NBA: LeBron James 'not getting too crazy' about In-Season Tournament as LA Lakers set up final against Indiana Pacers

The LA Lakers will play the Indiana Pacers in the NBA In-Season Tournament final after LeBron James posted 30 points in a resounding win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

James led his side to a 133-89 victory, scoring all his points inside the first three quarters, to move one game away from winning the inaugural trophy.

The final is set for Saturday night in Las Vegas, when the Lakers will take on a Pacers side that earned a superb 128-119 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the other semi-final earlier on Thursday.

Lakers legend LeBron has been in sensational form of late and went into the last-four clash having become the first Lakers player since Kobe Bryant to make 20 points, 10 assists and five steals in one game during their quarter-final victory over the Phoenix Suns.

The 38-year-old four-time NBA MVP followed that up with a game-leading 30 points, eight assists and five rebounds against the Pelicans - but wasn't getting carried away afterwards.

Speaking to TNT Sports, James said: "It's still December, so I'm not getting too crazy about the whole thing.

"This thing has been great - In-Season Tournament - but it's still December. But it [the final] is another game for us to get better, and we want to try to win the game, because we're a team that wants to get better every single game we go out there, every quarter, every possession, so we got another opportunity to do that."

Anthony Davis posted a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Austin Reaves and Taurean Prince scored 17 and 15 points respectively for the Lakers.

Trey Murphy III led the way for the Pelicans with 14 points but it was a frustrating night as they were kept to a 35.8% shooting success rate and coach Willie Green didn’t hide his disappointment.

“Tonight was a total let-down,” said Green.

“We’re all disappointed in our competitive spirit against the Lakers. You’ve got to give them credit. They came out and dominated. But tonight we took a step in the wrong direction."

There was only one point in it after the first quarter, with the Lakers leading 30-29.

But James took over from there, scoring the Los Angeles side’s first 11 points of the second quarter, including three consecutive 3-pointers, as they raced into a 40-33 advantage.

LeBron scored 21 points by half time, landing seven of his nine shots, and was benched by midway through the third quarter to rest up ahead of the championship match against Indiana.

The Pacers head into the final full of confidence after Tyrese Haliburton’s final-minute 3-pointer helped them to a huge win over the Bucks.

Haliburton led the way for Indiana with 27 points and 15 assists, while Myles Turner made 26 points, as the free-scoring side continued an impressive average that now stands at 132.6 points per game in the In-Season Tournament.

“We’re playing the right way and we’re shocking the world right now, we’re going to continue to do that,” Haliburton said.

“And as long as we play the right way, we know we’re going to be in every basketball game.”

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo made 37 points and 10 rebounds but it wasn’t enough, with the difference being the impact from the benches.

The Pacers' bench scored 43 points to Milwaukee’s 13 and Haliburton gave them credit after the game.

“I know a lot of people don’t watch us play all the time, but we truly have one of the best benches in the NBA, if not the best bench in the NBA,” Haliburton said.

“We’re a really deep team with a lot of different guys who can contribute. I’m sure we’ve got a lot of guys that people aren’t really familiar with, but they’ll be familiar all too soon, for sure.”

Saturday’s In-Season Tournament final in Las Vegas, unlike the other matches, won’t count towards the regular season standings.

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