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LA Lakers beat Houston Rockets to reach first conference finals since 2010

The Los Angeles Lakers saw off the Houston Rockets 119-96 to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time in a decade.

LeBron James led from the front, scoring 29 points and notching up 11 assists to see the Lakers through inside five games of the best-of-seven series.

Houston led the series 1-0 but lost three on the bounce ahead of Saturday night’s encounter and found themselves down 33-11 early in Orlando.

The Rockets pulled the Lakers’ lead back to seven early in the third quarter, but were 26 points down going into the final frame.

James was backed up with key contributions from Kyle Kuzma who scored 17, Markieff Morris’s 16 point display and Anthony Davis recording 13.

The win means the Lakers will be in the finals for the first time since 2010 where they will play either city rivals the Clippers or the Denver Nuggets.