LeBron James, Austin Reaves lead Lakers to Christmas Day win over Warriors

After losing Anthony Davis early, LeBron James and Austin Reaves stepped up to lead the Lakers to a big road win on Christmas over the Warriors.

After losing Anthony Davis early to an ankle sprain, the Lakers put forth one of the best team efforts of the season to earn a big road win on Christmas Day against the Warriors, 115-113.

A back-and-forth finish to the game saw Steph Curry hit some absurd 3-pointers to tie the game in the closing seconds. Austin Reaves, though, punctuated a great game and a huge win with a layup with one second remaining to win the game.

With AD out and D’Angelo Russell being a late scratch with a thumb sprain, LeBron shouldered the load on offense, scoring 31 points on 12-22 shooting with 10 assists. Reaves was everywhere on both ends of the court, notching a triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

A whole host of role players stepped up as well. Rui Hachimura had 18 points while playing center for much of the time AD was out. Max Christie had 16 points with some huge baskets and free throws down the stretch. Dalton Knecht had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Former Laker pest Dennis Schröder started Golden State off with a pair of triples, which were offset by buckets for LeBron James and a corner three from Rui Hachimura, keeping LA within a point at 10-9.

An early turning point came when Davis twisted his ankle. While he played for a big longer, he subbed out during a timeout and went to the locker room. The result was, with LeBron having his normal rotation and D’Lo out, a lineup with Rui Hachimura at center and four guards surrounding him.

It was a short-lived lineup before LeBron returned to the floor and stabilized the purple and gold. In the final minute, a 3-pointer from Dalton Knecht tied the game before he blocked Schröder at the buzzer to send the two sides into the second frame level.

Still without AD, an active Christian Koloko helped spark the Lakers as he and LeBron pulled them ahead, 30-28. A 3-pointer from Hachimura and freebies from Knecht helped push the lead to seven points.

The Lakers did not commit their first foul until the 7:14 mark of the second quarter. That did not slow them down, as Knecht got to the rim for a layup, making it a 39-30 lead as part of a 16-2 run, forcing a Warriors timeout.

A drive and finish and a 3-pointer from Christie helped stave off a Golden State run and keep the lead at seven. Even as the starters returned, the Lakers were able to keep separation, partially thanks to the personal foul-technical foul combo from Draymond Green that gave Reaves three free throws.

A pair of Steph Curry 3-pointers and a dunk by Trayce Jackson-Davis finally pulled Golden State back into the game and trimmed the deficit to 55-52 heading into the locker room.

Everyone was knocking down threes for both teams out of the halftime break. Rui and Christie connected on corner looks for the Lakers, but Draymond, Andrew Wiggins and Curry all made good on their 3-pointers as well, forcing a Lakers timeout with the game tied at 67-67.

LeBron re-established control over the game with an and-one and a fadeaway jumper. Rui buried a pick-and-pop 3-pointer to make it a 78-69 lead and force another Warriors timeout.

After a small Warriors surge, Reaves connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lakers their largest lead of the game at 84-73. A Buddy Hield 3-pointer made it an eight-point lead for the purple and gold heading into the fourth.

The Warriors came out aggressive to start the fourth and used a 10-4 run to pull within five. Out of the break, Rui hit a big 3-pointer after two offensive rebounds to extend the Lakers lead to eight again.

Turnovers and fouls for the Lakers allowed Golden State back into the game as the lead dipped to five points at the midway mark of the quarter. Long-range efforts from Rui and Reaves missed and free throws from Schröder had it down to three.

Reaves finally knocked down a 3-pointer followed by a floater on consecutive possessions to quickly open the lead back up to eight points and force Golden State to use a timeout.

The Lakers looked to be in a comfortable position before a Curry layup was followed by a Curry 3-pointer to make it a five-point game with just over two minutes remaining.

LeBron responded with his own 3-pointer to restore the eight-point lead and stymie the momentum. Christie finished at the rim through contact but a pair of Warrior baskets made it 109-105 with under a minute remaining.

Reaves’ 3-pointer with 35 seconds left missed and Curry raced downcourt for a layup to pull within two points with 25 seconds left. Christie knocked down a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game once again with 22 seconds left.

As he’s prone to do, Curry hit an impossible 3-pointer to pull back within a point. Reaves responded with two free throws to extend it back to 113-110 in favor of the Lakers.

On the ensuing in-bound, the Lakers lost Steph and he tied the game on an open 3-pointer with six seconds left.

Reaves had the last laugh, though, as he took the in-bound, blew by Andrew Wiggins, and finished at the rim to win the game.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.