Pacers 98 - 96 Lakers
Final
  for this game

Hibbert, Pacers hand Lakers 3rd straight loss

Jan 23, 2012 - 6:02 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant caught Roy Hibbert with an elbow, breaking the Pacers center's nose.

"He didn't mean to do it," Hibbert said -- and apparently it wasn't broken enough.

Hibbert scored all of his 18 points after breaking his nose in the first quarter Sunday night and Indiana beat Los Angeles, 98-96, to hand the Lakers their third straight loss.

The Pacers came out on top despite trailing by 13 points in the first quarter, getting double-digit points from six different players in their second win in a row over the Lakers in LA.

Danny Granger added 16 points and David West scored 15 for Indiana, which won for the fifth time in its last six games overall. Paul George chipped in 13 points, Darren Collison had 12 and George Hill scored 11 off the bench in the win.

Bryant had a game-high 33 points, but the Lakers lost their third straight game for the first time this season after shooting under 39 percent in the second half.

Derek Fisher missed a floater and Bryant clanked a three-point try off the back of the rim in the waning moments to allow the Pacers to seal the win at the foul line.

"Give Indiana credit. They outworked us," said Lakers head coach Mike Brown. "The last three quarters we didn't play with a sense of urgency (and) this is a game that's tough to swallow."

The Pacers trailed 27-14 after the first quarter, then pulled within 52-49 at halftime after Hibbert returned to the court. They were down, 78-77, heading into the fourth and took the lead for good on Collison's layup to make it 95-94 with 1:15 remaining.

Hibbert said he wasn't surprised his team won the game, despite Indiana's history of bad play against the Lakers on the road. Entering Sunday, the Pacers were just 5-33 in road games against the team.

"We were aggressive," said Hibbert. "Their [big players] are strong, but they didn't get back in transition."

Game Notes

The Lakers entered the game off losses to Miami and Orlando...They play the city rival Clippers on Wednesday...The Pacers went 2-1 on a California road trip...They travel home to play Orlando on Tuesday, then head back on the road for games at Chicago, Boston and Orlando.






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