By Floyd Barber
The Warriors have been slumping of late and recently acquired Dennis Schröder via trade, so they’re still in an adjustment period while posting a 15-13 record. The Lakers have cooled off after a hot start and sit at 16-13. Struggles aside, this is a game no basketball fan in the world will want to miss with long-time rivals LeBron James and Stephen Curry going head-to-head once again. James is only days away from turning 40, but he continues to perform at an elite level with averages of 23.2 points, 9.0 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game. Curry isn’t slowing down even with a few subpar outings of late; he’s averaging a solid 21.8 points and 6.6 dimes while making 40.3% of his 3-point attempts.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry share the national spotlight on Christmas Day for perhaps the final time when the visiting Los Angeles Lakers square off with the Golden State Warriors in the holiday primetime showcase Wednesday night at San Francisco.
Two 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.
The first three meetings 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 had joined the Lakers for the third matchup in 2018, when the Warriors again were defending champs.
With a 40th birthday approaching Monday, James has continued to play at a high level. He had 32 points in a win at Sacramento on Saturday, then put up a triple-double Monday in a 117-114 home loss to the Detroit Pistons.
James joins reigning MVP Nikola Jokic as the only players in the league currently averaging at least 23.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists.
Curry, who will turn 37 before season’s end, had two of the worst performances of his career 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 Warriors will be playing on Christmas Day for the 12th straight season. They’ve faced the Lakers twice previously on the holiday – 1954 in a Philadelphia vs. Minneapolis matchup, and 2018 in a game in which James outscored Curry 17-15 in a 127-101 win in Oakland.
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