Top Bucks vs. Lakers Players to Watch – March 26
ANGELES — Rick Carlisle was adamant about making his point even though he was not prepared to try to avoid paying a fine.
The Pacers outscored the Lakers by nine field goals and six 3-pointers on Sunday night, making 18 of 36 and completing 50% of the way from 3-point range. They scored 68 points against Los Angeles’ 70, almost matching their opponent in the paint. They narrowly lost the rebounding battle by one board and, more importantly, outscored the Lakers 10 to 24 on second chances. In addition, they tallied 49 reserve goals compared to the Lakers’ 28 and 15 fast-break scores to the Lakers’ 6.
The Lakers outperformed the Pacers 86-63 in both the 2nd and third quarters, going 23 of 26 at the line for free throws to the Pacers’ 6 of 6. The Pacers fought back throughout the fourth quarter after the Lakers had taken a 19-demonstrate lead in the third quarter, ultimately losing 150-145.
In his opening remarks, Carlisle acknowledged the disparity in free throws, but he indicated he wouldn’t elaborate further.
“There was are specific circumstances which were difficult to overcome,” Carlisle stated. “There is a 27-free-throw difference. The other is the 17-foul difference. And I’ll end it there.
It was evident that the disparity didn’t seem particularly visible until the second quarter, when Lakers players LeBron James, the NBA star, and Anthony Davis, along with crew chief Marc Davis, got into a heated and prolonged discussion with referees after Davis was penalized for a foul on Pacers center Jacob Turner. At 5:35 in the second quarter, Turner made both of his free shots; at that time, the Pacers had made 10 of the Lakers’ 12 free throws.
During the conversation, Marc Davis appeared to present his case and didn’t stop from calling Anthony Davis a foul. But after that conversation, the Pacers were called for the next 12 fouls, and Pacers player Pascal Siakam was also given a technical foul for contesting one of the rulings. With 5:35 remaining in the following quarter, Turner sank his second free throw, giving the Pacers a 57-55 lead. Before Siakam, who scored and was fouled to put the Pacers back on the court, the Lakers had a 91-78 lead. During that time, the Lakers made 12 free throws.
Tyrese Haliburton, an All-Star point guard for the Pacers, remarked, “When you score a lot of baskets, they control the pace.” prefer in the first quarter, we prefer to play up and down. In each of the games we’ve played, there have been several stops during the game and numerous free throws made. Since there’s so many points being made, they set the tempo. We simply need to play through it and do an improved task of not fouling.”
The Lakers dominated the match at the line for free throws because they went there so frequently, which prevented the Pacers from sprinting, however the Pacers chose not to make any suggestions regarding a link between that conversation and the difference.
Haliburton mentioned that the Lakers also frequently passed through the line during their meeting in the December In-Season Competition finals in Las Vegas. He said that although authorities have been permitting more aggressive play in previous weeks, they didn’t appear to on Sunday.
Haliburton remarked, “I guess they shot forty-three free throws today.” “It was 35 in the opening game of the In-Season Competition finals between the Pacers and Lakers. When a team makes that many free throws, tell me what you should do. I’m not entirely sure. You can get by with a lot more with the way the game has been officiated these past several weeks. That’s the way it began. That was not the way the game went on. Whatever is thrown at us, we have to go with it.”
