LAKERS, PACERS ON TO TOURNEY FINAL
LeBron James scored 30 points in less than three quarters and the Los Angeles Lakers steamrolled the New Orleans Pelicans 133-89 on Thursday night to reach the championship game in the NBA In-Season Tournament.
The Lakers will play the surprising Indiana Pacers on Saturday night for the inaugural NBA Cup. Indiana advanced with a 128-119 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the other semifinal. Unlike the other tournament games, that one will not count in the regular-season standings.
Austin Reaves scored 17 points for Los Angeles, Anthony Davis had 16 points and 15 rebounds and Taurean Prince finished with 15 points.
“We’ve got to defend,” James said on the telecast. “I
Lakers 133, Pelicans 89
think we’re coming out with a defensive mindset and when we defend, I think we have a chance to win any ballgame.
“We continue to get better, but the most important thing is we need to get healthy. As we get healthy, we get our length back. Guys are buying into what we want to do defensively. We’re sharing the ball and helping defensively, and we’re just playing Laker basketball.”
Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with 14 points. Zion Williamson had 13 points and Herbert Jones 10.
New Orleans led 30-29 after the first quarter, but James opened the second scoring the Lakers’ first 11 points, making three 3-pointers in a row. The last two came from the league and tournament logo, firing up the proLakers crowd. The nearly 39year-old superstar even took a charge at one point.
By halftime, he had 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting. James went to the bench midway through the third quarter, which should give him plenty of energy for the championship.
Los Angeles has won three consecutive games and four of their past five. The Pelicans had won three of their previous four.
Pacers 128, Bucks 119: Tyrese Haliburton hit his third 3-pointer with less than a minute left, pounded his chest, and looked down at his wrist to let everyone know one thing: “It’s our time!”
Haliburton had 27 points and 15 assists and Indiana beat Milwaukee to advance to the championship game in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.
“We’re playing the right way and we’re shocking the world right now; we’re going to continue to do that,” Haliburton said. “And as long as we play the right way, we know we’re going to be in every basketball game.”
Myles Turner added 26 points for Indiana. Obi Toppin had 14 on 6-of-8 shooting, Isaiah Jackson chipped in 11 and Bruce Brown had 10.
Indiana is averaging a whopping 132.6 points during the tournament. Overall, they are averaging 128.3 this season — 131.7 over the last 14 games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee. Damian Lillard added 24 points, Khris Middleton had 20 and Brook Lopez 18.
Notable
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver watched the action, and he will give a state-of-theleague news conference before Saturday’s final. He no doubt will be asked about Las Vegas as a potential candidate for expansion, and Silver has said the city already is treated like the 31st franchise with each team playing in the Summer League here.