The first In-Season Tournament champs will lift the NBA Cup tonight when the Lakers & Pacers meet for a winner-take-all championship game in Vegas (8:30 ET, ABC).

Today: The story of two stars, separated by 15 years, connected by the chance to make NBA history.

THE LINEUP 🏀

December 9, 2023 | 6-min read

📈  Haliburton’s rise meets…

👑  LeBron’s greatness

🗣️  What they’re saying

📸  Two journeys, in photos

🏀  Friday: 13 games in 2 min

🏆  In-Season Tournament Hub

📺  Championship: 8:30 ET, ABC/ESPN2

🎤  LeBron, Hali Mic’d Up on ABC

🎙  ‘NBA Unplugged with Kevin Hart’ on ESPN2

📹  Nike EYBL Scholastic Showcase, 4:45 ET

YOUR PICKS 📨

Going into the quarterfinals, we asked the Starting 5 fam for your champ predictions. Ahead of today’s In-Season Tournament championship game, here’s how you netted out:

• 57% of you picked the Bucks
• 29% Lakers
• 9% Pacers
• 5% Pelicans

1. THE RISE OF TYRESE HALIBURTON

Stars rise in this league.

But it’s never really happened like this before.

• In early December
• With a chance to lead an upstart team that’s ‘shocking the world’
• Against a hoops ‘idol,’ in LeBron
• And a franchise with 17 titles, most recently three years ago
• In the first-ever In-Season Tournament championship game
• In an arena that, judging by the purple & gold in the crowd on Thursday, could feel like enemy territory.

What’s behind Tyrese Haliburton’s rise? And why – even if you’ve been paying attention – might it feel so dramatic? 

Start With Style: The 23-year-old Haliburton attacks, reads & reacts at a level that few can ever get to at any age … drawing comparisons to a Hall of Fame PG.

• “The comparisons to [Steve] Nash, I do think are accurate,” said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle. “The vision, the scoring ability, but even more that is Ty’s connectivity with people.”
• Historic Distributor: Not only is Hali leading the league in assists, he’s also historically good at limiting turnovers. Nobody else had more than one career game with 25+ pts, 15+ ast & 0 turnovers in their career since 1977-78. He’s had three such games this year
• He Can Shoot, Too: At 13th in the league in scoring, he’s just a few percentage points in FT% from the 50-40-90 club (FG%, 3P%, FT%)
• Elite Company: He ranks sixth in the league in Player Impact Estimate, which tracks players’ overall contributions to the game. That’s right between Giannis and LeBron
• That All Translates To: Offense. A lot of it. The Pacers are scoring at a rate we haven’t seen in more than 40 years

Under The Radar: Haliburton was, in his words, “a no-star recruit” out of high school, before playing at Iowa State. 

• Shining Outside The Spotlight: Haliburton came into the league in a 2020 NBA Draft hosted on Zoom, and while he made First Team All-Rookie and his first All-Star Game last year, he’d never played on a winning team til this year 
• But he worked. And improved every day. Rapidly.. “He’s probably the biggest student of the game that I’ve ever been around,” said James Johnson
• His Star Turn: When the spotlight found him and the Pacers, he was ready.

• “He’s like a machine that is not turning the ball over,” said Giannis Antetokounmpo

• “Just one of those transcendent players that with him on the court, anything is possible,” Carlisle said. “He’s a great closer. He’s becoming an even better closer.”

“It’s been fun,” Haliburton told us Friday. “Good to be in the spotlight, but … we’re here to get a job done and win a championship.”

To get there, he’ll need to go through a player he grew up idolizing.

2. LEBRON STILL DOMINATING AT HIS AGE

If it seems like every night you read that “LeBron James is the oldest player to ever [fill in the blank]” you’re probably right.

What he’s doing in his 21st season and just 21 days from turning 39 is unprecedented. And it should be celebrated.

• But LeBron’s greatness this season does not need an age-qualifier
• He’s been great for a player of ANY age
• “LeBron James is in his prime still” – 🗣️Pacers coach Rick Carlisle

25+ PPG, 5+ RPG, 5+ APG, 50+ FG%

Here’s the list of players averaging those marks this season:

• LeBron James: 4-time MVP
• Giannis Antetokounmpo: 2-time MVP
• Nikola Jokic: 2-time MVP
• Kevin Durant: 1-time MVP
• Joel Embiid: Reigning MVP
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: #3 on the Kia MVP Ladder

He not only has the numbers of an MVP, but when you watch the Lakers’ semifinal win over the Pelicans, LeBron was in complete control of the game.

