The Los Angeles Lakers are in action on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. PT in Las Vegas for the Finals of the inaugural In-Season Tournament. There, they face the Indiana Pacers, the surprise team representing the Eastern Conference led by budding star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton has caught the attention of just about everyone watching, including Lakers players like Austin Reaves.
In the Pacers’ semifinal victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, Haliburton finished with 27 points on 11-for-19 from the field to go along with an incredible 15 assists and zero turnovers. Haliburton had already begun the process of cementing himself as a star in the NBA, but his performance in the In-Season Tournament has truly vaulted him to a new tier.
When discussing the Pacers and the difficulty they might present for the Lakers, Reaves started with Haliburton’s abilities as a floor general and what it does for their entire roster.
“Just the energy. They play with a lot of pace,” Reaves said. “Tyrese does a hell of a job leading their whole team. The way they play offensively, super fast, a lot of threes. But just the pace that they play with, we are going to have to be on high alert.
“Every single shot we take offensively, miss or make, they are going to be running the ball down the floor after that right as fast as they can. It’s just playing with energy and playing the right way.”
Reaves got an up close look at Haliburton’s play style when they shared a bench unit for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup this past summer. Reaves saw huge things from Haliburton over the summer and felt the young Pacers guard had sky-high potential.
“Yeah, I told D-Lo before the season started that if they are competing in the East, then I think he has a chance to win an MVP at some point just because of the way he plays and the unselfishness that he plays with.
“The way he is making his teammates better, it says a lot. Just for the way we played together, it was simple. You knew he was going to play the game the right way, make the right pass. You never had to worry about that with him.”
Haliburton has completely changed the trajectory of the Pacers franchise since he was acquired via trade from the Sacramento Kings. They have gone from a team bordering on blowing it up to tank, and are now one win away from the first ever In-Season Tournament championship and are legitimate postseason contenders this year.
Darvin Ham wants prize money increased
Now that the In-Season Tournament has gotten nearly one full run through, players and coaches can make some determinations on what they like and don’t like about it. When Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was asked about potential improvements, he kept it very simple.
“Yeah, add more money to the purse … Once I reflect, I’m sure I can come up with something, but right now just add more money to the purse.”
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