The Los Angeles Lakers punched their ticket to the NBA Western Conference semi-finals in emphatic model Friday, mauling the Memphis Grizzlies 125-85 to win their first-round collection 4-2.
LeBron James and the Lakers must wait to see who they’ll face within the Western Conference semi-finals after the Sacramento Kings fended off elimination, beating the NBA champion Golden State Warriors 118-99 to power a sport seven of their collection.
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The Lakers, who earned the Western Conference seventh seed through the play-in match, rebounded with a vengeance after failing to lock up the collection in Memphis on Wednesday.
They dominated in each side in certainly one of their finest performances of an typically rocky season, thrilling a crowd at Crypto.com Arena that included 86-year-old Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson.
Nicholson, a Lakers fan for many years, was in his courtside seat for the primary time since final season’s opener in October 2021.
D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 31 factors. James completed with 22 factors and 6 assists, and Anthony Davis had 16 factors and 14 rebounds.
After they “let one go” in Memphis, Davis said, the Lakers weren’t about to miss another chance on their home floor.
“We came out with energy,” Davis instructed ESPN in an on-court interview. “Our crowd was into it. We got here out with a way of urgency that we’re not going to allow them to guys are available right here and power a sport seven.
“We simply got here out with that mindset of ending it right this moment.”
The Lakers dominated every facet. They outscored the Grizzlies 52-32 in the paint and 24-14 on the fast break.
They out-rebounded the Grizzlies 52-45 and had 20 second-chance points to Memphis’ nine.
They held Morant to 10 points on three-of-16 shooting, with Santi Aldama leading the Grizzlies with 16 points off the bench.
Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane added 15.
The Lakers won a playoff series for the first time since winning the club’s 17th NBA title in 2020, in the Covid-protective bubble in Florida.
They fell to Phoenix in the first round in 2021 and didn’t make it to the playoffs last season. They hadn’t won a playoff series outside the bubble since 2012.
It was a far different story for the home team in San Francisco, where the Kings rebounded from three straight defeats with a comprehensive victory that knotted their series with the Warriors at three games apiece.
Sacramento Kings 118-99 Golden State Warriors
“I thought the Kings were the aggressor from the start, putting a lot of pressure on us defensively,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted. “We simply by no means acquired into our sport, however I give Sacramento credit score for that.
“They got here out with extra power and extra power. The proper staff received tonight, that’s for positive. Now we’ve acquired to regroup and prepare for sport seven.”
The Kings were undaunted by the knowledge that the Warriors were 33-8 at home in the regular season, and had won two home games to claw back into this series after dropping the first two games in Sacramento.
They seized a quick 8-0 lead to set an early tone and after a string of lead changes pushed the advantage to double digits in the second quarter.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the rest of the star-studded Warriors couldn’t get the deficit below five points the rest of the way.
Malik Monk scored 28 off the bench and point guard De’Aaron Fox added 26 for the Kings, who are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and have a chance to take the series on Sunday.
“We wanted to hit first, hit second, and hit last, and I think we did a good job of that tonight,” stated Fox, who once more excelled regardless of taking part in with a damaged left index finger.
Rookie Keegan Murray scored 15 factors and pulled down 12 rebounds for Sacramento. Kevin Huerter and Trey Lyles added 12 apiece because the Kings withstood each Warriors try and rally.
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Center Domantas Sabonis completed with seven factors and 11 rebounds earlier than fouling out with 5 minutes remaining — sporting a black eye from taking an elbow on a bounce ball within the second interval.
Curry led the Warriors with 29 factors and 5 assists, and Thompson added 22, however they acquired little assist.
Andrew Wiggins chipped in 13 for Golden State, however Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole had simply seven apiece and the Kings’ bench outscored Golden State’s reserves 52-21.
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