LeBron, Davis power Lakers
LeBron James no longer has to do it all against Stephen Curry on the big stage, not even close. Anthony Davis plugs the middle and takes away the easy chances inside. Dennis Schröder has the energy to help chase No. 30 all over the court. D’Angelo Russell can hit a big shot with a hand in his face.
That’s the thing about these new-look Lakers — they take so much pressure off the game’s all-time scoring leader and LeBron believes in them, even with the defending champions on a 14-0 run with their home crowd rocking.
Davis had 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots, James added 22 points and 11 rebounds dueling with Stephen Curry in their latest postseason showdown, and the seventhseeded Lakers held off a late flurry by the sixthseeded Warriors to win an entertaining Game 1 in the Western Conference semifinals 117-112 on Tuesday night in San Francisco.
“We’ve been playing playoff basketball for about 2 ½ months just to punch our clock to be able to play right now in the postseason,” James said. “We were very resilient tonight.”
James’ 23 points were his third-fewest in 23 playoff games against the Warriors. His previous-low in a win was 27 in Game 7 of 2016 Finals.
Jordan Poole missed a 3 to tie it with 9.7 seconds left as the Warriors’ rally in the closing minutes fell short. Curry’s 3 with 1:38 left tied the game, then Russell answered right back before Davis blocked a shot by Curry moments later. James missed the first of two free throws with 1:05 to go.
Poole’s 3 with 2:48 remaining cut the Lakers’ lead to 112-109, and James was called for traveling with 1:53 left.
Curry scored 27 points, Klay Thompson had 25, and Kevon Looney grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds for his fourth game of this postseason with 20 or more. He also had 10 points and five assists. Thompson made a 3 with 5:19 to go that cut the Lakers’ lead to 112-104.
The Warriors will try to even the series in Game 2 on Thursday night back on their home floor at Chase Center, where LA fans could be heard chanting “Let’s go Lakers!” after the final buzzer.
Knicks tie up Heat: Jalen Brunson scored 30 points and keyed the run the Knicks needed just in time to get by a Heat team playing without an injured Jimmy Butler, evening the Eastern Conference semifinals at a game apiece with a 111-105 victory Tuesday night in New York.
Julius Randle returned from a sprained ankle that sidelined him in Game 1 with 25 points, 12 boards and eight assists, and RJ Barrett scored 24 points for the fifthseeded Knicks. Josh Hart had 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
But it was Brunson, who pointed the blame at himself and said he had to be better after going 0 for 7 from 3 in the opener, who made the biggest plays in a game the Knicks trailed much of the way.
Caleb Martin scored 22 points in place of Butler for the eighth-seeded Heat, who host Game 3 on Saturday. They will hope to have Butler, the leading scorer in the playoffs who sat out after with a sprained right ankle.