Anthony Davis produced a stellar performance in the NBA Cup’s in-season tournament championship game, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 123-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Davis finished with 41 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, and four blocked shots, demonstrating his domination on both ends of the court. Davis received good support from his teammates as Austin Reaves scored 28 points off the bench, while LeBron James added 24 points and 11 rebounds. D’Angelo Russell had 13 points and seven assists for the Lakers, who outrebounded the Pacers by a margin of 55-32.
For the Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin scored 20 points each to keep their team in the hunt for the title. The 24-year-old Power forward Aaron Nesmith chipped in with 15 points. However, the Pacers were unable to match the Lakers’ energy, notably in rebounding, where they were significantly outmatched.
Despite the amazing individual and team performances, the statistics from this game do not count towards the regular-season rankings. Nonetheless, Anthony Davis demonstrated his domination, likely achieving his fifth career 40-point, 20-rebound performance. The Pacers got to within three points with just over six minutes remaining, but the Lakers’ players produced a brilliant effort to go on a 13-point run to win the summit clash. The Lakers went undefeated in the inaugural in-season tournament, ending with a superb 7-0 record.
For his efforts to the Lakers’ triumph, Power forward LeBron James was named the in-season tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP). Both teams performed admirably throughout the tournament, with the Lakers collecting $500,000 per player and the Pacers earning $200,000 apiece. The victory finished up an excellent tournament run for the Lakers, cementing their position as one of the league’s elite teams.
Records will be broken but one thing that will never be broken is being the first to do something, James admitted after lifting the title. We are the first champions of the in-season tournament and nobody can ever top that. It’s great to be able to do it with such a historical franchise and even better to do it with a great, great cast of funny, engaged, competitive men over here, the 38-year-old American added.
Haliburton, on the other side, expressed that we’re sick and frustrated. We just got outplayed tonight from the start of the game to the end of the game. Just didn’t do the job on loose balls, didn’t rebound, and didn’t get enough stops when needed. They just outplayed us, and it’s frustrating, the young American concluded.
