Guided by Chris Paul and Devin Booker , the Phoenix Suns liquidate the Lakers in six games; LeBron James is out in the first playoff round for the first time
Photo: Harry How / Getty Images
Monday, October 7
LeBron James is eliminated at the hands of his great friend: the Lakers fail and give up the NBA crown
Lebron James gave it his all, but couldn’t prevent one of the biggest failures of his career. The NBA will have a new champion after the Lakers lost Thursday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles by 113 – 100 before a hungry team the Phoenix Suns , which advances to the second round of the playoffs by taking the series 4-2.
James had never been eliminated in a first round of playoffs in his legendary career . In addition, it is only the fifth time that a defending champion has been eliminated on his own court in the first round.
A quick exit for Lakers’ LeBron James after Game 6 loss. No handshakes on the court w / the Suns pic.twitter.com/hv7S 60 KHRk
– Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) June 4, 2021
The Suns are in the playoffs after 10 seasons of absence, which makes his triumph over a team that got crushed in game 5 to give direction to the series.
In addition to facing a fit and hungry team, the Lakers had to deal with the injury of Anthony Davis , who opened the meeting, but very soon left due to the groin problem.
AD went back to the locker room after going down. pic.twitter.com/Z3POnG4Qws
– Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 4, 2021
The Suns got to take off even by 29 points in the second period driven by seven triples and 33 points from an inspired Devin Booker in the first half . The Lakers were flat in those firsts 24 minutes of play. The marker at halftime had Phoenix with 21 points of advantage.
They knew how to withstand the onslaught of the Lakers in the second half, when Chris Paul, one of LeBron’s great friends, managed his squad with great mettle. Booker kept adding and ended with 47 units .
41 PTS, 7 3PM for Book at the half of Game 6 on TNT! @ Suns 60 @ Lakers 41 # PhantomCam # NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/6qBgpvQIUv
– NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2021
The Lakers, down by 29 in the second period, they managed to cut to 13 after the first three periods, and then approached 10 with just over 7 minutes remaining, but as an exhausted LeBron James (29 points) took a break, Phoenix walked away to 17 and the rest was processed.
Phoenix will face the Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals.
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