Stephen Curry poured in 37 points, Brandin Podziemski added a career-high 28, and the Golden State Warriors held off the Los Angeles Lakers 123-116 on Thursday night, extending their win streak to four in what could be a preview of a first-round playoff matchup.
Podziemski nailed eight 3-pointers, while Curry connected on four of 11 attempts from beyond the arc, fresh off a 52-point performance, including 12 3-pointers, in Memphis on Tuesday.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 33 points and nine assists, while Austin Reaves contributed 31 points, including nine 3-pointers. Rui Hachimura added 24 points, and Luka Doncic scored 19 but missed all six of his 3-point attempts.
In the closing minutes, Doncic's basket brought the Lakers within 105-99, but Curry and Podziemski responded with back-to-back 3-pointers. James and Reaves answered with their own long-range shots, but the Lakers couldn’t close the gap, falling short by seven.
James and Curry traded scoring runs in the third quarter, when the Lakers closed within eight after trailing by 16 in the second quarter. James had 12 of the Lakers' 14 points early on. Curry ran off 13 in a row and then made three free throws to send the Warriors into the fourth leading 88-77.
Jonathan Kuminga added 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Golden State, which beat the Lakers for the first time in four games this season. The Warriors' last win in L.A. came a year ago.
Warriors: They closed a six-game trip – tied for the longest of the season – with a 4-2 record. They remain in a tight battle to hold onto a top-six seed and avoid the play-in tournament with six games left.
Lakers: James went over 11,000 points as a Laker on a 3-pointer in the second quarter, becoming the 10th player in franchise history to do so.
Reaves made a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout to leave the Lakers trailing 121-116 in the closing seconds. But Doncic fouled Curry, who made both free throws.
The Warriors won without needing Jimmy Butler, who had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting. He had been averaging 17.3 points per game and had 27 against Memphis.
Both teams complete back-to-backs on Saturday. The Warriors host Denver, and the Lakers host New Orleans.
