ANTHONY Davis scored 25 points with 13 rebounds and LeBron James added 21 points as the Los Angeles Lakers rebounded for a 127-97 blowout Saturday (Sunday in Manila) over the visiting Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.
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The Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the series.
D’Angelo Russell also scored 21 points as the Lakers returned home and found their energy again after a lackluster 127-100 defeat in Game 2. The victory came even as James did not take a shot from the field in the first quarter and did not score his first field goal until 5:22 remained in the first half.
Stephen Curry scored 23 points and Andrew Wiggins added 16 points with nine rebounds for the defending champion Warriors, who also trailed 2-1 in their first-round series against the Sacramento Kings before advancing in seven games.
In the other game, Jimmy Butler, returning from an injury absence, scored 28 points to lead the host Miami Heat to a 105-86 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Miami leads the series 2-1. The Heat will host Game 4 on Monday night (Tuesday in Manila).
Knicks sixth man Immanuel Quickley left the game with 6:15 left in the fourth quarter due to his injured left knee.
The game got ugly with 14.7 seconds left in the third quarter as the teams scuffled underneath the Knicks’ basket. Three technical fouls were assessed: on Miami’s Cody Zeller for pushing Julius Randle; on New York’s Isaiah Hartenstein for pushing Zeller; and on Miami’s Caleb Martin for pushing Hartenstein.
Klay Thompson scored 15 points for the Warriors, who shot 39.6 percent from the field and had 19 turnovers. Golden State converted 29.5 percent of its shots from 3-point range after shooting 50 percent from distance in Game 2.
The Warriors had the best of the early going as they opened a 30-23 lead after one quarter.
The Lakers stormed back in the second quarter, using a 22-2 run to take a 51-42 lead with 2:23 remaining in the first half. Los Angeles led 59-48 at the break. — Field Level Media
