LeBron James, Lakers eliminate Warriors with 122-101 victory

LOS ANGELES(AP) — LeBron James had 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assistsand the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the defending NBA championGolden State Warriors with a 122-101 victory Friday night in Game 6of the second-round series.

Theseventh-seeded Lakers will face Nikola Jokic and the top-seededNuggets in the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday night inDenver.

AnthonyDavis had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who nevertrailed in a closeout victory that punctuated their increasinglyincredible late-season surge.

AustinReaves scored 23 points, highlighted by a 54-footer from midcourtat the halftime buzzer for the Lakers. They improved to 7-0 at homesince the regular season ended with three wins in seven days overthe Warriors. Los Angeles also snapped Golden State’s streak of 28playoff series with at least one road victory – an NBA-record runencompassing Stephen Curry’s entire career.

Davis saidhe attributes the Lakers’ late-season roll to “togetherness. Wewant to shock the world.”

James,Davis and the Lakers are the first team since 2014 to eliminateCurry’s Warriors from the playoffs before the NBA Finals. GoldenState has played in six of the last eight NBA Finals, missing theplayoffs entirely in the other two seasons.

Curryscored 32 points while missing 10 of his 14 3-point attempts forthe sixth-seeded Warriors, whose pursuit of their fifthchampionship in nine seasons ended with three straight road lossesand an inept offensive performance by Curry’s teammates in Game 6,including a 3-of-19 effort by Klay Thompson, who missed 10 of his12 3-point attempts.

The SplashBrothers were far too dry when it mattered against the Lakers:Thompson went 10 for 36 on 3-pointers in the series’ final fourgames, while Curry was 14 for 49.

DonteDiVincenzo had a playoff-high 16 points for the Warriors, but Currywas their only starter in double figures, with the other fourshooting 11 for 38.

The Lakersimmediately took charge in the first quarter, survived theWarriors’ few rallies and blew it open in the fourth quarter with abalanced effort led by the 38-year-old James, a four-time NBAchampion. The 20-year veteran can still assert his will asforcefully as almost any elite player, and he quarterbacked theLakers’ offensive effort while Davis played another standoutdefensive game.

D’AngeloRussell scored 19 points as the Lakers capably survived thethird-quarter ejection of Dennis Schröder, the sparkplug guard andprimary defender on Curry. Schröder was tossed after receiving hissecond technical foul of the night from an exchange with DraymondGreen, but his absence scarcely seemed to help the Warriors, whocouldn’t make their open shots far too often.

The Lakershaven’t lost back-to-back games since March 17, and they’ve lostjust once at home since March 26. On a 27-12 roll since bolsteringtheir supporting cast around James and Davis at the trade deadline,Los Angeles is headed to the conference finals for the second timein the superstars’ four-year partnership.

Afterknocking off the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in six games inthe first round, the Lakers followed that series’ exact win-losspattern against the champs: Steal Game 1 on the road, and thencoolly capitalize on their homecourt advantage to seal the serieswith three straight wins in front of their frenzied,celebrity-studded crowds.

Schröderhad five assists and defended doggedly in his first start of thepostseason for the Lakers, but the German points guard was ejectedon a curious call after Green pushed the ball into Schröder’sface.

TIP-INS

Warriors:Golden State went a dismal 13-35 on the road this year, includingthe postseason. ... Curry moved into 11th place on the NBA’s careerplayoff scoring list, passing Dwyane Wade. ... Andrew Wigginsscored six points while playing with fractured rib cartilage,apparently resulting from a tussle with James in the fourth quarterof Game 5.

Lakers:Schröder took the starting spot of Jarred Vanderbilt, the defensivespecialist who hadn’t made a field goal in three straight games.... James passed Shaquille O’Neal for fourth place on the NBA’scareer playoff rebounds list. James has played in a league-record278 postseason games. ... Jack Nicholson was courtside for thethird time in the Lakers’ last four playoff games, joined by hisson, Ray. Others in attendance: Seven-time Formula One championLewis Hamilton, Bad Bunny, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Michael B.Jordan, Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar, Jack Harlow, Dr.Dre, Woody Harrelson, Tyler the Creator and Trae Young.