• He got his own points, with his 3-point shot stretching the defense (he’s shooting a career-high 40.7% from deep this season)
• When the Pelicans went zone and slowed L.A. down a bit with LeBron on the bench, he came back in and dissected the defense, getting wide-open looks for his teammates
• And he enjoyed every second of it. Two decades into his career, that love and passion for the game still emanates from LeBron every time he steps on the court
• 🗣️Austin Reaves: “He’s the oldest player in the NBA but still acts like he’s 20 every day”
• Perhaps that is why he continues to deny Father Time and remains one of the top players (not just the top player over 38) in the NBA

On Thursday, LeBron became the first player in NBA history with 30+ points, 5+ assists and 5+ rebounds in under 23 minutes. 

• He’s the oldest player to do that
• And the youngest

3. FRIDAY IN VEGAS: EYES ON THE CUP

With the Pacers & Lakers meeting the media, the first-ever Nike EYBL Scholastic Showcase going down, the Creator Cup (streaming in the App today) and behind the scenes looks all day, Friday brought a new dimension to championship weekend.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

• “It feels like every game being played has playoff vibes.” – Buddy Hield
• “I build Legos, I don’t play with Legos” – Myles Turner 🤣
• Haliburton on his Nash comparisons
• D’Angelo Russell glowed about the energy around the In-Season Tournament
• “He took three charges in the first half yesterday… if that doesn’t tell you that he wants to win, I don’t know what will.” – Austin Reaves on Bron

ON THE GROUND

• Magic Show: Vegas has that championship feeling in the air
• Card by Card: Obi Toppin walked us through the Pacers’ road to Vegas
• Flagg Gets Up: Watch from courtside as the Duke commit & elite prospect throws the oop down
  

4. INDY’S AND L.A.’S JOURNEYS IN PHOTOS

Indy + Hali. The love is mutual

Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

Buddy gets up more than just 3s

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

That ‘shock the world’ feeling from Aaron Nesmith

Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

The tournament’s breakout star

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

New Court. Same King

Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

Anthony Davis is averaging 20.3 pts and 13.7 reb in tournament play

Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

Austin Reaves is shooting 50-50-90 in tournament play

Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

LeBron letting his game do the talking

Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images

5. FASTBREAK: FRIDAY’S 13 GAMES IN 2 MINUTES

⛈️ Thunder 138, Warriors 136 (OT): Chet Holmgren forced OT for the second straight game against the Warriors (this time with 3 clutch FTs) and OKC prevailed in the extra time. SGA (38 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl) was huge all night, while Jalen Williams scored 12 of his 28 in the fourth

🍀 Celtics 133, Knicks 123: Derrick White had a season-high 30 points, Kristaps Porzingis had 21 in his first game back after missing four (calf) as Boston stayed perfect at home (10-0)

🐝 Hornets 119, Raptors 116: The Raptors rallied back from 20 down to take the lead midway through the fourth before the Hornets stormed back, capped by Terry Rozier’s 3 with 22 seconds left

⛵ Clippers 117, Jazz 103: Kawhi Leonard had a season-high 41 points (including a 3-point floater) to lead the Clippers (11-10) back over .500 for the first time since Nov. 1

🐴 Mavs 125, Blazers 112: Luka Doncic tied SGA for the most 30+ point games this season (14) as he finished with 32 points and 10 assists as Dallas defeated Portland despite losing Kyrie Irving for the second half due to a foot injury

🔔 Sixers 125, Hawks 114: Joel Embiid (38 pts, 14 reb) tied Charles Barkley for most 30/10 games in team history (128), while Tyrese Maxey (30 pts) had his 7th 30+ point game this season, matching last season’s total

🚀 Rockets 114, Nuggets 106: The Rockets took down the defending champs for their first road win of the season, while Jeff Green picked up his championship ring pregame

👑 Kings 114, Suns 106: De’Aaron Fox scored 23 of his 34 points in the fourth as the Kings won the second half 66-47. Devin Booker had 28 to lead the Suns, who were without Kevin Durant

🐂 Bulls 121, Spurs 112: Coby White (24) led four Bulls with 20+ points as Chicago won its fourth straight despite a monster game from Victor Wembanyama (21 pts, 20 reb, 4 blk), who became the youngest player to ever record a 20/20 game

🐺 Wolves 127, Grizzlies 103: Karl-Anthony Towns scored 24 and Rudy Gobert (16 pts, 20 reb, 6 blk) dominated inside as Minnesota won its sixth straight

⚔️ Cavs 111, Heat 99: Donovan Mitchell (27 pts, 13 reb, 6 ast) led the way, while Max Strus added 11 (and picked up an Emmy) in his first game back in Miami as the Cavs improved to 7-3 on the road

🌃 Nets 124, Wizards 97: The Nets got 21 points from Mikal Bridges and double-doubles from Day’Ron Sharpe and Nic Claxton as they took down the Wizards

🔮 Magic 123, Pistons 91: Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero combined for 51 points for the Magic, who took control of the game late in the first quarter and never looked back