LOS ANGELES — The latest in a long line of absences for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, D’Angelo Russell was deemed too injured to play on Sunday.
I don’t mean to offend Russell, but he wasn’t missed during his two-month hiatus.
At Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers, 150-145, by generating a lot of offensive energy and fending off a late-game comeback. In a non-overtime game, it was LA’s best point total since 1987.
It was pretty much anybody’s game on Sunday, if they wanted to score.
“With 26 points and 10 assists, we were very effective offensively,” stated LeBron James.
By easily replacing Russell in the starting lineup and playing by far his greatest game since joining the Lakers six weeks ago, guard Spencer Dinwiddie emerged as the game’s unofficial star.
Averaging just five points in his first 16 games with the Lakers, Dinwiddie scored 26 points. Eight of his nine free-throw tries were made, two three-pointers, and five assists were made by him.
After signing with the Lakers, Dinwiddie—a seasoned scorer with a proven track record—had to lay aside his desire to prioritize defense. Despite playing on a team that included LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the explosive Russell (who missed Sunday’s game due to a non-COVID sickness), he still enjoys scoring points, as evidenced by his 16.5 point average from the previous season in Brooklyn.
“I adore the sexy metrics, don’t get me wrong. “I enjoy scoring goals,” Dinwiddie said to Spectrum SportsNet. However, that’s just a natural aspect of working in a group. I’ll be a little different in every game. When I signed up here, I was aware of that. I’m excited to contribute as we move forward.
At least one significant source acknowledged Dinwiddie’s sacrifice for scoring since joining the Lakers.
“That simply demonstrates the kind of player and person he is to be able to modify his style of play to fit whatever the needs and game plan may be,” James remarked. “We needed him to be aggressive and score tonight.”
With 5:33 remaining, Indiana cut a 19-point deficit to just four points, which made things uncomfortable for the Lakers considerably. But the Lakers won because of eight points from Davis in the closing minutes.
Davis scored 36 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in yet another impressive performance, but he was more interested in pointing out the Lakers’ defensive lapses, which included Indiana scoring 46 points in the fourth quarter.
“It was awful defensively, we let them score 145,” Davis remarked. They made a few shots in the closing moments, but as tonight demonstrated, we are capable of attacking in whatever way we choose. However, we must play defense, particularly against a team that is as bad as that one. A win is a win at this point in the season, but we don’t have to give them life.
The Lakers (39-32) trailed Dallas and Sacramento by 2.5 games for seventh place in the Western Conference rankings, although they were still slightly ahead of them.
LA’s defense wasn’t entirely without merit. Indiana’s gifted young guard, Tyrese Haliburton, was not a factor and finished with only 12 points and 10 assists. But forward Pascal Siakam did plenty of damage for the Pacers (40-32) and finished with 36 points.
The Lakers now hit the road for a six-game trip that starts with a tough one in Milwaukee but eases up substantially after that with games in Indiana, Memphis, Brooklyn, Toronto and Washington.
Then again, LA is a mere 12-20 on the road, the worst mark among the West’s top 10 teams, so nothing should be taken for granted.