LeBron James is named Most Valuable Player, and Anthony Davis’s 41 points and 20 rebounds cap an all-around performance as the Lakers defeat the Pacers and earn their first-ever in-season NBA championship.

On Saturday night, December 9 (Sunday, December 10, Manila time), the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in Las Vegas for the in-season tournament championship game of the NBA Cup. Anthony Davis recorded 41 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocked shots in the victory. 

For Los Angeles, Austin Reaves contributed 28 points from the bench, and LeBron James, who was dubbed the MVP of the in-season tournament, added 24 points and 11 rebounds. 

“Although records may be broken, one thing remаins unbreakable: being the first to accomplish a particular task.” “No one will ever surpass the fact that we won the inaugural in-season tournament championship,” James said.

“It’s an honor to be a part of such a historic franchise, and it’s even more fantastic to be a part of this endeavor with such an incredible cast of humorous, engaged, and competitive me𝚗.”

In addition to D’Angelo Russell’s 13 points and 7 assists, the Lakers outrebounded the Pacers 55-32.

Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 20 points and 11 assists, while Bennedict Mathurin contributed 20 points as well.

The Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith contributed 15 points, Obi Toppin contributed 13, and Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson each had 10 points.

While the statistics for this match are inconsequential, Davis would have recorded his fifth-40-point, 20-rebound performance of his career. The contest is also excluded from the standings for the regular season.

The inaugural in-season tournament was won by the Lakers (7-0), while the Pacers finished 6-1. Each group participant finished with a 4-0 record and won two knockout-round contests to advance to the championship match.

Respecting his squad’s path to the championship game, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle remarked, “I will never forget the sense of unity among them, the pride they felt for their accomplishments throughout the process, and the palpable excitement.”

In contrast, every player in Indiana will receive $200,000, whereas each player on Los Angeles will receive $500,000.

Davis stated, “First to do it, the first team to win it.” “While we acknowledge that it is not the genuine article, we continue to make progress in the appropriate direction… Our level of concentration and vitality was phenomenal on Saturday. We shall possess the item first to do it.”

Los Angeles made 53.4% of its field goal attempts but could only convert 2-of-13 three-point attempts.

Indiana made 36.8% of its attempts to make an impact and finished 10-of-41 from three-point range.

Early in the fourth quarter, Mathurin sank two baskets as the Pacers closed the gap to 92-89. Indiana was within three points once more following Turner’s 3-pointer with 6:11 remaining, but Los Angeles delivered the fatal blоw with a 13-0 surge.

3:11 remained and Cam Reddish missed a three-point attempt, bringing the score to 105-99. Davis then scored 10 consecutive points to extend the lead to 115-99. Down the stretch, the Pacers were unable to get any closer than 12 points.

Davis contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds while Reaves scored 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting to give Los Angeles a 65-60 halftime lead. Nesmith helped Indiana to 11 points in the half.

During the first quarter, Davis scored 13 points as the Lakers held a 30-29 lead. Reaves tallied 15 for Los Angeles in the second quarter.

Los Angeles took a 72-61 lead in the third quarter with a 7-1 runoff.

Mathurin’s buzzer-beating trifecta in the closing seconds of the game dropped Indiana behind 90-82.

“We are ill.” “Saturday, we were outplayed from the beginning to the end of the contest,” Haliburton stated. “They simply outperformed us.”