Have the players bought into the NBA In-Season Tournament? Is $500,000 and a trip to Las Vegas enough to make them care?
After the Los Angeles Lakers’ 106-103 win against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, LeBron James told TNT that the In-Season Tournament is a competition and the NBA is made up of competitive players. So, it’s his view that everyone wants to win it.
James showed how much he does, scoring 31 points, getting 11 assists, eight rebounds, and five steals to lead the Lakers into the semifinals. To show what it meant to him, Suns forward Kevin Durant had 31 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes in a game that eliminated the Suns from the IST.
In the earlier game, Julius Randle had 41 points for the Knicks in their loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Related: Why the Lakers will win the NBA In-Season Tournament and LeBron James wins MVP
Here are players who have put up great numbers during the NBA In-Season Tournament. We narrowed this list to guys who had played in a minimum of four games, which was the number each team was guaranteed going in.
NBA In-Season Tournament top scorers (minimum of four games)
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | PTS | FG% | 3P% | REB | AST | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De’Aaron Fox | Sacramento | 4 | 34.5 | 46.5 | 33.3 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 5.5 |
| 1 | Kevin Durant | Phoenix | 4 | 34.5 | 60.9 | 69.6 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 6.5 |
| 3 | Joel Embiid | Philadelphia | 4 | 34.0 | 45.8 | 21.4 | 12.0 | 5.5 | 2.8 |
| 4 | Luka Doncic | Dallas | 4 | 33.8 | 53.3 | 51.4 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 3.5 |
| 5 | Nikola Jokic | Denver | 4 | 32.3 | 51.1 | 32.0 | 16.3 | 11.0 | 3.3 |
| 6 | Damian Lillard | Milwaukee | 5 | 29.6 | 53.7 | 52.6 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 8.6 |
| 7 | Devin Booker | Phoenix | 4 | 28.3 | 51.4 | 54.5 | 5.8 | 7.8 | 14.3 |
| 8 | Tyrese Haliburton | Indiana | 5 | 28.0 | 50.5 | 46.4 | 5.2 | 13.4 | 12.4 |
| 9 | Brandon Ingram | New Orleans | 5 | 27.4 | 51.0 | 35.5 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.0 |
| 9 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Milwaukee | 5 | 27.4 | 63.6 | 83.3 | 8.6 | 6.6 | 9.2 |
| 9 | Jalen Brunson | New York | 5 | 27.4 | 52.0 | 34.4 | 4.2 | 5.4 | 4.0 |
All NBA In-Season Tournament team
If we were putting together an all-In-Season Tournament team going into the semifinals, would we pull every player from this list? Not necessarily.
We looked first at guys who were on teams that advanced, but we also had one who just missed out.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks: He shot 63% from the floor in the tournament! He just keeps getting better and better.
- LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers: Do you still question how good this guy is? How he played Tuesday against Phoenix was reminiscent of playoff games.
- Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns: His team didn’t advance, but it wasn’t because of him. Durant was exceptional, hitting right at 70% of his three-point shots.
- Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans: Ingram is quietly having the best season of his career. He hit big shot after big shot at crucial times to help the Pelicans advance.
- Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers: Haliburton was by far the best assist man in the tournament and had his first career triple-double to lead the Pacers to the semifinals.
NBA In-Season Tournament: Semifinals, Finals schedule
Thursday’s games
T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Indiana Pacers vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Los Angeles Lakers, 9 p.m. ET (TNT, TruTV)
Saturday’s game
Pacers/Bucks winner vs. Pelicans/Lakers winner, 8:30 p.m. ET (ABC, ESPN2)