LOS ANGELES – Floyd Mayweather, Trinity Rodman, Young Thug and beloved hometown hooper Pau Gasol were among the celebrities dotting the Crypto.com Arena crowd on Thursday night.
They came to see dazzling performances by visiting Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler against purple-and-gold superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the first matchup between the bitter rivals with retooled lineups and ambitions of securing homecourt advantage in the first round of the upcoming Western Conference playoffs.
And as expected, the big names had big nights in Golden State’s thrilling 123-116 victory in Southern California.
Curry scored 37, James put in 33 after a scoreless first quarter, Doncic totaled 19 points and seven assists.
Jonathan Kuminga had 18 points after missing Tuesday’s game with a bruised pelvis. Butler scored 11 and Austin Reaves scored 31 and almost single-handedly brought the Lakers back in the fourth quarter.
James and Curry traded baskets late in fourth, and 28-point scorer Brandin Podziemski made a big three-pointer, only to be answered by Austin Reaves to keep the lead at seven.
Reaves made another three after two Butler free throws to cut the Warriors’ advantage to 119-113, but Defensive Player of the Year candidate Draymond Green had the stop of the night when he came up with a steal on the ensuing Lakers possession.
The Warriors (45-31) are the fifth seed, now a half-game in front of sixth-seeded Memphis (45-32) and the No. 7 seed Minnesota (45-32) in the West standings. The Lakers (46-30) remained the No. 3 seed.
The Warriors led 60-47 at halftime, and 88-77 after three quarters. Golden State finished its six-game road trip 4-2, both losses coming with Curry out of the lineup with a bruised pelvis.
The Warriors will play host to No. 4 seed Denver on Friday night.
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