Indiana @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 20, 2017 ) Indiana 95, L.A. Lakers 108

The Los Angeles Lakers haven't won a game this season when rookie point guard Lonzo Ball has been sidelined. Ball will miss Friday's game against the visiting Indiana Pacers because of an injured left knee and the Lakers will try to post a victory for the first time in nine games without the No. 2 overall pick in the lineup.

Ball will miss his third straight game, while shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Achilles) will also sit out, and forwards Brandon Ingram (ankle) and Kyle Kuzma (hand) are listed as questionable. The Lakers struggled without Ball on Wednesday when they committed 18 turnovers while being thrashed 114-90 by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pacers had a three-game winning streak come to an end Thursday in Portland when they tallied a season-low 12 fourth-quarter points during a 100-86 loss to the Trail Blazers. Center Myles Turner (elbow) will miss his sixth straight game and Indiana hopes to get its second-leading scorer (13.9) and rebounder (6.5) back in the middle of next week.

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, Spectrum Sports Net (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE PACERS (24-21): Backup shooting guard Lance Stephenson nearly missed Thursday's game because of illnesses but toughed it out and missed all six of his field-goal attempts in a scoreless outing. "Stomach virus, food poisoning, tough game," Stephenson said afterward. "I don't want to blame it on the sickness. I felt a little heavy on my feet. No excuses man. I still felt like I could've made some of shots I shot." Stephenson is averaging 4.3 points over the past three games after averaging 15.5 over the previous two contests.

ABOUT THE LAKERS (15-29): Ball is shooting only 35.6 percent from the field while averaging 10.2 points but leads the team in rebounding (7.1) and assists (7.1) while supplying steady ball-handling. Los Angeles has struggled to be competitive without him as the eight losses are by an average of 17 points and include a 37-point setback to Oklahoma City on Jan. 3. "I think it's much harder to win without Lonzo, but it's not impossible," Lakers coach Luke Walton told reporters. "There's games that we could have won (that) he hadn't played in. We just didn't finish them out."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Pacers have won eight of the past 11 meetings.

2. SG Victor Oladipo (1-of-9 from 3-point range) and PG Darren Collison (season high five 3-pointers) each scored 23 points in the loss to Portland.

3. Los Angeles C Brook Lopez is averaging 5.5 points on 8-of-28 shooting over the past four games.

PREDICTION: Pacers 113, Lakers 105