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The Los Angeles Lakers have won the first ever NBA In-Season Tournament, defeating the Indiana Pacers 123-109. Future Hall of Famer LeBron James was named MVP
— Ballislife Bets (@BallislifeBets) December 10, 2023
The Lakers are your FIRST NBA In-Season Tournament Champions!
Beginning odds: +1300#NBA #Lakers pic.twitter.com/mpXb7SzimH
Members of the Los Angeles Lakers are one pay check richer, and have possession of the first ever "NBA Cup." While both Indiana and Los Angeles earned their first trip to Las Vegas, it was the Lakers that secured the win. With such a unique opportunity, both LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed just how valuable they are to the Lakers organization. For Laker fans, all they've known is winning, since the franchise is tied with the Boston Celtics for 17 banners. With the court at a neutral site, many Lakers fans were in attendance to capture the special victory.
While Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 41 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks, it was LeBron James who took away the NBA In-Season Trophy MVP trophy. Known to ball out on the biggest stage, James finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and one steal in 35 minutes of action. While many remember Michael Jordans "flu game," this time, guard Austin Reaves was feeling under the weather. While this isn't the NBA Finals, Reaves finished with an impressive 28 points, three assists, and two rebounds in 28 minutes. With Reaves the only productive player off the bench, all five Lakers starters were positive on the court. Reaves production certainly took a tiny bit of pressure of James and Davis.
Anthony Davis had a shaq-like performance
#LakersWin pic.twitter.com/5zaksVGKxH
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 10, 2023
The Pacers truly had a spectacular run, making their first ever tournament finals. While the Pacers have never won a championship, Tyrese Haliburton expressed his desire and excitement over the possibility of winning a trophy. Although the Pacers fell short of that goal, the duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James was overwhelming. In fact, Anthony Davis had facial expressions we've never seen before. Perhaps after being doubted so many times, the Lakers are out for blood.
The duo was so spectacular, coach Ham compared Davis and James to two former NFL Stars. "LeBron is our Tom Brady on offense, Anthony Davis is our Ray Lewis. He anchors our defense, he plays middle linebacker, he communicates, he does all of that." And with that said, the duo are certainly propelling the Lakers success this season.
Surprisingly, the Lakers only attempted 13 long range shots, in which they hit 15 % of them. With the Pacers ranked as the top offensive team, Los Angeles attacked and exposed their biggest weakness. They attacked downhill, and outscored Indiana 86-44 in the paint. With the NBA so heavily focused on three-point shooting, this came at a bit of a surprise to me. 86 points in the paint? I can't remember the last time i've seen a team so dominant below. To be honest, it's quite refreshing.
LeBron and AD were dynamic in the paint
Know it was crazy when you get that reaction from Dr. J
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 10, 2023pic.twitter.com/mJjER4eV8c
For Anthony Davis, he was aggressive as head coach Darvin Ham could ask for. Double teamed, in transition, Davis was everywhere on the court. For Davis and LeBron, it was about executing mismatch and post ups in the paint. Once leading by 16 points, the Lakers maintained a majority of the leade shortly after the start of the first quarter. To showcase paint dominance, 6-45 combined shot attempts from Davis and LeBron came outside the paint. While the Pacers are an extremely well-oiled machine offensively, the paint was left wide open on several occasions.
Often rolling to the basket, Davis looked elite in his tournament debut. While the IST finals don't technically count in the standings, AD would now have 12 straight games with a double-double. For Reaves, his 17 first half points were monumental. Like the Warriors have the "splash brothers" with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, James and Davis were the ultimate "paint brothers." LeBron James even described Davis's performance as "Shaq-like" post game.
Anthony Davis made it known while winning the tournament is special, the Lakers have their eye on the Lombardi trophy come June. ?"This is special for us, said Davis. "Just winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament, but we want to also win the same thing in June.”
