Lakers' Austin Reaves: 'I Know' LeBron James 'Wanted This Series Badly' vs. Warriors
The Los Angeles Lakers crushed the Golden State Warriors 122-101 in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday to close out the defending champions, and Lakers wing Austin Reaves spoke with reporters postgame about how much it meant to star teammate LeBron James.
"I'm happy for him," Reaves said, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. "I know he wanted this series badly."
The 38-year-old James, who is in his 20th NBA season, posted 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists against the Warriors on Friday as the Lakers progressed to the Western Conference Finals.
While James did lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to victory over the Dubs in the 2016 Finals, Golden State defeated James' Cleveland Cavaliers teams in the 2015, 2017 and 2018 NBA Finals in his other postseason meetings with this Warriors dynasty.
In addition to his lack of overall success against Golden State, winning a championship is always the paramount goal for any team, and James leading the Lakers to victory Friday is a huge step toward meeting that mark. L.A. will now face Denver for a chance to make it to the NBA Finals.
Another title would add another remarkable line on James' resume. The fact that he's excelling as much as he has in his 20th season at the age of 38 is impressive enough, but leading a team to a title at the tail end of a second decade in the league is unprecedented.
Of course, simply getting some payback on the team that beat him three times in the Finals could feel good as well. This also marks the first time a Steve Kerr-led Warriors team has lost in a non-Finals playoff series.
James also continued a remarkable turnaround for a Lakers squad that started the year 2-10 and needed to qualify for the postseason through the play-in tournament.
Ultimately, this was a huge win for the Lakers en route to their quest for their 18th NBA title, which would put them alone atop the league lead in that mark (the Boston Celtics also have 17 championships).
For now, the focus for James and the Lakers is on Denver, which will host L.A. on Tuesday for Game 1.
