Anthony Davis, James deliver as Lakers top Curry, Warriors in Game 1

SANFRANCISCO (AP) — Anthony Davis had 30 points, 23 rebounds, fiveassists and four blocked shots, LeBron James added 22 points and 11rebounds dueling with Stephen Curry in their latest postseasonshowdown, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off a late flurry by theGolden State Warriors to win an entertaining Game 1 in the WesternConference semifinals 117-112 on Tuesday night.

JordanPoole missed a 3-pointer to tie it with 9.7 seconds left as theWarriors’ rally in the closing minutes fell short. Curry’s 3 with1:38 left tied the game, then D’Angelo Russell answered right backbefore Davis blocked a shot by Curry moments later. James missedthe first of two free throws with 1:05 to go.

Poole’s 3with 2:48 remaining cut the Lakers’ lead to 112-109, and James wascalled for traveling with 1:53 left

Forall-time scoring leader James and Curry — who has the most3-pointers ever — this is a new chapter in the long rivalry betweenthe superstars after they faced off in four straight NBA Finalsfrom 2015-2018 while James played for Cleveland.

Curryscored 27 points, Splash Brother Klay Thompson had 25, and KevonLooney grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds for his fourth game ofthis postseason with 20 or more. He also had 10 points and fiveassists. Thompson made a 3 with 5:19 to go that cut the Lakers’lead to 112-104.

Thedefending champion Warriors will try to even the series in Game 2on Thursday night back on their home floor at Chase Center, whereLA fans could be heard chanting “Let’s go Lakers!” after the finalbuzzer.

Curry’s 3with 9:38 left got Golden State within 99-95, but the Lakersresponded with two straight scoring possessions, including James’layup with 8:38 remaining.

Davisdominated from the opening tip, making 9 of his first 10 shots,while Russell scored 19 points and dished out six assists againsthis former team.

James’3-pointer with 5:23 left in the third put the Lakers ahead by 10,86-76. Then Thompson’s snazzy behind-the-back pass led to a dunk byGary Payton II over James with 3:48 to go as Golden State cut it to86-80 and forced a Lakers timeout.

The Lakersfinished off Memphis in six games Friday night and had a couple ofextra recovery days to get ready as Golden State was pushed to thedistance by the young Sacramento Kings and won Game 7 on Sunday.The Warriors were the first reigning champion to come back frombehind 2-0 and win a playoff series.

Curry wentoff for a playoff career-high 50 points, an NBA record for a Game7. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he thought his team had anadvantage having just played two days earlier.

But therevamped Lakers took it to Golden State just as they did winningthe final three regular-season matchups — and Los Angeles is a fardifferent team than the one that lost 123-109 here on Oct. 18 tostart the season.

Thefranchises’ first playoff matchup since 1991 didn’t disappoint.They hadn’t played on the postseason stage since “Run TMC” Warriorsled by Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin lost in theWestern Conference semifinals to Magic Johnson and JamesWorthy.

Thompsonwas determined to come out hot in Game 1 after calling his 4-for-19day in Game 7 on Sunday at Sacramento “disgusting.” He’s beenwaiting his whole life to play the Lakers on the big stage, too,and scored 18 by halftime with four 3s.

He, Curryand Poole each made six 3-pointers after a season in which allthree reached 200 3s and Thompson 301.

GoldenState is the sixth seed and the Lakers No. 7, marking the firsttime a No. 6 seed has home court in the second round since thesixth-seeded Houston Rockets against the No. 7 Seattle SuperSonicsin 1987.

Currydropped to 15-8 against James in the playoffs.

LOONEY ONTHE BOARDS

Looney isleading the NBA in rebounds this postseason. He had seven reboundsby the 4:31 mark of the first and 13 by halftime on the way todouble-digit rebounds in his sixth straight playoff game — withfour 20-plus rebound performances.

He grabbed106 rebounds in seven games against Sacramento, including 90 with34 on the offensive end and 27 assists in the final five games ofthat series.

TIP-INS

Lakers:Thanks to Davis, the Lakers had 32 points in the paint in the firsthalf to Golden State’s 12. The Lakers also were 16 of 17 from thefree throw line in the first half and 25 for 29 overall — Davismaking all eight of his attempts.

Warriors:Golden State didn’t shoot a free throw until Poole converted athree-point play 38 seconds before halftime. ... The Warriorstrailed 65-64 at intermission after a first half with 11 leadchanges.