The Los Angeles Lakers can't worry about their struggles on the road because they have the Indiana Pacers coming to town tonight for a showdown at Staples Center.
Los Angeles has dropped three in a row on the road and is only 1-6 as the visitor this season. It was swept by both the Heat and Magic in a recent tour of Florida and dropped a 92-80 decision in Orlando Friday night. Dwight Howard led the hosts with 21 points and 23 rebounds, while Kobe Bryant scored 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting for the Lakers, who were coming off of Thursday's double-digit loss in Miami.
"We just have to keep playing. There's no magic dust or no magic potion to be able to get us to get wins on the road," said Lakers head coach Mike Brown. "We have to just keep trying to execute offensively, keep moving the ball, keep setting the screens, keep cutting hard, step in and take the shot if you're open, and play basketball."
Pau Gasol added 13 points, Derek Fisher chipped in 12 and Andrew Bynum had 10 and 12 boards in a losing cause. The Lakers, who have dropped three of four games since a season-high five-game winning streak, shot 38.2 percent for the game and were outrebounded by a 51-42 margin. They also made just 6-of-20 three-pointers and fell behind by as many as 23 points.
The Lakers are off to their worst road start since the 2002-03 season, when they opened the season 1-8 on the road. On a brighter note, the Lakers have won nine in a row at home and own a 9-1 mark as the host this season. They will wrap up a brief two-game homestand versus the Clippers on Wednesday.
Indiana will conclude a three-game road trip this evening and has split the first two tests of the trek. After losing at Sacramento on Wednesday, the Pacers responded with a 94-91 triumph in Golden State.
George Hill's layup and subsequent foul shot gave the Pacers a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Hill's play was in question after he kicked the ball while guarding Monta Ellis.
"It was a tough missed call," Warriors head coach Mark Jackson said. "Clearly he kicked the basketball. But at the end of the day you don't blame the refs, you blame our team."
Danny Granger had 26 points, David West compiled 18 points and seven rebounds, and Hill added 14 points for Indiana, which won for the sixth time in eight tries and improved to 5-4 as the guest as opposed to its 5-0 home mark. The Pacers will return to Indy to host Orlando on Tuesday before embarking on another three-game trek against the Bulls, Celtics and Magic.
Indiana and the Lakers split a pair of matchups last season, with each team holding serve as the visitor. The Pacers halted an 11-game slide at the Lakers with a 95-92 win on Nov. 28, 2010 and have lost 17 of their last 19 games as the guest in this series. Indiana is 5-33 all-time on the road against the Lakers.
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