Stephenson's All-Star campaign continues in win

The Pacers defeated the host Los Angeles Lakers 104-92 late Tuesday night to conclude their five-game western road trip. The Pacers are now an NBA best 35-9 on the season while the Lakers fell to 16-30.
The Big Plays
It was not Paul George's night overall, but he had a hand in a couple of the bigger plays of this game. First, he had a behind-the-back move on a fast break for a dunk that gave the Pacers a seven-point lead midway through the third quarter. Then he finished the third quarter by hitting a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Pacers a 10-point lead. The Lakers hung around for a bit, but it was never really close after that.
The Ups

Pacers guard Lance Stephenson had 15 points
and 14 rebounds in Tuesday's win over the Lakers.

1) Pacers guard Lance Stephenson continued his western campaign to make the NBA All-Star team as a reserve. The starters were announced last week, which included George, and the rest of the squad will be announced Thursday night. Stephenson finished with 15 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and six assists in this win. One of the best things about Stephenson's game on this trip, is that he seems to have gained a bit more of a sense on when his outside shot is going and when it is not. He's gaining more patience on the offensive end, meaning that he's not going to settle for a jump shot if he misses his first couple. He instead is works to get rebounds and push the fastbreak or uses his ball handling skills to get inside the defense and get an easier shot or to set up a teammate. Stephenson was 25 o 44 from the field in the final three games of the trip. Just another step in the maturation of Stephenson as a player.
2) The defense returned in earnest in this one. Yes, it's true the Lakers are not the offensive machine like the Clippers, Blazers or Thunder. But they had scored 100 or more points in eight straight games before Tuesday night. That might be more of reflection of Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni's shoot first and pass later type of philosophy, but nonetheless they do have the ability score. The Pacers also did a solid job on Lakers guard Nike Young, who has embraced that shoot-first mentality by holding him to just 12 points on 5 of 16 shooting.
3) One of the good things on this trip has been the involvement of David West in the offense. He finished with 19 points Tuesday on 8 of 14 shooting. West finished 35 of 74 from the field (hurt mainly a 6 of 20 night at Denver) on this trip. It's important to note because the Pacers often have an advantage on offense with him and it's good to see them get back to taking advantage of it. The Pacers will not only need him to play well in the second half of the season, but in the playoffs where he will really be needed.
The Downs
1) Lakers point guard Kendall Marshall is a nice story, coming from the D-League and playing well in a starting role for the Lakers. But once again the Pacers had trouble containing a left-handed point guard as Marshall had 13 assists and 11 points. That included letting Marshall get inside the defense in the final seconds of the first half and dishing off to Jordan Hill for a basket that tied the game. It's an area that the team will have improve on because teams will keep exploiting it until the Pacers stop it.
2) Sure he had that big play to end the third quarter, but maybe we should ban Paul George from going on late night talk shows. He hit just 4 of 21 shots after appearing in the Jimmy Kimmel show Wednesday night. After hitting just 6 of 18 shots at Denver, George will likely be glad to return to the home this week.
Afterthoughts
This was by no means one of those victories to brag about, but being on the final game of five-game road trip and needing it to have a winning trip, made this game kind of a big deal. The win gave the Pacers a 3-2 record this time around, making them 6-4 on their two western swings this season. So simply put, for a team trying to have the best record in the East, and possibly the league, coming back with a losing record on this trip would not have been acceptable.
Next Up
The Pacers will try to avenge one of their losses on the western trip as the Phoenix Suns visit Bankers Life Fieldhouse in a 7 p.m. game Thursday night. The Suns, led by guards Goran Dragic and ex-Pacer Gerald Green outgunned the Pacers last week in Phoenix 124-100, easily the most points the Pacers have allowed this season. The left-handed Dragic is averaging 19 points and six assists, followed by Green at over 13 points, Channing Frye and Markieff Morris each at 12 points and Marcus Morris at 10 points. Also, the Suns have former Pacers backup center


Miles Plumlee averaging just under nine points and just over nine rebounds per game. The Suns have a 26-18 record going into Wednesday night's game at Milwaukee, so the Pacers will get a little benefit in facing Phoenix on the second night of a back to back.