Stephen Curry spent Thursday night doing two things at once: helping the Warriors erase a huge hole against the Lakers, and putting Luka Doncic on the wrong end of the night’s loudest highlight.
Golden State stormed back from a 25-point deficit to beat Los Angeles 112-95 at home, evening the season series at 1-1. The comeback had plenty of moving parts, but the moment everyone will remember came in the third quarter, when Curry sent Doncic stumbling into a viral ankle-breaker that had the Slovenian star touching the floor.
Afterward, Curry talked about the play with the Amazon Prime crew and said the sequence caught even him a little off guard.
“I didn’t expect it to get that nasty, but it was one of those you gotta kind of keep your composure. And I remember James Harden had to do like the shimmy to get himself going back in the day. I don’t know, I haven’t been that open in a long time,” Stephen Curry said.
He added that the whole thing was part of the joy of still playing at this stage of his career.
“I just love this game. All my mannerisms are just all over the place cause I’m just having fun.
Those moments, especially at this stage of your career, you’re just appreciative of the ability to keep playing at this level. And I want that joy to continue until I’m done,” he added.
Curry wasn’t done with Doncic there. He kept seeking him out in one-on-one situations throughout the night, and he also unveiled an unusual new celebration after drilling a three against Doncic early in the second quarter.
The Warriors star also made it clear he had Yaxel Lendeborg in mind during the matchup.
“That’s part of it, for sure. Have your brother’s back. But it’s also, even his role in it, we gotta win the game,” said Curry on whether he was motivated to deliver for Lendeborg, given his back-and-forth with Doncic.
“And what that means is keep making Luka’s life as hard as possible. He’s the leading scorer in the league right now; the way he started that first quarter was ridiculous,” Curry admitted.
“And it was going to require everybody to be a little bit more physical, a little bit more connected, and withstand some of the flurries he has. So, of course, I was backing Yaxel up.”
Curry finished with 31 points, six assists, four rebounds, one steal, and one block, going 11-for-23 from the field and 8-for-14 from three. Lendeborg had a quieter night, putting up six points and one rebound in 24 minutes while shooting 2-for-3 overall and 1-for-2 from deep.
Doncic still got his numbers, finishing with 37 points, seven rebounds, and five assists on 12-for-27 shooting and 6-for-16 from three, but it wasn’t enough. The Lakers’ early 25-point cushion vanished, and Golden State walked away with the win.
The result left the season series tied, with two more meetings still to come in 2027 on January 21 and March 14. For now, though, the night belongs to Curry - the comeback, the celebration, and the play that had everyone talking.
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Walker Kessler was one of the few other steady presences, finishing with 16 points and 15 rebounds while also making his mark on the defensive end. He praised Doncics defensive intelligence, which is part of what makes these nights so interesting for the Lakers: the star is doing so much on one end that his value keeps expanding beyond the box score, even as the rest of the roster continues to have its share of mixed results. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Doncic Had Extra Fire In A Huge Lakers Bounce-Back Win
Luka Doncic gave the Lakers exactly the kind of response they needed in a 131-125 bounce-back win over the Raptors, piling up 45 points with 15 rebounds, six assists, five steals and a block. He did it with the kind of efficiency that has become his calling card, hitting 12 of 23 shots, knocking down eight of 12 from deep and going a perfect 13 for 13 at the line.
It was the 71st 40-point game of Doncics career, another reminder of how quickly he can take over a night when the Lakers need a jolt. And while the box score already told a big story, the game carried an extra edge around one tense sequence that helped fuel the emotion behind his latest standout performance. [Read more 🡒]
Luka Doncics Hot Streak Is Exposing A Bigger Lakers Problem
Luka Doncic has been carrying the Lakers offense through a recent stretch that has only sharpened the conversation around how much help he is getting. He has turned in several huge scoring nights lately, including a season-high 52 points against the Utah Jazz, and the Lakers have still gone just 1-2 over their last three games.
The bigger issue is starting to look familiar: beyond Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers have struggled to find reliable offensive support on a night-to-night basis. When Doncic is scoring at that level, the expectation is that the rest of the roster can at least help turn those performances into wins, but the recent results suggest that balance is still missing. [Read more 🡒]