NBA In-Season Tournament Predictions, Semifinals

Fubo News makes predictions on the NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals, including the Lakers, Pelicans, Bucks and Pacers.

Buckle up and get ready for daytime NBA action on a Thursday as the semifinals of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament feature two games today.

After all 30 teams had a fighting chance to punch their tickets to Las Vegas in the group stage and eight teams played it out in the knockout stage – it comes down to the Final Four teams to crown the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament Champion.

The two semifinals feature the Indiana Pacers challenging the Milwaukee Bucks and the New Orleans Pelicans looking to upset the Los Angeles Lakers.

The semifinals feature some of the biggest stars in the game today representing the past, present and future of the game.

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Tyrese Haliburton and Zion Williamson are the future of the game, leading their teams to the semifinals with an eye on the playoffs this season. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, Anthony Davis and more are in their primes with resumes rivaled by very few active players in the game today.

Then there is LeBron James. For some the greatest of all time and all one of the two or three best players in the history of the sport. 

All of those players look to lead their teams to the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament Championship Game in what has proven to be one of the most exciting new additions to basketball.

Semifinal One: Indiana Pacers (5-0) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (5-0)

Game Time: 5 p.m. EST

Channel: ESPN

Betting Lines: Spread (Milwaukee -5), Total (257 points) and Moneyline (Milwaukee -205)

All eyes will be on Haliburton for this game after his immaculate performance in the knockout stage game. In his first-ever game on national television, Haliburton went off for 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds on five-for-11 shooting from three. 

Not only was Halliburton’s first nationally televised game in the NBA, but his first triple-double as well. 

Haliburton driving the offense will be the key for Indiana to upset Milwaukee and make it to the finals. 

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During the In-Season Tournament specifically, Haliburton is averaging 28.0 points, 13.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game on 50-46-88 percent splits. He has taken the opportunity in this tournament to show he is a big stage player. 

This season Indiana is number one in points per game (128.4), field-goal shooting (50.9%), two-point shooting (59.4%), assists per game (30.2), third in three-point shooting (38.8%) and turn the ball over the fourth fewest (12.7) in the NBA.

That offense takes on a Milwaukee defense that is middle of the pack across the board and 24th in the league in points per game allowed (118.3).

Milwaukee will try to outscore Indiana and keep pace with that juggernaut offense with one of the best scoring duos in the league today. It took some time, but Antetokounmpo and Lillard are building some chemistry.

During the In-Season Tournament Lillard is averaging 29.6 points, 7.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game on 54-52-95 splits. Antetokounmpo is right there putting up 27.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Prediction: My heart wants to see Haliburton and this young Indiana team make a splash by winning here today. They have the offense, the star leader and showed against the Boston Celtics a situational defense that could make them scary in a playoff series.

My gut is saying Milwaukee in a relatively close game because of the offensive variance. With the neutral court, both teams’ ability to play quality defense and the stakes I’d take the under as well.

Semifinal Two: New Orleans Pelicans (4-1) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (5-0)

Game Time: 9 p.m. EST

Channel: TNT and truTV

Betting Line: Spread (Los Angeles -2), Total (231) and Moneyline (Los Angeles -125)

New Orleans has quietly gotten healthy at the right time with C.J. McCollum, Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado and the rest of the roster ready to play in Las Vegas today. This is one of the deepest and most versatile rosters in the league that will put a lot of pressure on James, Davis and Los Angeles here in the semifinals.

Brandon Ingram has been the constant for New Orleans during the five In-Season Tournament games so far. 

He is averaging 27.4 points, 6.2 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game on 51-35-74 splits. All of the attention goes to his more famous co-star, Williamson, but it has been Ingram during the big games with the brightest lights that has led the way.

This game allows Ingram to not only win something for the first time in the NBA but also to eliminate the team that packaged him in a trade before he could get his feet on the ground in the NBA. This game has a personal touch to it.

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Surrounding Ingram and Williamson are some of the best young defenders in the game today that will make life very difficult for James, Davis, Austin Reaves and the rest of Los Angeles.

For Los Angeles, the In-Season Tournament came down to James turning back the clock to push his team to the semifinals.

In five games James is averaging 26.2 points, 8.2 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game on 56-57-70 splits. He has been a force on the offensive end doing everything for Los Angeles nightly to help squeak by the Phoenix Suns twice and then dominate the other three teams in group play. 

The key to this game will be the free-throw line. This season Los Angeles does not foul (second fewest) and gives up the least amount of free-throw attempts (18.5) per game.

New Orleans gets to the free throw the fifth most in the league and draws the sixth most fouls from opponents per game. If New Orleans is getting easy buckets at the free-throw line and getting key Los Angeles players in foul trouble – that is a recipe for an upset.

Prediction: The stats and my gut are leaning towards New Orleans to win and advance. They are deep, athletic, healthy and have the pieces to take away what makes Los Angeles so tough. I’d lean over on the total points as well.

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