SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Anthony Davis had 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks, LeBron James added 22 points and 11 rebounds in a duel with Stephen Curry in their final postseason matchup, and the Los Angeles Lakers held on a late storm. by the Golden State Warriors to win an entertaining Game 1 Western Conference semifinal 117-112 on Tuesday night.
Jordan Poole missed a 3-pointer to tie it with 9.7 seconds left as the Warriors’ rally in the closing minutes fizzled. Curry’s 3 with 1:38 left tied the game, then D’Angelo Russell answered right back before Davis blocked a Curry shot moments later. James missed the first of two free throws with 1:05 to go.
Poole’s 3 with 2:48 left cut the Lakers’ lead to 112-109 and James was called for driving with 1:53 left.
For all-time scoring leader James and Curry — who has made the most 3-pointers ever — it’s a new chapter in the long rivalry between the superstars as they squared off in four straight NBA Finals from 2015-2018 while James played for Cleveland.
Curry scored 27 points, Splash Brother Klay Thompson scored 25 and Kevon Looney had a career-high 23 rebounds for his fourth game of 20 or more this season. He also had 10 points and five assists. Thompson hit a 3 with 5:19 to go, cutting the Lakers’ lead to 112-104.
The defending champion Warriors will try to even the series in Game 2 Thursday night on their home floor at the Chase Center, where LA fans can be heard chanting “Let’s Go Lakers!” after the final buzzer.
Curry’s 3 with 9:38 left got Golden State within 99-95, but the Lakers responded with two straight scores, including James’ layup with 8:38 left.
Davis dominated from the opening tip, making 9 of his first 10 shots, while Russell scored 19 points and dished out six assists against his former team.
James’ 3-pointer with 5:23 left in the third put the Lakers up 10, 86-76. Then, Thompson’s gorgeous behind-the-back pass led to a Gary Payton II dunk on James with 3:48 to go as Golden State cut it to 86-80 and forced a Lakers timeout.
The Lakers finished off Memphis in six games Friday night and had a few extra days of recovery to prepare after Golden State was pushed the distance by the upstart Sacramento Kings and won Game 7 on Sunday. The Warriors were the first defending champions to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a playoff series.
Curry went for a playoff career high of 50 points, an NBA record for a game 7. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he thought his team had an advantage after playing two days earlier.
But the rejuvenated Lakers took it to Golden State as they won their final three regular-season games — and Los Angeles is a much different team than the one that lost 123-109 here on Oct. 18 to start the season.
The franchises first playoff game since 1991 did not disappoint. They hadn’t played on the postseason stage since the “Run TMC” Warriors led by Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin lost in the Western Conference semifinals to Magic Johnson and James Worthy.
Thompson was determined to come out hot in Game 1 after calling his 4-for-19 day in Game 7 Sunday in Sacramento “disgusting.” He’s been waiting his whole life to play with the Lakers on the big stage, too, and scored 18 in the first half with four 3s.
He, Curry and Poole each made six 3-pointers after a season in which all three hit 200 3s and Thompson 301.
Golden State is the sixth seed and the Lakers No. 7, marking the first time a No. 6 seed has played in the second round since the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets against the No. 6 Seattle SuperSonics. 7 in 1987.
Curry dropped to 15-8 against James in the playoffs.
LOONEY ON THE BOARDS
Looney is leading the NBA in rebounds this postseason. He had seven rebounds in 4:31 of the first and 13 in the first half en route to double-digit rebounds in his sixth straight playoff game — with four 20-plus rebound appearances.
He grabbed 106 rebounds in seven games against Sacramento, including 90-34 shooting and 27 assists over the final five games of that series.
ADVICE
– Thanks to Davis, the Lakers had 32 points in the first half, while Golden State had 12. The Lakers were also 16 of 17 from the free throw line in the first half and 25 for 29 overall – Davis made all eight of his attempts. .
– Golden State didn’t make a free throw until Poole hit a three-point play with 38 seconds left in the first half. … The Warriors trailed 65-64 at halftime with 11 lead changes.
The winner of this series will face the winner of the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
