The Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks both reached the second round of the NBA play-offs after games resumed Saturday.
The Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 131-122 to win their Western Conference best-of-seven series 4-1.
The Bucks also secured a 4-1 Eastern Conference win by beating the Orlando Magic 118-104 in the fifth game.
The games have been rescheduled after being postponed in protest following the footage of Jacob Blake.
Then came the agreement to resume the play-offs a “candid, passionate and productive conversation“between officials, players, coaches and NBA staff.
LeBron James, who scored 36 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against Portland in his 25th career triple-double play-off and now has a perfect 14-0 record in the first round of the play-offs, said the Lakers they wanted to “improve as the series progressed.”
“And we did. We have the opportunity to decompress a bit and wait for our next opponent,” added James, after his team grazed the Trail Blazers, which were sorely missed by injured star Damian Lillard.
The Lakers will play the Houston Rockets or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round of the West, while the Bucks will play the fifth seed of the Miami Heat in the East.
The Rockets, led by James Harden’s 31 points, beat the Thunder in the fifth game of their series to lead 3-2 in the sixth game on Monday night.
