INDIANAPOLIS — While the stage at Gainbridge Fieldhouse isn’t quite the same as Madison Square Garden, the scenario late in Thursday’s game could not be more familiar to the heart palpitation-inducing Lakers.
They’ve been squeezed in clutch time games before, memorably against these Indiana Pacers, who erased a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit and edged the Lakers when a rookie drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer back in November.
They were again setting up for disappointment, a key...