Davis, James post double-doubles as Lakers hold off surging Warriors to take Game 1

Anthony Davis had 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots, LeBron James added 22 points and 11 rebounds dueling with Stephen Curry in their latest postseason showdown, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off a late flurry by the Golden State Warriors to win an entertaining Game 1 in the Western Conference semifinals 117-112 on Tuesday night.

Jordan Poole missed a 3-pointer to tie it with 9.7 seconds left as the Warriors’ rally in the closing minutes fell short. Curry’s 3 with 1:38 left tied the game, then D’Angelo Russell answered right back before Davis blocked a shot by Curry moments later. James missed the first of two free throws with 1:05 to go.

Poole’s 3 with 2:48 remaining cut the Lakers’ lead to 112-109, and James was called for traveling with 1:53 left

Curry scored 27 points, Splash Brother Klay Thompson had 25, and Kevon Looney grabbed a career-high 23 rebounds for his fourth game of this postseason with 20 or more. He also had 10 points and five assists. Thompson made a 3 with 5:19 to go that cut the Lakers’ lead to 112-104.

The defending champion Warriors will try to even the series in Game 2 on Thursday night back on their home floor at Chase Center, where LA fans could be heard chanting “Let’s go Lakers!” after the final buzzer.

Curry’s 3 with 9:38 left got Golden State within 99-95, but the Lakers responded with two straight scoring possessions, including James’ layup with 8:38 remaining.

Davis dominated from the opening tip, making 9 of his first 10 shots, while Russell scored 19 points and dished out six assists against his former team.

James’ 3-pointer with 5:23 left in the third put the Lakers ahead by 10, 86-76. Then Thompson’s snazzy behind-the-back pass led to a dunk by Gary Payton II over James with 3:48 to go as Golden State cut it to 86-80 and forced a Lakers timeout.

The Lakers finished off Memphis in six games Friday night and had a couple of extra recovery days to get ready as Golden State was pushed to the distance by the young Sacramento Kings and won Game 7 on Sunday. The Warriors were the first reigning champion to come back from behind 2-0 and win a playoff series.

Curry went off for a playoff career-high 50 points, an NBA record for a Game 7. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he thought his team had an advantage having just played two days earlier.

But the revamped Lakers took it to Golden State just as they did winning the final three regular-season matchups — and Los Angeles is a far different team than the one that lost 123-109 here on Oct. 18 to start the season.

Thompson was determined to come out hot in Game 1 after calling his 4-for-19 day in Game 7 on Sunday at Sacramento “disgusting.” He’s been waiting his whole life to play the Lakers on the big stage, too, and scored 18 by halftime with four 3s.

He, Curry and Poole each made six 3-pointers after a season in which all three reached 200 3s and Thompson 301.

Golden State is the sixth seed and the Lakers No. 7, marking the first time a No. 6 seed has home court in the second round since the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets against the No. 7 Seattle SuperSonics in 1987.

Curry dropped to 15-8 against James in the playoffs.

Knicks defeat Butler-less Heat

Jalen Brunson scored 30 points and keyed the run the New York Knicks needed just in time to get by a Miami Heat team playing without Jimmy Butler, evening the Eastern Conference semifinals at a game apiece with a 111-105 victory Tuesday night.

But it was Brunson, who pointed the blame at himself and said he had to be better after going 0 for 7 from 3-point range in the opener, who made the biggest plays in a game the Knicks trailed much of the way.

Caleb Martin scored 22 points in place of Butler for the Heat, who host Game 3 on Saturday afternoon. They will hope to have Butler, the leading scorer in the playoffs who sat out after spraining his right ankle late in their 108-101 victory in the opener.

They almost didn’t need him.

Miami had a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter thanks to undrafted players Martin and Gabe Vincent before Brunson, who had been listed as questionable with a sore right ankle, took over.

He made a 3-pointer that became a four-point play when Isaiah Hartenstein was fouled on the play, and the point guard then scored to knot it at 93.

The Heat went back up 96-93 on Vincent’s three free throws, but Josh Hart tied it with a 3 before Brunson hit a 3 and scored again to make it 101-96 with 2:48 remaining.

Brunson went 6 of 10 behind the arc.

He was much better Tuesday for a Knicks team trying to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000, when they got there after beating Miami in seven games.

Randle had assists on two of the Knicks’ first three baskets, with the Heat paying extra attention to him and leaving shooters open on the perimeter. But the No. 8-seeded Heat stayed right with them by making six 3-pointers and the Knicks led just 31-29 after one.

Like in the opener, the Heat dug in defensively from there. They limited the Knicks to just two baskets in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second, building their lead to 46-38, and were ahead 54-51 at the break after Kevin Love’s 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds remaining.

The Knicks finally went back into the lead when Brunson hit a couple 3s and then another basket, but Vincent’s basket sent Miami to the fourth with a 77-76 edge.