George Hill scores buzzer beating layup as Indiana Pacers edge past Los Angeles Lakers 79-77 – NBA Recap
The Indiana Pacers gained an important confidence building victory over the Los Angeles Lakers here on Tuesday night at the Staples Center, when George Hill scored a game winning layup with time running out to give the Pacers the
79-77 victory in the low scoring game. Hill scored 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the Pacers, with David West finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Kobe Bryant had 40 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, scoring more than half
of the total team tally.
Indiana started the game on a good note, with West and Roy Hibbert finding their offensive rhythm early on and then Paul George scoring a dunk to give the Pacers a 12-5 lead. A three pointer by George Hill later in the period put
the Pacers up 22-13, as the Lakers struggled to find their offensive rhythm. The Lakers went scoreless for almost four minutes in the period, but closed the period on an 8-0 run out of which 6 were scored by Bryant and trailed 21-25 at the end of the period.
The Pacers remained scoreless for the last 3 minutes of the period.
The second period was a low scoring one, with Indiana outscoring the Lakers 15-12 as both teams struggled to find any rhythm in their offence and shooting. A slam dunk by Bryant had the Lakers down 28-29, but George scored a three
for the Pacers followed by a layup by Ian Mahinmi to give the visiting team a 36-29 lead. The Pacers led 40-33 at the halftime break.
Back to back field goals by Hill put the Pacers up 53-40 in the third period, but Bryant then took matters into his own hand as his team was failing to deliver and went on a personal 8-0 run to cut the Pacers lead down to 55-50.
A three pointer later by Bryant had the Lakers down by only 2, put the Pacers led 61-57 at the end of the period.
Gerald Green opened the final period for the Pacers with a three pointer and gave his team a 64-57 advantage. Bryant then scored a three pointer to have the Lakers trailing 66-67, but the Pacers responded with seven straight points
to extend their lead to 74-66. Pau Gasol then hot four back to back free throws followed by a layup by Bryant and a dunk by Howard as the score was tied at 74. Bryant again tied the score at 77 after Hill had made a floating jump shot, but Hill managed to
score a layup in the final seconds of the game, beating the outstretched hands of Howard to secure the victory for his team.
Both team shot poorly from the field, with no team averaging over 40 percent in either field goals or three point field goals. The Lakers had a 56-50 advantage over the Pacers in rebounds, but were 23 of 43 from the foul line.
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