A dominant performance from Anthony Davis has powered the Los Angeles Lakers to a 117-112 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of their Western Conference semi-finals series.

While Steph Curry and LeBron James were the headline acts, it was Davis who made the biggest statement as the Lakers big man finished with 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.

With it, Davis joined Tim Duncan as the only player in the last 45 years with at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a playoff game.

In a clash of playing styles, predictably it was the Lakers who dominated the game inside the paint (54-28) and enjoyed a significant advantage at the free-throw line (25-5).

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On the other hand, the Warriors obviously had the upper hand on the perimeter, making 21 three-pointers compared to just six for the Lakers.

It is why Golden State, even after falling 10 points behind in the fourth quarter, was always in the game as Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole all made some clutch shots.

In fact, they became the first trio in NBA history with six three-pointers each in a playoff game, per ESPN Stats & Info.

A Curry three-point jumper levelled the game at 112-112 with just under 90 seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter but the Lakers immediately responded with a D’Angelo Russell bucket.

Fittingly, Davis then swatted away Curry’s attempt to tie up the game as the Lakers held on for a 117-112 win.

Poole did have a good look at a 3-pointer to tie the game after the Lakers went up 115-112 with 10 seconds on the clock but missed.

Given the way Poole had been shooting it made sense to back himself in although Charles Barkley said post-game he wouldn’t have taken that shot.

“I don’t like that shot at all,” he said.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr didn’t have an issue with Poole’s decision though, telling reporters it was a “pretty good look” after Curry was double-teamed.

“That’s a shot he can hit,” Kerr said.

“I’m really happy with that possession. Jordan had six threes already. It was a great shot for us.”

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton also said he “would have shot that too”.

But the shot didn’t fall as the Lakers celebrated a hard-earned win and while Davis was the standout, just as promising for coach Darvin Ham would have been the performance of the team’s role players.

Sure, LeBron James had 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the sort of game you’d expect from the Lakers superstars.

But much of L.A.’s success in the playoffs will hinge on how some of its lesser names play and there were plenty of solid contributions across the board.

D’Angelo Russell had 19 points, six assists, one steal and one block while Dennis Schroder added 19 points off the bench to go and was locked in on the defensive end.

The same went for Jarred Vanderbilt, who had eight points, six rebounds, two steals and a pair of blocks while doing a great job to limit Curry’s impact on the game.

Add in 10 handy points from Austin Reaves late in the contest and it was the perfect start for the Lakers, who took a win on the road and went up 1-0 in the series.

As for Golden State, Curry and Thompson combined for 52 points while Kevon Looney had 15 points to go with a monster 23 boards.

Poole, meanwhile, flashed his potential off the bench with 21 points, including six three-pointers.

The Lakers sounded a warning to the rest of the NBA when they disposed of the Grizzlies in a 40-point demolition job to move through to the Western Conference semi-finals.

But they would’ve also known the Warriors posed a very different challenge. This is a Golden State team whose movement, passing and shooting would require significant defensive adjustments.

“Controlled chaos” is how Davis put it post-game when speaking to ESPN and the Lakers certainly looked frazzled by the chaos early in Game 1 on Wednesday.

That much quickly became clear as the Warriors skipped out to a 10-2 lead, forcing the Lakers into a timeout after just three minutes.

As expected, the Lakers started off with Vanderbilt as the team’s primary defender on Steph Curry, fresh off his 50-point masterclass against the Sacramento Kings.

But it was Andrew Wiggins who made the first three-pointer of the game to set the tone for an early Warriors flurry as Thompson made two quick buckets to put Golden State ahead 10-2.

The Lakers were struggling to find ways to disrupt the Warriors’ rhythm and were finding it just as hard to get their own shots falling, starting the game 1-for-8 from the field.

Davis eventually ended the drought with a driving layup and suddenly the Lakers started to find life, making their next six field goal attempts as the L.A. big man added six points in one minute.

It had the Lakers in a much better place when the Warriors called the next timeout of the quarter, trailing 21-17 as Rui Hachimura added a few buckets of his own in a solid opening off the bench.

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, was doing very well early in limiting Curry’s impact but the Lakers didn’t have an answer for Looney, who was gobbling up offensive rebounds.

Looney had seven boards in total, including three on the offensive end, to go with four points and an assist in a highly productive first eight minutes for Golden State.

It didn’t take long for Curry to start heating up either, with the two-time MVP scoring eight points in the space of one minute.

Fortunately for the Lakers, Davis answered right back with four more points of his own to finish the quarter on 14 to go with four defensive rebounds and a block.

It was a strong start for Davis, who had been challenged by Charles Barkley in the lead-up to the series.

“My faith in Anthony Davis is … I can’t trust that dude,” Barkley said on ‘Inside the NBA’. “He played great every other game. But can Anthony Davis dominate for four games? I think he has a huge advantage. I don’t think they have anybody that can guard him, but he’s so inconsistent.

“When he plays like he is capable of, he is great. Can they get four great games out of Anthony Davis? That’s what this series is going to come down to.”

Well, if Wednesday’s game is anything to go by, the Lakers will certainly be confident as Davis maintained his aggression and involvement on the offensive end.

Davis finished the second quarter on 23 points, leading the way for the Lakers to go with 11 rebounds, marking the 30-year-old’s first-ever 20-10 half in his playoffs career.

Speaking of Davis, he was punished early in the quarter though for sitting back in the paint and letting JaMychal Green launch from deep.

It proved a consistent issue for the Lakers as Davis couldn’t really leave Looney but in doing so the Warriors were getting plenty of good looks from deep and made L.A. pay.

Green, for example, drained a pair of three-point attempts early in the quarter while Thompson and even Poole (13 points) joined the party later on.

Poole’s 13-point burst in the second quarter was particularly handy as Curry went scoreless in the period, not that the Warriors needed him anyway as his teammates helped fill the void.

The two teams traded buckets to open the third quarter but the Lakers continued to find success with Davis matched up against Looney as Golden State refused to put Draymond Green on him.

Davis had a dunk, assist and two rebounds in the space of 40 seconds, putting the Lakers up 78-73 and prompting Golden State to call a timeout as Austin Reaves drained L.A.’s second three-pointer of the game.

It came after Russell opened the quarter on a tear, scoring the Lakers’ first eight points.

Curry, having been largely kept in check by Vanderbilt, came out of the timeout with seven minutes on the clock and made his first bucket since late in the first quarter.

It was an ominous sign but didn’t end up being the start of a typical Curry flurry, with the Golden State sharpshooter having his next field-goal attempt blocked before being substituted out.

Instead it was Reaves who started to turn the game in the Lakers’ favour after a quiet opening half, pushing their lead out to 86-76 with a pair of three-pointers, a driving layup and an assist.

The Warriors were desperately needing some spark and potentially found it as Gary Payton II dunked it home despite pressure from James, with that play cutting L.A.’s buffer to 86-80.

It brought the Golden State fans in Chase Center to their feet but didn’t prove to be a seismic moment in the game, at least in the third quarter, as the Lakers recovered to take a 96-86 lead into the final 12 minutes of the game.

It was hardly a comfortable last quarter for the Lakers though as the Warriors rallied late, just falling short in the end.