LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers eliminate Golden State Warriors with 122-101 victory in Game 6
- Los Angeles emphatically eliminate defending NBA champions to reach the Western Conference finals
- Lakers will face Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, after stunning turnaround from 2-10 start to regular season
Six months and a day after the Los Angeles Lakers fell to 2-10 to start the regular season, they emphatically eliminated the defending NBA champions to reach the Western Conference finals.
Although the Lakers’ transformation has become increasingly incredible over the past several weeks, the primary forces are LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who won a ring together just three years ago – and who shared a joyous hug on Friday night after they led their team to its biggest home victory in over a decade.
James had 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Lakers ended the Golden State Warriors’ reign with a 122-101 victory in Game 6 of the second-round series.
Davis had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed in their third home victory over Golden State in seven days. Austin Reaves scored 23 points – highlighted by a 54-footer from midcourt at the halftime buzzer – along with six assists and five rebounds while Los Angeles inexorably pulled away, weathering every attempt by Stephen Curry to will the Warriors back into it.
“It’s special to get that win to beat a team that’s so established and so good,” Reaves said. “I think the seeding things are just numbers. When you have guys like Bron and AD who have won championships, you always feel like you have a chance, especially with the roster that we have, the talent that we have.”
The seventh-seeded Lakers will face Nikola Jokic and the top-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference finals starting on Tuesday night in Denver.