LOS ANGELES — LeBron James had 30 factors, 9 rebounds and 9 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers eradicated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 122-101 victory Friday night time in Recreation 6 of the second-round sequence.
The seventh-seeded Lakers will face Nikola Jokic and the top-seeded Nuggets within the Western Convention finals beginning Tuesday night time in Denver.
Anthony Davis had 17 factors and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who by no means trailed in a closeout victory that punctuated their more and more unimaginable late-season surge.
Austin Reaves scored 23 factors, highlighted by a 54-footer from midcourt on the halftime buzzer for the Lakers.
They improved to 7-0 at residence because the common season ended with three wins in seven days over the Warriors.
Los Angeles additionally snapped Golden State’s streak of 28 playoff sequence with no less than one street victory – an NBA-record run encompassing Stephen Curry’s whole profession.
James, Davis and the Lakers are the primary crew since 2014 to remove Curry’s Warriors from the playoffs earlier than the NBA Finals.
Golden State has performed in six of the final eight NBA Finals, lacking the playoffs completely within the different two seasons.
Curry scored 32 factors whereas lacking 10 of his 14 3-point makes an attempt for the sixth-seeded Warriors, whose pursuit of their fifth championship in 9 seasons ended with three straight street losses and a clumsy offensive efficiency by Curry’s teammates in Recreation 6, together with a 3-of-19 effort by Klay Thompson, who missed 10 of his 12 3-point makes an attempt.
The Splash Brothers had been far too dry when it mattered in opposition to the Lakers: Thompson went 10 for 36 on 3-pointers within the sequence’ ultimate 4 video games, whereas Curry was 14 for 49.
