In order for the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA's inaugural in-season tournament crown on Saturday, they'll have to contend with a "jewel" in Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
"He's sneaky athletic. He has length to him, and his vision is incredible," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said when asked about Haliburton on Friday ahead of the championship game. "I mean, the things he's able to do with the basketball, the way he sets up his teammates, looks off defenders, the way he pushes the pace in transition, he's constantly in attack mode."
The Pacers right now have the best offense in NBA history. That is not hyperbole. They are scoring at a rate that, if the season ended today, would be a record. They also have a superstar in Tyrese Haliburton, who is clearly embracing his first moment on the national stage and who, over the past week (and really throughout the season) has been unstoppable.
The Lakers are a good defensive team — only six teams have surrendered fewer points per possession so far this season. It's the other end of the floor where they've struggled — they're 22nd in offense, which is very likely what this game will come down to.
While the Pelicans seemed to channel that competitive energy in the first quarter, taking a narrow one-point lead into the second, their offense stagnated for the rest of the game as they were completely outplayed by the Purple and Gold.
The Lakers entered the halftime break up 13, before a lopsided third quarter, in which they outscored New Orleans 43-17, put the game beyond any doubt early on.
“I think we are starting to get a feel for what we need to become as a team for us to win basketball games, to be consistent,” James said after the game, per the NBA. “Defensively, we’re really, really starting to tap into that like, ‘OK, we’ve got to defend every single night.’ When we defend, we give ourselves a chance to win every night.”
Indiana took out Boston and Milwaukee, the two favorites entering the knockout stage, to get here. After going 4-0 in group play, the Pacers are 6-0 in the In-Season Tournament but are 8-8 in regular-season games that didn’t count towards the tournament. The Pacers have wins against Milwaukee, Boston and Philadelphia, three of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference standings, in tournament play, but have lost to four teams outside the playoff spots (Bulls, Hornets, Raptors, Trail Blazers) in the regular season.
These teams have met with a trophy on the line before, in the 2000 NBA Finals. The Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, beat the Pacers, led by Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose, in six games.
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