I Los Angeles Lakers they lost tonight’s game by 116-115 against the Indiana Pacers.
Il team gialloviola failed to secure a lead of 17 points in last 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, and for them the coup de grace was the buzzer beater of the Indiana rookie, Andrew Nembhard.
The Pacers posted a 6 of 13 overall shooting from three in the last quarter (including the winning triple by Nembhard), led in the comeback by the excellent play of Tyrese Haliburtonwho finished the match with 24 points, 14 assists e 0 turnovers.
“Everything has to go wrong to lose a game like this, and everything has gone wrong for us” he said LeBron James about the loss. “Hats off to Indiana. They kept fighting and pushing.”
With the Pacers trailing by 2 points a 2.6 seconds by the end, Haliburton took an offensive rebound after a missed shot from Myles Turner. Then he quickly spotted Nembhard on the opposite side of the field, and made it to him passed the ball for the winning shot. At that moment LeBron ran to the arc to contest Nembhard’s shot in the last second. But it was too late.
In the fourth quarter, LeBron posted a 2 his 8 shot. He failed to halt Indiana’s momentum and, according to research by ESPN Stats & Informational record all-time pari a 403 wins and 1 loss of his teams in situations of advantage of 17 or more points in the fourth quartershe added another unlikely defeat. The only other time this has happened in her career was when hers Cleveland Cavaliers they lost to the Atlanta Hawks il April 9, 2017 after squandering a similar lead, notwithstanding the apparent victory in the pocket.
The head coach of the Lakers, Darwin Ham said he was pleased with LeBron’s performance, which he finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds it’s a 8-of-22 overall shooting (of which a 3 of 10 from three point range), although it is sprained his left ankle in the first quarter.
But the loss also squandered a solid performance by Russell Westbrookwhich concluded with 24 points, 6 assists, 6 turnovers it’s a 10 his 18 shot.
Still, coach Ham said the team she relied too much to Westbrook’s hot hand in the second half, and that’s why he lost his rhythm.
“We can’t be in situations where we throw the ball at them and everyone is standing around waiting for the clock to pass” Ham said. “So we find ourselves waiting for someone to go one-on-one against the world. It’s difficult. It’s a huge responsibility to have to score in these situations.”
Anthony Davisinstead, with his own 25 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 blocks it’s a 9 his 15 shotcontinued his streak, but only attempted 2 shots in the fourth period, making one. Speaking of which, Davis said he focused on the passes outside of doublingsand seemed less concerned with the total of his shots than with the shots of the others.
“In my opinion that team was ready to give up” said Davis of Indiana. “We got them back into the game. We started playing badly. Early in the fourth period, some difficult shots led to some field goals in transition, especially from three-point range“.
Coach Darvin Ham wanted himself take the blame of this bad defeat.
“This falls on me” said about the lack of organization in Los Angeles in the fourth quarter offense, when the Lakers posted a 8-of-22 overall shooting. “I take responsibility for it.”
But Davis said that the responsability of defeat goes beyond Ham.
“It’s not just his fault. It’s our fault too.” he said. “I mean, we have enough years of experience behind us that the guys who were on the pitch at the end of the game could do something. Obviously, he being the coach, he takes the blame. But it’s up to us gamers to go out there and play. We know what we are doing. We have enough talent and intelligence on the pitch to win a match like this. So it’s not just his fault.”
