Warriors avoid elimination against Lakers, force series back to Los Angeles

Stephen Curry had 27 points and eight assists, Andrew Wiggins added 25 points, seven rebounds and five assist, and the defending champion Golden State Warriors staved off elimination by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 121-106 in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.

LeBron James had 25 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles. Anthony Davis added 23 points and nine rebounds but went to the locker room late after appearing to take a hit in the head from Kevon Looney.

Austin Reaves made a 3-pointer with 5:25 to play that cut the Warriors’ lead to single digits at 104-95 only for Curry to answer with five straight points, then he hit another big shot after D’Angelo Russell connected from deep.

Draymond Green contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds as Golden State played tough defense that led to better chances on the offensive end — just as coach Steve Kerr has challenged his team to to.

Now, it’s back to LA for Game 6 on Friday night with the Lakers 5-0 at home this postseason, having won eight consecutive games on their own floor since losing to the Bulls on March 26.

Golden State is trying to rally from a 3-1 series deficit for only the second time in franchise history and will try to win one more to bring Game 7 back to Chase Center on Sunday. The Warriors rallied from 3-1 down in the 2016 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City.

Curry beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer over Lonnie Walker IV as the Warriors took a 70-59 lead. The 70 first-half points were the most Golden State in the playoffs since scoring 72 in a Game 6 first-round win over the Clippers in 2019. The last team to score 70 or more in a first half of a playoff game versus the Lakers was Phoenix with 71 in Game 4 of the 2000 second round.

Green and Wiggins took turns on James and Golden State tried to take Davis out of rhythm after he had 23 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two assists in Game 4.

Curry shot 12 for 24 but just 3 of 11 from long range coming off his third career playoff triple-double in a 104-101 Game 4 loss.

KNICKS AVOID ELIMINATION WITH HARD-FOUGHT GAME 5 WIN OVER HEAT

LINEUP LOOK

The Warriors, who had used five lineup combinations in their initial 11 postseason games, stuck with Gary Payton II for the second straight game — and it paid off.

He scored 13 points and converted a timely three-point play with 7:34 remaining to go with six rebounds.

Jordan Poole came off the bench and hit his first 3 since Game 1 late in the second quarter after going 0 for 8 the previous three games.

Klay Thompson struggled again. He went 3 for 11 in Monday’s loss to mark just the eighth time in his 150 postseason games that he scored in single digits — and three of the previous seven came before Kerr became coach in 2014.

On Thursday, he missed his initial four shots and 6 of his first seven to finish with 10 — but has a history of spectacular Game 6 performances and goes back to LA with a chance to shine.

TIP-INS

Lakers: Los Angeles was outrebounded 18-17 in the first half and 48-38 overall. … The Lakers scored 20 points off the Warriors’ 14 turnovers but committed 16 leading to 20 Warriors points. … James has never squandered a 3-1 playoff series lead. … The Lakers lost for only the six time since March 19 (17-6).

Warriors: Six Warriors accounted for seven first-quarter 3s after Golden State made only 12 total in Game 4 (12 of 41). … Golden State is 16-4 in Game 5s and 8-2 when facing elimination dating to its 2015 title run, including 4-2 at home. In addition, the Warriors are 34-12 in postseason games following a loss.