LOS ANGELES-- After they began the season by losing 10 of their first 12 games, after they failed a chemistry test, after they underwent a roster overhaul, after they lastly clicked, after they dispatched the
Memphis Grizzlies in the preliminary and the Golden State Warriors in the second, the Lakers advanced on Friday night to a lofty position few could have predicted back on Oct. 18.
The seventh-seeded Lakers rose past the sixth-seeded Warriors with a 122-101 success in the definitive Game 6 of their second-round playoff series at Crypto.com Arena. They advance to face the top-seeded
Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.
Game 1 is Tuesday night in
Denver.
New obstacles await the Lakers.
Anthony Davis was noticable fit to play after he was knocked woozy by an errant elbow from the Warriors' Kevon Looney during the 4th quarter of the Lakers' loss in Game 5 on Wednesday in
San Francisco. The Lakers went to Davis frequently to start Game 6 on Friday, and he reacted.
No question, Davis was the crucial to the Lakers' success in each series, and he will be once again in the conference finals. He scored 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting, got 20 rebounds and was a dominant force defensively, signing up with forces with LeBron James and their colleagues to suppress the Warriors.
James led the Lakers with 30 points on 10-for-14 shooting, and he also had 9 rebounds and 9 assists in 43 minutes in a vintage performance from the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer.
Austin Reaves had 23 points, D'Angelo Russell had 19 and Lonnie Walker IV scored 13 in a reserve function.
The Lakers never tracked and led by as lots of as 24 points.
Steph Curry led the Warriors with 32 points on 11-for-28 shooting. Curry scored 12 of their very first 26 points, but they made just 9 of 29 shots, including 3 of 14 from 3-point variety, in a very first quarter that belonged solely to the Lakers. Golden State shot 39 for 103 (37.9%) for the night.
Klay Thompson scored 8 points on only 3-for-19 shooting.
Golden State's loss was its very first in an elimination video game versus a Western Conference team since 2015 (7-1). The Warriors have actually won four NBA championships and reached the Finals two other times ever since, a dynastic run that seemed teetering on the brink throughout this series, after the Lakers took a 3-1 series lead.
The Warriors fended off elimination in Game 5, however a Game 7 was not to be.
The Lakers, who haven't lost a house video game given that late March, had not lost two in a row anywhere because March 15 versus the
Houston Rockets and March 17 against the
Dallas Mavericks. They also had not lost 3 in a row since Feb. 4 versus the
New Orleans Pelicans, Feb. 7 against the
Oklahoma City Thunder and Feb. 9 versus the
Milwaukee Bucks.
Feb. 9 also was the NBA trade deadline, when things started to change for the much better for the Lakers. They've been an absolutely various team ever since, as evidenced by their extended playoff run, one that seemed highly improbable before they entered the playoffs with victories in 10 of 12 video games.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham stuck with the very same starting lineup for each of the six games of the first-round series against the Grizzlies and for the first 5 video games of the second-round series against the Warriors. However he made a change for Game 6, switching Dennis Schroder for Jarred Vanderbilt.
There was some issue in the Warriors' camp that Andrew Wiggins wouldn't have the ability to play because of a rib cage injury suffered late in Game 5. He warmed up and reported he was sound adequate to play, so Golden State coach Steve Kerr kept him in the beginning lineup for Game 6.
The Lakers sizzled at the start of the video game, constructing a 27-10 lead in the opening minutes, with a sellout crowd of 18,997 turning the arena electric. They preserved their double-digit lead by halftime thanks to Reaves' 3-point shot from 54 feet at the buzzer that provided a healthy 56-46 benefit.
More to come on this story.
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