May 12, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) is defended by Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) as he drives to the basket in the first half of game six of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
NBA playoffs roundup: Heat, Lakers advance with Game 6 victories over Knicks, Warriors
Heat 96, Knicks 92
Jimmy Butler collected 24 points and eight rebounds to help the host Miami Heat post a 96-92 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday and win their Eastern Conference semifinal series in six games.
Miami’s Bam Adebayo recorded 23 points and nine rebounds and Max Strus scored 14 points. Kyle Lowry added 11 points and nine assists off the bench for the Heat, who became the first No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals since the Knicks did so in 1999.
Miami advances to the conference finals for the third time in four seasons and will face the winner of the semifinal series between the third-seeded Philadelphia 76ers and second-seeded Boston Celtics. That series is tied at three wins apiece, with Game 7 set for Sunday in Boston.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals will be played in Boston or Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Lakers 122, Warriors 101
LeBron James scored 30 points and Anthony Davis added 17 points and 20 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers’ dynamic duo returned the franchise to the Western Conference finals for the second time since 2010 with a 122-101 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors on Friday.
Austin Reaves scored 23 points and D’Angelo Russell had 19 as the Lakers won the conference semifinals in six games and eliminated the defending NBA champions by improving to 6-0 at home in the playoffs. Davis played despite a head injury that occurred in the fourth quarter of Game 5.The Lakers move on to face the Denver Nuggets on the road in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday.
— Field Level Media contributed to this article.
