On December 9th, LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to the first ever In-season tournament. The Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers to become the first Champions. Anthony Davis had the season’s best performance with 40 points and 20 rebounds. The Lakers won the first-ever in-season tournament with 123 – 109 over the Pacers. Austin Reaves scored 28 points, LeBron had 24 points and 11 rebounds, becoming the tournament’s MVP, while D’Ángelo Russel scored 13.
Although this game was the only one in the tournament, it does not count in the standings. Be that as it may, a lot was at stake. Besides taking the trophy home, Lakers players with a standard two-way contract made $500,000, while Indiana Pacers players received $200,000. It is crucial to point out that players on two-way deals took home half the amount. It is also another trophy for LeBron, who has won four championships.
Even though the Lakers were dominant and led most of the game, the Pacers always kept a striking distance. However, late in the fourth quarter, the Lakers went on a 15-3 run to turn the 100-96 lead into a 115 -99 lead. Some attendees included the basketball Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal and Julius Erving, former tennis player Steffi Graf, former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., and football Hall of Famers Shannon Sharpe and Tim Brown, and rapper Flavor Flav.
What’s next? The Indiana Pacers will travel to Detroit on Monday, while the in-season tournament Champion, Lakers, will head to Dallas on Tuesday.
