By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Los Angeles Lakers completed their third consecutive gentleman’s sweep in the playoffs after eliminating the Denver Nuggets, 117-107, in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.
With the win, the Lakers will advance to the NBA Finals where they last appeared in 2010.
Lebron James made sure to shut the door on the Nuggets, scoring 9 straight points in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
James put on a spectacular show with a triple-double, firing 38 huge points, grabbing 16 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists.
The Nuggets tried to keep the game close and made their own runs off a solid third quarter from Jerami Grant and Paul Millsap but when the fourth quarter struck, LeBron began to smell blood.
During the crucial stretch with under 3 minutes left in the final frame, LeBron shot the lights out and went into a frenzy after scoring 9 straight points by himself to keep Denver at an arm’s reach and deter any comeback attempt.
Danny Green, who has been up-and-down this playoffs, came alive to score 11 points making 2-of-4 from three-point range.
The Lakers were also able to limit Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray who finished the game with 20 and 19 points, respectively.
Laker nation will be awaiting the winner between the tightly-contested slugfest between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.