LeBron James and Stephen Curry share the national spotlight on Christmas Day for perhaps the final time as the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Golden State Warriors in a holiday primetime showcase on Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Both teams, currently sitting in play-in positions in the Western Conference playoff race, will seek to bounce back from narrow home defeats when James and Curry meet on Christmas for the fourth time. Their previous Christmas matchups came when both were at the height of their powers, with Curry’s Warriors and James’ Cleveland Cavaliers dueling in 2015 and 2016 as reigning NBA finalists. James joined the Lakers for their third matchup in 2018 when the Warriors were once again defending champs.
This year, Curry and James face off again despite neither team advancing past the first round of the playoffs last season. Additionally, neither is considered a serious title contender this season.
James, who will turn 40 on Monday, continues to play at a high level. He scored 32 points in a win at Sacramento on Saturday and followed it up with a triple-double on Monday in a 117-114 home loss to the Detroit Pistons. James is currently averaging at least 23.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 9.0 assists, joining reigning MVP Nikola Jokic as the only players with those stats.
Curry, who will turn 37 before the end of the season, has struggled in his last three outings, shooting a combined 2-for-20 overall and 2-for-15 on 3-pointers while totaling 12 points in losses to Memphis and Indiana. The addition of veteran point guard Dennis Schroder, acquired in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, has not yet yielded positive results, with Schroder averaging just 7.7 points and 3.7 assists on poor shooting percentages since joining the Warriors.
The Warriors will be playing on Christmas Day for the 12th straight season. They’ve faced the Lakers twice previously on the holiday – in 1954 in a Philadelphia vs. Minneapolis matchup, and in 2018 when James outscored Curry 17-15 in a 127-101 win in Oakland.
This highly anticipated matchup will see two legendary players trying to lead their teams to victory on one of the biggest stages of the NBA regular season.
