The Los Angeles Lakers destroyed the Memphis Grizzlies 125-85 to seal a spot in the Western Conference semi-finals.
It was an absolute clinic from the home side at the Crypto.com Arena with all of the Lakers’ stars shining bright.
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Davis dominates Grizzlies in Game 6! | 00:23
Meanwhile, Grizzlies players came to regret a number of comments — including Ja Morant’s insistence that he was “fine in the West” last year.
Dillon Brooks, of course, also was made to look silly after taking a jab at an “old” LeBron James earlier in the series.
James finished with 22 points, Anthony Davis enjoyed a double-double thanks to a 16-point haul and 14 rebounds but the biggest game came from D’Angelo Russell who scored 31 points.
For the Grizzlies, five players got into double figures but none scored more than 16 points as Los Angeles ran riot.
The Lakers got a hot start and never looked back, taking a 31-20 lead in the first quarter.
That lead ballooned even further in the second as Los Angeles held a 59-42 advantage at half-time on the back of several impressive performances from their stars.
The Lakers then began to take the mickey out of their opponents in the third, with James, Russell and Davis throwing it down on the hapless Grizzlies.
The Lakers’ dominance was no more evident than an absolutely brutal alley-oop from Davis over the top of Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr.
Dennis Schroder lobbed the ball up in the air and Davis hammered it over Jackson Jr, sparking wild celebrations from the Lakers as Schroder pointed at his Memphis rival who was down on the court.
The third period was the Lakers’ biggest of the contest, outscoring Memphis 41-25 to open up a 33-point lead going into the final quarter.
The Lakers then rested a number of their big names in the final quarter to preserve them for the semi-final match-up, where they will face either the Kings or the Warriors.
ALL-STAR COPS BRUTAL ELBOW TO THE FACE, FOULS OUT AS NO. 3 SEED FORCES SHOCK GAME SEVEN
The Sacramento Kings bounced back from three straight defeats with an impressive 118-99 victory over the NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Friday to force a decisive game seven in their first-round playoff series.
Facing elimination, the inexperienced Kings were undaunted at Chase Center in San Francisco — where the Warriors were 33-8 in the regular season.
They seized a quick 8-0 lead to set an early tone and pushed the advantage to double digits in the second quarter.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and the rest of the star-studded Warriors couldn’t get the deficit below five points the rest of the way as the Kings knotted the best-of-seven series at 3-3.
Malik Monk scored 28 off the bench and point guard De’Aaron Fox added 26 for the Kings, who are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and have a chance to take the series in front of their home fans on Sunday.
Fox said the young team arrived in San Francisco confident they could extend the series, even after watching their 2-0 lead evaporate.
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“We always believe in ourselves,” Fox told broadcaster ESPN in an on-court interview. “We never came in here just thinking our season would be over tonight.
“Everybody believed in each other. We know that we can score with anybody and I think in the post-season our defense has been better.”
Rookie Keegan Murray scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for Sacramento. Kevin Huerter and Trey Lyles added 12 apiece as the Kings withstood every Warriors attempt to rally.
Center Domantas Sabonis finished with seven points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with five minutes remaining — sporting a black eye from taking an elbow on a jump ball in the second period.
Curry led the Warriors with 29 points and five assists, and Thompson added 22, but they got little support.
Andrew Wiggins chipped in 13 for Golden State, but Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole had just seven apiece and the Kings’ bench outscored Golden State’s reserves 52-21.
The winner of the series will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semi-finals.