The Lakers started slowly in their first two series of this postseason. Last Friday, they showed instead that they are in a hurry to reach the final.

They put forward their most emphatic arguments against their opponent. And perhaps also against the voters for the NBA Most Valuable Player award.

Anthony Davis scored 37 points and 10 rebounds, while LeBron James added 15 points and 12 assists as the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 126-114 on Friday in the first game of the Western Conference finals.

After suffering defeats at the start of their previous two series, the top-seeded Lakers quickly settled this duel. They had a double-digit lead in the first half and extended it in the third quarter.

"It took us a quarter to figure this out," James said. "I don't want to say we've figured out our opponents already, because it's too early in the series to say, but we started feeling better. We just started getting into a better defensive rhythm, we started slowing them down in the second quarter and we were able to take that advantage into halftime."

James admitted that he was somewhat annoyed to receive only 16 first-place votes for the MVP award. Giannis Antetokounmpo won the award that day with 85 first-place votes. The Nuggets took the fall.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 18 points and Dwight Howard returned to the rotation with 13 points in a convincing return for Los Angeles to the conference finals. They hadn't been among the top four teams in the NBA since winning their last title in 2010.

Los Angeles lost the first game of the series against Portland and Houston before winning the remaining four. They quickly forgot any signs of rust after a long period without playing in the bubble against a Denver team that has had a more challenging path.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray each scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who are playing in their first conference finals since the Lakers defeated them in 2009.

Denver overcame 3-1 deficits against Utah and the Clippers. They became the first team to do it twice in a postseason. The Nuggets quickly fell behind and fell into a hole when Jokic and Murray got into foul trouble in the first half. The situation only got worse in the second half.

The second game is scheduled for this Sunday. (D)