Basketball: Davis leads Lakers to Game 1 win over Warriors

On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 117-112 in the opening game of their Western Conference semi-final.

Anthony Davis led the 17-time champions with 30 points and 23 rebounds, with LeBron James also recording a double-double of 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lakers had opened a 14-point lead with less than six minutes remaining of the fourth quarter but were forced to hold off a late surge by the Warriors, with a flurry of three-pointers seeing them draw level at 112-112 with little more than a minute and a half to go.

But a D’Angelo Russell lay-up and James free throw edged the Lakers back ahead, before two further free throws from Dennis Schroder wrapped up the away win.

Game two of the best-of-seven series is on Thursday.

“We know this team – they’re the defending champions,” said Davis. “No lead is safe against them, they can get hot at any moment.

“But this is just a mindset for our team, knowing we can beat this team, it’s a confidence booster for us.

“We’ve been able to get this one in game one, but we haven’t done anything yet.”