James leads way as Lakers eliminate defending champion Warriors, advance to face Nuggets

LeBron James had 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 122-101 victory Friday night in Game 6 of the second-round series.

Anthony Davis had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed in a closeout victory that punctuated their increasingly incredible late-season surge.

Austin Reaves scored 23 points, highlighted by a 54-footer from midcourt at the halftime buzzer for the Lakers. They improved to 7-0 at home since the regular season ended with three wins in seven days over the Warriors. Los Angeles also snapped Golden State's streak of 28 playoff series with at least one road victory — an NBA-record run encompassing Stephen Curry's entire career.

James, Davis and the Lakers are the first team since 2014 to eliminate Curry's Warriors from the playoffs before the NBA Finals. Golden State has played in six of the last eight NBA Finals, missing the playoffs entirely in the other two seasons.

Curry scored 32 points while missing 10 of his 14 three-point attempts for the sixth-seeded Warriors, whose pursuit of their fifth championship in nine seasons ended with three straight road losses and an inept offensive performance by Curry's teammates in Game 6, including a 3-of-19 effort by Klay Thompson, who missed 10 of his 12 three-point attempts.

The Splash Brothers were far too dry when it mattered against the Lakers: Thompson went 10 for 36 on three-pointers in the series' final four games, while Curry was 14 for 49.

Canada's Andrew Wiggins scored six points for the Warriors while playing with fractured rib cartilage, apparently resulting from a tussle with James in the fourth quarter of Game 5.

The Lakers immediately took charge in the first quarter, survived the Warriors' few rallies and blew it open in the fourth quarter with a balanced effort led by the 38-year-old James, a four-time NBA champion. The 20-year veteran can still assert his will as forcefully as almost any elite player, and he quarterbacked the Lakers' offensive effort while Davis played another standout defensive game.

D'Angelo Russell scored 19 points as the Lakers capably survived the third-quarter ejection of Dennis Schröder, the sparkplug guard and primary defender on Curry. Schröder was tossed after receiving his second technical foul of the night from an exchange with Draymond Green, but his absence scarcely seemed to help the Warriors, who couldn't make their open shots far too often.

Heat eliminate Knicks

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra walked into the post-game interview room, a cup of a celebratory beverage in his hand, took a seat and began explaining how difficult the journey has been for Heat.

The regular season was a struggle. They needed to survive the play-in. They were three minutes away from going home before the playoffs even started, needing a rally just to earn the right to play top-seeded Milwaukee.

All forgotten. They're in the NBA's final four — getting there as a No. 8 seed.

Maybe for some franchises. Not for Miami. The Heat are headed there for the 10th time overall, the seventh time in the last 13 years and the third time in the past four seasons. They'll play Game 1 at either Boston or Philadelphia on Wednesday; those teams will decide their East semifinal series Sunday.

Max Strus scored 14 points and Kyle Lowry had 11 points and nine assists for the Heat. They're the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to make the conference finals — joining the Knicks, who pulled it off in 1999.

Jalen Brunson was spectacular for New York, scoring 41 points on 14-for-22 shooting. But his teammates combined for only 51 points — Julius Randle had 15 and Canada's RJ Barrett 11 on 1-for-10 shooting. Josh Hart also had 11 points for the Knicks.

It was dicey at the end, but Miami survived. Gabe Vincent was called for a flagrant-1 against Brunson with just under a minute left, starting a run where the Knicks scored four points in 4.6 seconds.

Brunson made the free throws, Hart added a layup and a 92-86 lead was down to 92-90.

The Knicks got a stop at the other end, but never got a shot off on the next possession. Lowry knocked the ball away for a steal, Butler made two free throws with 14.4 seconds left and the countdown back to the conference finals was on.

The Knicks tied it early in the third, but missed 10 other field-goal attempts in the second half — along with two free throws — that would have pulled New York into a tie or given it the lead.

Brunson had 22 points in the first half, tying his third-most before intermission in any game this season — and his most ever by halftime of a playoff game. He had 15 in the first quarter when the Knicks came out flying to grab early control.