The Pacers struggled offensively
Held the league's top-ranked offense to 36.8% FG
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 10, 2023pic.twitter.com/sYrrXkiNZW
While it was rare to see the Pacers struggle offensively, they were held to just 36.8 % from the field and 24.4 % from three-point range. Tyrese Haliburton, who has risen to stardom, struggled especially from long distance. The Pacers guard tied Bennedict Mathurin for a team high 20 points, 11 assists, one steal, block, and rebound. After watching Haliburton scorch the Celtics and the Bucks in rounds prior, the Lakers used a rather aggressive approach, limiting Haliburton to just 7 first half points.
Overall, the NBA In-Season Tournament told a story of two teams with different play styles. The Lakers had the clear cut size advantage, while the Pacers continued their ruthless three-point shooting and high pace play. I will say, while Rick Carlisle's team doesn't play stellar defense, it definitely showed on the biggest stage in Vegas. As mediocre as the Lakers have been the last few seasons, we know one thing, LeBron James knows how to win in the spotlight.
Shoutout to you, Lakers Nation
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 10, 2023pic.twitter.com/P8NNFdu8RX
The Lakers once again take another trophy home, while the Pacers got a slight taste of playoff type basketball. With both teams currently ranked as the No. 5 seed in the Western and Eastern Conference, they will face off two more times in March. As for LeBron James, he officially has every trophy and award you can think of during his 21 seasons in the NBA. For a player thats 38 years old, his ability to still dominate and play basketball at such a high level has been on full display. While coach Ham stated the Lakers "needed this," Los Angeles will try to build off their recent momentum as the season progresses.
Along with his MVP trophy, LeBron didn't shy away from his love for Las Vegas. He's been vocal about his post career plans, and didn't hold back. “My enthusiasm about being here post-career, bringing a team here has not changed,” James told the media. “The fans are amazing here."
Stay tuned for more NBA related articles.?Click here
Sara Jane Gamelli is a full-time Sportswriter at Ballislife, and Sports Content Creator on Twitch and TikTok. She has a focus on the NBA, WNBA, NCAA Basketball, and the NFL. Sara Jane currently resides in Connecticut/NYC area with her Cat and Dog. SJ has her undergraduate degree from the?University?of Connecticut in Economics, with a minor in business administration.
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]]>The NBA In-Season Tournament starts November 3rd.
— Ballislife Bets (@BallislifeBets) November 1, 2023
Odds to win:
Bucks: +900
Celtics: +900
Nuggets : +1000
Suns: +1100
Warriors:+1200
Lakers: +1300
Cavaliers: +1300
76ers: +1400
Heat: +1500
Kings: +1500
Clippers: +1800#nba #sportsbettingtwitter pic.twitter.com/v8UmhDNf7K
The 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament is underway, which includes group play, knock out rounds, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a championship game. With a long 82 game season, this new experience will find ways to engage fans, yet raise a new level of competition for teams and players. Much like the NBA Finals, there will be one crowned winner, which will include an MVP trophy. Similar to the Commissioners Cup in the WNBA, there will be a prize pool, and a trophy given to the winning team.
With this so new to the league, several organizations have never won an NBA Championship, including the Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz, and Orlando Magic. Although it's not the Larry O'Brien Trophy, perhaps teams will feel they are closer to that goal. For example, the NBA Summer League has an end of the season tournament and Championship.
During the In-Season Tournament, each of the 30 teams will have a custom court design on their designated games, in addition to City Edition Uniforms.
What is Group Play?
IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT FRIDAY
— NBA (@NBA) November 10, 2023
Players from around the association sounded off after the first night of NBA In-Season Tournament hoops
The action continues TONIGHT on ESPN and the NBA App
Based off team's record the previous season, all thirty teams were randomly assigned into six different groups within their respective conferences. For the Western and Eastern Conferences, there's West/East group A, B, and C. For the duration of the tournament, teams will have four set group play games, which will continue until Nov. 28. Group play tournaments will be featured every Tuesday and Friday of the week. There are two components to this entire tournament, which include group play and knockout rounds.
