The Los Angeles Lakers had a season to remember so far. The way the 2022-23 NBA season started for them was very disappointing. After the initial 12 games, the Lakers were 2-10. They had no balance and a lot of injury concerns. Moreover, key players were not looking as healthy as they would have liked. LeBron James suffered a tendon injury at a crucial stage. Anthony Davis was out of the game for a long time. He sustained a stress injury and missed twenty games on the trot. However, the February trades really worked miracles for the team. The Lakers found a much-needed balance at the end of the trade deadline. However, the shift of the momentum for the Lakers began when AD returned with a bang. He started leading the side in its offense as well as defense.
He got great support from the young guns on the side, starting with D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Dennis Schroder, Jarred Vanderbilt, and so on. Gradually, things started to fall right into place for the Lakers. After the LA side got the momentum, they were rising up on the table. Later, LeBron James joined the party, and the team got very close to a top-six finish. However, perhaps it was not meant to be, as the Lakers finished seventh in the playoffs. But Coach Darvin Ham’s side was excited to make the postseason after missing out on the previous season. Hence, there was no stopping the Lakers from there on. Now the squad has eliminated the defending champions Warriors in the playoff semis by 4-2. And now, the Lakers will face the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
What A Fairytale Turnaround It Is By The Lakers!
Looks like the fairytale turnaround of the LA side is still going strong. But what happened in Game 6 is a whole different story. People expected the defending champions to fight hard to level the series. However, other than Stephen Curry, none of the Warriors had a good game. The great three-pointer shooter scored 32 points but could not help the Golden State to extend their dynasty. It was the first loss for Coach Steve Kerr’s side in the playoffs. But the credit goes to the Lakers, especially LeBron James. The King just had the best game in playoffs, scoring 30+ points since the NBA Finals in 2020.
James also made history last night as he surpassed Shaquille O’Neal on the all-time rebounds list in playoffs. King James is now 4th in the top playoff rebound list with 2,509 postseason rebounds. He led the Lakers to an unbelievable win against the reigning champions. People also speculated if Anthony Davis would play after the head injury in Game 5. But he looked all right as he scored 17 points. However, Austin Reaves was on another level as he kept scoring at crucial stages of the game. Furthermore, Austin Reaves scored 23 points and D’Angelo Russell scored 19 points.
LeBron James And Coach Kerr Praise Each Other’s Teams After Game 6
After the game, LeBron James came out to praise the Warriors for their utmost efforts. The Lakers star revealed that “Every time we thought about relaxing, Steph and the Warriors kept pushing us back hard. That’s how good they were.” On the other hand, he Golden State’s coach Steve Kerr also mentioned that the better team won tonight. Evidently, the Warriors hardly got a chance to level the game, as the Lakers had a big lead throughout the game.
Warriors always have the power to scare their opponents. However, it didn’t work with the Lakers. Perhaps the difficult season the LA side had made them tougher to face the challenge of the Golden State Warriors. LeBron James told his teammates after they knocked out the second-seed Grizzlies in round 1 that the next phase was going to be tougher, so prepare for that. Looks like that advice worked well for everybody in the LA franchise.
