Lakers lose Anthony Davis to head injury, balanced Warriors force Game 6

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lakers center Anthony Davis injured his head in what appeared to be an inadvertent elbow by Golden State’s Kevon Looney in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 121-106 Game 5 victory in the Western Conference semifinals Wednesday night.

Davis grabbed at his head grimacing before going to the locker room late in the game. His status for Friday’s Game 6 back in Los Angeles wasn’t immediately clear.

He finished with 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting, nine rebounds and three assists but didn’t block a shot.

Los Angeles leads the series 3-2. The winner between the semifinals series between the Phoenix Suns and Nuggets, which Denver leads 3-2, is on the horizon for the winner.

Stephen Curry had 27 points and eight assists, while Andrew Wiggins added 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

LeBron James had 25 points and nine rebounds for Los Angeles.

Austin Reaves made a 3-pointer with 5:25 to play that cut the Warriors’ lead to single digits at 104-95 only for Curry to answer with five straight points, then he hit another big shot after D’Angelo Russell connected from deep.

Draymond Green contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds as Golden State played tough defense that led to better chances on the offensive end — just as coach Steve Kerr has challenged his team to to.

Now, it’s back to LA for Game 6 on Friday night with the Lakers 5-0 at home this postseason, having won eight consecutive games on their own floor since losing to the Bulls on March 26.

Golden State is trying rally from a 3-1 series deficit for only the second time in franchise history and will try to win one more to bring Game 7 back to Chase Center on Sunday. The Warriors rallied from 3-1 down in the 2016 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City.

Curry beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer over Lonnie Walker IV as the Warriors took a 70-59 lead. The 70 first-half points were the most Golden State in the playoffs since scoring 72 in a Game 6 first-round win over the Clippers in 2019. The last team to score 70 or more in a first half of a playoff game versus the Lakers was Phoenix with 71 in Game 4 of the 2000 second round.

Green and Wiggins took turns on James and Golden State tried to take Davis out of rhythm after he had 23 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two assists in Game 4.

Curry shot 12 for 24 but just 3 of 11 from long range coming off his third career playoff triple-double in a 104-101 Game 4 loss.

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