Lakers hold off Warriors, take commanding 3-1 series lead
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Lakers are now just one win away from moving on to the Western Conference Final.
The Lakers took care of business at home, beating the Golden State Warriors 104-101 Monday night.
With the win, the Purple and Gold now hold a commanding 3-1 best-of-7 series lead.
LA's road to the conference final, however, won't be easy. The Lakers will play the Dubs on the road in San Francisco Wednesday, May 10. If the Lakers blow it in Game 5, LA will have one last chance to finish the series at home.
The Warriors host Game 7 should the Lakers drop both Games 5 and 6.
SERIES SCHEDULE
- Game 1: Lakers 117, Warriors 112
- Game 2: Warriors 127, Lakers 100
- Game 3: Lakers 127, Warriors 97
- Game 4: Lakers 104, Warriors 101
- Game 5: Lakers at Warriors, Wednesday, May 10
- Game 6: Warriors at Lakers, Friday, May 12*
- Game 7: Lakers at Warriors, Sunday, May 14*
*= if necessary
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Lakers arrived at the 2023 NBA Playoffs as battle tested as any team in the league. New coach Darvin Ham had a nightmare start to his head coaching career as LA started the regular season at a 2-10.
After the team's tumultuous start, the Lakers shipped out former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook in a trade with the Utah Jazz.
Prior to the deadline, all eyes were on LeBron James earlier in the 2023 calendar year as he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record. As if there weren't enough distractions, both James and 8-time All-Star Anthony Davis missed time during parts of the regular season to recover from their respective injuries.
Yet, in spite of all the distractions and trips to the trainer's room, the Lakers somehow found themselves a spot in the Western Conference side of the playoff bracket after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime in the Play-In tournament.
LA, entering the playoffs as a seventh seed, knocked off the second-seed Memphis Grizzlies in six games in Round 1.