Buzzer Beaten! Ahhh!

Indianapolis, In

The Los Angeles Lakers traveled east to a snowy Indiana to start their first three game road trip of the season. In the first quarter you got the feeling the Lakers came out a little cold. The shots were coming out flat to begin and the defense was not there. Los Angeles held on to win the quarter 30-28. In the second quarter the Lakers still seemed flat. Winning the next period by three points did not come easy. Los Angeles was in foul trouble early and played sloppy on the back end of the court. At half time it was the Lakers 66-61.

In the third quarter both teams struggled offensively to start. Then with the insertion of Trevor Ariza and the rest of the Bench Mob, the Lakers closed out the period on a 17-0 run, giving them a 15 point lead going into the final frame at 101-86. That's where the problem arises. Los Angeles scored only 16 points the rest of the way. The Pacers out rebounded LA 50-41 on the night and seemed to have second chances on most of their shots for the night. Indiana was bringing the extra effort especially in the fourth quarter scoring 32 points. Los Angeles scored only two baskets in the final 3:34 of the game with one being a big 18 footer by Kobe Bryant to give the Lakers a 117-116 lead with 58.4 to go. With 16 seconds to go, Kobe missed a 15 footer from the top of the key. That was all the Pacers needed. Indiana got the stop and called a timeout, advancing the ball to offensive end of the court. PJ countered with Andrew Bynum for length and the Pacers still got the break after a Marquis Daniels brick that was tipped by Troy Murphy. The tipped ball bounced up and down off both sides of the rim and then dropped in at the buzzer for a 1 point victory. 

It was a very disappointing loss for the Lakers. Now 14-2, Kobe and co. made some fundamental errors to let this game slip away. The Pacers came out and shot an unprecedented 99 shots on the night, 22 coming from beyond the arc. LA also lost the battle for points in the paint 42-44, turnovers 16-13, and also gave up 19 offensive rebounds. The Lakers finished the night with only 8 offensive boards. The turnovers, most importantly in the final quarter made a big difference in the final. The Lakers also missed 12 free throws on the night. After the game Phil Jackson said he didn't like anything about the defensive effort in the game. Los Angeles allowed 118, a season high, or low depending on how you look at it. Kobe Bryant did score his 22,001 point on a nice shake and bake through the lane in the waning seconds of the first half. It took Kobe just one more day than Chamberlain, who amassed 22,00 points at 30 years, 100 days, reaching the milestone November 26th, 1966. Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the next fastest to 22,000 both doing it at 31 years of age. The Lakers now board a plane and head to Philadelphia to take on Elton Brand and the 76ers. Kobe Bryant earned the first of his two MVP attempts in the 2002 NBA All-star game held in his home town. He attended Lower Merion High School before coming into the league.