This season, the Indiana Pacers are the NBA’s punching bag without All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is recovering from a torn Achilles suffered in the 2025 NBA Finals. Indiana was a league-worst 16-56 entering Wednesday’s action.
The Los Angeles Lakers just took their turn.
The Lakers had their nine-game winning streak snapped on Monday night, losing 113-110 to the Detroit Pistons, and a trip to Indiana was the perfect antidote. The Lakers won 137-130.
Luka Doncic finished with 43 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. LeBron James flirted with a triple-double but finished with 23 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds.
At one point, James side-stepped a leaping Andrew Nembhard before going up for an easy lay-in. Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith and Pascal Siakam were sprinting behind him to attempt a block, but they missed and instead fell into a crumpled pile under the basket.
James stared at Nesmith and Siakam and animatedly pointed directly at them before casually jogging away.
The Lakers held a 105-85 lead through three quarters, so Bronny James Jr., James’ 21-year-old son, even got in on the fun with an emphatic one-handed dunk early in the fourth.
The 41-year-old James had been playing loose during the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak, including a poster dunk and subsequent staredown at the expense of Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. and a breakaway dunk to punctuate his NBA-record 1,612th regular-season game on Saturday.
The Pacers’ win in Orlando on Monday night halted a 16-game losing streak and was their first win since Feb. 11. While Indiana has its eyes trained squarely on May 10’s 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, the Lakers have positioned themselves as a threat in the Western Conference.
According to Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Mannix, the Lakers posted the second-best offensive rating and 10th-best defensive rating during their nine-game streak.
With Doncic, James, and Austin Reaves finding their offensive groove, their most likely downfall in the playoffs will be on defense. The Lakers’ defensive efficiency has drastically improved since the earlier part of the season, but the buy-in of Deandre Ayton and the health of Marcus Smart’s ankle will be crucial down the stretch.
