INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — LeBron James had a buzzer-beating tip-in to cap a 10-point fourth quarter, Luka Doncic scored 34 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 120-119 on Wednesday night.
James extended his NBA-record streak of 10 or more points to 1,283 games — barely. He was 0 for 6 with three points through the first three quarters. He finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.
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Los Angeles Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith (17) blocks the shot of Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots in front of Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle reacts to being called for a technical foul as his team plays the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) goes around Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) shoots in front of Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) shoots over Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after hitting the game winning shot against the Indiana Pacers at the end of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves into Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Doncic also had seven rebounds, seven assists and made six 3-pointers. Austin Reaves added 24 points as the Lakers snapped a three-game losing streak to move into a tie with Memphis for the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Bennedict Mathurin had 23 points to lead Indiana. Tyrese Haliburton had a season-high 18 assists and 16 points, the last of which gave Indiana a 119-118 lead with 42.2 seconds left. Indiana had streaks of five straight wins overall and eight straight at home snapped.
The Lakers led the entire second and third quarters and were still up 118-112 with 1:44 to go. But Haliburton's three-point play capped a 7-0 run that gave Indiana the lead. Both teams then had empty possessions and Doncic missed a midrange floater in the waning seconds, setting up James for the winner.
Lakers: Los Angeles desperately needed something to go right after losing seven of its previous 10. And despite seeing James go 4 of 12, the Lakers — and James — still found a way to finish the job.
Pacers: Indiana fought back from an 18-0 first half run that threatened to turn this one into a blowout. But its this kind of resilience that could propel them to a strong postseason run.
James beat the Pacers to rim for the winner, then was careful to just touch it and pull his hand away.
While James was 0 for 5 from the field in the first half, the Lakers shot 52.4% and made made 10 3s, two more than Indiana.
Los Angeles makes its next stop on a four-game trip Thursday night at Chicago. Indiana visits Washington on Thursday in its final back-to-back this season.
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Los Angeles Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith (17) blocks the shot of Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots in front of Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle reacts to being called for a technical foul as his team plays the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) goes around Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) shoots in front of Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) shoots over Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after hitting the game winning shot against the Indiana Pacers at the end of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves into Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
BANGKOK (AP) — Emergency rescue teams on Sunday began trickling into the area of Myanmar hardest hit by a massive earthquake that killed more than 1,600 people, their efforts hindered by buckled roads, downed bridges, spotty communications and the challenges of operating in a country in the midst of a civil war.
The 7.7 magnitude quake hit midday Friday with an epicenter near Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, bringing down scores of buildings and damaging other infrastructure like the city's airport.
Many of Mandalay's 1.5 million people spent the night sleeping on the streets, either left homeless by the quake, which also shook neighboring Thailand and killed at least 17 people there, or worried that the continuing aftershocks might cause structures left unstable to collapse.
So far 1,644 people have been reported killed in Myanmar and 3,408 missing, but many areas have not yet been reached, and many rescue efforts so far have been undertaken by people working by hand to try and clear rubble, said Cara Bragg, the Yangon-based manager of Catholic Relief Services in Myanmar.
“It's mainly been local volunteers, local people who are just trying to find their loved ones,” Bragg said after bring briefed by her colleague in Mandalay.
“I've also seen reports that now some countries are sending search and rescue teams up to Mandalay to support the efforts, but hospitals are really struggling to cope with the influx of injured people, there's a shortage of medical supplies, and people are struggling to find food and clean water,” Bragg added.
The organization was sending a team by road on Sunday to assess peoples' most pressing needs so that it could target its own response.
With the Mandalay airport damaged and the control tower toppled in the capital Naypitaw's airport, all commercial flights into the cities have been shut down.
Still, two Indian C-17 military transport aircraft were able to land late Saturday at Naypitaw with a field hospital unit and some 120 personnel who were then to travel north to Mandalay to establish a 60-bed emergency treatment center, according to the country's Foreign Ministry. Other Indian supplies were flown into Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city, which has been the hub of other foreign relief efforts.
On Sunday, a convoy of 17 Chinese cargo trucks carrying critical shelter and medical supplies was expected to reach Mandalay, after making the arduous journey by road from Yangon.
The 650-kilometer (400-mile) journey has been taking 14 hours or longer, with clogged roads and traffic diverted from the main highway to skirt damage from the earthquake.
At the same time, the window of opportunity to find anyone alive is rapidly closing. Most rescues occur within the first 24 hours after a disaster, and then survival chances drop as each day passes.
An initial report on earthquake relief efforts issued Saturday by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted the severe damage or destruction of many health facilities, and warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts, including trauma kits, blood bags, anesthetics, assistive devices, essential medicines, and tents for health workers.”
China said it has sent more than 135 rescue personnel and experts along with supplies like medical kits and generators, and pledged around $13.8 million in emergency aid. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said it had flown in 120 rescuers and supplies to Yangon, and the country’s Health Ministry said Moscow had sent a medical team to Myanmar.
In neighboring Thailand, the quake rocked much of the county, bringing down a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok, some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) away from the epicenter.
So far, 10 people have been found dead at the construction site near the popular Chatuchak market, where 83 people are unaccounted for and the latest body was recovered from the rubble early Sunday morning. A total of 17 people have been reported killed by the quake in Thailand so far.
In Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, rescue efforts so far are focused on Mandalay and Naypyitaw, which are thought to have been the hardest hit, but many other areas were also impacted and little is known so far about the damage there.
“We're hearing reports of hundreds of people trapped in different areas,” said Bragg. “Right now we're at 1,600 (known fatalities) and we don't have a lot of data coming out but you've got to assume it will be increasing in the thousands based on what the impacts are. This is just anecdotal information at this point.”
Beyond the earthquake damage, rescue efforts are complicated by the bloody civil war roiling much of the country, including in quake-affected areas. In 2001, the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking what has since turned into significant armed resistance.
Government forces have lost control of much of Myanmar, and many places are dangerous or impossible for aid groups to reach. More than 3 million people have been displaced by the fighting and nearly 20 million are in need, according to the United Nations.
The government military has been fighting long-established militias and newly formed pro-democracy People's Defense Forces, and has heavily restricted much-needed aid efforts to the large population already displaced by war even before the earthquake.
On Saturday, Myanmar’s opposition shadow National Unity Government, to which the PDF militias are loyal, announced a unilateral partial ceasefire to facilitate earthquake relief efforts.
The military did not immediately comment on the announcement and it continued airstrikes even after the earthquake.
The Three Brotherhood Alliance, a group of three of Myanmar's most powerful and well-armed militias that launched a combined offensive in October 2023 that broke a strategic stalemate with the military regime, didn't mention a ceasefire in a statement Saturday, but said it was ready to help.
“We will promptly provide assistance to those affected by the earthquake to the best of our ability, with a spirit of humanity, unit and brotherhood,” the group said.
Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this story.
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A woman cries as she waits for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives of victims wait as rescuers work at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday morning, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
A person watches rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers use sniffer dog at work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
people watch rescue work underway at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Women cry as they wait for news as rescue work is underway at the site of an under construction high-rise building that collapsed after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers works look for the survivors at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday after an earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed is seen following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A person goes through rubble at a Buddhist monastery building that has collapsed following an earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
A woman reacts after being informed that her husband had died at the site of a collapsed under construction high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, March 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
