Pacers close out road trip with a win over Lakers

LOS ANGELES – In big picture thinking, coach Frank Vogel believes his Indiana Pacers could keep winning all the way to the playoffs. Every game, every city, Vogel wants to end the night one game better in the standings.

Such goals can't align with the reality of a long NBA season but for the most part, the Pacers have appeased their coach's wishes. And on Tuesday night as the Pacers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 104-92, they maintained their broad view towards something greater.

"We're pretty much dialed in," Paul George said. "We've got to be able to accept nights where we're not going to play well and use those games to get better moving forward. But as an assessment of where we're at right now, I think we're moving steady."

The balance of the Pacers made up for George's lack of shooting efficiency (4-of-21 from the floor), as all five starters scored in double figures and Lance Stephenson contributed 15 points and pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds.

Though often seduced by the hurried uptempo of the Mike D'Antoni system, the Pacers made up for their 42.4 percent accuracy on 99 shot attempts by locking down the Lakers to under 40 percent shooting.

"The Lakers push it every time, they made us have to push it, too," Stephenson said. "We just played smart and made plays for each other. We didn't get a lot of turnovers, we played smart today."

Quite the saluted return to the Pacers that dominated opponents before embarking on this trip.

"It was a stronger effort than we've seen on this trip so far," Vogel said. "Fouling and turnovers. If we limit our fouls and turnovers, we're tough to beat. Four turnovers offensively and only 16 fouls, showing good discipline limits areas where we think we beat ourselves."

After their second five-game road trip through the Western Conference, the Pacers still have the top record in the league at 35-9 overall. During the 10 straight days on the road and three separate trips to the state of California, the best team showed some weaknesses. Run the Pacers long enough and they just might break down. Pick-and-roll them into oblivion and the Pacers may abandon their self-control. However, when looking at the sum of the schedule, the Pacers showed more encouraging signs than caution flags.

On Tuesday night, when players longed for the comfort of their own beds – "I need my house," George Hill exclaimed inside the Staples Center visitor's locker room – they did not fall in the trap of the final game of a long road trip.

When rims closed up and trips to the free-throw line seemed like punishment (15-of-27 for 55.6 percent), the Pacers made the shots that mattered. George only knocked down four of his attempts, but drilled a 3-pointer to beat the third-quarter buzzer to extend the Pacers' lead to 79-69. In spite of the shooting struggles, George never abandoned other aspects of his game as he led the team with six assists.

"If he gave us nothing offensively, he's still helping us win every single night with his ability to guard," Vogel said.

Though their minds and bodies undoubtedly weighed down, the Pacers improved steadily through the game. Key play from the bench, sparked by the ever-energetic Stephenson, finally pushed the Lakers down and out. The Pacers' bench stretched the 10-point lead to a comfortable 16-point cushion and the four reserves – Luis Scola, Danny Granger, Ian Mahinmi and C.J. Watson – produced 32 points.

"Our legs were tired out there," Roy Hibbert said. "Guys pushed through. It was more of a mental game for us."

Now, back to the big picture: the Pacers concluded the last of their two longest road trips of the season with a combined 6-4 record. That may not meet the idealistic expectations but still ranks quite high.

"It's pretty good," Vogel said. "With this team, I always feel like we should win them all but 6-4 is pretty good."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.