LeBron James, Lakers edge Suns to reach In-Season Tournament semifinals – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers’ hopes of winning the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament – and their aspirations of taking home the NBA Cup and ultimate cash prize of $500,000 per player – are still alive.

With LeBron James (31 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds and a season-high five steals), Anthony Davis (27 points, 15 rebounds, two blocked shots) and Austin Reaves (20 points, six rebounds) leading the way, the Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 106-103, on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena to advance to the tournament’s semifinals, which will be played in Las Vegas.

James in particular made sure the Lakers punched their ticket to the next round of the tournament.

The 21-year NBA veteran scored or assisted on the Lakers’ first 19 points of the fourth quarter (15 points and two assists), including back-to-back baskets to give the hosts a 102-97 lead with 2:20 remaining.

The Suns responded, with their star duo of Kevin Durant (31 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Devin Booker (21 points, 11 rebounds, six assists but seven turnovers) both scoring to reduce the Lakers’ lead to 102-101 with 30 seconds remaining.

But Reaves delivered the dagger, knocking down a pull-up 3-pointer over Grayson Allen’s outstretched right arm after coming off a pick-and-roll with Davis to put the Lakers ahead 105-101 with 15 seconds left.

With the Suns down 105-103 and intentionally fouling, Davis made one of two free throws with 6.6 seconds left to put the Lakers up by three, missing the second free throw. Durant missed a long pull-up 3-point attempt before the buzzer to seal the win for the Lakers.

The Lakers will play the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday at 6 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena to determine who will represent the Western Conference in Saturday’s championship game, also in Las Vegas.

The Lakers had full control of the first half, winning the possession battle in two key areas: taking care of the ball and offensive rebounds.

The Lakers had 12 offensive boards for 15 second-chance points and turned the Suns’ 14 first-half giveaways into 16 points in the opening 24 minutes.

The presence of Jarred Vanderbilt was most felt in these areas. He had four offensive rebounds in 7½ first-half minutes, with the Lakers scoring six second-chance points – a pair of 3-pointers – off of those offensive rebounds, helping the Lakers take a 59-47 lead going into halftime.

But the Lakers came out of the break not as sharp as they were in the first half.

A combination of turnovers and missed shots by the Lakers – and better shooting from the Suns, who made six of nine from behind the arc in the third quarter – helped the Suns open the period on a 14-0 run to take a 61-59 lead, their first advantage since early in the first.