PACERS

Pacers play villain in Kobe's last game in Indy

Retiring NBA legend gives Lakers a brief late lead but Indiana rallies to win 89-87

Candace Buckner
IndyStar
  • Hornets at Pacers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, FSI
Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) drives on Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) in the first half of their game. The Indiana Pacers host the Los Angeles Lakers Monday, Feb8, 2016, evening at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Paul George had seen this movie before. The one with Kobe Bryant teasing thousands of fans with the HD version of himself from his glory days, and not the old guy mostly seen this season through grainy sepia filters.

The last time they met, it happened. Bryant announced his retirement the night of the matchup, played like he was ready to walk away from the game by halftime but finally showed up for a big shot-making encore. It happened again on Monday night. The only difference, the backdrop was the sold-out Bankers Life Fieldhouse redecorated in purple and gold that had switched loyalties to "KO-BE! KO-BE! KO-BE!"

But like the last time, George played the villain in this drama that ended as an 89-87 victory for the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.

Bryant, appearing in his final game in Indianapolis, started slowly, missing 12-of-14 shots through three quarters. But when he checked back into the game with 4 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in the fourth, Bryant looked more like the old No. 8 with the afro as he torched the Pacers for 11 points over a 1:45 stretch. However as the Lakers led 84-80, George shushed the chants for Bryant by scoring six straight points, including a blow-by drive past Bryant and to the rim that resulted in a 3-point play with 38.3 seconds left.

Doyel: Fans enjoy 105 seconds of vintage Kobe Bryant

George finished with a game-high 21 points (6-of-18 shooting) and a lasting memory to one day tell his grandkids. But it's not the memory you might expect.

"Getting booed at the free throw line," George said, "that’s probably the biggest thing I’ll remember tonight."

It's strange playing the role of bad guy in front of your home fans. But even more mystifying for the Pacers (28-24) was, how in the world did they only win this game by two points?

BOX SCORE: Pacers 89, Lakers 87

The 11-win Lakers are not carrying Bryant to a storybook finish, but rather bumbling toward a high lottery pick. Entering the matchup, Los Angeles had averaged just 96.4 points per game,  27th in the league. By the end of the third quarter, the team's field-goal percentage, .284, looked like a typo on the stat sheet, and yet the Lakers trailed by only five points.

Indiana should've put the game away — at one point building a 17-point lead — but settled for long jump shots against a team without a rim protector. (Former Pacer Roy Hibbert sat out the game with a sprained left ankle but appeared fine while standing and celebrating Bryant's 3-point barrage through the fourth quarter). The Pacers attempted 35 shots from 3-point range and to coach Frank Vogel's dismay, it could've been worse.

"If we would have taken what the defense was giving us all night, we would’ve shot 50 3s," said Vogel after watching his team shoot 22.9 percent from deep (8 of 35). "If we would have knocked down some shots at a rate that we normally do, we win this game by 30 points. We weren’t knocking down shots. So you continue to take the bait or get into attack mode."

George, too, bit the bait. Just as Bryant wanted it. The two small forwards matched up throughout their time on the court together and it seems that 37-year-old Bryant in his 20th NBA season still can play the mental game better than anyone else.

"With him, he was egging me to shoot those jump shots," George said about Bryant. "I had a lot of good looks, I just didn’t get them to fall.”

On Nov. 29, when the Pacers faced the Lakers and Bryant made his big announcement, George splashed plenty of jumpers and scored 39 points. Bryant bricked his share (4-of-20) before pulling up for a 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining in the game to pull his team to within 104-103. However, by the time Bryant pulled into Indianapolis, he was averaging 26.4 points over the last five games. Before the matchup, Vogel said he planned on game planning against the “old Kobe.”

In the fourth quarter, the old Kobe showed up.

"It was definitely exciting," said Glenn Robinson, III who watched from the bench. "Great to witness something like that."

Holding Court with C.J. Miles returns Thursday

At the end of the game when players broke ranks to greet the legend, Bryant told Robinson to "give a big hug to Pops for him." Bryant once played against Robinson's father, the original Big Dog, Glenn Robinson. Meaning, he's been around a while and so an "old" Kobe was bound to show up. And after making those four jumpers, Bryant missed his last four to end the game.

"I felt bad for the fans," Bryant said. "If I could make one (more) shot ... but we got back into it and gave ourselves an opportunity to win it."

When these teams last met, George got the best of Bryant. On Monday, he did the same with the long overdue drive to the basket and bucket. The Pacers earned the harder-than-expected victory. But just like last time, old Kobe won over the fans.

"Kobe Bryant is one of the best ever," Vogel said. "I didn’t like hearing our fans chant his name but he deserves it. He’s that good and been one of the special players in our game."

Follow IndyStar reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

Hornets at Pacers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, FSI