LeBron James scored 28 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets to set up a Western Conference semi-final play-off against reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder.
James also added seven rebounds and eight assists to help the Lakers to a 98-78 victory, which secured a 4-2 series win against the Rockets.
The Lakers had led the series 3-0 and finally closed out the best-of-seven contest in convincing style away at Houston, whose top scorer was Amen Thompson with 18 points.
“A lot of our guys, quite frankly, have not been in this position, have not been in a close-out situation, especially on the road, so it was important for me to go out and set the tone,” said 41-year-old James.
Lakers coach JJ Redick was full of admiration for the performance of James, who is the first player to take part in 23 consecutive NBA seasons and is also the league’s record points scorer.
“To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player,” said Redick. “You can argue all you want; I don’t care to postulate on who’s the greatest of all time.
“He’s one of, if not the greatest of all time, and for him to do it again and answer the bell again, it’s baffling in some ways.”
The Lakers face a tough task against the Thunder, who finished top of the Western Conference and secured a 4-0 series win against the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA play-offs.
The first game of their best-of-seven series is in Oklahoma on Tuesday.