NBA In Season Tournament final four is set,The Los Angeles Lakers emerged from their quarterfinal matchup with the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night, in part, thanks to a controversial timeout that was issued in the waning seconds of the game. Regardless, the Lakers are moving on to face the New Orleans Pelicans in Thursday’s West semifinal in Las Vegas. In outlasting the Suns in the 106-103 victory, the Lakers remain undefeated in IST play. LeBron James continues to stiff arm Father Time and re-write the record books.
That intensity, paired with a home-court advantage, propelled Los Angeles to an early lead and control throughout the first half. However, the NBA is a game of runs, and with players like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker on the other side, the run was inevitable. Phoenix outscored Los Angeles 35-24 in the third quarter and we had ourselves a ballgame heading into the fourth.
He started things off by converting on a pair of free throws, then fed Rui Hachimura a beautiful bounce pass that Hachumira dunked with one hand. The next possession was a bucket by James, followed by a layup, then a pullup jumper. All James points.
He scored 15 of the team’s 23 points in the final quarter and assisted in every other field goal the Lakers made in the fourth except for one Austin Reaves 3-pointer.
“I love it,” Ham said during his postgame presser. “It allows you to see early what you’re made of and who can give you what at what moment. It’s refreshing to come out on the right side of a game of this. This game, for it to be our 22nd game of the season, it had a ton of playoff intensity.”
NBA In Season Tournament QF NO.3
In Tuesday’s early quarterfinal, the Milwaukee Bucks rolled over the visiting New York Knicks, 146-122, and will now meet the Indiana Pacers in the East semifinal on Thursday afternoon. Pretty much everything went right for the Bucks, who were lethal from 3, shooting 60.5% (23 of 38) and on a high volume to boot. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 35 points and added eight rebounds and 10 assists. Damian Lillard shot a whopping 71.1% from 3, connecting on five of seven shots from distance. Julius Randle scored 41 points for New York.
On Monday night, the Pelicans erased a 15-point deficit in the first quarter, and went on to take a 69-61 lead at halftime. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 30 points. “[Ingram] was incredible,” said coach Willie Green. “He put us on his shoulders and he carried us.”
Meanwhile, the Pacers rode MVP candidate Tyrese Haliburton who notched his first career triple double with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists. With the score knotted at 105, Haliburton converted a four-play with 93 second left in the game to put Pacers up for good. “The atmosphere was crazy,” he said. “We’re excited to be [going to Las Vegas], but we want to win.”
The In-Season Tournament culminates in Saturday’s championship for 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.