Lakers 117
Bryant 28 pts; Gasol 20 pts, 9 rebs; Bynum 17 pts, 9 rebs
Indiana Pacers 118
Granger 32 pts, Ford 21 pts, 8 ast; Murphy 16 pts, 17 rebs
Indiana Pacers forward Troy Murphy beat the buzzer to give the Pacers an unlikely home win over Western Conference leaders the LA Lakers last night.
The ball rattled around the rim before finally dropping, after Murphy had tipped back Danny Granger’s missed lay up at the buzzer, inflicting only the Lakers second defeat of the season.
The Lakers looked to be in complete control going into the fourth quarter leading by 15 points, but the Pacers outscored the visitors 32 to 16 in the final stanza to take an unexpected win.
Danny Granger was the stand out man for the home side as he top scored with 32 points, eclipsing even Kobe Bryant who at one stage scored 14 of the Lakers’ points in a row on his way to 28. Murphy added 16 points to go along with his impressive 17 rebounds as the Pacers dominated the Lakers on the boards.
This is something coach Phil Jackson will have to look into before the Lakers’ trip to Philadelphia tomorrow to face the 76ers. With the addition of Elton Brand the Sixers will look to dominate the boards in much the same way as Indiana did in this game, which would cause Kobe and co. problems and they do not want to slip into a losing streak with other teams in the conference beginning to pick up form.
