Lakers vs. Pacers Preview Indiana Pacers (14-2) @ Los Angeles Lakers (13-3) Sunday Nov. 30, 9:30 EST Staples Center, Los Angeles TV: ESPN Previous 3 Games Lakers 103 - 87 vs. San Antonio - W Lakers 120 - 99 vs. Washington - W Lakers 121 - 89 vs. Memphis - W Season Series Have not played each other yet. Last 5 Meetings @ Lakers Lakers 97 - 95 - W Lakers 96 - 84 - W Lakers 109 - 110 - L Lakers 124 - 107 - W Lakers 116 - 111 - W Probable Starters Jeff Foster/Shaquille O'Neal Jermaine O'neal/Karl Malone Ron Artest/Devean George Reggie Miller/Kobe Bryant Kenny Anderson/Gary Payton Injury Lists Los Angeles Lakers Jamal Sampson - IR Rick Fox - IR Brian Cook - Out Indiana Pacers James Jones - IL Jamal Tinsley - Day to day Jonathan Bender - IL Notes The Best of the West v. The Beast of the East. The two best teams square off in the game of the day as the Lakers and Pacers go at it to determine the best team in the league. The Lakers are coming off their most impressive victory of the season after dismantling the defending champs. The Pacers have been the surprise success story this season posting the best record in the league and are getting All Star play from Jermaine O'neal and Ron Artest. New headcoach Rick Carlisle picked up where he left off with the Pistons and has the Pacers playing great team ball. The Pacers are 8-0 on the road and have won their last 8 games, and will try to end the Lakers 24 game win streak at the Staples Center. Keys To The Game Lakers - The Lakers are coming off an emotional win and they are going to face an energetic team out to make a statement against them and the rest of the West. The Pacers are the best in the league, but they are not getting the respect they feel they deserve because they are in the East. Defeating the Lakers in Los Angeles would be a huge win for them and bring some legitamicy back to the Eastern Conference. The Lakers have the Big Fella back, and they will need him to pound inside and get the interior of the Pacers in foul trouble. The best match-up is going to be Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant. These two have no problem getting amped for one another and I expect to see a lot of one on one isolation during the final two minutes of each quarter. The key for the Lakers is going to be Gary Payton. The weak link for the Pacers is their point guard play and Gary Payton needs to take dominate this match-up. Payton can easily post Kenny inside the paint and will create a lot of offense for the Lakers if he pushes the way he did against the Spurs. Teams have yet to figure out an answer to stop the Lakers. Double and triple teams no longer work, because everyone can score on the court for the Lakers. I predict Gary Payton to be the main weapon tomorrow for the Lakers. Indiana - Confidence for four quarters is going to be the key for the Pacers. They believe they can beat anyone in the league, but if they get overwhelmed early in this game, it will be interesting to see how the team holds together. Their only major come from behind game was against the Hawks, so they have yet to play catch up against a superior team in the league like the Lakers. There will be a lot of star power on the court, so Carlisle will have his hands full keeping his team in control and not getting caught up in one on one match ups. Artest likes going one on one with Kobe, and he'll get his chances, but he has to pick his spots on when to be aggressive on offense and when to pass it to his teammates. Payton presents a big problem for them, and if Shaq gets going and gets Foster in early foul trouble, the Pacers have no chance. Jermaine O'neal cannot handle Shaq, and Scott Pollard hasn't been effective all season. Shapecity Re-Cap Available after the game. Key Stat [imgr]http://images.google.com/images?q=tbnTJWKs7hx9cC:images.sportsline.com/u/photos/basketball/nba/2000/allstar/img5863015.jpg[/imgr]Kobe Bryant plays some of his best basketball against the Pacers. He has had an ongoing rivalry with Reggie Miller, and now has one with Ron Artest. Here's a breakdown of Kobe's PPG versus the Pacers over the last 3 seasons. 2002 - 28.0 ppg 2001 - 35.0 ppg 2000 - 20.0 ppg Prediction Lakers extend their home streak to 25! Lakers in OT 112-108.
What a match-up this will be. Pacers have played awesome so far this season. The Lakers have quieted all their critics. I have to give the Lakers the nod just bacause they are at home. Should be a great one.
Yes, this is the marquee match-up tomorrow. I think the Pacers have more pressure to win this game because the Lakers already made a big statement on Friday. I see the Pacers coming out tight for this game and making a lot of early mistakes. Once the Lakers control tempo, it's impossible to beat them.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">Artest vs. Kobe, I'll pay to watch that every time.</div> Damn right,will Artest shut down Kobe? will he have to? My guess is Kobe shoots under 45%..Lakers should get the W though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ThaLord:</div><div class="quote_post">Pacers C:Foster Pf:O'Neal Sf:Artest Sg:Miller Pg:Anderson</div> Made the lineup adjustment. Thanks. :thumbsup:
this is going to be an awesome game...its games like this that make me wish i was still livin in Cali
I think Shaq is going to have a huge game considering his less-than-stellar performance agasint the spurs. He must be feeling left out considering ALL THE LAKERS have been playing well the last 3 games.
Malone will have his hands full with Jermaine O'neil. There are a lot of awesome match-ups tonight...
Preview of the Finals (IMO)... should be a great game. It's times like this when I wish I had NBA TV.
Shaq got 3 fouls in the first quarter. It's halftime now and its been a good defensive half and a sloppy offensive half for both teams. 46-37 Lakers lead. Kobe and Artest seem to be stopping each other on the defensive end. The difference being Kobe is setting up his teammates better right now. Both O'neals are in foul trouble, with shaq missing the whole second quarter. He picked up an offensive foul when they put him back in the game with 1.9 seconds left in the first quarter. Lakers need to combat Harrington better in the second half, and Shaq needs to stay on the floor.
This game is out the window now. Malone is out playing J O'neal right now. Shaq has played well in limited time this game. Kobe and GP are doing their thing in the backcourt as usual. 14-3 after this victory, LAKERS!!
Wow, this one has to hurt the Pacers. They came in with high emotions riding the best record in the East. Now they have to be questioning whether or not they can compete with the Lakers or even the West.
Rick Carlisle never does well on west road trips.his style of play doesn't suit it.Not his fault though most east teams are the same.
I did not expect another blow out, but I'm glad the Lakers came to play in this game. Their defense was outstanding and they matched Indiana's energy and survived Shaq getting into early foul trouble. Karl Malone had another solid game with 16 rebounds and doing a great job forcing O'neal into off-balance shots. Kobe Bryant had some great passes in this game and held Artest to a season low 6 points.
