Lakers Punish the Pacers in the Paint

Getting solid play from their triumvirate of potential all-stars, the Los Angeles Lakers easily defeated the Indiana Pacers, 118-96 at Conseco Fieldhouse. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 29 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Pau Gasol (21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot) also made his presence felt against the smaller Pacers, but it was Andrew Bynum with a season-high 27 points along with 12 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal who stole the show from his esteemed teammates. Bynum, guarded by forward Troy Murphy (18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist) scored early and often, abusing Coach Jim O’Brien’s notion of going small against the Lakers formidable front line. His plan quickly back-fired, as well as raised a few eyebrows on the Lakers coaching staff as the team steamrolled the Pacers in each quarter for the easy win.

Lamar Odom (12 points, 14 rebounds) added the necessary bench ballast as the Lakers improved to 35-11 and 3-2 on this road trip. The Lakers dominated the paint, where they outscored the Pacers 54-32. They also thoroughly out-rebounded them, 62-42 and held them to 41.9% from the field. Indiana was led by rookie Roy Hibbert (21 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) off the bench. Danny Granger (14 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds) and Brandon Rush (13 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist) rounded out the box scores for the Pacers who fell to 16-30 on the season. The Lakers travel to Philadelphia for a contest against the Sixers on Friday, followed by Sunday’s match-up with the Boston Celtics.