LeBron James master class lifts Lakers into NBA in-season tournament final

A door-frame-shaped power forward from New Orleans named Zion Williamson had just knocked LeBron James to the ground when the referees blew the whistle and signaled for a first-quarter charge. Williamson had just knocked James to the ground.

After jumping to his feet, James went down the floor to the far corner of the court, where he was the first player to return and get ready for the next possession. He ran to the point where he was the first player back. It was a sort of clue. He had driven a lot of miles on his tires, but the treads had not been damaged. In addition, he was going to demonstrate to the younger men that he still had a lot to offer.

James returned to the same location on the court after the Lakers had annihilated the New Orleans Pelicans. This occurred more than an hour after the Lakers had completed their victory. In an act of incredulity, he shook his head in a dramatic manner. Putting both of his index fingers on his head, he circled them in a circular motion. After a horrific shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which resulted in the deaths of three people, LeBron James takes a stand against gun laws. The cuckoo. Obscure. Not even close to being sane. It was “extraordinary,” the coach of the Lakers, Darvin Ham, stated. “Out of this world.”

The actions that LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers took inside T-Mobile Arena, which is the home of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), had to have made the locals feel uneasy. Typically, they would stop fights that are this easily won. With a resounding 133-89 victory over the Pelicans, the Lakers reached the championship game of the NBA mid-season tournament in a most overpowering manner. In a span of less than twenty-three minutes, James finished with a plus-36 rating, scored thirty points, and threw out eight assists. In the whole history of the league, there has never been a single game in which those three numbers were used. At the age of 38, no one in the history of the league has ever accomplished something even remotely similar to this.

In the opening game of the NBA Cup, which will take place on Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers will face Indiana, which defeated the Milwaukee Bucks by a score of 128-119 earlier on Thursday. Players on the winning team will each be awarded a prize of $500,000 for their participation. On the first play of the game, James made a and-one by placing his defender, Herb Jones, who is considered to be among the greatest in the NBA, on his hip. James completely changed the course of the game by making three three-point shots on successive plays while the Lakers were trailing by one point in the second quarter. They did not trail again after that.

One of the players, D’Angelo Russell, was quoted as saying, “It’s impressive to watch him just turn it to another gear in these big games.” To tell you the truth, he is a superior shooter. He is more swift. His athleticism is greater. He is not showing any signs of fatigue. I am very befuddled by this.” In the subsequent two quarters, the Lakers came out on top with a score of 81-41 over New Orleans, controlling every inch of the court with James serving as the orchestrator.

Anthony Davis was able to dominate the defensive paint while scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. The two point guards on the team, Russell and Austin Reaves, produced a combined total of 31 points while only taking 19 shots, demonstrating a high degree of efficiency. And when he and Cam Reddish were harassing the Pelican wings, Taurean Prince hit five three-pointers, which was equal to the season high for the two players. 31 minutes were played by Davis. Nobody else on the Lakers’ roster recorded more than 23 minutes. Both Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum contributed nine points to the Pelicans’ total. They took a total of 27 shots between them.

As the horn sounded, James and his teammates laughed and smiled together. The sweat had long since dried off after he had taken a break during the fourth quarter.

After a period of 21 years, James is just one game away from winning the first in-season tournament that the league has ever held. Moreover, there is no question that he is acting like a player who is determined on achieving his goal. From Ham’s perspective, “He is the ultimate tone setter.” It is possible for him to add another gem to the crown on Saturday. And how can we stop him? That seems to be just as challenging as it has always been.

James stated that he was attempting to lead by example. It is important for me to make plays on the court, to be selfless, to attempt to make the right plays offensively and defensively, to cover for my teammates, and to bear the consequences of my actions. This is not the same athlete that LeBron James was when he was 25 years old.

In 2023, he is an even more intelligent athlete who has experienced everything there is to experience and is able to absorb the game more quickly than anybody else in the league. Not only is he more skillful than he was when he was younger, but he is also shooting better than he has in any of his 21 seasons.

As a result of his mentality and skill set, LeBron James is still capable of taking control of a game and dominating it. He demonstrated this ability once more on a significant stage, this time against the Pelicans in the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament, which took place on Thursday in Las Vegas.

As the Lakers dominated the Pelicans by a score of 133-89, he began to take control of the game in the second quarter, demoralized New Orleans in the third quarter by attacking the rim, and concluded with 30 points on 9-of-12 shooting and eight assists. All of this activity took place in the span of 23 minutes.

In the In-Season Tournament Finals, which will take place on Saturday night versus the Pacers, the Lakers triumphed by a score of 44 points, thereby advancing to the next round. Based on the information provided by Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, Lakers coach Darvin Ham referred to LeBron’s performance as “incredible.” As far as tone-setting goes, he is the best. From the very beginning of the game, he established an exceptionally high standard, and his teammates followed in his footsteps.

During the second quarter, LeBron James gained control of the game. He was the most focused and energized player on the court, which allowed him to thrive in the pick-and-roll on offense, blow up the pick-and-roll on defense for the Pelicans, take charges in the paint, and shoot three-pointers in transition like a 2017 Warriors player.

The Lakers need this LeBron. He scored 14 in the first seven minutes of the second quarter to the Pelicans 13, helping the Lakers push their lead to 11, but when LeBron went to bench the Pelicans instantly went on an 11-3 run to make it a game again. LeBron re-entered and the lead quickly ballooned back to double digits.

If the third quarter were a heavyweight bout in Las Vegas, the referee would have stopped it. LeBron was a force, the Lakers got downhill to the rim, their offense started clicking which fed their defense, and when the Lakers took the quarter 43-17. Over those 12 minutes, you could see the fight drain out of the Pelicans. The fourth quarter was all garbage time.

“Tonight was a total letdown…” Pelicans coach Willie Green said, via Will Guillory of The Athletic. “A lack of competitive spirit. Tonight, we took a step in the wrong direction.”

Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans off the bench with 14 points, while Zion Williamson had 13 but admitted after the game he has to be more aggressive and take charge in games like this.

For Los Angeles, Austin Reaves added 17 on 5-of-9 shooting, Anthony Davis had 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Taurean Prince got hot from deep and hit five 3-pointers. As a team, the Lakers shot 48.6% from 3.

If the Lakers get that level of shooting and anything close to that LeBron James on Saturday, Indiana will be in a world of hurt.