The Los Angeles Lakers came out to play on Friday night in a primetime showdown on ESPN against the Indiana Pacers. Coming off another tough loss, the Lakers entered play on a disappointing five-game losing streak.
Conversely, the Pacers had won two in a row and seven of their past 10 games. Los Angeles was bit by the all-too-familiar injury bug, losing D’Angelo Russell in the first quarter and Nick Young in the second.
Russell was diagnosed with a right calf strain and sprained MCL in his right knee, and is scheduled for an MRI on Saturday. He did not return to action against the Pacers.
Young suffered a hyperextended left knee but came back at the start of the third quarter and didn’t show any signs of being limited.
Although the Lakers had 24 turnovers, they fought their way to a 108-96 victory over the Pacers. Julius Randle (16 points, five rebounds, four assists) and Lou Williams (27 points, four rebounds, three assists) led the way, as the NBA’s highest scoring bench had 58 points on the night.
Brandon Ingram, pressed into the lineup once again with Luol Deng nursing a sprained right wrist, chipped in with 15 points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes. It marked the second consecutive game Ingram scored 15 points in a start.
The 16th victory of the season truly exemplified what the Lakers can become, even when they aren’t playing fluid basketball for the entirety of the game. Check out the highlights from Friday’s contest, courtesy of the team’s Twitter account:
Julius defends the paint with a nice block #LakeShow (?: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/jw3OC36GeR
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 21, 2017
Zubac throws down the nice pass from Tarik Black #LakeShow (?: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/GTPCLNLJ7U
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 21, 2017
Randle picks up the loose ball and gets the bucket and a foul #LakeShow (?: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/4b8b3PAo4s
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 21, 2017
Great ball movement, just like Coach Walton drew it up #LakeShow (?: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/c3YWA0PKgC
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 21, 2017
Uncle P finds Jose Calderon with a nice inside-out pass, and he buries the triple #LakeShow (?: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/M9emX5k7kw
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 21, 2017
JC steals the pass and slams it down on the breakaway #LakeShow (?: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/VblCgoUidr
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 21, 2017
Sweet move by Sweet Lou as he crosses his way to the rim and lays it in #LakeShow (?: @SpectrumSN & @spectdeportes) pic.twitter.com/W9I5BbkYu8
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 21, 2017
And as an added bonus, James Worthy celebrated the victory with defensive slides, via Spectrum SportsNet:
This is incredible, @JamesWorthy42. #WorthyClap pic.twitter.com/sWDOuNkTL5
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 21, 2017