Lakers-Warriors wasn’t all that thrilling of a game … until the final minutes
Austin Reaves drove past Andrew Wiggins to hit a layup with a second left as the Lakers beat the Warriors, 115-113, at Chase Center.
It was a back-and-forth game for the most part, but the Lakers went on a 7-0 run to go up 104-94 with 3:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Steph Curry willed Golden State back with consecutive 3s to tie the game at 113 as the Lakers completely fell asleep on defense on the second 3 with 8 seconds left. All in all, Curry scored eight points in the game’s final 26 seconds.
That set up the big moment for Reaves, who finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Lakers, who were 4.5-point underdogs at BetMGM.
Curry led the Warriors with 38 points and 8 3-pointers, with Andrew Wiggins adding 21 points.
Newly acquired Dennis Schröder continued to struggle, shooting 3-of-10 from the floor for 11 points, but he did have five assists and did some good things defensively.
LeBron James was quiet down the stretch, but he did become the first player in NBA history to eclipse 500 career Christmas Day points, finishing Wednesday night’s game with 31 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Anthony Davis injured his ankle, played seven minutes and didn’t return for the Lakers.
Suns beat Nuggets in workmanlike fashion
Well, not every Christmas Day game can be a banger.
The final contest of the evening saw the host Phoenix Suns defeat the Denver Nuggets, 110-100.
Denver struggled from 3-point range, shooting 8-of-29 (26.7%), and had 16 turnovers. Nikola Jokić led the way for the Nuggets, but it wasn’t his usual all-world effort as he finished with 25 points, 15 rebounds and two assists.
Jamal Murray continued to be far from great, shooting 4-of-10 for 13 points with six assists and four turnovers. Entering the contest, Murray was averaging 19.1 points, 6.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds. Denver (16-12) needs more from him as a max player if it wants to be more than middling.
Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant each had 27 points for the Suns (15-14), but Durant was far from efficient, needing 26 shots to reach his total. Durant did force the action and went to the free-throw line nine times, but he took a lot of contested midrange shots and went 0-of-5 from 3.
76ers present a holiday surprise
The Boston Celtics had a tough day at the office on Christmas Day.
The Celtics committed 12 turnovers to the 76ers’ six as Philadelphia won 118-114 at TD Garden
Despite outrebounding Philadelphia 51-39 and shooting 40.8% (20-of-49) from 3, Boston got to the free-throw line just 13 times, making eight, and struggled to contain Tyrese Maxey, who finished with 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting and had 12 assists and three steals.
Joel Embiid had 27 points (8-of-15 shooting) and nine rebounds in 30 minutes, and Caleb Martin had 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting (7-of-9 from 3) for the 76ers, who were 10.5-point underdogs at BetMGM.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for eight turnovers as the Celtics just couldn’t find their rhythm, and the dynamic duo went long stretches without having a great impact. The pair combined for 55 points, 22 rebounds and eight assists but were definitely missing the contributions of Jrue Holiday, who was out with a shoulder injury.
The Celtics did post an 11-0 run over a two-minute span that cut the 76ers’ lead to 108-105 with 2:25 left after some sloppy play from Philadelphia. But the 76ers hung on and hit their free throws to put the game away.
Wemby puts on a show
All the talk before the Christmas Day leadoff game was Victor Wembanyama taking Manhattan.
And the second-year sensation certainly delivered.
Wembanyama scored 42 points to come close to breaking the Christmas Day debut scoring record of 45 set by a rookie Wilt Chamberlain in 1959, but the Knicks persevered down the stretch to win 117-114 on Wednesday.
Mikal Bridges had his best game of the season, scoring 41 on 17-of-25 shooting with six 3s to power the Knicks, and Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns combined for 41 points.
Wembanyama added 18 rebounds, four assists and four blocks for San Antonio.
The Knicks, who were 9.5-point favorites at BetMGM, improved to 20-10, while San Antonio dropped to 15-15.
Timberwolves top Mavericks
Well, not every game can be great.
After Victor Wembanyama put on a show, Luka Dončić strained his left calf in the second quarter and didn’t return as the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for a 105-99 victory.
The Mavs are expecting Dončić to miss a significant amount of time.
The Timberwolves were in control throughout, but took their foot off gas late as the Mavericks outscored them 31-15 in the fourth quarter.
Still, the Mavs came up short as Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle combined for 49 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists.
Kyrie Irving led Dallas with 39 points on 14-of-27 shooting (five 3s), and Dončić had 14 points, five rebounds and two assists when he departed.
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