National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
L.A. Lakers 122, Indiana 115
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, May 15, 2021
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials: #21 Dedric Taylor, #33 Sean Corbin, #50 Gediminas Petraitis
Attendance: N/A
By Field Level Media

LeBron James scored seven consecutive points over a one-minute stretch late in the fourth quarter to help the Los Angeles Lakers record a 122-115 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday in Indianapolis.

James, playing his first game since May 2 and just his third since March 20, finished with 24 points, a team-high eight assists and seven rebounds.

Anthony Davis collected 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Lakers (41-30), who entered play a half-game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles closes the regular season on Sunday in New Orleans.

The Lakers took care of business in the first half of the weekend back-to-back, leading Indiana (33-38) almost the entire way. But behind Caris LeVert's 28 points and game-high 12 assists, the Pacers battled back from a deficit of as many as 14 points to pull within a single possession late in the fourth quarter.

LeVert hit a jumper with a little more than three minutes remaining, cutting the deficit to three points. James, who missed his first three 3-point attempts, responded with a successful shot from beyond the arc on a step-back off a ball screen.

That 3-pointer ignited James to seven consecutive points, pushing the Lakers' lead back to eight points with 1:43 remaining. Indiana could not draw any closer than five points for the rest of the way.

Los Angeles' Dennis Schroder scored 14 points, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 13, Talen Horton-Tucker had 11 and Andre Drummond finished with 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Indiana's JaKarr Sampson scored 20 points, Doug McDermott had 17 and Kelan Martin added 15. Goga Bitadze made one of his game-high four blocked shots on James during Indiana's late-game rally, and also posted 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

With star forward Domantas Sabonis sidelined, however, Indiana was out-rebounded by a 45-37 margin.

Although the Pacers lost, Charlotte's defeat at New York on Saturday keeps the teams tied for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
L.A. Lakers   Indiana
Anthony Davis 28 Scoring Caris LeVert 28
LeBron James 8 Assists Caris LeVert 12
Andre Drummond 15 Rebounds Goga Bitadze 7
Anthony Davis 9 Free Throws Made Caris LeVert 4
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 2 Steals T.J. McConnell 4
Andre Drummond 2 Blocks Goga Bitadze 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
L.A. Lakers 122 47.7 11-29 29-36 25 45 3 5 13
Indiana 115 51.7 9-33 14-19 28 37 8 10 13
Upcoming Games
  • Indiana will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Pacers have a W/L % of .394 after a win and .526 after a loss.
  • L.A. Lakers will play their next game on the road against New Orleans. The Lakers have a W/L % of .585 after a win and .567 after a loss.