Joe Paige | Sports Editor
The In-Season Tournament has proved to be quite a success so far, the players have bought in to the competition and teams are fighting hard for that coveted trip to Las Vegas. Although your favorite team might’ve already gotten knocked out, there's still plenty of big names left seeking to win the first In-Season Tournament trophy.
Probably the most star-studded matchup amongst the four, on Tuesday night The Phoenix Suns head to Crypto.com Arena to take on The Los Angeles Lakers. Kevin Durant heading back to the Western Conference meant we get to witness the legendary matchup between Durant and LeBron James much more often. It’s fortunate that we’ll get to see these two future Hall of Famers go head to head a few more times right before they eventually retire, and this a great event to kick things off. These two teams have already met twice so far in the regular season with The Lakers coming out on top in both games, but this time, the stakes are raised significantly.
The Lakers are 11-9 so far this season, they’ve beaten the teams that they’re supposed to beat, but struggle to find the same success when faced against some of the more elite teams in the league like Sacramento or Oklahoma City. As for Phoenix, they’re 11-7 so far, they’ve just had a hard time keeping their big three all together on the court at once. In the absence of his fellow stars, Devin Booker has stepped up his game averaging 27.3 points per game and a career-high 8.5 assists per game. LeBron James has been very outspoken about his strong desire to win the first In-Season cup, but it certainly won't be easy with Kevin Durant standing in his way.