LeBron shines, Lakers run over Warriors, go to West finals

O Los Angeles Lakers is in the NBA Western Conference Finals. On the night of this Friday, the 12th (early Saturday morning in Brazil), at the Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers overcame the Golden State Warriors by 122 to 101, closed the series by 4 to 2 and advanced in the playoffs.

The next opponent will be denver nuggetswhich had the best record in the conference in the regular season and surpassed the phoenix suns in the other semifinal series, by 4 to 2. The first game of the final will be played on Tuesday, 16, at 21:30 (Brasília time), in Denver.

Seventh in the conference, Los Angeles had the great match of LeBron Jameswho left the court with 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Austin Reaves also shone with 23 points and six assists – having the right to a three-ball at the burst of the clock. D’Angelo Russell contributed 19 points, while Anthony Davis scored a double-double of 17 and 20 rebounds.

The unrecognizable Golden State had the scorer Stephen Currywith 32 points and another six rebounds. Donte DiVeincenzo helped with 16 points. Draymond Green (9), Klay Thompson (8) and Andrew Wiggins (6) little appeared in the game.

The game

The first half was one of ups and downs for both teams, with the Lakers going into the break ahead of their home crowd at Crypto.com Arena. In the first quarter, Los Angeles won by 31 to 26. The home team opened a 17-point lead on the scoreboard, but the Warriors sought a great recovery to shorten the gap.

The second period was exciting, with the right to Austin Reaves’ big shot at the burst of the clock. Golden State grew in the match, despite not being able to lead on the scoreboard, and managed to close the gap to the Lakers on several occasions.

However, the Lakers guard converted a ball in the middle of the court and took the team to the break with 10 points of advantage: 56 to 46 for Los Angeles. Austin Reaves was one of the team’s highlights in the first half of the game.

WAY DOWNTOWN. https://t.co/7wqbUDJfgMpic.twitter.com/ndvBIZhYxi

—NBA (@NBA) May 13, 2023

The Lakers maintained the lead on the scoreboard and ended the third quarter with a 14-point lead, 91-77.

The Los Angeles franchise started the fourth quarter without Schroder, who was involved in a move with Draymond Green and received a technical foul, but ended up being expelled from the game for having already received a technique before. With five minutes left in the game, the Lakers applied the 23-point advantage and sent the victory to qualify for the final. With three minutes, the team put all its reserves on the court and closed the victory against the current NBA champion: 122 to 101.

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