Lakers roll past Pacers despite loss of D’Angelo Russell to knee injury
The Lakers should have installed one of those Turn-o-Matic ticket dispensers — like the ones at supermarket deli counters — outside their training room Friday night. “Now serving No. 1 … Now serving No. 0.”
Their 108-96 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Staples Center wasn’t two minutes old when point guard D’Angelo Russell tripped over a teammate, fell to the floor and suffered a mild medial collateral ligament sprain of his right knee.
Then midway through the second quarter, shooting guard Nick Young got tangled up with two defenders on a drive to the basket, fell to the floor and limped to the locker room.
Young was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee but X-rays were negative. He started the second half and finished with 15 points, making five of 11 three-pointers.
Russell’s injury appears more serious. In addition to the knee sprain, he suffered a right calf strain. He did not return and will undergo an MRI test on Saturday.
But the loss of Russell didn’t sink the Lakers, who ended a five-game losing streak by beating a playoff-caliber team that had won seven of eight games before Friday.
Reserve Lou Williams scored a team-high 27 points, making seven of 15 shots from the field and nine of 10 from the free-throw line, and three others besides Young scored in double figures: Julius Randle (16), Brandon Ingram (15) and Jordan Clarkson (12). Tarik Black had eight points and 13 rebounds.
“I think we rallied tonight,” Williams said. “Obviously, when you have guys go down, depending on the severity of the injuries, it can bring the group down. We thought D’Angelo’s was gonna be pretty serious until he jumped up and walked off the court. Nick was able to finish. Other guys filled in nicely.”
The Lakers rallied from a two-point halftime deficit to outscore the Pacers, 35-22, in the third quarter, with Ingram scoring 10 points in the period to help the Lakers take an 86-75 lead.
Ingram also held Indiana’s best player, forward Paul George, who had a team-high 21 points, to four points in the third. George turned over the ball three times in the period.
“I think he did a great job in that third quarter,” Williams said of Ingram. “He got two stops early. When Paul was looking like he was about to get going, we were able to turn two turnovers into two good possessions, and Brandon set the tone.”
George scored 30 points in Indiana’s 115-108 win over the Lakers on Nov. 1.
“The first time we played against Paul George, I thought Brandon wasn’t ready,” Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. “I told him that. I said, ‘You’re playing against one of the elite players that plays your position,’ and he looked like he came out a little lazy that night.
“That should never happen when you get an opportunity to play against someone who you probably have been watching on TV since you were in high school. To see it now, where [Ingram] was way more up to the challenge, shows a lot of growth on his part.”
Indiana scored 28 points in the paint and 13 points off 14 turnovers in the first half. The Pacers had only eight points in the paint.
“Points off turnovers killed us in first half,” Walton said. “But we did a much better job of getting back in transition, and they only scored eight points in our paint in the second half, which, for us, is a near-miracle.”
Russell was injured when he clipped Randle’s foot while running off a pick and fell hard on his knee. He was on the floor for several minutes before hobbling to the locker room.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as I initially thought,” Walton said. “When I saw him go down, I was pretty worried, but he said he felt all right when I checked on him at halftime.”
Russell, who missed 12 games in November because of a left knee injury, has been in a shooting slump, scoring 48 points (9.6 average) on 20 of 61 shooting (32.8%) from the field and two of 18 from three-point range (11.1%) in the previous five games.
“The awkward position I fell in caused a little pain, but I’m all right,” Russell said. “It’s just sore.”
Young said his knee was “a little sore” after the game, “but the win made it feel much better.”
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