LOS Angeles Lakers reached the Western Conference finals for the first time after a decade following a 119-96 demolition of Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their semifinals on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines).
LeBron James waxed hot early and finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while Anthony Davis contributed 13 points, 11 boards and four dimes for the Lakers.
James set the tone early for the Lakers with consecutive shots to take a 13-2 advantage. The lead grew further to 35-20 after the opening quarter, but the Rockets answered back with a rally in the second frame to come to within 62-51 at the half.
Los Angeles regained its shooting touch in the second half behind James, Davis and Kyle Kuzma as the lead reached its largest at 101-71 on a triple by Rajon Rondo early in the fourth quarter.
James Harden finished with 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting but recorded 12 turnovers while Jeff Green added 13 markers as the Rockets bowed out in the semifinals for the second straight year.
Meanwhile, Boston Celtics proved to be the steadier team down the stretch as they pulled off a 92-87 win over Toronto Raptors in the do-or-die of their Eastern Conference semifinals. Jayson Tatum tallied a double-double 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics.
Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, stayed alive in the other Western Conference semifinals series after a 111-105 Game 5 triumph over Los Angeles Clippers. Jamal Murray had 26 markers to lead the Nuggets, which cut the series deficit to 2-3.
BOX SCORE:
LOS ANGELES 119 â James 29, Kuzma 17, Morris 16, Green 14, Davis 13, Caldwell-Pope 10, Horton-Tucker 9, Caruso 5, Rondo 3, Howard 3, McGee 0, Dudley 0, JR Smith 0.
HOUSTON 96 â Harden 30, Green 13, Westbrook 10, Rivers 9, McLemore 9, Tucker 8, Clemons 7, Covington 5, Gordon 5, Caboclo 0, Frazier 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
Q1, 35-20; Q2, 62-51; Q3, 95-69; Q4, 119-96.
The NBA holds all matches of its 2019-2020 playoffs at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, United States./PN
