Lakers 124-117 Pacers (8 February 2025) Game ReCAPT

Los Angeles-Aaustin Reaves scored a career mound 45 points, and the striping Los Angeles Lakers beat Indiana Pacers 124-117 Saturday without LeBron James or Luka Doncic.

Rui Hachimura scored 24 points for LA on his 27 -year birthday. Lakers have won five equal and 11 of 13.

Los Angeles jumped to a 25-point lead in the first half, and Reaves scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, while Lakers held Indiana, the fourth place hold at the eastern conference, even without their two superstars.

James sat with left ankle tenderness while Doncic saw his third straight battle from Lakers’ bench as he approaches a return from the strained left calf that has sidelined him since Christmas. James and Doncic sat together and talked throughout the game ahead of their expected joint debut Monday against Utah.

Pascal Siakam scored 23 points, and Tyrese Halliburton had 19 for Pacers, deleting most of their huge deficit before fading in the fourth quarter. Indiana lost only for the fourth time in 17 games.

Reaves hardly played because of a tender left elbow, but chose to fit in with Lakers’ two stars sidelined. He scored 14 points in the first quarter and added a flurry of eight points early in the fourth and put his career high on a steal and a thump with 7:37 to play in the middle of a standing ovation.

Takeaways

Pacers: A terrible first half without Myles Turner sitting with a head injury.

LAKERS: In his debut in Lakers, Journeyman Guard Jordan Goodwin played 25 minutes and hit a key 3-pointer by 2:26 to play.

Keying moment

Lakers had a third straight phenomenal first half, making 15 of 21 shots and led 53-28 midway through the second quarter.

Key State

Indiana went 31 out of 32 from the free throwing line.

Up next

Pacers hosts Knicks Tuesday. Lakers hosts the jazz on Monday.

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