Improving Lakers close out Blazers

ORLANDO • The Los Angeles Lakers are playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs for only the first time in seven seasons, and it is clear that the target is to win their first championship since 2010 as soon as possible.

But LeBron James insisted that what is most important for the team is steady progress, after seeing his side beat the Portland Trail Blazers 131-122 on Saturday to win their first-round play-off series.

"We got better throughout the course of the series," the forward, who has never lost in the first round, going 14-0, told ESPN.

"We knew we were coming into a series versus a hot Portland team that was playing the best basketball inside the bubble along with Phoenix. So we wanted to just come in and try to work our game, get better and better as the games went on, as the series went on."

He scored 36 points, while Anthony Davis had 43 to lead the Lakers to win the Western Conference series 4-1 after losing the first game.

Davis was on 14-of-18 shooting and collected nine rebounds, while James made 14 of 19 shots and recorded 10 rebounds and 10 assists to increase his play-offs 30-point, triple-doubles record to 13.

Los Angeles won a play-off series for the first time since beating the Denver Nuggets in the first round in 2012. The Lakers will next face either the Houston Rockets or the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Rockets lead their series 3-2.

C.J. McCollum recorded 36 points and seven assists and Carmelo Anthony added 27 points for the Trail Blazers, who were without Damian Lillard in the Disney World campus at Orlando, Florida. The five-time All-Star returned to Portland to have his sprained right knee examined after Game 4.

Following the game, James described 2020 as the worst year of his life, after losing two of his black heroes just seven months apart.

He honoured actor Chadwick Boseman before tip-off by folding his arms across his chest in the Wakanda salute from the Black Panther movie. Boseman, star of the ground-breaking superhero blockbuster, died from cancer aged 43 last week. His death comes after Lakers icon Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash in January.

"To lose the Black Panther and the Black Mamba in the same year, we can all agree that 2020 is the (expletive) year... in my 35 years, there is no question," said James.

13
30-point triple-doubles LeBron James has in the NBA play-offs.

He also talked about stepping up his leadership both on and off the court in the NBA's pandemic bubble, using his platform to ignite social justice change in communities across the United States.

"It is great to be back on the floor. But more important, it is good to have a (social justice) plan and execute it and put into action right away," he said.

Last week, he helped negotiate the NBA's restart after the players decided to boycott three days of play-off games following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, by police in Wisconsin.

The Milwaukee Bucks also powered into the second round of the play-offs on Saturday, three days after their refusal to take the court in the wake of the police shooting.

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and the Bucks led by as many as 21 on the way to a 118-104 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Milwaukee won the Eastern Conference series 4-1 to line up a second-round clash with the Miami Heat, who swept the Indiana Pacers.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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