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Murphy's tip-in completes stunning Pacers comeback

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-03 14:29

NEW YORK - Troy Murphy's tip-in at the final buzzer completed a stunning comeback by the Indiana Pacers and a 118-117 home win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

Danny Granger scored 32 points for the Pacers (7-10), who trailed 101-86 at the start of the fourth quarter but chipped away at the lead until Murphy's tip-in bounced on both sides of the rim before dropping.

"It looked like it sat on there forever," Murphy told reporters. "But I'm happy it finally went down."

Indiana out-scored Los Angeles 32-16 in the final quarter and Granger felt the win was well earned.

"We showed a lot of heart in the fourth quarter," Granger said. "We did a lot of things right to come back in that game.

"Troy is a monster on the boards. He gobbles up so many rebounds, and I'm glad he got it because I couldn't get to it."

The Lakers (14-2) lost for just the second time this season and had a seven-game winning streak snapped.

"There was some luck involved, but that's the way basketball is if you don't take care of business," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They got some energy going to the hoop and the right thing happened for them."

T.J. Ford scored 21 points and Murphy wound up with 16 points and 17 rebounds for Indiana, which had lost five of its previous six games.

The Pacers are the only team in the current campaign to beat both the Lakers and Boston Celtics, last season's NBA finalists.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points and Pau Gasol added 20 as Los Angeles lost for the first time in six road games.

"They did a great job on the offensive boards and our turnovers created momentum for them," Bryant said.