LeBron James and Steph Curry showed up on the big stage, but the Lakers supporting cast got the job done.
The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors 113-110 to cap off an exciting day of NBA basketball on Christmas Day. The Lakers improved to 17-13 on the season. The Warriors fell to 16-14.
In what could easily be the final Christmas Day matchup between Steph Curry and LeBron James, the two generational superstars delivered. James racked up 31 points, 10 assists, and 4 rebounds on 12-for-22 shooting from the field. Curry had 38 points and 6 assists on 14-for-24 shooting.
Dennis Schröder knocked down a couple early threes to help Golden State build a 23-15 lead. However, while Lakers star Anthony Davis was forced to leave the game with a sprained ankle, the Lakers finished the quarter on an 8-0 run to tie things up.
Even with Davis out, the Lakers took a lead early in the second quarter, and maintained that gap for most of regulation. The Dubs defense did a good job preventing the Lakers offense from pulling away, but Golden State’s own offensive woes kept them from fully capitalizing.
After Curry’s final stint on the bench, he returned to the game with more than four minutes left in regulation and a 97-94 deficit. However, Austin Reaves immediately made a three, Curry missed a layup, and Reaves scored another basket. Just like that, the Lakers were back ahead by eight.
An oscillation between mini Warriors flurries answered, usually by James, defined the next few minutes. In the final minute, trailing 109-102, Wiggins drove inside and put up a shot. It was emphatically blocked by James, but found an open Schröder who made a three. After a stop on the other end, Curry made a layup to make it a one-possession game with 25.7 seconds left in regulation.
Playing the free-throw game, the Warriors sent Max Christie to the line. He knocked down both attempts, and put the Lakers ahead 111-107. Not willing to let things end so easily, Curry made an improbably three over James in the corner.
The Warriors fouled Austin Reaves this time. He also made both free throws, giving the Lakers a 113-110 lead with 8.9 seconds left in regulation. Dubs head coach Steve Kerr used his final timeout and tried to draw up a play that could tie things up.
Somehow, Curry came off a screen with no one around. Curry squared up from well beyond the three-point line and knocked down the game-tying shot. The Warriors had done the improbable to tie things up at 113. But the Lakers had 6.3 seconds left of their own.
The Warriors effectively prevented James from catching the in-bound pass, forcing the ball to Reaves. But with the Warriors defense focused on James, Wiggins had little defensive help. Reaves drove inside and scooped in a layup with one second left to put the Lakers ahead for good. Without a timeout, Curry was forced to try and answer with a three-quarter court heave that just missed. His performance was incredible, but it wasn’t enough.
The Warriors struggled to generate any consistent offense outside of Curry all game long. While James got notably efficient contributions from Rui Hachimura (18 points on 5-for-7 shooting from three) and Dalton Knecht (13 points on 5-for-9 shooting with 6 rebounds off the bench) alongside a triple-double from Austin Reaves (26 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists), Curry’s supporting cast was largely absent.
Andrew Wiggins and Trayce Jackson-Davis were two notable exceptions. Wiggins was 8-for-19 from the field, scoring 21 points alongside 12 rebounds. Jackson-Davis had a team-high +11 plus/minus and recorded 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks.
Draymond Green was 1-for-6 from the field, with most of his shot attempts coming from behind the arc early in the shot clock. Green was a stout defensive anchor, adding 10 boards, 6 assists, and 4 blocks.
However, Schröder, Jonathan Kuminga, and Buddy Hield were a combined 9-for-26. Kuminga had 14 points and 6 rebounds, but was had a game-worst plus/minus (-17).
The Warriors will now travel down to Southern California for their next game. They face the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm Pacific.
