NBA: Warriors hold off elimination with win over Lakers

Stephen Curry led with 27 points as the Golden State Warriors kept their hopes of reaching the Western Conference finals alive with victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in San Francisco.

The defending NBA champions won 121-106 to narrow their deficit in the best-of-seven semi-finals to 3-2. Andrew Wiggins added 25 points for the Warriors with Draymond Green making 20.

The Lakers, seeded seventh, have another opportunity to progress to the conference finals on Friday in LA.

However, they could be without star centre Anthony Davis after he was accidentally struck on the head by Golden State’s Kevon Looney and immediately taken off court.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 25 points and matched Davis with a team-high nine rebounds against the Warriors, who are seeking a 20th successive play-off series win against western competition.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the New York Knicks also held off elimination with a 112-103 win over the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden.

Like Golden State, they trail their series 3-2 as they bid to reach a first conference finals since 2000.

Jalen Brunson led with a game-high 38 points, while he and Quentin Grimes became the first Knicks players since 1972 to play all 48 minutes of a play-off game.

The Knicks led by 19 points in the third quarter and, while the Heat narrowed the gap to just two late in the fourth, Isaiah Hartenstein answered with a dunk and his New York side held on.

“You’ve got to give them credit, that’s a hard team to play,” Brunson told TNT. “But we just came out to fight.”

Game six is in Miami on Friday. (BBC Sport)