Steph Curry sets Christmas record vs. Lakers but Warriors' biggest flaw exposed in the loss

Despite an outstanding individual effort from Steph Curry, who historically hasn't performed well on Christmas Day but went for 38 points, the Golden State Warriors took a 115-113 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, marking their fifth loss in six games.

Trailing by four with time running out, Curry drained a fallaway three-pointer from the corner with just over 12 seconds remaining to bring the Dubs within one. Following a pair of Austin Reaves free throws, Curry then tied the game at 113-113 with a 31-foot triple with 6.3 ticks left on the clock, sending the crowd at Chase Center into an absolute frenzy.

Just moments later, however, all that excitement was sucked out of the building when Reaves hit a driving layup with just one second remaining, thus giving the Lakers a two-point win. Reaves ultimately ended his night with a triple-double, recording 26 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds.

Playing in his record 19th game on Christmas Day, LeBron James posted 31 points and 10 boards, helping Los Angeles to its fourth win in five games, a victory made all the more impressive by the fact that Anthony Davis was lost to an ankle injury after only seven minutes.

In addition to Curry's 38-point effort, Steve Kerr got 21 points and 12 rebounds from Andrew Wiggins.

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Curry set a new personal Christmas Day scoring record

As mentioned, Curry, who became just the seventh player in NBA history with at least 11 starts on Christmas Day, typically hasn't performed well on December 25.

Coming into Wednesday's contest, the 10-time All-Star had only surpassed the 20-point mark once in his first 10 outings, that being a 33-point effort against the Phoenix Suns in 2021.

As such, Curry's season-high 38 points were a personal best on Christmas Day. And in hitting eight 3-pointers, he also tied a league record for the most single-game triples made on the holiday, tying Luka Doncic (2023), Grayson Allen (2023), and Patty Mills (2021).

The Warriors continue to struggle in Clutch Games

Wednesday marked Golden State's 19th Clutch Game this season, which leads the league. The Warriors also led the NBA in these types of games a season ago.

For those unaware, a Clutch Game is officially defined as one where the score is within five points in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime, with specific stats kept when applicable.

In the 19 such games the Warriors have found themselves in this season, they've gone just 8-11, with their .421 winning percentage ranking a dismal 21st in the league.

When it comes to scoring in these situations, things look even worse for the Dubs, as they average just 6.9 points, ranking 27th. And while they're shooting 45.0% from the floor and 37.2% from the three-point line for the year, they're connecting on just 41.7% of field-goal attempts in Clutch Game situations and only 26.7% of attempts from beyond the arc, ranking 20th and 23rd, respectively.

Curry's late surge against the Lakers naturally helped some of these stats, but he didn't get much help. And from an overall standpoint, the Warriors' offensive output in these situations is genuinely concerning and has become one of their biggest weaknesses.