In Game 6 of the second-round series, LeBron James led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-101 win over the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
Starting Tuesday night in Denver, the seventh-seeded Lakers will play Nikola Jokic and the top-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference finals.
Anthony Davis scored 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed in a closeout win that capped their stunning late-season run.
The Lakers’ Austin Reaves scored 23 points, including a 54-footer at halftime. Since the regular season finished, they’re 7-0 at home. Golden State’s NBA-record string of 28 postseason series with at least one road win was ended by Los Angeles.
Since 2014, James, Davis, and the Lakers have eliminated Curry’s Warriors from the playoffs before the NBA Finals. Six of the last eight NBA Finals have included Golden State.
Curry scored 32 points but missed 10 of his 14 3-point attempts for the sixth-seeded Warriors, who lost three straight road games in their chase of a fifth championship in nine seasons.
KNICKS 92, HEAT 96
(AP) Miami In Game 6, Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 23, and Miami advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the 10th time and third time in four years.
The 1999 Knicks were the first No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals, and Miami followed suit. Wednesday’s Game 1 will see the Heat in Boston or Philadelphia. Sunday’s Game 7 features the Celtics and 76ers.
New York’s Jalen Brunson scored 41 points on 14-for-22 shooting. His teammates scored 51 points: Julius Randle had 15 and RJ Barrett 11 on 1-for-10 shooting.
