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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, center, wins the NBA Cup as he celebrates with teammates after they defeated the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in the championship game of the NBA Basketball In-Season Tournament on Saturday, December 9, 2023 in Las Vegas . Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
The champagne flowed after LeBron James and Anthony Davis inspired the Los Angeles Lakers to their first-ever NBA Cup crown, but the celebrations were short-lived as the main goal of the season still lay ahead.
“We made history,” James said after he and Davis led the Lakers to a dominant 123-109 victory over tournament favorite Indiana on Saturday in the NBA’s inaugural regular-season tournament.
“Anytime you’re on the right side of history, you get it.”
Davis led the Lakers in the title game, scoring 41 points with 20 rebounds. James added 24 points and 11 rebounds and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, meant to add some excitement to the early stages of the long NBA regular season.
James, the league’s all-time leading scorer, said the Lakers’ 7-0 win in the league, which began when all 30 NBA teams were placed into six pools for round-robin play, showed that Los Angeles had has the ingredients to give a strong boost in the competition. NBA Championship Playoffs.
“I don’t know if these young guys know about this” 😂
In-Season Tournament MVP LeBron pops champagne in the locker room. pic.twitter.com/fHMLC06o5q
— NBA (@NBA) December 10, 2023
However, he cautioned that it was far too early to talk about May and June and the Lakers’ chances of adding to their 17 NBA championship run – most of them once tied with the Boston Celtics.
“I think this is thinking too far ahead,” said James, himself the owner of four championship rings. “We want to put into perspective that it is still December.
“We like where we are now, but we want to continue working on our habits and also stay healthy.
“But I think where we are now in December, I would take it. I’d take it, but I’m definitely not looking at May and June.
“There are still too many steps to be taken for our team to be who we want to be once the postseason starts.”
With many of their early-season injury issues behind them, the Lakers next turn their attention to a Tuesday matchup with the Mavericks in Dallas.
It’s the start of a three-game Texas swing that will also include two games in San Antonio against the Spurs and their sensational rookie Victor Wembanyama.
James said their performance in the tournament, especially in the quarterfinals against the Phoenix Suns and the loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in the semifinals, showed the Lakers were getting to where they needed to be defensively.
“Our defensive intensity, in order to win and win at the highest level, we have to defend,” he said. “We have done that in recent weeks.”
The Pacers may find the move to the regular season jarring after their Cinderella run in the regular-season tournament.
Despite their high-powered offense, led by guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers’ chances of emerging from the East to compete for a franchise-first NBA title have been largely dismissed.
But the young, hungry team defeated the top two Eastern Conference teams in Boston and Milwaukee in the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup, and Haliburton was devastated after the loss to the Lakers.
I have to move on
“It’s funny because everyone says this has that (collegiate) NCAA Tournament feel to it, but after a game like that you’re sitting in the locker room, most of us don’t graduate, we’re playing on Monday,” Haliburton said. said.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” added Haliburton, who said the Pacers will have to hit the reset button soon.
“At the end of the day, it’s just like the regular season. It’s game 22, 23. I have to move on,” he said.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said scheduling is one thing the league is looking at as it considers possible improvements to the new tournament in the future.
The biggest concern would probably be providing some sort of scheduling certainty for teams that don’t progress in the group stage, who would then have to “essentially schedule games at the last minute.”
Silver said the league would “take a breather” before considering any changes to the event by teams, players, the players’ union and even fans.
“All suggestions are welcome,” he said.