INDIANAPOLIS — All it took was 70 seconds to lose focus, to stop playing with the right intention, the right mindset, the right spirit.
All it took was 70 seconds for the Lakers to see a six-point lead turn to a one-point deficit in the final moments of the fourth quarter, and it seemed likely that they’d lose for the fourth consecutive time.
Yet all it took was one-tenth of one second, a blink, for LeBron James to tip in a missed Luka Doncic floater to give the Lakers a dramatic 120-119 win against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
“We said this morning, this was gonna be a game that would have to be won on multiple efforts,” coach JJ Redick said. “And that was primarily in reference to what we needed to do defensively. But we won the game on a multiple-effort play.”
James struggled to score, failing to make a field goal through three quarters for the first time in his career, not counting a game in which he didn’t play the entire second half because of an injury. The ball not going in didn’t stop James from impacting the game in other ways. He grabbed 13 rebounds, the most of anyone on both teams, and had seven assists.
“Just whatever it takes to help your teammates win,” James said. “For me, I can always do other things that still impact the game when I’m not scoring. That’s the beauty of my game. I’ve always built that throughout my whole life as far as being three-dimensional, being able to get my guys involved, being able to rebound, defend and then sprinkling a few points.”
Early in the fourth quarter, James got hot and extended his streak of games with at least 10 points to 1,283 thanks to quick work in transition and some shot-making, but it was far from his best scoring night. He ended the game with just 13 points.
He had help, Doncic and Austin Reaves each carrying the offense for long stretches until James got right. Doncic finished with 34 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Reaves had 24 points and five assists.
Late in the game, both Doncic and Reaves struggled as the Pacers pushed — Reaves missing a pair of open threes and committing a key turnover, and Doncic getting attacked on three consecutive possessions that turned into those seven huge Pacers points and a one-point lead.
“It starts on the ball and that continues to be a point of emphasis for us. And I thought, those three plays, they were all Luka and he had some really good possessions on the ball,” Redick said. “He had some really good low-man possessions, some really good help possessions. We showed a couple at halftime. He’s gotta do better there. I think the sort of thought process is no threes when you have that lead. I would still like a little more engagement from all five guys and try to get a stop and play our defense with that amount of time on the clock.”
But the Lakers got the stop they needed one possession later to give themselves a chance, creating a great look for Doncic’s potential first game-winner as a Laker. The ball bounced softly off the rim only for James to finish the play just as the horn sounded.
After a video review, the basket was confirmed, the Lakers’ three-game losing streak over.
The Lakers’ recent struggles have been significant enough that the team took what’s become a seemingly drastic step — holding a pregame shootaround. It’s something the Lakers hadn’t done in an official capacity since Jan. 30 in Washington.
“First time in a long time we’ve been on the court together, so it was great,” Redick said before the game. “Cleaned up some stuff offensively. Got our defensive breakdowns in, got some offensive breakdowns in, did some script. It was wonderful.
“Spent yesterday talking about our [switching] offense. It’s funny, we put together an edit. Had a couple [after-timeout] stuff. We wanted to clean up and put together an edit of 11 plays of our [switching] attacks. And if you just watch those plays, you’re like, ‘Oh man, they’re really good. That’s good basketball.’ Unfortunately, it was the only 11 plays from the Orlando game, so … we’ll be better.”
Wednesday, they mostly were.
“Way more good than bad,” Redick said.
All five starters finished with at least 13 points, including Rui Hachimura, who hit all four of his three-point attempts in his first start since missing 12 games because of a knee injury. And their bench, led by Jarred Vanderbilt’s defensive energy, made a big impact on the game — the Lakers beating a Pacers squad that had won seven times in eight games.
“Winning is fun. That’s really it,” Reaves said.
The Lakers hadn’t been having much of it lately; all it took was less than one second to change that.
