The Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers set up a tantalising NBA In-Season tournament championship game with respective semi-final victories on Thursday evening.
The Pacers battled back from a first-quarter deficit to sink the Milwaukee Bucks 128-119, before the Lakers trounced the New Orleans Pelicans 133-89 in Las Vegas.
Fresh from inspiring the Pacers to a quarter-final turnaround against the Boston Celtics, Tyrese Haliburton stole the limelight once again at T-Mobile Arena, where the Pacers trailed by three points heading into the fourth quarter.
Haliburton added another double-double to his record with a team-high 27 points and 15 assists - as well as zero turnovers - against the Bucks, while Myles Turner chipped in with 26 points and 10 rebounds of his own.
Bucks star man Giannis Antetokounmpo registered a whopping 37 points and 10 rebounds in their semi-final affair, but his efforts were futile, and the 29-year-old could only laud his opposite number Haliburton.
"I believed my whole life that your point guard is your pace, and with the pace that your point guard plays, that's the pace that the team plays, and he plays at an incredible pace," Antetokounmpo told ESPN.
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"He plays fast, quick when he needs to. When we went to zone, he kind of slowed down and all of his team slowed down and got to their spots.
"Whenever he rebounds the ball, he always looks for outlets and puts -- gets his teammates involved early in the game or early in the offence. So, as I said, you've got to tip the hat. He's a great player."
A few hours after the Pacers' success, the Lakers also faced a marginal first-quarter deficit against the Pelicans, but the offensive powers of the New Orleans franchise waned and then some as the tie progressed.
After bagging 54 points across the first and second quarters, the Pelicans were restricted to a paltry 35 in the third and fourth versus the Lakers, who benefitted from another 30-point haul from LeBron James.
Anthony Davis weighed in with 16 points and 15 rebounds of his own for Darvin Ham's squad, while the Pelicans' highest scorer was replacement Trey Murphy III, who had 14 to his name.
The Pacers and Lakers will return to T-Mobile Arena for the showpiece event on Saturday, although the championship game will have no impact on the regular-season standings.
Ben Knapton
