LeBron James and the Pacers put on a great show
Showdown in Las Vegas: The Los Angeles Lakers and the Indiana Pacers play for the first title of the NBA season on Sunday. The Lakers roar past the chanceless Pelicans in the semi-finals. The Pacers surprise top team Milwaukee.
Led by superstar LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers reach for their first title of the season. With their dominant 133:89 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Californians have reached the final of the in-season tournament and will play for the NBA Cup against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night. James scored 30 points, five rebounds and eight assists in less than 23 minutes of playing time. The best point scorer in NBA history was mercilessly efficient and was spared in the final quarter due to the clear lead.
"If we defend, we have a real chance of winning every game," said the now 38-year-old James, but also warned against restraint. "It's still only December, I'm not going to go crazy now. The in-season tournament is great, but it's still only December. It's another opportunity to get even better, that's what we want and we're excited." In addition to James, Anthony Davis also impressed for the Lakers with 15 rebounds to go with his 16 points and Austin Reaves, who contributed 17 points off the bench.
James and Co. will face the Pacers in the final of the first-ever tournament. The team from Indiana beat the Milwaukee Bucks 128:119 in the second semi-final, but the 37 points scored by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo were not enough for them. "I think we're shocking the world right now. Nobody expected us to be here except the guys in the locker room," said Pacers top scorer Tyrese Haliburton, who was his team's best scorer with 27 points. Indiana is unbeaten in the tournament so far.
"We don't have any Hollywood guys on the team. We just have a lot of guys on the team who keep their heads down and work," said Myles Turner, his team's second-best scorer with 26 points. In the In-Season Tournament, the best teams from the East and West play in the final, just like in the play-offs. In the first phase of the tournament, both conferences initially played out the quarter-finalists in three groups of five.
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Source: www.ntv.de
