Night No. 2 of the NBA's first ever In-Season Tournament was played on Friday, and while some of the games were closer than others, the night as a whole produced some of the best basketball we've seen all season. The Hornets, 76ers, Timberwolves, Rockets and Lakers all overcame double-digit deficits to earn their first In-Season Tournament victories, and, in the process, they all set themselves up for real runs in this event moving forward.
The game of the night, without question, was played by the Lakers and Suns. Phoenix led most of the way thanks to 62 combined points out of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, but an equally brilliant 32-point, 11-rebound performance out of LeBron James gave the Lakers hope, and after making seven-straight second-half 3-pointers, they were able to complete their comeback and earn their first road win of the season.
We've now seen the majority of the NBA play at least one In-Season Tournament game, so what are the big takeaways from tonight's action and the tournament as a whole? Here are three that come to mind:
These games are all close
On night No. 1 of the In-Season Tournament last week, every game was decided by 11 or fewer points, and six of the seven came down to single digits. Night No. 2 featured nine games, and seven of them were decided by single digits. As we covered above, five of the winners tonight needed to overcome double-digit deficits. The only truly noncompetitive game was played between the Clippers and the Mavericks. Otherwise, every game has been at least moderately close.
Can we take anything from that? It's too early to say. The numbers don't suggest better overall effort. Players aren't getting more minutes than they usually would within their rotations. But at a bare minimum, teams aren't checking out of games when they fall behind. It helps that none of them are playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and perhaps the atmosphere of these games is really making a difference in distinguishing them from typical regular-season fare. There's no way of knowing if these close games and big comebacks will continue, but, at the very least, the NBA has to be thrilled with what it has seen so far. These games have been better than their regular-season counterparts.
Stock up, stock down
There's no such thing as being truly "eliminated" from the In-Season Tournament's group stage. Regardless, everyone is playing four games. And if we're being absolutely technical, there is even a path to advancing after an 0-2 start. If all five teams in a group go 2-2, someone has to advance, so point-differential becomes the tiebreaker.
So technically, the Thunder, Wizards and Grizzlies are still "alive," but their chances are on life support. Washington is hardly a surprise here, and Memphis shouldn't be either given the start it has had. But the Thunder are off to a great start this season, and as one of the NBA's youngest teams, were figured to take this tournament a bit more seriously than the older teams. Seeing them effectively knocked out one week into the tournament is a pretty big surprise.
Meanwhile, the big winner of night No. 2 had to be the Los Angeles Lakers. Technically, their three-point victory over the Phoenix Suns has them in second place behind the Utah Jazz in West Group A. However, they've slain their group's only dragon. The Jazz, Blazers and Grizzlies have combined regular-season records of 5-20, and the Lakers will play two of them at home. They should now be considered heavy favorites to advance to the knockout stage.
And one stealth winner? The Dallas Mavericks. They lost their tournament opener to the Denver Nuggets by 11, but their 18-point win over the Clippers not only got them back to .500, but gave them a plus-seven point-differential, which could be useful for tiebreakers. Dallas has already played its two hardest group games, and while Houston and New Orleans are hardly easy opponents, based on how they've played this season, the Mavericks should be favored over both. Right now, they have a pretty feasible path to a wildcard spot in the West even if the Nuggets continue to run roughshod over every team in their path.
The money matters
There has been quite a bit of consternation about whether or not the players would be motivated to take these In-Season Tournament games seriously. The results have generally been positive, but what LeBron James said to Lisa Salters after the game was instructive. "It was great because it was an In-Season Tournament win," James said. "We'll take that, for sure. $500,000 on the line, so we're going for that."
Now, James is notoriously cheap. He doesn't even pay for Spotify Premium. But he's also a literal billionaire. He's going to be one of the owners paying out that $500,000 prize in the not-too-distant future. If he cares about the $500,000 prize for winning this tournament, it's fair to say that other top players will as well. There's no question about the players at the bottom of the league, and some players, like Damian Lillard, have talked about wanting to win the tournament for his two-way teammates earning less than $500,000 for the entire season. As always, money talks.
