The semifinals of the NBA’s first-ever in-season tournament will be played on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the winners advancing to Saturday’s final.
It’s a safe bet the early game will be a shootout. The high-octane Pacers have the NBA’s best offensive rating by a significant margin at 123.6. But they give up plenty of points too — their 120.2 defensive rating ranks 28th in the league, ahead of only Charlotte and Washington.
The Bucks are poised to take advantage of the holes in Indiana’s defense. Milwaukee’s 119.2 offensive rating is the NBA’s third-best mark and the group has been firing on all cylinders as of late, putting up 132 points on Saturday vs. Atlanta and a season-high 146 in Tuesday’s quarterfinal victory over New York.
Tyrese Haliburton has perhaps been the breakout star of the in-season tournament, but he and the Pacers will be underdogs against a Bucks squad led by superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. BetOnline.ag currently lists Milwaukee as 5.5-point favorites.
Still, Indiana knocked off Boston in the quarterfinals and will perhaps benefit from what should be a neutral crowd in Las Vegas. The Pacers have a winning record away from home this season, while the Bucks are a modest 5-5 on the road.
The Lakers, on the other hand, may have a home-court edge in Thursday’s late game, given Vegas’ proximity to Los Angeles and the franchise’s sizable fan base. But they’re only favored by two points against a Pelicans team that’s as healthy now as it has been in quite some time.
While both Los Angeles and New Orleans have had to deal with injury issues during the first quarter of the 2023/24 season, they’re nearly at full strength heading into Thursday’s semifinal, with only Gabe Vincent expected to be out of action for L.A., while the Pelicans are just missing reserves Larry Nance Jr. and Matt Ryan.
Forwards LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Zion Williamson, and Brandon Ingram – along with guard CJ McCollum – are the headliners in this matchup, and a superstar-type performance from one or two of them could ultimately decide the game, but the Lakers’ and Pelicans’ supporting casts shouldn’t be overlooked. Role players like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Herbert Jones, Jonas Valanciunas, and Trey Murphy are capable of being game-changing X-factors.
What do you think? Which two teams will prevail on Thursday and meet in the first-ever in-season tournament final on Saturday?
I am cheering for a Pelican Pacer game. Would serve the NBA well 2 small market teams competing for a championship.
Not a chance that will happen. The league will shoehorn the Lakers into the final.
The league won’t benefit for that.
How so? The lakers have fans from all over the world that would rather watch them than the pelicans. Its sad to say but i agree with arc that they will gift the lakers at least a chance to play in the final
why should we care how the league benefits form it. The fans in those 2 small cities will benefit from it and the players will benefit too.
Refs and Silver will make certain the Lakers prevail. I predict something like a 44-12 free throw differential. That sounds about par for the course.
Indianapolis has something like 350k more people than Milwaukee does.
Omg who cares
If you got paid 100,000 to participate. You WOULD care. Cookie cutter template: Lebron vs Giannis
And if the players care, the end product should be worth watching.
Probably all the ppl that have been watching these games…and you since you cared enough to comment lol
Bucks over the Pacers, 202-198.
Miami is not even in the conversation. Should have offered a better deal for Lillard.
The only thing left to offer was Pat Rileys kidney
You were right. Miami wasn’t in the conversation, this article is about the Bucks,Pacers, Lakers and Pelicans, then you brought them in.
Bucks over Lakers
130:120
Bucks 9 FTA
Lakers 38 FTA
Milwaukee take .8 less free throws a game than the Lakers 25.8FTA pg. Cool narrative though…
Just hope it’s not the Lakers cause then we’ll have to deal with people trying to count it as a ring
This whole “tournament” is a joke…from the God awful floors to the schedules…
The way Bucks beat Knicks. Looks like they want it. I think they are the team to beat.