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Legends and middling clubs collide on Christmas night as LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers travel north to San Francisco to take on Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN.
This is the first of matchups this season between the two Western Conference staples. Both teams have struggled lately, with the Lakers, 15-12 overall and just 5-4 in December. The Warriors are on an even deeper slide, having lost nine of 12 after a 12-3 start.
Let’s break down each team’s recent play while previewing this matchup and making a Lakers @ Warriors NBA Christmas pick.
The Lakers currently sit sixth in the Western Conference and recently won twice in three nights at the Sacramento Kings. James, the four-time league MVP and 20-time All Star, continues to defy Father Time. He led Los Angeles in the second contest of the two-game sweep over the Kings, scoring 32 points and grabbing seven rebounds. He is second on the team with 23 points and 7.9 rebounds while leading the club with 8.9 assists, fourth-best in the NBA.
Interior stalwart Anthony Davis had 10 points and 15 rebounds in the 103-99 victory over Sacramento. He leads the Lakers with 26.9 points and 11.8 rebounds, and also paces the club in blocks and steals. Austin Reaves (17.2 points per game) and D’Angelo Russell (12.8 points per game) are providing consistent efforts each time out for first-year Los Angeles coach JJ Redick.
The Warriors got off to a hot start in the 2024-25 NBA season, winning seven of their first eight games and 12-of-15 overall. Things have changed drastically with the weather, as Golden State recently lost nine of 11, and just ended a three-game losing streak with a 113-103 victory at the Minnesota Timberwolves, just two nights after losing by 51 points at the Memphis Grizzlies.
In the win over Minnesota, ageless wonder Steph Curry made seven three-pointers and had a team-high 31-points and 10 assists. The 16th-year guard, 10-time All Star, and two-time MVP leads Golden State with 22.4 and 6.5 assists. He is posting almost those exact averages in December (22.1 ppg, 7 apg).
Traye Jackson-Davis had 15 points and nine rebounds in the win, followed by Brandin Pozdiemski with 12 points and Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield with 11 points each. Kuminga (15.1 ppg) and Hield (14 ppg) continue to be valuable bench veterans for coach Steve Kerr. Andrew Wiggins is second on the team with 17.4 points per game.
After winning a 145-144 double-overtime thriller, the Lakers lost three straight games to the Warriors in the 2023-24 season. This is the first time James and Curry have been on the court together in a competitive match since winning the gold medal in Paris at the 2024 Olympics.
Neither Los Angeles nor Golden State are posting impressive records right now. The Lakers are 7-9 on the road, where they will be Christmas night. The Warriors aren’t exactly dominating at home this year either, posting a 7-5 record at the Chase Center.
Although Curry and 22-year vet James continue to thwart age, there are only so many more of these classic matchups, and this year’s Christmas setting will provide the usual marquee showcase for the two future Hall of Famers to thrive.
James, in particular, seems eager to push his game right now. He is averaging 24.9 points per game in December. That includes his 32-point performance in the win over Sacramento, as well as a 39-point outburst in a 134-132 overtime loss at the Atlanta Hawks.
Both superstars should post impressive numbers in the game, and our pick is for James to score at least 25 points for the Lakers.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.