The Golden State Warriors will not repeat. Once again, LeBron James was involved.
Led by 30 points from James, the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the Warriors with a 122-101 win in Game 6 on Friday. They will face the Denver Nuggets, who advanced past the Phoenix Suns on Thursday, in the Western Conference finals.
It is the first time the Warriors have been eliminated by a Western Conference team since they hired head coach Steve Kerr in 2014. They have since either reached the NBA finals — winning four times and losing twice, once to James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and once to the Toronto Raptors — or missing the playoffs altogether in 2020 and 2021.