(News4usonline) – This series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors is not over. The champs showed off their resilience by beating the Lakers 121-106 in San Francisco. So Game 6 is now up to bat for both teams.
Win and the Warriors force the Lakers to travel back to the Bay Area for a Game 7. If the Lakers win on their home court, Los Angeles will play in the Western Conference Finals.
As of right now, the Warriors extend the series for another game at least. Draymond Green, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win, said with Golden State facing elimination, the Warriors leaned on some of its pillars to get the victory.
“Well, I think number one we have a coach who is one of the greatest winners in NBA history,” Green said after Game 5. “You lean on him in situations like this. His calmness, everyone feels that. And then it starts up top. Steph’s calmness. And it goes on down the line. I think for us any time it’s kind of gone astray you just always lean back on what you know that works, on your foundation.”
The Lakers stole Game 1 of this series. So does Golden State, a team that has played poorly on the road all season long, have enough to beat the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena to force a game that Los Angeles does not want to see? Andrew Wiggins, who scored 25 points in the win, said every game is played with adjustments.
“It’s the playoffs,” Wiggins said. “Every game’s going to be different. Every series is going to be different. I feel like the good thing about this team is that we have a bunch of versatile players that can do a lot of different things. Whether it’s screening and diving, popping offensively around the rim, shooting. I feel like we have a very versatile team.”
On the other side of the coin, the Lakers Big Two in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, had productive nights with No. 6 going for 25 points and 9 rebounds. Davis, before exiting the game with a head injury, put out 23 points and 9 rebounds. James said afterward that each game has a life of its own.
“Every moment is its own challenge and is its own game and is its own opportunity to see what you’re made of, and we can’t base the last series onto this series,” James said in a postgame press conference. “This series is different. The opponent is different. The challenges is different. Friday is another opportunity for us to see where we are, to see what we’re made of.”
Lonnie Walker IV, the Game 4 hero for the Lakers with 15 points off the bench, all in the fourth quarter, had a very quiet Game 5. In 28 minutes of action, Walker finished the game with just four points on 2 of 6 shooting from the field.
Of course, all the talk about the Lakers heading into Game 6 is about the health of Davis. Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said Davis appeared to be fine to him.
“Obviously everyone saw he took a shot to the head, but we just checked in on him,” Hame said. “He seems to be doing really good already. That’s just where he’s at. That’s the status of it right now.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, social justice, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University.