The Los Angeles Lakers moved to within one win of the NBA Finals with a 114-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in game four of the Western Conference finals in Orlando.
Anthony Davis scored a game-high 34 points while LeBron James added 26, plus nine rebounds and eight assists.
Jamal Murray top-scored for the Nuggets with 32 points but missed all of his three-point efforts.
The Lakers lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 with game five on Saturday.
“I feel like we played with a lot of energy tonight,” Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope told TNT. “Game three, I feel we had a lack of energy starting the game.
“I thought tonight we came out strong. We kept a lead the whole game.”
The Lakers closed out their previous two series’ – against the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets – in five games.
They look set to meet the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, as they also hold a 3-1 over the Boston Celtics lead in the Eastern Conference finals with game five on Friday.
After Thursday’s match, James paid tribute to Breonna Taylor – a black woman who was shot multiple times as police officers stormed her home in Louisville, Kentucky, on 13 March.
Two white officers have not been charged over the shooting, while a third, also white, was charged with endangering 26-year-old Taylor’s neighbours.
“The emotions were very high. We have a team-mate who is from Louisville, so as heavy as it has been on us, it’s even heavier on him,” said James.
“We lost a beautiful woman in Breonna, that has no say so in what’s going on right now.
“We want justice no matter how long it takes.”
