The championship match for the inaugural In-Season Tournament is now set after the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the New Orleans Pelicans en route to a 133-89 win Thursday night in Las Vegas. The Lakers advance to the title game on Saturday night where they’ll take on the Indiana Pacers who took out the Milwaukee Bucks in the East semifinals matchup earlier in the day.
LeBron James led the way for L.A. against the Pelicans, putting up an efficient 30 points, eight assists and five rebounds in just 23 minutes. James went 9-for-12 from the floor, with a perfect 4-for-4 from downtown, in a game where he didn’t even play in the fourth quarter after the Lakers built up as much as a 44-point lead. The Lakers finished with six scorers in double figures and put the pressure on New Orleans early after making it rain from 3-point territory, where they shot 48.6% from deep. It was never a close contest, and now L.A. will prepare to take on a Pacers team that had an equally dominant game against the Bucks.
While the Pacers didn’t run up the score on Milwaukee, they certainly were in control for a significant portion of the game. Tyrese Haliburton made history after recording his second-straight game of 25+ points, 15+ assists and zero turnovers, making him the only player in NBA history to put up multiple performances with that stat line. He’s also the only player in league history to record 50+ points and 25+ assists without turning the ball over during a two-game span, this is the second time this season he’s done that.
Haliburton led the way for the Pacers, and as much as the Bucks tried to put up a fight, highlighted by a run in the third quarter where Damian Lillard racked up 16 of his 24 points, Indiana proved to be too much for Milwaukee. To top off the win for the Pacers, Haliburton nailed a 3-point dagger with just under a minute left to give Indiana a 122-114 lead, and as he jogged back on defense he hit the “Dame Time” celebration.
It should be an exciting matchup between the Lakers and Pacers, pitting the top-ranked Indiana offense against a top-10 Los Angeles defense. While these two teams haven’t faced each other just yet, these two teams have had some close finishes in the past couple of years, and Saturday should be no different as both teams try to crown themselves In-Season Tournament champions.
The In-Season Tournament action comes to a close on Saturday where one team will be the first to hoist up the NBA Cup. The title game will not count toward the league’s 82-game regular season standings, although each winning player will receive $500,000.
Here’s a quick refresher on how the In-Season Tournament is working. The home teams have debuted this season’s city edition uniforms during games that have been played on specially designed courts.
Below is the remaining In-Season Tournament schedule, scores, standings and more. All games on ESPN and ABC are streaming on Fubo (try for free). Fubo’s holiday offer just kicked off! For a limited time, new subscribers can save $40 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite and Premier plans ($20 off the first and second months).
NBA In-Season Tournament schedule
(All times Eastern)
Saturday, Dec. 9
Championship: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers, Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m., ABC/Fubo (Try for free)
NBA In-season Tournament scores, results
Thursday, Dec. 7
East semifinal: Pacers 128, Bucks 119
West semifinal: Lakers 133, Pelicans 89
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Quarterfinal: Bucks 146, Knicks 122
Quarterfinal: Lakers 106, Suns 103
Monday, Dec. 4
Quarterfinal: Pacers 122, Celtics 112
Quarterfinal: Pelicans 127, Kings 117
Tuesday, Nov. 28
Celtics 124, Bulls 97
Nets 115, Raptors 103
Cavaliers 128, Hawks 105
Bucks 131, Heat 124
Knicks 115, Hornets 91
Thunder 106, Timberwolves 103
Mavericks 121, Rockets 115
Kings 124, Warriors 123
Friday, Nov. 24
Magic 113, Celtics 96
Suns 110, Grizzlies 89
Knicks 100, Heat 98
Raptors 121, Bulls 108
Pacers 136, Pistons 113
Rockets 105, Nuggets 86
Bucks 131, Wizards 128
Kings 124, Timberwolves 111
Warriors 118, Spurs 112
Pelicans 116, Clippers 106
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Magic 126, Raptors 107
Pacers 157, Hawks 152
Cavaliers 122, 76ers 119 (OT)
Suns 120, Trail Blazers 107
Lakers 131, Jazz 99
Friday, Nov. 17
Bucks 130, Hornets 99
Knicks 120, Wizards 99
76ers 126, Hawks 116
Cavaliers 108, Pistons 100
Celtics 108, Raptors 105
Kings 129, Spurs 120
Magic 103, Bulls 97
Pelicans 115, Nuggets 110
Suns 131, Jazz 128
Lakers 107, Trail Blazers 95
Clippers 104, Rockets 100
Tuesday, Nov. 14
Heat 111, Hornets 105
Hawks 126, Pistons 120
Pacers 132, 76ers 126
Nets 124, Magic 104
Thunder 123, Spurs 87
Pelicans 131, Mavericks 110
Jazz 115, Trail Blazers 99
Nuggets 111, Clippers 108
Timberwolves 104, Warriors 101
Lakers 134, Grizzlies 107
Friday, Nov. 10
76ers 114, Pistons 106
Hornets 124, Wizards 117
Celtics 121, Nets 107
Rockets 104, Pelicans 101
Jazz 127, Grizzlies 121
Timberwolves 117, Spurs 110
Mavericks 144, Clippers 126
Kings 105, Thunder 98
Lakers 122, Suns 119
Friday, Nov. 3
Pacers 121, Cavaliers 116
Bucks 110, Knicks 105
Heat 121, Wizards 114
Nets 109, Bulls 107
Warriors 141, Thunder 139
Nuggets 125, Mavericks 114
Trail Blazers 115, Grizzlies 113 (OT)
