The Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers will compress their season into six days, with the first of two meetings taking place Sunday in Los Angeles.
The Pacers are 2-0 entering a five-game road trip after back-to-back wins over the Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors. In Friday’s 123-111 win at San Francisco, Tyrese Haliburton had 26 points and 11 assists, while Pascal Siakam had 25 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Warriors.
Indiana (40-31) has clinched at least one spot in the play-in tournament and is trying to stay in the top six in the Eastern Conference standings to secure an automatic playoff berth.
Perhaps it was a shooting matchup with one of Golden State’s Stephen Curry’s best that helped Haliburton further distance itself from a recent shooting slump. During an 11-game stretch leading up to the road trip, Haliburton shot 39 percent from the floor and 19 percent from three-point range.
Although Curry was 6 of 18 from 3-point range while scoring 25 points, Haliburton was 4 of 8 from distance and 9 of 18 overall. Over the last two games, Haliburton has shot 58.1 percent overall and 45.5 percent from 3-point range.
“We’re building this team to be a playoff team and a contending team,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “These matches against high-level teams, both physical and emotional, are essential.”
Indiana’s Myles Turner had five blocked shots and now has 1,249 in his career to pass Jermaine O’Neale’s franchise record.
“It’s amazing to be able to walk away with something, no matter what happens in the future,” Turner said. “I can tell my children and grandchildren about this moment.”
The Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-94 on Friday for their second straight victory and are trying to build their first three-game winning streak in more than a month.
In ninth place in the Western Conference standings, Los Angeles (38-32) benefited from the victory of the Pacers against the Warriors, 10th. Entering Saturday, the Lakers led the Warriors by 1 1/2 games and trailed the eighth-ranked Sacramento Kings by 1 1/2 games.
Anthony Davis scored 23 points with 19 rebounds and LeBron James had 20 points with eight rebounds and six assists against the 76ers, but the Lakers didn’t secure victory until late, despite Philadelphia playing without injured star Joel Embiid .
“Ugly, but we got the job done,” James said after scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter. “We defended in the second half. They only had 18 in the fourth. That’s a big time when the offense was struggling like it was.”
D’Angelo Russell made four more 3-pointers Friday and finished with 14 points, setting the Lakers record for most 3-pointers made in a season. He currently has 187.
“This franchise is one of the most prestigious, so to have my name be a part of it, it’s beyond grateful, blessed beyond measure,” Russell said. “I just want to keep breaking it if I can and make it really hard for the next person.”
The Lakers will be without Jarred Vanderbilt (foot) and Christian Wood (knee) on Sunday. Taurean Prince, who missed the victory against the 76ers for personal reasons, is expected to return against the Pacers.
