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The LA Lakers made it three wins in a row after staving off a fourth-quarter, final-minute rally by the Indiana Pacers to bag the contest 150-145 at the Crypto.com Arena. Anthony Davis (36 points and 16 rebounds), LeBron James (26 points and 11 assists), and Spencer Dinwiddie (26 points) led the charge for LA as they now hit the road for a challenging away-game stretch. The win sees them improve to 39-32, while they still stay ninth in the Western Conference standings.
It was a high-scoring contest against the Pacers, and even without D'Angelo Russell's services, the Lakers made sure they stayed in the contest with four of their five starters getting into double figures. Austin Reaves shot a string of free throws in the final minutes of the fourth quarter as LA pushed toward a win.
LA Lakers' Playoff Picture: Updated standings
The win over the Indiana Pacers saw the Lakers improve to 39-32. Their home record has improved to 27-12 and they are 6-4 in their last ten games. These numbers play a part in their seeding as LA is still optimistic they can make the sixth seed and avoid the play-in altogether. The Lakers are yet to hit the 40-win mark this season, and such has been the nature of the unforgiving Western Conference that they will need more than the magic number to avoid being contenders for the play-in.
The Warriors are 36-34 and are four wins away from LA. The Lakers are relatively safe assuming they don't blow two games in a row and Golden State wins two. Both teams will also be wary of the surging Houston Rockets who are 35-35 and just one win away from matching the Warriors.
LA Lakers' Playoff Picture: Remaining games
The LA Lakers leave home base and head on a six-game road trip. They take on the Milwaukee Bucks (Mar. 26) and jet back to the West to take on the Memphis Grizzlies the following day. (Mar. 27). They face the Indiana Pacers again on Mar. 29 and later have a winnable slate of games against the Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, and the Washington Wizards.
The Purple and Gold fans will hope their big names remain healthy as they look to finish the road trip on a high. The side hasn't done well in away games this season and will be keen to change the 12-20 record.
Guess the Lakers players!
