The Los Angeles Lakers continue to put an end to their drought, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in 10 years as LeBron James leads the way, hungry for his fourth championship.

After a convincing Game 5 win 117-107 over the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers continue to look better and better the more they play, puting the series away 4-1. The Nuggets however have success written all over them as the future is bright for this young team.

The key throughout this series was 35-year-old forward LeBron James, who looked as young as ever on the court, dominating on both ends. Anthony Davis played just as big of a role, looking unstoppable during this series as he got the best of Nikola Jokic and company. 

James would go on to average 27 points, 10.4 rebounds and 9 assists throughout the series. Davis led the offense putting up colossal numbers and averaging 31.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists, as well as a Game 2 game winning shot that gave the Lakers even more of an advantage in the series.

While the Lakers as a whole keep playing better and better each series, the Nuggets had been on a consistent level but failed to elevate their game against the likes of James. This ultimately cost them the series as the duo of center Nikola Jokic and guard Jamal Murray have seemed to slowly be on a decline due to facing harder opponents since the first round.

This should not be used to discredit the Nuggets however as Murray would still go on to average 25 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists while Jokic would average 21.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists.

James was out for blood as he took over in Game 5, making a statement and putting on a show with a performance of 38 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists to send the Nuggets packing. As the Lakers went on to claim the title of Western Conference Champions, James had this to say reflecting on the win and the events this year have brought upon the basketball world.

“We’re going to enjoy it tonight, as we should, because this is not promised every year,” James said to ESPN. “We can’t take this for granted, because this doesn’t happen every year to anybody.”

While the Lakers celebrate we look to the Nuggets, who have a bright future ahead of them. Despite coming short of a finals appearance they did much more than expected from many and will only continue to get better with their young core.

The Lakers look to face the Heat in one last showdown to determine who will be crowned the 2020 NBA Champions.