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The Los Angeles Lakers made easy work of James Harden and the Houston Rockets, stomping the small-ball lineup 119-96 in Game 5 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
It’s the first time LeBron James has been to the West Finals with L.A. after missing the postseason in 2018-19. It is the 10th time in James’ career that he’s reached the conference finals. It is the first trip to the conf. finals for the Lakers since 2010, the last time L.A. won a championship. It will be Anthony Davis’ first trip to the conference finals.
The Rockets failed to make it out of the second round for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Houston traded Chris Paul to the Thunder for Russell Westbrook and that did not make things any different. Now the big question is whether coach Mike D’Antoni will sign a new contract with the Rockets after four seasons.