Basketball: Lakers, Hachimura advance to 2nd round of NBA playoffs

The Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA playoffs Friday by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 125-85 and sealing a 4-2 series victory.

Japanese men’s national team basketball star Rui Hachimura will make his first trip to the conference semifinals after providing key contributions for the Lakers during the best-of-seven series, including a team-high 29 points in their Game 1 win.

He averaged 14.5 points and 4.7 rebounds for the series after scoring six points and grabbing four boards Friday in Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The performance include...