Curry, Warriors stave off elimination, beat Lakers 121-106 in Game 6

SAN FRANCISCO(AP) — Draymond Green loved Golden State’s defensive energy againstLeBron James and knows the Warriors must bring that same urgencyback to Los Angeles with another chance to save this topsy-turvyseason and defend their title.

They need thesame focus again whether or not Lakers star Anthony Davis isclogging up the middle after he suffered a head injury in thefourth quarter.

Stephen Curryhad 27 points and eight assists, Andrew Wiggins added 25 points,seven rebounds and five assists, and the reigning champion Warriorsstaved off elimination by beating the Lakers 121-106 in Game 5 ofthe Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.

The Warriorshave rallied before with this core group on the big postseasonstage, becoming the first defending champion to come back from 2-0down to beat Sacramento in the first round.

“We’rechampions, so there’s pressure every time you step on the floor,”Green said. “You go out there, you don’t win people are ready tocrush you. People forget about the things that you’ve done in thepast.”

James had 25points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles. Davis added 23 points andnine rebounds but went to the locker room late after getting hit inthe head by Kevon Looney as they fought for position in the painton D’Angelo Russell’s layup with 7:43 remaining.

Davis grabbedat his head grimacing before going to the locker room. His statusfor Game 6 on Friday night back in Los Angeles is unclear but coachDarivn Ham was encouraged afterward without providing details onwhat evaluation — such as concussion testing — the big man wentthrough once in the locker room. TNT reported Davis required awheelchair to go to the locker room.

“Obviously,everyone saw he took a shot to the head, but we just checked in onhim, he seems to be doing really good already,” Ham said. “That’sjust where he’s at. That’s the status of it right now.”

Austin Reavesmade a 3-pointer with 5:25 to play that cut the Warriors’ lead tosingle digits at 104-95 only for Curry to answer with five straightpoints, then he hit another big shot after Russell connected fromdeep.

Greencontributed 20 points and 10 rebounds as Golden State played toughdefense that led to better chances on the offensive end — just ascoach Steve Kerr has challenged his team to to.

“Ourdefensive mindfulness was there,” Curry said.

Now, it’sback to LA where the Lakers 5-0 at home this postseason, having woneight consecutive games on their own floor since losing to theBulls on March 26.

Golden Stateis trying rally from a 3-1 series deficit for only the second timein franchise history and will try to win one more to bring Game 7back to Chase Center on Sunday. The Warriors rallied from 3-1 downin the 2016 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City.

Curry beatthe halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer over Lonnie Walker IV as theWarriors took a 70-59 lead. The 70 first-half points were the mostGolden State in the playoffs since scoring 72 in a Game 6first-round win over the Clippers in 2019. The last team to score70 or more in a first half of a playoff game versus the Lakers wasPhoenix with 71 in Game 4 of the 2000 second round.

Green andWiggins took turns on James and Golden State tried to take Davisout of rhythm after he had 23 points, 15 rebounds, three steals andtwo assists in Game 4.

Curry shot 12for 24 but just 3 of 11 from long range coming off his third careerplayoff triple-double in a 104-101 Game 4 loss.

“I have a lotof confidence we can come back in this series,” Curry said. “Anduntil otherwise, we stay in that kind of mindset.”

LINEUPLOOK

The Warriors,who had used five lineup combinations in their initial 11postseason games, stuck with Gary Payton II for the second straightgame — and it paid off.

He scored 13points and converted a timely three-point play with 7:34 remainingto go with six rebounds.

Jordan Poolecame off the bench and hit his first 3 since Game 1 late in thesecond quarter after going 0 for 8 the previous three games.

Klay Thompsonstruggled again. He went 3 for 11 in Monday’s loss to mark just theeighth time in his 150 postseason games that he scored in singledigits — and three of the previous seven came before Kerr becamecoach in 2014.

On Thursday,he missed his initial four shots and 6 of his first seven to finishwith 10 — but has a history of spectacular Game 6 performances andgoes back to LA with a chance to shine.

TIP-INS

Lakers: LosAngeles was outrebounded 18-17 in the first half and 48-38 overall.... The Lakers scored 20 points off the Warriors’ 14 turnovers butcommitted 16 leading to 20 Warriors points. ... James has neversquandered a 3-1 playoff series lead. ... The Lakers lost for onlythe six time since March 19 (17-6).

Warriors: SixWarriors accounted for seven first-quarter 3s after Golden Statemade only 12 total in Game 4 (12 of 41). ... Golden State is 16-4in Game 5s and 8-2 when facing elimination dating to its 2015 titlerun, including 4-2 at home. In addition, the Warriors are 34-12 inpostseason games following a loss.