INDIANAPOLIS —
Maybe any other month of the NBA season, any other moment, and a night like Friday could be written off as an unavoidable occurrence.
When you have 82 games on the schedule — or in the case of the Lakers and the Indiana Pacers, 83 games thanks to the in-season tournament — there are going to be nights when your legs are too heavy, your brain is too foggy and the rims are too tight.
But when you’re where the Lakers were entering Friday, that stuff can’t get in the way.
Needing wins to try to climb out of the No.