In terms of team and group selection, each team is placed into a pot before being randomly selected. There are five different pots a team will be placed in, depending on the outcome of the 2022-2023 season. Below is a example of the five Pots, provided by the NBA:
? Pot 1:?The teams with the three best prior-season records in a conference.
? Pot 2:?The teams with the fourth- through sixth-best prior-season records.
? Pot 3:The teams with the seventh- through ninth-best prior-season records.
? Pot 4:?The teams with the 10th-through 12th-best prior-season records.
? Pot 5:?The teams with the 13th-through 15th-best prior-season records.
If you're confused, you're not alone. Multiple NBA players are puzzled by the tournament, including ESPN Analyst J.J Redick. For Steph Curry, it seems he is embracing the tournament.
"This isn't any other Friday night," said
After playing four tournament group plays, eight teams will move on to the Knockout round. That will include six group winners in addition to two wild card teams. As previously explained, the eight teams that advance from group play will now play in the knock out round, which are single elimination matchups. First, there will be the Quarterfinals, the Semifinals, following the Championship. Every game is to be counted for the regular season, except for the Championship, which is similar to the WNBA Commissioners Cup Format. As far as home court advantage, the teams with the best record will host the Quarterfinals. The Semifinals and Championship game will be played in a neutral location in Las Vegas. Key Dates Quarterfinals: Dec. 4-5 The eight teams that advance will be decided by their win loss record in the tournament. If a few teams happen to tie, the NBA has broken down possible tie breaker scenarios : ??Head-to-head record in the Group Stage; Along with the In-Season Tournaments, the NBA have designed individual courts for all thirty teams. With that, each team will wear city edition uniforms, and each court will draw influence from those. Behind every team's logo is the new trophy, which is placed in the center of the court. Instead of hardwood, each court is painted top to bottom, visualizing each theme. If you didn't know, the horizontal stripe on every court design is meant to represent the airport runway in Las Vegas. Given the Championship is in Vegas, that makes perfect sense. In a way, custom, alternate courts aren't new in the NBA. More traditional franchises, such as the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, and New Orleans Pelicans will display a new hardwood for the first time. The addition to the In-Season Tournament and City Edition has gathered mixed reviews from both the fans and the players. A first type of experience in NBA history, the new tournament is inspired by other sports, such as international soccer leagues. While the play-in tournament has become a popular fixture since the Pandemic, the augural In-Season tournament will have to work out the kinks. Marcus Smart, of the Memphis Grizzlies hasn't won a championship, yet became very close in recent years. On Media Day, the Grizzlies star was honest about the experience, and how it affects him personally. "Being completely honest, nobody cares about winning the in-season tournament," said Smart, "It's the big one that we care about." Players including P.J. Tucker and Khris Middleton are optimistic, as it is part of the business, and could potentially bring in more viewership and growth of the game. For me, I think it's a neat concept. However, I think using the prize pool for the winner's charity of choice would create even more incentive to win it all. Sara Jane Gamelli is a full-time Sportswriter at Ballislife, and a Sports Content Creator on Twitch and TikTok. She has a focus on the NBA, WNBA, NCAA Basketball, and the NFL. Sara Jane currently resides in Connecticut with her Cat and Dog. SJ has her undergraduate degree from the?University?of Connecticut in Economics, with a minor in business administration.Tournament Groups
West A
West B
West C
East A
East B
East C
Knockout Rounds explained
Semifinals: Dec. 7
Championship Game: Dec. 9Tie breaker breakdowns
??Point differential in the Group Stage;
??Total points scored in the Group Stage;
??Regular season record from the 2022-23 NBA regular season; and
??Random drawing (in the unlikely scenario that two or more teams are still tied following the previous tiebreakers).In-Season Tournament Courts
A sneak peak of the in season NBA tournament courts.
Thoughts?
#nbapic.twitter.com/LyE7pC5dzvThoughts around the league
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