After trailing by a sizable margin for much of Thursday’s game against the Indiana Pacers, the Los Angeles Lakers pushed back and came away with a 112-111 win in the final seconds.
Patrick Beverley had some words for Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton right after the game.
Pat Bev on Tyrese Haliburton: "For a first-year guy to mention my name…I remembered his words. I took it kind of personal and I wanted that challenge tonight."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) February 3, 2023
The two have talked trash at each other in the past, and after the Lakers blew a big lead and lost to the Pacers back in November, they seemed motivated to make things right this time.
For the first three quarters, it looked like it simply wasn’t the Lakers’ night, as they failed to guard the 3-point line and had trouble getting their fast break going, while Indiana was able to score easily in transition time and again.
But by starting to string together stops, getting second-shot opportunities and heading to the free-throw line, Los Angeles gobbled up the Pacers’ lead in the fourth quarter and stopped them on their final possession to emerge victorious.
Beverley scored just seven points in 28 minutes, but his impact went well beyond that, as he notched three steals and two blocked shots.
His 3-point shooting has been drastically better in recent weeks than it was in October and November, which has been a very welcome development, given that the Lakers are one of the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting teams.
On the other side, Haliburton had 26 points and 12 assists, but Beverley’s team came away with what it needed.
The Lakers are now 25-28 and just 1.5 games behind the New Orleans Pelicans, who they will play next on Saturday, for the 10th spot in the Western Conference, as well as 2.5 games behind the Dallas Mavericks for fifth place.
Although Beverley has been playing fairly well for the last several weeks, his name keeps coming up in trade rumors, mainly because of his $13 million expiring contract. The NBA trade deadline is exactly a week away on Feb. 9, and the Lakers are reportedly looking to upgrade their backcourt by jettisoning Beverley.
