The Los Angeles Lakers have been dominant through their first six games in the In-Season Tournament, and they have found themselves in the Finals with a chance to win $500K in prize money for each player. Standing in their way is the young and surprising Indiana Pacers, who have excelled in their own right to get to this point of the tournament.
The Pacers have faced a gauntlet to get to the Finals, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in the group stages, the Boston Celtics in the quarterfinals and the Milwaukee Bucks in the semifinals. All of this is thanks to the elite play of rising star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton has been a revelation for the Pacers and has completely turned around the fortunes of the franchise since he was acquired from the Sacramento Kings at the 2022 trade deadline. Now, he has a chance to bring Indiana some hardware, but he’ll have to go through perhaps his toughest challenge yet in the tournament in a mostly healthy Lakers team.
The Lakers are only without Gabe Vincent for the championship game, and have been virtually unbeatable with their wing depth fully intact. Jarred Vanderbilt made his season debut three games ago, meaning L.A. has all of their wings in Vanderbilt, Taurean Prince and Rui Hachimura, and the Lakers are 3-0 in those games.
This includes a 44-point blowout of the New Orleans Pelicans in the In-Season Tournament semifinals and the Lakers’ third win against the Phoenix Suns already this season. Vanderbilt’s defensive energy mixed with an improved offensive rhythm from Prince has put the Lakers in a remarkable spot moving forward.
But the Pacers are not going to be a cakewalk. As head coach Darvin Ham said, there is no recipe for stopping Haliburton and the Pacers offense. Their last three games includes scoring 144 points against the Miami Heat, 122 against the Celtics and 128 against the Bucks despite making only seven 3-pointers.
Indiana is without Andrew Nembhard and Jalen Smith for the championship game, but will have the rest of their rotation perfectly intact.
The inaugural In-Season Tournament Finals has plenty of intrigue as the young and exciting Pacers try to surprise yet another championship-contending veteran team.
The Finals of the In-Season Tournament is the only game that does not count toward either team’s regular season record.
Los Angeles Lakers (0-0) vs. Indiana Pacers (0-0)
5:30 p.m. PT, Saturday, December 9, 2023
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
TV: ABC/ESPN2
Radio: 710 AM ESPN LA
Projected Lakers Starting Lineup:
PG: D’Angelo Russell
SG: Cam Reddish
SF: Taurean Prince
PF: LeBron James
C: Anthony Davis
Key Reserves: Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Christian Wood, Max Christie, Jaxson Hayes
Projected Pacers Starting Lineup:
PG: Tyrese Haliburton
SG: Buddy Hield
SF: Bruce Brown
PF: Obi Toppin
C: Myles Turner
Key Reserves: Aaron Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, T.J. McConnell
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