LeBron James fuels Lakers to set up NBA Cup final showdown with Pacers
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LeBron James is fouled as he drives against Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans in the first half of their NBA Cup semi-final.
PHOTO: AFP
LAS VEGAS – The Los Angeles Lakers, fuelled by 30 points from the ageless LeBron James, routed New Orleans 133-89 on Dec 7 to book a title showdown with upstarts Indiana in the inaugural National Basketball Association in-season tournament.
James, who will celebrate his 39th birthday on Dec 30, was ruthlessly efficient, connecting on nine of his 12 attempts from the floor, including four of four from three-point range.
He piled up his 30 points, with five rebounds and eight assists, in less than 23 minutes on the floor.
“Extraordinary” and “otherworldly” were two words Lakers coach Darvin Ham used to describe James, who also absorbed three charging fouls.
“He is the ultimate tone-setter,” Ham said. “His energy, him sacrificing his body – three charges. He set the tone for us on both ends of the basketball court tonight.”
He sat out the entire fourth quarter as both teams withdrew their starters. The Lakers had taken full control, outscoring the shell-shocked Pelicans 43-17 in the third period.
The first semi-final of the new tournament was an altogether different affair.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 27 points to propel the Pacers to a 128-119 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, in a game that featured 16 lead changes – seven of them in the fourth quarter.
He added 15 assists, without a turnover, and Myles Turner scored 26 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
Indiana, sixth in the Eastern Conference regular-season standings, had knocked out the East-leading Boston Celtics in the quarter-finals.
They followed up with another top showing against the 2021 NBA champions Bucks, who were led by 37 points and 10 rebounds from two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The tournament has been a coming-out party for Haliburton and the Pacers, who came into the Dec 7 match averaging more than 128 points per game but whose NBA title hopes have been largely discounted.
“I think we’re shocking the world right now,” Haliburton said. “Nobody expected us to be here, except for the guys in the locker room.”
The in-season tournament, conceived to add excitement to the early stages of the long NBA season, has proved the perfect stage for the high-octane Pacers, who have never won an NBA title.
“We’re in an inaugural championship game,” Haliburton said. “That’s going to go down in history.
“But we didn’t just come here to play one game, play in two games, compete. We came here to win.”
For the Lakers, whose 17 NBA titles are tied for the most in history with the Celtics, it is a chance to get in on the ground floor of the new competition.
But four-time NBA champion James said the Lakers will not let it distract from the long-term goal of capping his 21st NBA season with another title come June.
“Listen, it’s still December, so I’m not getting too crazy about the whole thing,” he said. “I understand this thing has been great, the in-season tournament, but it’s still December.
“But it is another game for us to get better and we want to try to win the game because we’re a team that wants to get better every single game we go out there, every quarter, every possession.” AFP