NBA In-Season Tournament scores, takeaways: Lakers in driver's seat in West as Pacers keep rolling along

Lakers and Pacers grab first two IST quarterfinal berths

Five group-play nights down, two more to go. The NBA's In-Season Tournament continued on Tuesday with its smallest slate yet. Only five games were played on Tuesday, and while three of them were relatively uncompetitive, the other two more than made up for it. In Philadelphia, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed overtime to overcome the 76ers in a 122-119 thriller. Cleveland, playing without Donovan Mitchell and Isaac Okoro, earned perhaps its best win of the season.

But the game of the night by far was played in Atlanta, where the Hawks and Pacers combined for a staggering 309 points in regulation. Indiana, who trailed by 20 early in the game, pulled off the comeback to walk away as 157-152 victors. It was just the seventh game in NBA history in which both teams scored 150 points without going to overtime.

The knockout stage of the In-Season Tournament is starting to take shape, so here are our major takeaways from Tuesday's action.

Two teams advance

We have our first two participants for the knockout stage of the In-Season Tournament. The Indiana Pacers, who have won their first three games of tournament play, have clinched East Group A. They technically have another game left, but it is against the winless Detroit Pistons, meaning they have already clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker with all of their other group participants. 

The Los Angeles Lakers won't need tiebreakers to win their group. They clinched by defeating the Utah Jazz, giving them a 4-0 sweep over West Group A. In the process, they pushed their tournament point-differential up to +74. With only one other team able to match them at 4-0, the Lakers will host a quarterfinal game on either Dec. 4 or 5. From there, it'll be a win-and-advance to Las Vegas.

Friday night will be huge

We won't quite have completed the group-play portion of the tournament after Friday, but we'll have a far better idea of who else is headed to the knockout stage at that point. Here's what we can look forward to:

• By defeating the Raptors today, the Magic set up a huge showdown with the Celtics on Friday. If Boston wins, the Celtics win East Group C. If Orlando wins, they control the group, but we could have a three-team tie featuring the Magic, Celtics and Nets. That would come down to point-differential, which is far from settled.
• The Knicks and Heat will face off in East Group B. If Miami wins, the Knicks are basically out and Tuesday's game between the Heat and Bucks determines the group. If the Knicks win? We could have a three-way tie between the Knicks, Bucks and Heat, if the Heat can take care of business against the Bucks.
• The Kings will face the Timberwolves in a game that doesn't quite determine West Group C, but comes close. If Minnesota wins, it wins the group through its tiebreakers over Sacramento and Golden State. If Sacramento wins? It controls the group, but could still wind up in a three-way tie with Golden State and Minnesota.
• West Group B is still a mess. We'll get some clarity after Friday's matchups between the Nuggets and Rockets and the Clippers and Pelicans. Everyone in that group has between one and two wins and one and two losses.

Pacers are the NBA's most fun team

Let's take a look at the highest point-totals posted by any team this season:

• Indiana's 157 against Atlanta Tuesday is the new league-high.
• Boston's 155 against Indiana earlier in the season is in second place.
• In third place, we have a tie between the 152 points Atlanta scored against Indiana on Tuesday and the 152 points the Pacers scored against the Spurs earlier this season.

Every Pacers game is a shootout. They lead the NBA in pace. Their offense ranks No. 1, and the 2.6 points per 100 possessions gap between them and the No. 2 Mavericks is bigger than the gap between Dallas and No. 6 Boston. Their defense is ranked No. 29, ahead of only the Hornets. The Pacers may or may not be ready to win this tournament, but no matter where they finish, they're going to have fun getting there. Amazingly, Tyrese Haliburton has never played a game on TNT in his career. That will change in the knockout stage. The entire world is about to be introduced to one of the NBA's most fun new stars.

[Nov 22, 2023 at 12:16 am ET · Sam Quinn]

It's official

The Los Angeles Lakers have clinched West Group A with a 131-97 win over the Utah Jazz. The Lakers swept their group, going 4-0, and along with the Indiana Pacers in the East, were one of the first two teams ever to advance to the knockout stage.

[Nov 22, 2023 at 12:10 am ET · Sam Quinn]

A sigh of relief

On Sunday, it looked like the fan who took a half-court shot for the Lakers between periods suffered a serious leg injury. There were even rumors of a torn Achilles. According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, though, the fan is just fine. Just a poorly timed tweak.

[Nov 22, 2023 at 12:02 am ET · Sam Quinn]

Let's take a look ahead to Friday

Since we're out of competitive games tonight, let's take a look ahead to what's in store Friday. Reminder: the Lakers and Pacers have already clinched their groups.

• Boston and Orlando face off in a game that. could decide East Group C. If the Celtics win, they win the group. If the Magic win? Things get trickier and could come down to tiebreakers.
• The East Group B showdown between Milwaukee and Miami is still a week away, but a head-to-head matchup between Miami and New York could determine if the Knicks still have a real chance at this thing.
• The Kings and Timberwolves will battle for control of West Group C. If Minnesota wins, by virtue of its tiebreaker over Golden State, it clinches the group. If Sacramento wins? Things still need to be settled, but the Kings would have the advantage.
• We have a full-on reckoning in West Group B. The Nuggets face the Rockets and the Clippers face the Pelicans. All five teams in that group have between one and two wins and one and two losses. We'll have a far better idea of what's happening in that group after Friday's slate.

[Nov 21, 2023 at 11:46 pm ET · Sam Quinn]

Lakers running up the score

Reminder: The Lakers entered tonight with a +42 point-differential in tournament games, and are about to tack on another 30 or so in this victory. If the Lakers need a tiebreaker, they're almost certainly going to have it.

[Nov 21, 2023 at 11:39 pm ET · Sam Quinn]

Another day at the office for LeBron

LeBron James might not return to this game given the huge lead, and if his night is done, he'll finish with 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting. Here's how good he's been lately: that 6-of-10 shooting line would actually lower his 61% field goal percentage in November.

[Nov 21, 2023 at 11:31 pm ET · Sam Quinn]

A mismatch inside

The Jazz are really feeling the absence of Walker Kessler right now. The Lakers are +8 in rebound and +14 in paint points. Anthony Davis destroys smaller teams. The Jazz don't stand a chance against him.

[Nov 21, 2023 at 11:25 pm ET · Sam Quinn]

Phoenix wins, but Portland gets a push against the spread

Never bet a 13-point spread ladies and gentlemen. The Suns outplayed the Blazers throughout, and ultimately won the game by double-digits, but a meaningless Kris Murray 3-pointer with under one minute remaining cut the Suns lead to 13. That was the spread in this game, so Suns bettors don't get the win.

[Nov 21, 2023 at 11:05 pm ET · Sam Quinn]

What would tonight's West results mean?

Right now, we're barreling towards victories for the Lakers and Suns. What would that mean? The Lakers, as the only 4-0 team in the West, would advance to the knockout stage as the winner of West Group A. Phoenix, at 2-1, would still be positioned to potentially earn a wildcard berth depending on what happens in the rest of the conference. The Suns would just have to beat the woeful Memphis Grizzlies first to give themselves that chance.

[Nov 21, 2023 at 10:59 pm ET · Sam Quinn]

Top of the hour scores

We've got two games left going, and both are hovering around blowout range. Phoenix leads Portland, 99-89, with roughly nine minutes remaining, while the Lakers have a 55-37 advantage over Utah with 1:40 left in the second quarter.