NBA Playoffs: Lakers Eliminates Warriors For the First Time With Coach Steve Kerr
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 on Friday, 122-101, thanks to James’ 30 points. Reasons is coach Steve Kerr, why and how,,,
The Golden State Warriors won’t be successful again as LeBron James was involved once more.
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 on Friday, 122-101, thanks to James’ 30 points. They will face the Denver Nuggets, who upset the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, in the Western Conference finals.
The Warriors have never suffered a postseason elimination at the hands of a Western Conference team since they acquired head coach Steve Kerr in 2014. Since then, they have either reached the NBA Finals, where they have triumphed four times and fallen to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors twice, or they have not advanced at all in 2020 and 2021.
In the play-in tournament, when they lost to the Lakers in the first game, the 2021 campaign came to an end.
LeBron James was outstanding as usual on Friday, shooting 10-of-14 with 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals in addition to his great scoring, while Anthony Davis dominated on defense on the boards (as well) with 17 points, 20 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Only the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers made it to the conference championship games this year.
How can you stop the Warriors from scoring throughout the duration of a series? It turns out that the solution is to have Davis guard the paint while they struggle from beyond the arc. The Warriors had a poor night at the perimeter, shooting a combined 13-of-48 heading into the game after shooting 31.7% from outside the arc in their previous three games.
Every player the Warriors often use to hit opponents from a distance struggled. When he scored 32 points on an ineffective 11-of-28 shooting, Stephen Curry didn’t appear to be Stephen Curry. With a 3-of-19 shooting percentage and 8 points, Klay Thompson most certainly didn’t resemble the Klay Thompson of old.
Jordan Poole, on the other hand, abruptly vanished once more. The playoff breakout player from a year ago concluded a terrible series with 7 points on 3-of-10 shooting.
After taking an early double-digit lead in the first quarter, the Lakers never trailed. For the majority of the second, the Lakers’ lead was under 10, but an Austin Reaves halfcourt heave increased it to 10 as the final buzzer sounded. Reaves had 20 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds at the game’s conclusion.
For the remainder of the game, that was as close as the Warriors would get.
This season, the Warriors never recaptured their champion form.
The Warriors’ rocky season, which began with an odd spat between Poole and Draymond Green, comes to a conclusion with the series defeat.
A new generation of younger players, led by Poole, Jonathan Kuminga, James Wiseman and others, was believed to keep the Warriors among the NBA’s best for years, but they needed Curry and company just to make the playoffs. Their aging core couldn’t fill the gaps they used to, and their bench was infamously weak throughout the season.
Golden State needed seven games to beat the Sacramento Kings in the first round after their regular season record of 44-38 put them sixth in the West. When they repeated the same form in the following round, they weren’t as fortunate.
How do the Lakers and Nuggets compare?
The Lakers’ next opponent will probably be a more difficult test, even though beating the Warriors has frequently been the NBA’s equivalent of slaying the dragon.
Starting with MVP runner-up Nikola Joki, the Nuggets have been outstanding all season. They are the top seed in the West. Davis will be charged with managing the greatest passing big man of all time, who is taking part on the game with the greatest supporting cast of his career, rather than controlling the paint alongside Green and Kevon Looney.
The Lakers did well against the Nuggets this season, going 2-2, and one of those defeats occurred with James and Davis both out due to injury. The Lakers have a ceiling as high as anyone at this time, even if the Nuggets are unquestionably great because to their star-studded lineup and additions made after the trade deadline.
On (ESPN), Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET in Denver is the time for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
