Las Vegas, USA
LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the Los Angeles Lakers over the Indiana Pacers to win the maiden NBA in-season tournament on Saturday (Dec. 9). Both, James and Davis scored in double digits as the Lakers beat the Pacers 123-109 to clinch the final.
The game started at a frantic pace as the first quarter saw both teams scoring a total of 63 points. The Lakers, however, took a five-point lead by outscoring Indiana 34-29 in the first 12 minutes. The Pacers caught up with Los Angeles in the second quarter, scoring 31 points, same as the Lakers.
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Indiana, however, still trailed by five points going into the halftime. Come second half, the pace of the game went slow as the teams scored in 20s. The Lakers, nonetheless, grew their lead to eight points as they outscored the Pacers 25-22 in the third quarter.
The Pacers tried their heart out in the final 12 minutes but could score only 27 points against the Lakers' 33, eventually conceding the game by 14 points.
For the Lakers, Davis scored a double-double with 41 points and 20 rebounds to go with 6 assists. LeBron also scored a double-double of his own, scoring 24 points and 11 rebounds to go with 4 assists. The duo did bulk of the scoring while Austin Reaves (28 points), D'Angelo Russell (13 points) and Cam Reddish (9) also chipped in with handy points.
For the Pacers, point guard Tyrese Haliburton scored a double-double of 20 points and 11 assists. Apart from him Myles Turner scored 10 points, Obin Toppin scored 13, Bennedict Mathurin was handy with 20 points, Aaron Nesmith scored 15 and Isaiah Jackson chipped in with 10 points.
More to follow...