RECORD

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) and tell me that I’m so small, I shouldn’t be trying to hit home runs. He was small too, so I guess that was why he was telling me that.

— LeBron James had 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and pulled within 63 points of becoming the NBA’s career scoring champ as the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers 112-111 last night.

James gave Los Angeles its first lead on a 3-pointer with 2:35 left in the game, and Anthony Davis’ 11-footer with 35.1 seconds left was the decisive basket. Davis finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds.

Aaron Nesmith scored a careerhigh 24 points, newly minted All-Star Tyrese Haliburton added 26 points and 12 assists in his first game in three weeks and Myles Turner had 20 points and 13 rebounds after signing a two-year contract extension Monday.

But when Buddy Hield’s 17-foot jumper clanked off the rim in the closing seconds, Indiana lost its fourth in a row.

One of Indiana’s largest crowds of the season cheered James’ warmly throughout the fourth quarter, roaring loudly each time he scored as Indiana again found itself at the forefront of a league-changing pursuit.

“But from day one, I just wanted to hit home runs.

I don’t care how small I was, I wanted to hit home runs like A-Rod and (Ken) Griffey Jr. So he just kept on coming and coming at me with more and more drills. The next year, I was on his team and we just developed a father-son bond from there. Every day I was with him.”

When he left for school, Chisholm said Sands was relentless in contacting him to find out how everything was going and whenever he returned home, he was the first person who got him on the field working out.

“These two guys right here (Geron Sands and Albert Cartwright) took me in when I was about 15-16 years old. We worked for about nine months straight, no days off. We did gym at 7, school at 8 and practice at 12:30 every day for nine months straight. Nine months later, I was with the Arizona Diamondbacks.”

Sands, who along with Albert has formed the

International Elite Baseball Academy that assists young men getting off to high school and college or into the professional ranks, said Chisholm was also the spectacular “small guy” on the field swinging the “big bat.”

“He always wanted to hit the home runs. He always thought he would win,” Sands said.

“But something that stuck with me when he talked about being the MVP. I believe him because every single thing he said he was going to do, he’s done so far in the sport of baseball. This is the only