Lakers conquer Warriors in six games to advance to Western Conference Finals
LOS ANGELES — After a 2-10 season start, the Lakers are headed to the Western Conference Finals after defeating the Warriors in six games to close out with a 122-101 Game 6 win on Friday.
The Lakers will face off against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference for the second time since their championship year in 2020. This time the Lakers will face a healthy Jamal Murray, who was absent from injury in that series, and a familiar face in Kentavious Caldwell Pope. And lastly, not to mention one of the NBA’s best big men, Nikola Jokic, who has averaged a triple-double throughout the playoffs.
“They’ve been the number one team in the West for a reason. They’ve played exceptional basketball all year and we’re going with the utmost respect for their ball club,” said LeBron James of the Nuggets.
It looked like the season was headed toward another stressful campaign at the beginning of the season for the Lakers until some Rob Pelinka magic changed their course at the trade deadline. Acquiring D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and Mo Bamba.
The unspoken heroes have come from the Lakers' underrated signings from the offseason, with Lonnie Walker, Dennis Schröder, and undrafted sophomore Austin Reaves providing valuable minutes for them throughout the playoffs.
Like wine, LeBron has continued to perform at the highest level of basketball as he's aged, giving us a taste of greatness throughout the playoffs despite playing with a nagging ankle injury that has plagued him all season.
“I thought we were locked in for as close to 48 minutes as possible tonight,” said LeBron.
LeBron finished with a team-high 30 points on an efficient 10-for-14 shooting, 71.4%, with nine rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and a block in a season-high 43 minutes.
The aggressive Anthony Davis was activated with ten rebounds at the end of the first quarter, playing with vengeance and authority throughout. Davis responded to the nasty media criticism toward his head injury in Game 5’s loss with professionalism, showing up to work and getting this series done in six games to continue the Lakers' successful run.
Davis finished with a monster 17-point and 20-rebound performance, going 5-for-9, 55.5%, with three assists, two blocks, and two steals in 39 minutes.
“I just wanted to have an emphasis on rebounding the basketball and limit their offensive rebounding,” said Davis.
Reaves has come a long way for the Lakers since being undrafted a season ago, and he is in for a big payday this offseason with the consistent, impactful basketball juice he brings to the floor. Reaves big moment came at the end of the half with a halfcourt heave, hitting nothing but the bottom to give the Crypto crowd a reason to roar.
Reaves finished second in scoring with 23 points on 4-for-5, 80%, shooting from three, and 7-for-12 overall, 58.3%, notching six assists and five rebounds in 39 minutes of action.
“We have a lot of confidence in Austin [Reaves]. He has a lot of confidence in himself. He wants to take big shots. He makes big shots,” said Davis.
The Lakers changed the starting group to combat Golden State’s small rotation with a small lineup by inserting Schröder for Vanderbilt. After picking up his second technical foul in the second half to get an early exit to the locker room, Schröder's plus-minus of +16 showed his effectiveness despite a 1-for-6 scoring night — with his constant pestering on Steph Curry by staying with him for 92 feet of the floor on defense.
Schröder finished with three points, five assists, two rebounds, and a huge block in 25 minutes.
The Lakers Game 1 matchup against the Nuggets will be on Tuesday on the road at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN.
