Davis and James inspire Lakers to historic NBA Cup win

Anthony Davis scored 41 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers to victory against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA’s first in-season tournament final.

Davis also registered 20 rebounds, five assists and four blocks, while team-mate LeBron James added 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 123-109 win.

James was also named the most valuable player of the inaugural NBA Cup.

“Records will be broken but one thing that will never be broken is being the first to do something,” said James, 38.

“We’re the first champions of the in-season tournament and nobody can ever top that.

“It’s great to be able to do it with such a historical franchise and even better to do it with a great, great cast of funny, engaged, competitive men over here.”

The Pacers closed to within three points with just over six minutes remaining, only for the Lakers to produce a run of 13 unanswered points on the way to victory.

Austin Reaves scored 28 points off the bench for the Lakers, while Tyrese Haliburton and team-mate Bennedict Mathurin top scored for the Pacers with 20 points each.

The final of the NBA Cup took place in Las Vegas and is the only game of the tournament which does not count towards the regular season standings.

“We’re sick, frustrated,” Haliburton said. “We just got outplayed tonight from the start of the game to the end of the game.

“Just didn’t do the job on loose balls, didn’t rebound, didn’t get enough stops when needed. They just outplayed us, and it’s frustrating.”