NBA In-Season Tournament Semifinals: No home-court advantage in Las Vegas

Four games into the knockout round of the NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament, it's clear that these games feel like much more than just one of 82.

LeBron James going all out in his 21st season, the Milwaukee Bucks rounding into the team they were expected to be, Tyrese Haliburton staking his claim as the best point guard in the league and a Pelicans squad finally taking the next step. The storylines are coming together to create the product commissioner Adam Silver dreamed of when it was first proposed and oft-criticized.

"Adam Silver is a genius," James said on Wednesday during a media availability from Las Vegas. "It's that simple. This is gonna work."

The surviving squads represent a changing of the guard across the NBA landscape, with up-and-coming stars Zion Williamson and Haliburton starting to make their mark and contend with the more cemented Giannis Antetokounmpo and James.

But that's what's been so great about the tournament. With each game in the knockout round being a one-and-done, on any given night the youngsters might be able to take on more established teams.

Adding onto the any-given-night notion is that the games will now be played at a neutral site in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. No more home-court advantage, no weeks of preparation to learn the ins and outs of your opponent, just high-stakes, win-or-go-home basketball.

Here's a quick rundown of Thursday's semifinal matchups and an X-factor that could swing the game. You can watch both games on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.

In-Season Tournament record: Pacers 5-0, Bucks 5-0
Prediction: Pacers def. Bucks

The Pulse: It's time to honestly ask whether Haliburton is the best pure point guard in the NBA.

Haliburton leads the league in assists (11.9) while sitting 50th in turnovers (2.4), and in the quarterfinal matchup against the Celtics, he finished with 13 assists and zero turnovers against the league's fourth-best defence.

That isn't even to mention his scoring ability, as the 23-year-old is averaging a career-high 26.9 points on ridiculously efficient .521/.447/.881 shooting splits and is the only guard in the top 10 league-wide in true shooting percentage (67.4). Moreover, he's the highest-scoring player in that top 10 by a wide margin, with Hawks forward Jalen Johnson coming in second at 14.1 points a night. He's also got one heck of a clutch gene.

The sign of a true superstar is a player who makes those around him better, and that couldn't be truer for Haliburton, as two of the players who also find themselves on the top 10 true-shooting percentage list are teammates Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith. Both are putting up career-high scoring numbers while receiving most of their helpers from Haliburton as he assists Toppin 2.2 times a night and Nesmith 1.1 times.

They play to their team name, leading the league in pace at 104.1 possessions per 48 minutes. This Pacers team has three speeds: Here, there and gone.

Meanwhile, in its win over the Knicks, Milwaukee looked like the offensive juggernaut that was projected at the outset of the season.

The Knicks' No. 3-rated defence didn't stand a chance, as drives from Antetokounmpo opened up space on the perimeter for Malik Beasley, A.J. Green and Damian Lillard to operate, and the Bucks finished with an eye-popping 23-for-38 from long range.

Let's be clear, though: This number is an anomaly. However, what mattered in the Bucks' demolition of the Knicks was getting a proper look at how the Bucks could operate when the shot falls.

As it stands, Milwaukee is knocking down only 36.3 per cent of its long-range looks this season, and much of that can be attributed to Lillard's uncharacteristic inefficiency, with the guard hitting only 35.2 per cent of his 8.4 threes a night. Khris Middleton has also struggled as he slowly plays himself back into rhythm after off-season knee surgery, with the career 38 per cent three-point shooter sitting at only 34 per cent this year.

But when they're at full power like they were on Tuesday night, there might not be a team in the association that can stop them, let alone a Pacers team fielding the second-worst defence of all time.

X-Factor: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

Point to the player on the Indiana Pacers who can guard Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In their prior matchup this season, Antotokounmpo steamrolled his way to 54 points on 19-for-25 from the field and 16-for-18 from the free-throw line while grabbing 12 boards. Though he did almost finish with a triple-double, turning the ball over eight times, it was clear that the only way they could stop the Greek Freak was praying he would make mistakes.

It actually worked. The Pacers won the game 126-124 after Antetokounmpo turned the ball over twice in the final minute.

Ball security has never been his best trait, and this isn't to pin the loss on him considering his 54 points were the only thing keeping the Bucks in the game in the first place, but preying on his turnovers seems to be the way to beat him at this point. He's turning it over 4.2 times a game, a career-high mark.

