LeBron He still has everything. The NBA Cup could have been missing because it had just been created. But he won first because, apart from being crazy about basketball, his appetite to keep winning is simply intact. The Lakersthe quintessential NBA franchise with the permission of the Celtics, felt that they had to be the ones to debut the record of this new European competition that has caused a sensation and they finished off their good tournament last night by beating the surprising Indiana Pacers in Las Vegas (123 -109).
The tough and colorful team of Rick Carlisle became the beautiful and inspiring story, the giant killer that has always been part of every Cup, eliminating the Celtics and Bucks. But he sent tradition, LeBron and his eternal youth to his almost 39 years refreshing old times with the MVP of the tournament with an impeccable performance by 24 points -10/21 in shots-, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, Anthony Davis and that authority that puts him on par with the Jokic, Embiid y Antetokounmpo with an abundant to imposing double-double of 41 so many -16/24 in shots, 20 catches, 5 basket passes and 4 blocks.
“I don’t even think about the MVP, it’s about being together and winning this,” he highlighted in statements to Malika Andrews. LeBronwho won his last regular season MVP in 2013 con Miamimost recently the last one in the Finals, with the one from 2020 and his ring with the purple and gold ones.
“This is the first mid-season tournament. Records will be broken, but one thing that will never be surpassed is the first to do something. And we are the first champions of the mid-season tournament and no one will be able to reach this. And it is fantastic to do it with a historic franchise and with a great group of fun, committed and competitive men,” James highlighted, also throwing flowers at his teammates.
The Cup was an exaltation of LeBron James’ mentality, the one that refuses to succumb to the logic of time. Although he is no longer considered in the race for MVPthe ’23’ was the one who dealt best with the unknown, with that fear of being eliminated from a single unprecedented game for the stars with so many opportunities that the 7-game playoff series offer.
When talking about LeBron’s prime, the one who was in his second half of his twenties with the Heat, it is assumed that the star of Akron It is no longer at its peak. But, if anything, it’s because he doesn’t want to. Because, perhaps more than because of the logic of adjusting to his age, because he no longer needs to demonstrate and the experience and wisdom of his 21 years in the NBA they allow him to govern the games without such waste.
But when you have to do a sprint in a competition as short and intense as this, LeBron does it if he wants. Just look at his averages in the final phase of the tournament: 28.3 points, 8 rebounds and 7.6 assists.
The Lakers dispelled the doubts of the regular season for now with a recital of firmness to warn about what may be to come when their pair is healthy and how the team benefits from it. You can barely find polka dots on the purple and gold in this final, even decent as it has been in this final phase D’Angelo Russell, 13 points without having a great shooting series -6/15-, but 7 assists and registering a plus-minus of +17.
They balanced on both sides of the court Cam Reddish with 9 points and the one who had a greater partial in plus-minus with a +24 and Taurean Prince with only 4 points but a consistent role in defense, while Austin Reaves He continued to be the king from the bench with 28 points for the Lakers who always dominated but without letting go of the Pacers.
Could not Tyrese Haliburton fulfill the story of a humble hero in this pleasant surprise that has been Indiana, a surprise that is also logical if one considers that Rick Carlisle’s men are right now the best attack in the NBA with an offensive rating of 123. Haliburton, trapped at the beginning With the Lakers’ double defenses, he did not shine as much as other days but he still finished with 20 points -8/14 in field goals-, and 11 assists with more losses than usual in his case with 3.
Despite this, the base of 23 years has definitively gotten rid of that stigma of loser, of the player who was traded to Indiana in 2022 by the Kings, who, even without Mike Brown and Jordi Fernandez on the bench, they had not yet ended their long abstinence without playoffs for a decade and a half. The stigma of the point guard with an unorthodox shot. But a star has been confirmed in this Cup, in which the Pacers have knocked down the four favorites of the East, also the Cavaliers and the Sixers in the group stage.
Next to Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin with also 20 points, another young man from these refreshing Indiana Pacers, who due to those curiosities of history had played their last and only final in the NBA in 2000, succumbing to the Lakers of Kobe and Shaq. Some Lakers, who, with this Cup, will be able to say that in some way they break the 17-ring tie with the Celtics to become the best franchise in history if by titles it is measured by order and concreteness of another that insists on being the best of all time: LeBron James.
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2023-12-10 10:38:34
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