The Lakers Blow a 17-point Fourth Quarter Lead, Suffer Crushing 116-115 Loss to Pacers

Through three quarters, the Lakers were on track for their best, most impressive win of the season. The kind of game that would validate winning five of six against lesser competition. Instead, they let Indiana back in, losing a 17-point lead over the final 10 minutes, losing to the Pacers on a last-second 3-pointer from rookie Andrew Nembhard.

Nothing went well for the Lakers down the stretch. The defense broke down, as Indiana came up with multiple offensive rebounds (including the most critical one, on the game's final sequence). LeBron James was 2-8 from the floor. The Lakers couldn't figure out a way to shake Anthony Davis loose from an aggressive Pacers defense. And LA's defense fell apart on that last play, with multiple miscues including one from James.

Really, though, it never should have reached that point. The Lakers have little experience closing teams out (and with only one win against a team over .500, no real experience closing out good teams) and it showed.

But beyond the disappointment, this is a killer loss for a team trying desperately to climb out of an early season hole and about to head out on the road basically for the month of December. 8-11 looks a lot better than 7-12.

Oh, and LeBron tweaked his ankle in the first half. He played, but it remains to be seen what happens once his body cools down.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers blew a massive fourth quarter lead and suffered an inexcusable loss.

SEGMENT 2: The game's final play was a microcosm of the game's final quarter for the Lakers.

SEGMENT 3: LeBron is banged up, again. Did the Lakers properly plan for this?

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