories in a row, they were briefly forgotten.
In Cleveland LeBron James scored 27 points with 13 assists, and Kevin Love added 22 points and 18 rebounds, as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Charlotte Hornets, 97-88.
The Cavaliers jumped to a 21-0 lead, but the Hornets regrouped and got within two points early in the third quarter before the Cavaliers pulled away.
The Cavaliers ended the third on a 21-9 run. Kyrie Irving scored 16 points for the Cavaliers, who were coming off consecutive road losses to Oklahoma City and New Orleans after winning eight in a row.
Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 24 points, while Al Jefferson added 14.
Boston’s Kelly Olynyk scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Celtics to a 105-87 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Avery Bradley had 15 points, and Brandon Bass and Jeff Green added 14 each for Boston (8-14), which ended a three-game losing streak.
Rookie Nerlens Noel had a career-high 19 points for the 76ers (2-22), who dropped to 0-13 at home this season. Philadelphia moved closer to the NBA mark for worst home start to a season, set in the 1993-1994 season when the Mavericks began 0-19.
The Toronto Raptors downed the Orlando Magic, 95-82, after Lou Williams scored 18 points and Kyle Lowry had 17.
Amir Johnson scored 11 points and Patrick Patterson had 10 for the Raptors, who improved to 11-1 this season against opponents with losing records. This was Toronto’s third of six straight games against teams below .500.
Tobias Harris scored 18 points, Ben Gordon had 16, Nikola Vucevic had 13 and Victor Oladipo 12 for the Magic.
Atlanta’s Al Horford scored 21 points, including a huge jump shot with just under a minute remaining, as the Hawks won for the 10th time in 11 games with a 93-86 victory over the Chicago Bulls, while Khris Middleton hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lead the Milwaukee Bucks past the Phoenix Suns, 96-94.
Damian Lillard had 23 points and a career-high 10 rebounds as the Portland Trail Blazers downed the short-handed San Antonio Spurs, 108-95, and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin scored 18 points and DeAndre Jordan had 16 points and 15 rebounds as Los Angeles breezed over the Detroit Pistons, 113-99.
Mike Bresnahan
Image credits: AP