tournament

The 17-year-old was 9-7 down and on the brink of exiting the tournament, but won three consecutive legs to secure a meeting with Jermaine Wattimena.

History and hindsight have made it a little difficult to contextualize what the Lakers accomplished last winter, the team hoisting a trophy and hanging a banner after winning the NBA’s first in-season tournament championship.

LeBron James, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, said his thoughts Friday will be elsewhere when the Cup defense begins — and that’s the health of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who recently suffered a mild stroke.

It also opens the Lakers’ defense of their NBA Cup in-season tournament championship — something James admitted Wednesday he hadn’t even thought about before a reporter brought it up.

It means that if the Scots are in pot three they could face a tricky route to a first World Cup in what will be 28 years by the time the tournament rolls around.