Los Angeles Lakers @ Indiana Pacers Current Records:
Los Angeles 41-32, Indiana 41-33 After five games on the road, the Pacers are heading back home. They will take on the
Los Angeles Lakers at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday. The Pacers are strutting in with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 122.9 points per game this season. The experts predicted a close game on Wednesday and a win for the Pacers, but boy were they wrong. They found themselves the reluctant recipients of a 125-99 punch to the gut against the Bulls. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest points Indiana has scored all season. Meanwhile, the Lakers entered their tilt with the Grizzlies with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. They walked away with a 136-124 win over the Grizzlies on Wednesday. The Lakers can attribute much of their success to Rui Hachimura, who shot 7-for-8 from long range and dropped a double-double on 32 points and ten rebounds, and
LeBron James, who dropped a triple-double on 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. Indiana's loss dropped their record down to 41-33. As for Los Angeles, they have been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine matches, which provided a nice bump to their 41-32 record this season. Friday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: The Pacers have been crazy accurate this season, having nailed 50.5% of their field goals per game (they're ranked first in field goal percentage overall). However, it's not like the Lakers (currently ranked third) struggle in that department as they've kicked 49.8% of theirs this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. The Pacers came up short against the Lakers when the teams last played on Sunday, falling 150-145. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Lakers' Anthony Davis, who dropped a double-double on 36 points and 16 rebounds. Now that the Pacers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out. Indiana is a 3.5-point favorite against Los Angeles, according to the latest . The line has drifted a bit towards the Pacers, as the game opened with the Pacers as a 2-point favorite. The oddsmakers are expecting fireworks from the offense and set the over/under at a high 243 points. See for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine's advanced computer model. . Los Angeles has won 6 out of their last 10 games against Indiana.