SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry and LeBron James played like they know they might not have too many Christmas Day games left in their careers.
Curry and James traded buckets and the Warriors superstar scored the team’s last eight points, nearly putting Golden State on his back.
With 12.2 seconds left, Curry drained a high-arcing corner 3 over James’ contest to cut the Lakers’ lead to 111-110. He tied it six seconds later with another trey off a gorgeous Steve Kerr inbounds play.
But Austin Reaves, who finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, beat Andrew Wiggins (21 points, 12 rebounds) off the dribble and banked home the game-winner.
For two middling teams, the all-time legends levitated like they have for the bulk of the past two decades. But Reaves, stepping up in Anthony Davis’ absence, had the game-winner. For Warriors fans, Reaves was the Grinch. For the Lakers, he was their Santa Claus.
Reaves lifted the Lakers over the Warriors, 115-113, to hand Golden State (15-14) its 11th loss in the past 14 games. Curry finished with 38 points — a personal Christmas Day best — including eight 3s, and James poured in 31 points.
The last two minutes of the first half were familiar to any NBA observer from the past 15 years: two icons trading buckets.
Curry provided a flurry, and James tried to match him. After Curry snaked inside for a finger roll, James blew past Brandin Podziemski on the other end. Curry answered with a rainbow 3 from 28 feet, then another triple on a lethal step-back to discard Christie. In transition, he added a no-look dime to Jackson-Davis for a dunk.
Curry had two of the worst games in his career in the past week — a two-point dud in Memphis and 2-for-13 night against Indiana. But he’s still capable of rising to the occasion. As he’s wont to do, he elevates under the bright lights.
At that point, James led the Lakers in scoring with 19 points. Curry paced the Warriors with 16. Los Angeles entered half with a three-point lead, as Golden State failed to punish the Lakers’ small-ball lineups.
The Lakers had to play small because Anthony Davis departed after seven minutes with a twisted ankle and didn’t return.
Curry returned to a more standard substitution pattern instead of playing the first and last four minutes of each quarter. It appeared to help him find a rhythm quicker.
James on the other hand punished mismatches and drove to the cup relentlessly. He has taken significantly more 3-pointers in the past few years as he gets older, but shot six of his first 13 field goal attempts from inside the lane.
Playing with a depleted roster, James controlled each possession like it was the 2016 Finals. He’s not the same freight train as he once was, but you still don’t want to be in front of him on a fast break.
Draymond Green sank a corner 3 after four misfires; the Lakers willingly ceded him that shot. Then Curry canned a fallaway trey five minutes into the third quarter to knot the score at 67.
But James helped engineer an 11-2 run to put the Lakers back up by nine, and they carried an eight-point advantage into the final frame.
Kerr called on Curry to get the Warriors back in the game. He kept them steady; when Curry checked out with 6:52 left, the Warriors trailed by seven. The bench trimmed it to three for Curry’s return.
But a 3-pointer and a floater from Reaves — sandwiching a Curry missed layup — put the Lakers back up eight.
Curry nailed his Christmas Day-best sixth 3, but James responded with a deep pull-up of his own. They each cracked 30 points and then traded assists — James to Max Christie, Curry to Jonathan Kuminga.
James swatted Wiggins at the rim, but his signature block fell into Dennis Schroder’s lap for a 3. Curry raced down the floor for a reverse layup to make it a two point game with 25.7 seconds left.
Then Curry saved Christmas. Almost.
A miracle 3 in the corner over James pried the door open, cutting Los Angeles’ lead to one. Then Kerr drew up a perfect play to spring Curry open 30 feet from the hoop, and he rattled the game-tying bucket home.
The Chase Center was rocking. Then, moments later, it went silent.
Reaves beat Wiggins to the cup and finished. Weak-side help defense rotated late. There was no night-night, no silencer. Just a secondary player stepping up and seizing the moment in a game in which James and Curry shined.
In a game against a team without its second-best player — and essentially no centers — the Warriors came up with coal.