Curtain on the first edition of this In-season tournamentwith the duel between Indiana And Los Angeles in front of a Las Vegas crowd committed to the cause of Californians. A final dominated head and shoulders by the Lakers (123-109), carried by a Anthony Davis omnipresent and majestic in the paint: 41 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks!
Elected MVP of the tournament, LeBron James (24 points, 11 rebounds) made his contribution in this part, as did Austin Reaves (28 points), although announced feverish before the match. As to Pacersthey mainly relied on Tyrese Haliburton (20 points, 11 assists) and Bennedict Mathurin (20 points), but they were too limited on both sides of the floor to hope to compete with the “Purple & Gold”, always so imperial when there is a stake.
The key for the Lakers? A trophy and $500,000 for each player on the squad, while their opponents have to settle for $200,000 each.
TO REMEMBER
– Los Angeles massacred Indiana in the paint. We knew that the Lakers had an advantage to exploit inside and, in the wake of a gargantuan Anthony Davis, they did not hesitate to press in this sector of play: 86 points scored, or 70% of their scoring! A real demonstration and domination from the Darvin Ham players, who were able to win by only scoring 2 small 3-point baskets. The last time a team won a game with so few penalty shots? It was February… 2020!
– Indiana, brave but too fair. The Pacers fought well, remaining behind the Lakers for a good part of the match, but they ultimately had to give up their weapons in the face of Californian superiority. Powerless in the face of the internal strike force of the “Purple & Gold”, Rick Carlisle’s men also suffered from their clumsiness: only 37% from the shoot, including 24% from 3-point range. Problematic for this team which essentially relies on its attack to exist and which held up for a long time thanks to its free throws (29/33). Before letting go when they became rarer.
TOP/FLOP
✅ Anthony Davis. Monstrous. This could be the adjective used to describe the performance of the interior of Los Angeles, as it shone in the racket. Uncontrollable from the first minutes, “AD” never stopped singing to the Pacers and their defenders – Myles Turner in the lead – thus reigning supreme in the paint, and on each side. Proof that he remains a reference in his position but that, when he activates “domination mode”, (almost) no one can compete with him.
⛔️ Myles Turner. Out for six fouls, the Pacers pivot was unable to contain the inside assaults of Anthony Davis and the Lakers all evening. On offense, he was also not able to make his impact as usual, scoring 10 points on just 3/11 shots (including 1/5 from 3-point range). A nightmare match to forget, even if he was not the only member of Indiana to miss his final (Bruce Brown, Buddy Hield…).
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
