Lakers oust short-handed Portland

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — LeBron James had 36 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the Western Conference semifinals, beating the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 131-122 in Game 5 on Saturday. Anthony Davis had a playoff-best 43 points for the top-seeded Lakers in their first playoff appearance since 2013.

The Lakers will play the winner of the series between Houston and Oklahoma City. The Rockets took a 3-2 lead with a 114-80 victory Saturday.

C.J. McCollum had 36 points for the scrappy Trail Blazers, who played without injured All-Star guard Damian Lillard. Carmelo Anthony added 27 points.

Down 14 in the third quarter, Portland got within 100-97 on McCollum’s layup and tied it on Anfernee Simon’s 3-pointer to cap an 8-0 run with 9:46 left. James answered with a 3.

Gary Trent Jr.’s 3-pointer tied it at 109 with just under seven minutes to go. Again the Lakers held off Portland with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 3.

After Trent’s 3-pointer closed it to 114-112 with 4:53 left, Davis had a personal 11-0 run to put Los Angeles up 123-112.

The game originally was set for Wednesday, but players collectively decided not to play in the three playoff games scheduled for that day to protest racial injustice following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Friday games also were postponed.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points and 17 rebounds for Milwaukee, which won the series 4-1 and next will face Miami starting Monday.

Khris Middleton had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who had a 21-point lead trimmed to three in the fourth quarter.

Nicola Vucevic had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Evan Fournier 18 points for Orlando, which trailed 67-50 at halftime.

Bucks 118, Magic 104: Rockets 114, Thunder 80:

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James Harden scored 31 points for Houston, and Russell Westbrook returned to face his former Oklahoma City team in the playoffs for the first time as the Rockets took a 3-2 series lead.

Westbrook, limited to one game since Aug. 4 because of a quadriceps injury, had seven points, seven assists and six rebounds in 23 minutes.

Robert Covington scored 22 points and Eric Gordon 20 for the Rockets. Dennis Schroder led the Thunder with 19 points despite being ejected in the third quarter.

Ashley Landis The Associated Press Lakers forward Anthony Davis lines up a shot over Trail Blazers center Hassan Whiteside in the first half of Los Angeles’ 131-122 win Saturday at the Wide World of Sports Complex.