Indiana looking for strong finish to West Coast road trip.
Jan 22, 2012 - The Indiana Pacers (10-4) finish up a three-game road trip on Sunday night when they face Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers (10-7) at the Staples Center.
The Pacers are 1-1 on the trip so far after a rough start saw them give up a fourth-quarter lead to lose to Sacramento. The Pacers bounced back to make the key plays late in beating the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. Danny Granger led the way with 26 points against Golden State and he'll need to maintain his shooting touch against the Lakers, something the forward has struggled with early in the season.
The Lakers return home after dropping two double-digit losses on consecutive nights to the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. Kobe Bryant leads the league in scoring with 30.4 points per game but needs some help to get the Lakers winning more consistently.
Former Pacers Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy play reserve roles for Los Angeles with Chuck Person working as an assistant coach to former Pacers' assistant and current Lakers' head coach Mike Brown. Yep, lots of interesting ties in this game, including Pacers assistant head coach Brian Shaw returning to Staples Center where he worked beside Phil Jackson for 12 years.
None of that matters once the ball is in play though and the Pacers will need to use their depth to make Bryant work for his points while trying to keep the front court of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol in check. No easy task.
For more on the Indiana Pacers, check out Indy Cornrows. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NBA hub at SBNation.com/NBA.
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