Murphy’s Tip-in At Buzzer Helps Pacers Shock Lakers 118-117

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap

On most nights when the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers meet on the hardwood, more often than not the Lakers are on the winning end – and they usually do it impressively. Tuesday night’s battle between these two same teams would have its exciting moments as both teams had leads throughout the game, but Danny Granger led the Pacers on an improbable comeback during the fourth quarter; however, it was a tip-in by Troy Murphy as time expired which gave Indiana the 118-117 win over Los Angeles at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Both teams shot very well as Los Angeles took the first quarter 30-28 and the second period 36-33 as they went into halftime leading Indiana 66-61; the Lakers broke it open early in the third quarter as they went on a 17-0 run, which seemed to give them a very good chance of sealing the deal early; however, the Pacers would come back, despite going into the fourth quarter with a 15-point deficit.

Indiana slowly chipped away at the Lakers’ lead, using a 10-0 run to get to within 105-98 early in the final period and closing to within 115-114 when Granger drained a 3 with 1:42 left in the game. They would finally regain the lead, 116-115 on a pair of free throws by Marquis Daniels with 1:16 remaining; after the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant made a 21-footer gave Los Angeles a 117-116 lead with 58.4 seconds left, his errant 18-foot jumper gave Indiana one last chance for the win. After Pacers coach Jim O’Brien called a timeout, Daniels broke towards the baseline and tossed up a shot that bounced off the side of the rim; however, Murphy tipped the ball toward the basket. The ball bounced around before settling into the bottom of the basket as the buzzer sounded. The basket went under review and was upheld.

Indiana was led by Granger with 32 points (including 4 three-pointers), 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal while T.J. Ford added 21 with 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals; a trio of Pacers had 16, including Murphy, Rasho Nesterovic and Daniels – with Murphy grabbing 17 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists along with 2 steals while Nesterovic grabbed 10 boards, dished out 4 assists with a steal. Daniels, along with his 16 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, dished out 3 assists and had a steal.

Los Angeles’ high scorer was Bryant with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while Pau Gasol added 9 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a blocked shot; Andrew Bynum chipped in, scoring 17 with 9 rebounds and an assist. Indiana (7-10) does not play again until Wednesday when they go to Boston to face the Celtics while Los Angeles (14-2) travels east to Philadelphia to face the 76ers – also on Wednesday.

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