The Indiana Pacers edged the Los Angeles Lakers 116-115 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Monday, to secure the seventh win out of the past nine games.

Rookie swingman Andrew Nembhard made the game-winning 3-pointer for the Pacers which overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half. Tyrese Haliburton, the current NBA assists leader this season, made the pass to Nembhard with less than two seconds to go. Having dropped a double-double of 24 points and 14 assists on Monday night, Haliburton didn't commit a single turnover.

The Pacers averaged 115.7 points this season, the seventh-most among all 30 teams. Such performance was built on the team's decent spacing that came from their league's third-most 3-point attempts (40.5) and 3-points made (14.6) per game.

However, the Pacers' average 3-point rate of 36 percent was not as good as the other two numbers of them on this front, and only ranks 14th in the league. That's why they trailed in the first three quarters and were even in double digits in the fourth period. The whole team shot 11-for-36 from downtown before the fourth quarter. Failing to punish the Lakers for their defense that relied heavily on Anthony Davis to stay in the paint.

Of course, when the Pacers began to heat up at the 3-point line in the final quarter (6-for-13), it generated a pile-up effect with their sharp perimeter penetration to enable the team to outscore the opponents 32-22. In the last possession, when Myles Turner missed his sixth 3-pointer, the Lakers' players were apparently clueless what their defensive priority was, and thus left Nembhard open at the left wing.

The Lakers wasted a great start at home. LeBron James seemed so fresh and alive that he scored 10 points in less than four minutes before going back to the locker room to take care of a possible ankle sprain. The team went through some chaos while he was gone, but Wenyen Gabriel and Thomas Bryant helped the purple and gold survive that period with great performance in grabbing offensive rebounds.

The Lakers' biggest advantage came from Anthony Davis, who outmatched every big man the Pacers sent to the court on Monday. Having taken only 15 field goal (FG) attempts, Davis made nine of them and seven free throws to drop a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds. Thereafter, the Pacers had to double-team him to slow him down, Davis also delivered six assists. He was dominant on the defensive end as well with four blocks and more deflections of the opponents' shots.

Russell Westbrook, who already became a major candidate for Sixth Man of the Year since he began to come off the bench, also contributed a solid performance of 24 points and six assists. Compared with him and Davis, James was the worst-performing one of the "Big Three." He still managed to play over 36 minutes despite the ankle sprain, but it held him back in efficiently charging the rim. Neither was James in his best shooting form. He went 2-for-8 from the field to get only four points in the fourth quarter, which was the major reason behind the team's crumbling.

Other games on Monday (away teams come first):

Minnesota Timberwolves 127-142 Washington Wizards

Kristaps Porzingis made a new career highlight at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. after draining six triples to get 41 points for the Wizards. Though the Timberwolves had three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to protect their rim, the French giant had to watch Porzingis shoot 6-for-7 in the paint and make all of the 11 free throws he made.

By contrast, All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns only shot six FGs and made two of them to get eight points for the Timberwolves before exiting the game in the third quarter. He seemed to have suffered a calf injury without any contact. Despite his underperformance in Monday's game, the Timberwolves can't afford to have him sit on too many competitions.

Charlotte Hornets 105-140 Boston Celtics

The Celtics removed suspense from Monday's game at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, by scoring 45 points in the first quarter. Of course, they didn't stop there but get 33 and 43 points in the following two periods. 19 of the 24 triples they made happened in then first three quarters, not to mention that the team's second-in-command, Jaylen Brown sat the game out.

This was the 15th loss the Hornets suffered after playing 21 games this season. The hadn't been considered a participant in the race for Victor Wembanyama before the 2022-23 campaign had begun, but now the Hornets are only one and a half games above the Detroit Pistons which are at the bottom of the NBA.

Orlando Magic 102-109 Brooklyn Nets

Playing back-to-back didn't keep Kevin Durant from putting on his "Slim Reaper" suit and shooting 19-for-24 in FGs to score a season-high 45 points for the Nets to win. When the rest of the team went 25-for-57 from the field and 6-for-23 at the 3-point line, they needed Durant to take over, especially after Ben Simmons quit in the second quarter with soreness in the left knee.

On the Magic's side, Paolo Banchero lifted his points to over 20 in the third game since he returned from injury. His jumpers were still sloppy, just like his free throw shooting, but as the real orchestrator in the starting lineup, he managed to deliver five assists, the most in the team. The five turnovers he had were collateral damage the team had to accept.

Atlanta Hawks 101-104 Philadelphia 76ers

Cleveland Cavaliers 88-100 Toronto Raptors

Oklahoma City Thunder 101-105 New Orleans Pelicans

Houston Rockets 113-129 Denver Nuggets

Chicago Bulls 114-107 Utah Jazz

Phoenix Suns 122-117 Sacramento Kings