NBA In-Season Tournament final four bracket set: Lakers oust Suns, will face Pelicans; Bucks to meet Pacers

The NBA’s In-Season Tournament final four is set, but oh was there drama on the way there. The Los Angeles Lakers emerged from their quarterfinal matchup with the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night, in part, thanks to a controversial timeout that was issued in the waning seconds of the game. Regardless, the Lakers are moving on to face the New Orleans Pelicans in Thursday’s West semifinal in Las Vegas. In outlasting the Suns in the 106-103 victory, the Lakers remain undefeated in IST play. LeBron James continues to stiff arm Father Time and re-write the record books.

In Tuesday’s early quarterfinal, the Milwaukee Bucks rolled over the visiting New York Knicks, 146-122, and will now meet the Indiana Pacers in the East semifinal on Thursday afternoon. Pretty much everything went right for the Bucks, who were lethal from 3, shooting 60.5% (23 of 38) and on a high volume to boot. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 35 points and added eight rebounds and 10 assists. Damian Lillard shot a whopping 71.1% from 3, connecting on five of seven shots from distance. Julius Randle scored 41 points for New York.

On Monday night, the Pelicans erased a 15-point deficit in the first quarter, and went on to take a 69-61 lead at halftime. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 30 points. “[Ingram] was incredible,” said coach Willie Green. “He put us on his shoulders and he carried us.”

Meanwhile, the Pacers rode MVP candidate Tyrese Haliburton who notched his first career triple double with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists. With the score knotted at 105, Haliburton converted a four-play with 93 second left in the game to put Pacers up for good. “The atmosphere was crazy,” he said. “We’re excited to be [going to Las Vegas], but we want to win.”

The In-Season Tournament culminates in Saturday’s championship for the NBA Cup. The title game will not count toward the league’s 82-game regular season standings, although each winning player will receive $500,000.

The end of the quarterfinals also means that the last two of Friday’s flex games have been determined. All four losing teams from the IST quarterfinal round will play Friday night. The Knicks will visit the Celtics and the Suns will host the Kings.

Here’s a quick refresher on how the In-Season Tournament is working. The home teams have debuted this season’s city edition uniforms during games that have been played on specially designed courts. 

NBA In-Season Tournament bracket

Below is the remaining In-Season Tournament schedule, scores, standings and more. All games on ESPN and ABC are streaming on Fubo (try for free). Fubo’s holiday offer just kicked off! For a limited time, new subscribers can save $40 on Fubo’s Pro, Elite and Premier plans ($20 off the first and second months).

NBA In-Season Tournament schedule

(All times Eastern)

Thursday, Dec. 7
East semifinal: Bucks vs. Pacers, 5 p.m., ESPN/Fubo
West semifinal: Lakers vs. Pelicans, 9 p.m., TNT

Saturday, Dec. 9
Final: TBD vs. TBD at Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m., ABC/Fubo

NBA In-season Tournament scores, results

Tuesday, Dec. 5
Quarterfinal: Bucks 146, Knicks 122
Quarterfinal: Lakers 106, Suns 103

Friday, Nov. 24
Magic 113, Celtics 96
Suns 110, Grizzlies 89
Knicks 100, Heat 98
Raptors 121, Bulls 108
Pacers 136, Pistons 113
Rockets 105, Nuggets 86
Bucks 131, Wizards 128
Kings 124, Timberwolves 111
Warriors 118, Spurs 112
Pelicans 116, Clippers 106

Tuesday, Nov. 21
Magic 126, Raptors 107
Pacers 157, Hawks 152
Cavaliers 122, 76ers 119 (OT)
Suns 120, Trail Blazers 107
Lakers 131, Jazz 99

Friday, Nov. 17
Bucks 130, Hornets 99
Knicks 120, Wizards 99
76ers 126, Hawks 116
Cavaliers 108, Pistons 100
Celtics 108, Raptors 105
Kings 129, Spurs 120
Magic 103, Bulls 97
Pelicans 115, Nuggets 110
Suns 131, Jazz 128
Lakers 107, Trail Blazers 95
Clippers 104, Rockets 100

Tuesday, Nov. 14
Heat 111, Hornets 105
Hawks 126, Pistons 120
Pacers 132, 76ers 126
Nets 124, Magic 104
Thunder 123, Spurs 87
Pelicans 131, Mavericks 110
Jazz 115, Trail Blazers 99
Nuggets 111, Clippers 108
Timberwolves 104, Warriors 101
Lakers 134, Grizzlies 107

Friday, Nov. 10
76ers 114, Pistons 106
Hornets 124, Wizards 117
Celtics 121, Nets 107
Rockets 104, Pelicans 101
Jazz 127, Grizzlies 121
Timberwolves 117, Spurs 110
Mavericks 144, Clippers 126
Kings 105, Thunder 98
Lakers 122, Suns 119

Friday, Nov. 3
Pacers 121, Cavaliers 116
Bucks 110, Knicks 105
Heat 121, Wizards 114
Nets 109, Bulls 107
Warriors 141, Thunder 139
Nuggets 125, Mavericks 114
Trail Blazers 115, Grizzlies 113 (OT)

Eastern Conference Group A standings

Eastern Conference Group B standings

Eastern Conference Group C standings

Western Conference Group A standings

Western Conference Group B standings

Western Conference Group C standings

A = advances as group winner
W = advances on wild card berth
E = eliminated