Victory over Lakers a 'signature win' for Pacers, says Turner

Myles Turner hailed a "signature win" for the Indiana Pacers after they ended the Los Angeles Lakers' 14-game winning streak on the road with a 105-102 triumph at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Turner and Domantas Sabonis both impressed as the Pacers improved to 19-9 by beating a team who came into the contest with an NBA-leading 23-4 record.

"I think we showed ourselves we can hang in with the best," said Turner, who contributed 16 points and seven rebounds on Tuesday as team-mate Sabonis put up 26 points.

"They're the best team in the league as of right now and we were in there all game.

"This is the signature win to this point, as far as opponents we've played.

"I think that we don't have anything to prove to anybody but ourselves. We know we're a good team with potential to be a great team."

The Pacers, who remain without injured All-Star Victor Oladipo, trailed by five points with three minutes and 28 seconds remaining and head coach Nate McMillan was delighted to see his side hold their nerve in a tense finale.

“It means a lot to beat the best team record-wise in the league. We had to play good basketball tonight to beat them,” said Coach. pic.twitter.com/WYJ2Yrulil

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) December 18, 2019

"When you're playing in games like this against the Lakers and the elite teams, [we have] our three Cs," said McMillan in a news conference. "You've got to be calm, you've got to be clear and you've got to be connected.

"I thought we showed calmness, being down five and not panicking. We were clear about what we needed to do and I thought we were connected on both ends of the floor. It was a collective effort."