Los Angeles Lakers Favored To Send Indiana Pacer To Fourth-Straight Loss

Russell Westbrook — The LA Lakers go for a follow-up win when they visit the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

KEY POINTS

The Lakers are slight favorites to prevail over the Pacers on Thursday
The Pacers are hoping to snap their three-game losing streak at home
The Lakers are out to avenge their previous loss to the Pacers

The Los Angeles Lakers will try to get another win on Thursday, February 2 when they visit the spiraling Indiana Pacers at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The Pacers won in their initial regular-season meeting, 116-115, back in November.

However, a lot has changed since then. The Lakers have retooled their roster and have LeBron James and Anthony Davis back in harness.

In their last win over the New York Knicks, James returned from a one-game absence to lead the Purple and Gold with a triple-double performance.

The 38-year-old star finished with 28 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds in that 129-123 win over the Knicks.

Backing up "The King" was Anthony Davis, who had 27 markers and nine rebounds.

"I didn't get to this point in my career by thinking about records or how many points I have, whatever the case might be," James stated. "I just play the game the right way. I approach the game every night only trying to be a triple threat by scoring, rebounding, assisting, defending, and may the chips fall where they may."

The Lakers are averaging 117 points per game and have an offensive rating of 113.1.

On defense, the Lakers are giving up 118.3 points per contest.

The Pacers, on the other hand, are still nursing from a 100-112 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Bennedict Matthurin continues to deliver an impressive showing, amassing 27 points and eight rebounds. Aaron Nesmith added 16 markers and five rebounds in the losing effort.

"Pretty clear that the first half was really excellent and exactly what we were trying to do, which was make it tough on them with solid defense," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle stated. "The second half, they were able to flip the whole thing."

The Pacers are averaging 115.1 points per game and own an offensive rating of 112.7.

Indiana is surrendering 117.2 points per contest with a defensive rating of 114.9, which is 24^th in the league.

The Lakers are -2 spread favorites to prevail over the Pacers, who are at +2.

Furthermore, the moneyline is -127 for Los Angeles and +117 for Indiana.

The game will be televised on Bally Sports Indiana at 7:00 PM ET with live streaming available through the NBA League Pass.