After beating the Indiana Pacers 150–145 on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena, the Los Angeles Lakers are now on a run of three wins in a row.

The Lakers scored the most points in a game since the 1986–87 season, which finished with a championship.

With their third straight win, the Purple and Gold improved to 39-32. It was also their first win of the season without D’Angelo Russell on the court. The guard was sick with something that wasn’t CØVID, which seemed like a problem since his team had previously gone 0-5 without him in 2023–24.

Not good enough for that.

Anthony Davis had 36 points, 16 boards, three assists, two steals, and one block. Indiana had no answer for him. As a whole, the team did a great job. LeBron James scored 26 points, dished out 10 assists, and grabbed 5 boards.

Russell’s absence was also felt by Spencer Dinwiddie (26 points, five assists on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor) and Austin Reaves (25 points, eight assists, and five boards).

The final score was tighter than the Lakers would have liked because they were ahead 116–99 going into the fourth quarter. In the middle of the game, scoring 86 points between the second and third quarters, they were in charge, but they let the Pacers get back within striking distance.

Still, James and Davis both made big shots when it mattered most, and Reaves made six free throws in the last minute to seal the deal. Every free throw made a difference. Tyrese Haliburton’s three-pointer cut the lead to three points in the last 30 seconds, and the Lakers went on to finish off the win.

It was a big win because the Houston Rockets, who are on fire right now, made things interesting in the Western Conference play-in playoff picture.

Even though the Lakers have won three straight, they are still 3.5 games behind the ninth-seeded Warriors, who are only one game behind the 10th-seeded Golden State Warriors.

The defense wasn’t used much on Sunday, but there were still enough big players and offєnsive fireworks on the court to keep the momentum going going into their game on the road against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.