The Lakers survived a wild game in Indianapolis with a tip-in at the buzzer form LeBron James to beat the Pacers

Luka Doncic came up big in the fourth quarter, but it was a LeBron James tip-in as time expired that saw the Lakers snap their losing streak in Indianapolis on Wednesday, knocking off the Pacers, 120-119.

After leading by six in the final minutes, the Lakers fell behind late. But with the game on the line, LeBron tipped in a missed Luka floater to win the game.

Luka Dončić again had an impressive first half with 19 points. He ended the game with 34 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. LeBron James went 0-5 in the first half, did not have a field goal through the opening three quarters but ended with 13 points. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and dished seven dimes.

Austin Reaves pitched in with 24 points, 17 of those in the first half, along with four rebounds, five assists and a steal. Rui Hachimura had 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the final minutes of the fourth. Dorian Finney-Smith ended with 11 points. Jaxson Hayes scored 13 points.

The Lakers jumped to a six-point lead early, but the Pacers responded quickly with eight straight points to take the lead. LA kept feeding Jaxson with three alley-oop dunks. The game had a high-energy vibe, and the offense continued to flow well.

Both teams started trading 3-pointers, with Luka draining three. They also matched in percentage from behind the arc at 50%.

With under three minutes left in the quarter, Indiana was up by one. Los Angeles was losing the battle in the paint with just eight points to the Pacers’ 12. T.J. McConnell scored five points off the bench for Indiana.

After such a strong start, LA’s offense started taking a major dip. Their defense also failed them, allowing a 9-0 scoring run for the Pacers. Gabe Vincent stopped some of the bleeding with a 3-pointer. At the end of the first, the Lakers were down five.

The second quarter started perfectly for Los Angeles with nine straight points to retake the lead by one. They also stepped up their defense with Dorian picking up a block and Jarred Vanderbilt altering a shot.

Dalton Knecht drained a 3-pointer, adding to the nice scoring run LA was building on. Dorian knocked down another 3-pointer as well, making it a 15-0 run. Indiana finally saw the ball go through the hoop with a three-point play by Andrew Nembhard.

Austin’s great second quarter continued with six points in the paint. He was also fouled from behind the arc, converting all the free throws.

Indiana could not stop the force that is Austin, who was dismantling the team singlehandedly. He was up to 17 points with under five minutes left until halftime.

Tyrese Haliburton scored a 3-pointer but it didn’t supply any momentum for Indiana. Rui knocked down his second 3-pointer of the half and was perfect from the field.

Luka drained an insane 3-pointer with 50 seconds left. The lead had been cut to 11 before Austin connected with Jaxson for a dunk to put the purple and gold up 13 at halftime.

The second half started strong for Jaxson, who added to his highlight reel with more dunks. His second throwdown of the quarter was a monster jam on Myles Turner.

Speaking of Turner, he was the Pacer keeping his team afloat by draining three 3-pointers. The lead had dropped to seven for the Lakers, forcing a timeout.

Los Angeles had fallen back into their habit of lackluster third quarters. LeBron still hadn’t entered double digits in his scoring but was able to find his teammates for easy buckets.

LA’s suffocating defense from the first half seemed like ages ago as it disappeared in the third. Two quick triples from Indiana made it a two-point game.

Dorian and Gabe responded out of a timeout with 3-pointers. At the end of the third, the purple and gold were nursing a three-point lead.

LeBron, who had been having a brutal offensive game, started the final frame with eight points to give the Lakers a bigger cushion on their fragile lead. Despite that strong start, the Pacers went on an 11-0 run and the lead that had gone to double digits was now down to two for LA.

Out of a timeout, LeBron turned the ball over and nerves were increasing.

After the Pacers had jumped ahead by five, Luka scored five points to help LA retake the lead. Rui drained two massive 3-pointers to keep the Lakers ahead, but Indiana kept their feet on the gas pedal and went up by one on a Haliburton and-one with 42 seconds remaining.

After an empty possession by both teams, LeBron won the game on a buzzer-beater tip-in off a missed shot from Luka.

Key Takeaways:

LA needs to figure out how to have clean second halves. They often break down defensively and play careless basketball which leads to stressful games.

The Lakers’ next matchup is against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday at 5:00 PM PT.