Tuesday night’s 106-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns advanced the Los Angeles Lakers to the semifinals of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. LeBron James accounted for 15 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter.

Austin Reaves added 20 points and Anthony Davis contributed 27 points and 15 rebounds for the top-seeded Lakers, who will travel to Las Vegas on Thursday to face New Orleans. Indiana faces Milwaukee in the East semifinals.

“You have some of the most dominant male competitors in the world,” James said. “If you give us a chance to play for an incentive or something meaningful, we’ll do our thing.” James added five steals, eight rebounds, and eleven assists. “The In-Season Tournament itself is an opportunity to represent our families, communities, and places of origin while performing on a national stage and airing on television.”As Los Angeles pulled clear, James put on a masterful shooting display in the closing minutes, contributing to 15 of the Lakers’ initial 19 points in the fourth quarter and assisting on the other two baskets of his teammates.Kevin Durant led the Suns with 31 points, but he narrowly missed a long three-point attempt at the buzzer. Phoenix had won eight of ten prior to suffering its third loss of the season to Los Angeles.With 29 seconds remaining, Devin Booker reduced the Lakers’ lead to 102-101 on a layup, but Reaves buried his third 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining.Officials granted James’ request for a timeout shortly after Durant made another layup, despite the fact that the ball appeared to be open because Booker had blocked it away from Reaves an instant earlier. This infuriated the Suns.”The ball is loose, and a timeout cannot be called on a loose ball,” said Phoenix head coach Frank Vogel. “A whistle sounds.” I have no idea why. Every aspect of the league is subject to review. I am uncertain as to why that is not reviewable…. We’ve caught the turnover and the trap, and now the damn whistle sounds. “It’s simply irritating.”Reaves stated that he believed Booker had fouled him just prior to the timeout being called.”There was no call, and LeBron executed a million-times-seen high-IQ play,” Reaves stated.While Durant did not share his coach’s indignation over the decision, he stated that he did not believe the ball was loose at the time the timeout was called.“That is not the ballgame,” stated Durant. “That is an entire play.” A 48-minute contest is scheduled. It is not my nature to lodge complaints regarding phone communications. There will inevitably be occasions when the referee will err. “Sometimes the onus is on us to persevere through that and not be concerned with the referee’s decision.”Davis was ultimately fouled, but his failure to make either of his two available free throws created an opportunity for Durant to potentially tie the game with a 30-footer.Grayson Allen and Booker each contributed 21 points for Phoenix.With a victory in Phoenix on November 10, the Lakers secured the top berth in the Western Conference by remaining undefeated in the group stage of the inaugural tournament. Following their recovery from that setback, the Suns earned a wild card entry into the knockout round.Both Vogel and Lakers coach Darvin Ham stated that their players are getting into the spirit of the In-Season Tournament, especially with the incentive to earn financial bonuses for their teams’ support staff and younger players, while supporters continue to debate the tournament’s merits.”That bag is well known to them,” Ham remarked with a chuckle. “Money speaks, gentleman.”Bradley Beal’s persistent back injury caused him to miss his eleventh consecutive game for the Suns. Despite committing 22 turnovers, the Suns managed to hang on despite their two fit superstars struggling with foul trouble. Booker committed his fifth penalty early in the fourth quarter, whereas Durant accumulated four fouls heading into the dying seconds of the game before committing his fifth with 3:18 remaining.Phoenix committed the most turnovers (10) of any team in the league this season in the first quarter alone. The Suns, who trailed by 15 in the first half, took the lead with 14 consecutive points after halftime.Vogel stated, “We did not do enough early in the game.” “A close game such as that is not inconceivable if we improve our performance on turnovers and the glass.”