LeBron, Lakers in Finals
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — LeBron James is going to his 10th NBA Finals. For the first time in a decade, so are the Lakers.
James punctuated his 27th postseason triple-double with a big fourth quarter, powering the Lakers to a 117-107 victory Saturday against the Nuggets to win the Western Conference finals in five games.
James finished with 38 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to become the fourth player to reach 10 NBA Finals. It took him two seasons to make it with the Lakers. He fell short of the playoffs in an injury-plagued first season with the team after making eight consecutive trips with the Heat and Cavaliers.
‘‘My teammates said, ‘Bring us home,’ and it was my responsibility to try to make the right plays and do the right things on the floor to help us win ballgames,’’ James said during a trophy presentation in a mostly empty arena in the NBA bubble at Disney World.
The Lakers will face the Heat or Celtics in their 32nd NBA Finals appearance, the most in league history. They haven’t played for the title since beating the Celtics in 2010 for the most recent of their 16 titles.
Anthony Davis added 27 points and will end his first season with the Lakers by playing in his first NBA Finals.
‘‘We battled through a lot this year, starting with the beginning of the season, and we know the job’s not done,’’ Davis said. ‘‘It’s a great feeling, but we’ve got four more to win.’’
Nikola Jokic and Jerami Grant each scored 20 points for the Nuggets, who had fought off elimination six times before the Lakers finally put them away. Jamal Murray added 19 points and eight assists, but he struggled with some leg or foot pain and lacked his usual explosiveness.
‘‘It’s not the end goal, but to make it as far and surprise as many people as we did, it’s a good feeling,’’ Murray said.
The Nuggets had come back from 3-1 series deficits in the first two rounds against the Jazz and Clippers before finally being ousted a month after they would have departed the bubble had they lost the first time they faced elimination.
The Nuggets fell far behind one more time, but James wouldn’t allow another comeback. The Lakers’ lead was up to 72-56 four minutes into the third quarter, but the Nuggets — who were down 15 in the third quarter of Game 5 against the Jazz and 16 at the same point of Game 5 against the Clippers — put together a comeback fueled largely by Grant. They came all the way back to tie the score at 84 before Davis made a three-pointer with a second left in the third to give the Lakers the lead going to the fourth.
James made consecutive baskets while getting fouled early in the fourth, pushing a two-point lead to 95-88. When the Nuggets made one last push to cut their deficit to four, James set up Danny Green for a three-pointer with his 10th assist, then made a jumper himself to extend the lead to 108-99.