NBA: Lakers beat Warriors to take 2-1 series lead in semifinals

CALIFORNIA: Anthony Davis contributed 25 points and 13 rebounds for the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3, matching his output from Game 1, helping his team defeat the Golden State Warriors 127-97 and take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals here at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.

Davis led all scorers with 25 points while LeBron James finished with 21. But it was D'Angelo Russell who shouldered much of the offensive burden for the Lakers, especially in the first half. He finished with 21 of his own on 8 of 13 shooting.

The Warriors couldn't build on their confident performance last time out. Despite holding a seven-point lead heading into the second quarter, they fell apart after allowing the Lakers to close the first half on a 30-8 run. A weak second-half performance doomed their night, and they now need a win in Game 4 to avoid going down 3-1.

The first quarter was won by the Warriors as the score was 30-23. The Lakers started the first quarter well but coming towards the end they lost their focus and gave away the lead to the Warriors.

In the second quarter, Darvin Ham's Lakers made a comeback as they won the quarter with a final score of 36-18. Lebron James and his side dominated their opponents and defend well in the second quarter of the game.

The third quarter was intense as both the team defended well though the Lakers still managed to win the quarter with a score of 27-20.

In the last quarter of the match, Los Angeles sailed away from the grasp of Steve Kerr's team. The score at the end of the fourth quarter was 41-29.

Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry managed to get 23 points, four rebounds and three assists. Klay Thompson netted 15 points and got seven rebounds. Andrew Wiggins also gave a decent performance, he got nine rebounds, four assists and scored 16 points.

Game 4 of the playoff series is to be played on May 9 at the home ground of the Los Angeles Lakers.