The knockout round of the inaugural in-season tournament (IST) is set to tip off Monday night, and I am not afraid to admit my excitement. The group stage was filled with drama, competition and compelling moments—and I don’t think we’ve even gotten to the good part yet. A true knockout stage is something we’ve never quite seen before in the NBA, as even the play-in tournament has a little bit of a safety net for most teams. So with IST fever running hot, here are the five matchups I would most like to see in the championship game Saturday.
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5. Lakers vs. Bucks
This would basically be the highest-stakes matchup LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have had in their careers. LeBron and Giannis have never really been positioned as natural rivals, even though for a two-year stretch it looked like Giannis was going to definitively take the torch from James as the best player alive. It would be cool to see those two square off, as well as see Anthony Davis battle Antetokounmpo. And from a strategy standpoint, this final could give us an early peek at how teams will try to attack Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee defense in a playoff setting.
4. Suns vs. Bucks
A rematch of the 2021 Finals! Even if some of the principles have changed, Giannis and Devin Booker—having an incredible season as Phoenix’s lead ballhandler—remain. Kevin Durant and Lillard would add some extra masala to what was a pretty fun series in ’21. How many points would Booker try to score to, on some level, avenge that devastating loss from two years ago? And could Durant and Giannis reconjure some of the magic of their own epic series from the ’21 postseason?
3. Suns vs. Celtics
Booker vs. Jayson Tatum is emerging as one of the new debates of our time, and this head-to-head would give significant ammo to one side. You also have the history of Jrue Holiday and the Suns from the 2021 Finals, as well as Durant possibly looking to make up for his disappointing first-round series vs. the Celtics in ’22. The talent on the wing would be very spicy in this matchup, and it would also be one of the highest-stakes games of Kristaps Porziņģis’s career. With the Celts having established themselves as the early East favorite, I want to see them go against the Suns’ high-wattage stars.
2. Lakers vs. Celtics
One way to make this tournament stand the test of time is to have the league’s two most iconic franchises, which have met 12 times in the NBA Finals, meet in the first ever in-season championship. Are the story lines super compelling outside of that? Not necessarily. Unless the league puts the same referee crew from the infamous noncall, overtime game from last season on this one, this rivalry isn’t at its most electric these days, even if there’s a little leftover static between LeBron and Tatum from James’s second Cavs stint. Getting the league’s two marquee teams to play in a competitive final would help legitimize the tourney, though, and possibly set an example for years to come.
1. Pacers vs. Kings
The Pacers play the fastest pace in the league. The Kings play the eighth-fastest. Indiana has the best offense in the NBA. Sacramento had the best offense last season. This game would be exciting. A win would mean something extra to both teams, and it would provide a star-making turn for players who really deserve it, including Tyrese Haliburton and De’Aaron Fox, former teammates who could turn into rivals. This isn’t me doing a hipster bit. I think the tournament could work best for teams who may not be title contenders but that will give their all for a trophy to claim. Even after the Kings’ surprising run last year, it’s not as if they or the Pacers are national darlings yet. A championship game between these teams would give a significant spotlight to players who don’t always get it, but are capable of winning over a large swath of fans because of their thrilling style of play.
Perhaps most importantly, there is a good chance these teams could combine to score 300 points. That may offend purists, but if the NBA has been leaning into the heightened nature of this tournament so far—the alternate courts, the point differential, the final in Vegas—then I can’t think of a better way to send it off than with two up-and-coming clubs trading a preposterous number of buckets.