Otherwise, he's been unstoppable offensively this season. He's putting up his second-best point average (30.2), and his best offensive rebound average (2.8), field-goal percentage (61.1) and effective field-goal percentage (62.3).

If he can dominate on the inside, draw as much pressure as possible to himself and create open shots for their perimeter players, the rest of the Bucks should be more than ready to exploit Indiana's league-worst three-point defence.

And if the three-point shot isn't falling, they can just let the most efficient inside scorer in the association do his thing, whether it be on drives, with his back to the basket, or on lobs.

In-Season Tournament record: Pelicans 4-1, Lakers 5-0
Prediction: Lakers def. Pelicans

The Pulse: You can have your buzzer-beaters and Hail Marys, the NBA's In-Season Tournament just brought a new clutch play to light: The Timeout.

The question has been asked about how winning the inaugural NBA Cup would affect James' legacy, and as we've seen through the first round of the tournament's knockout stage, he consistently finds ways to redefine clutch. This time it was calling what might be one of the most impactful timeouts of all time, that despite controversy, was actually completely legal and was simply a matter of incredible timing on James' part.

If this ain't in-season tournament basketball, then what is?

The big takeaway here is that James did everything the boxscore shows while doing everything it doesn't show. But here's a bit of what the boxscore did say.

James played 40 minutes on Tuesday, the most he's played in a regulation game this season. He finished with 31 points, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter, 11 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and only two turnovers. He also had a 129 offensive rating and 100 defensive rating, and a 20.8 box plus/minus, his second-best mark this season.

He was the engine in their victory over the Suns and was by far the best player on the court in his 21st season in the league. If there was any indication that the biggest stars wouldn't take this tournament seriously, you need only point to this game to prove that wrong.

Beyond James, though, the Lakers looked much more complete on Tuesday following the reintegrations of Rui Hachimura, Cam Reddish and Jarred Vanderbilt. They beat up the Suns down low, grabbing 21 offensive boards compared to Phoenix's eight and winning the paint battle 54-42. Anthony Davis was a force in the paint, grabbing 15 rebounds, including nine offensive boards, and Austin Reaves got his swagger back, showing renewed confidence and emotion after knocking down a big bucket in the clutch.

On the other side are the Pelicans, fronted by Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, and flanked by a bevy of solid three-and-D players rotating in and out of the lineup, from more offence-focused guys Trey Murphy and Jordan Hawkins to the defence-first wings Herb Jones and Dyson Daniels.

The Pelicans, in their win over the Sacramento Kings, highlighted how deep they can go and how willing coach Willie Green is to experiment with his lineup.

In what was a bad Williamson game, as he finished with only 10 points in 27 minutes, Green opted to take him out during crunch time and roll with Murphy and Jones instead.

Those changes helped New Orleans stave off a Kings comeback, normally one of the best teams in the clutch, by holding them to 1-for-7 from deep in the frame. Jones was particularly effective, capable of holding his own with one of the best bigs in the league in Domantas Sabonis and then switching back to the perimeter and shutting down lethal scoring guards Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox.

The Pelicans have the size, physicality and versatility to hang with the Lakers and won't be a team to get bullied by James and Anthony Davis. If Williamson can follow up the rest of the team's physical defence with emphatic drives and crushing attacks on the other end, the Pelicans could be a hard out in Vegas.

X-Factor: Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

Davis is back to playing at a level worthy of serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year.

He leads the league in blocks at 2.8, steals + blocks at 79 and defensive win shares at 1.5. He is third in defensive rating at 105.9 and has remarkably fouled out of only one game this season.

One of the more impressive defensive possessions for the Lakers in their quarterfinal win against Phoenix came when Davis was switched onto Booker on the perimeter, forced him to dribble out most of the shot clock, then made a timely switch to draw a shot-clock violation late in the fourth quarter.

On offence, he carried the Lakers in the first quarter of the game against the Suns, scoring 14 points on 55 per cent from the field in the opening frame. He finished with 27 points on a less-than-ideal 10-for-26 from the field after going cold in the second half. But the damage was already done after he scored 20 points by halftime, which was more than the combined 17 points of Kevin Durant and Devin Booker at that point.

He's also been one of the best screen setters in the league, leading the league in screen assists at 6.1 a game and coming in second for screen assist points at 13.4.

The Pelicans play a physical style, particularly when the offence runs through Jonas Valanciunas and Williamson, but if there's one player in the league strong enough to take on Zion's drives, it's Davis.