What we learned from Steph’s big Christmas loss to the Lakers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area.
box score
Warriors coach Steve Kerr began the season experimenting with expanded rotations of up to 13 players, then shortened them significantly.
On Christmas Day, the number was 10, and the game featuring Warriors superstar Stephen Curry and Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was largely decided by their teammates.
Curry did his best to get the Warriors over the line, hitting two incredible 3-pointers in the final minutes of the game.
But Curry’s heroics alone were not enough.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves got the win by circling Andrew Wiggins for a layup with one second left in regulation.
The result was a 115-113 loss for the Warriors at Chase Center. They have lost 11 of their last 14 games.
Curry led the Warriors with a game-high 38 points, Wiggins had 21 and Jonathan Kuminga added 14.
James led the Lakers with 31 points, and four teammates scored in double figures, led by Reeves’ 26 points. Reeves achieved a triple-double with 10 points and 10 assists.
Here are three observations from Golden State’s 12th clutch game, nine of which were losses.
legendary battle
This game is Curry vs. James was sold as a supporting player to the Warriors and Lakers. The legend showed why.
Curry’s 38 points came on 14-of-24 shooting from the field, including 8-of-15 from beyond the arc. He added six assists. He played 35 minutes and finished the game with a minus-1 rating.
James’ 31 points came on 12-of-22 shooting, including 2-of-4 from distance, 10 assists and 4 rebounds.
Watch the last 2 minutes and 22 seconds of the first half. With the Warriors trailing by seven points, Curry hit a layup to cut the margin to five points. Ten seconds later, James’ layup brought it back to seven. With 1 minute and 47 seconds left in the second half, he made two free throws to increase LA’s lead to 9 points. Nine seconds later, Curry drained a triple to cut the deficit to six. James responded with a jumper to push the lead to eight with 1:18 left in the first half. Twelve seconds later, Curry drained another 3-ball. No more than 5 warriors. After James misses a 30-footer, the Warriors run to Tracece Jackson-Davis for a Curry lob. Golden State entered the locker room trailing 55-52.
Those two starred throughout the game, with Curry in particular scoring eight points in the final 25.1 seconds to give the Warriors a chance.
Don’t believe the Curry-James rivalry isn’t personal. There is no malice, but their malice is hands and hands A war based on professional pride.
Tough night for the bench.
The Warriors’ bench, a source of energy for the first three weeks, has been very unstable over the past six weeks. This was one of their poor performances.
While Golden State’s starters held up well, the bench was overwhelmed by the Los Angeles reserves. You don’t see anyone who isn’t Steph too often.
Some of this has to do with Dennis Schröder constantly searching for his game. In his fourth start, he had 11 points and five assists on 3-of-10 shooting from the field, including 3-of-6 from deep. Whenever Curry is on the bench, Schroder is averaging 8.5 points on 11-of-39 shooting as a Warrior.
That’s right. If Schroder is struggling, it’s a lot to ask the bench to thrive.
But no member of Golden State’s bench crew made a positive impact. Kuminga had 14 points but was held to a team-worst minus-17 in 28 minutes. Buddy Hield had just five points in 17 minutes.
Kyle Anderson, Moses Moody and Lindy Waters III saw all 48 minutes off the bench.
Ball movement continues to be a problem for the reserves, who have recorded just three assists. Rebounding was minus 7.
TJD continues to make his presence felt
Jackson-Davis started the first 17 games this season, came off the bench for six of the next seven, endured one DNP-CD, and returned as the starting center in Golden State’s win at Minnesota on Saturday.
Jackson-Davis, who has made three consecutive starts at center, makes a strong case to stay.
Playing 26 minutes against the Lakers, the second-year big man scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, and added nine rebounds and two blocks to finish with a team-high plus-11 points.
Jackson-Davis has averaged 13.0 points on 18-of-25 shooting (72%) from the field, 8.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks over the last three games.
At this rate, it will be difficult for Kerr to justify leaving TJD out of the starting lineup.
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