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.
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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.