The Los Angeles Lakers have faced a month of December filled with a few good wins and tough losses, including their first multi-game losing streak of the season. Injuries have occurred at different moments for some key Lakers players, including Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves. LeBron James has played in every game in this month except for a game on Fri, Dec 5 against the Boston Celtics, as he approaches his 41st birthday on Tue, Dec 30, when the Lakers host the Detroit Pistons at Crypto.com Arena. A recap of the games that have happened in this month leading up to the holiday season so far will be written below.

Clutch-Time Wins: Lakers Remain Unbeaten In Close Games With Thrilling Ws In Road Games on Both Sides of the Continental Divide

This month has continued the trend of the Lakers winning games with close scoring margins into the fourth quarter. One of those wins came in a game where Luka Doncic was out with a heel injury and LeBron James had to sacrifice a long-enduring streak of scoring with double-digit points that lasted nearly 20 years. Austin Reaves was the high scorer in the game on Thur, Dec 4 against the Toronto Raptors, who boasted a strong record in the first several weeks of this season. The Lakers held a nine-point lead at halftime but Toronto surged closer with a 40-point third quarter. With a combined team effort of seven players in double-digits, the Raptors did all they could to put themselves in position to win the game. The fourth quarter was a close back-and-forth battle with the lead changing between both teams constantly. In the final two minutes, LeBron got a game-tying basket that put his scoring at a meager eight points for the game. A couple of missed baskets on both sides, including a blocked LeBron shot by Toronto forward Scottie Barnes, led to a bucket from former Laker star Brandon Ingram that gave the Raptors a two-point lead. But immediately after that basket, Reaves got a layup that tied the game. The Purple & Gold got a defensive stop and did not call a timeout, as LeBron got the ball with a few seconds left. Instead of taking the game-winning shot, James passed the ball to the open left corner, where Rui Hachimura was positioned wide open to take the game-winning three-pointer. Hachimura made the shot and the Lakers won in thrilling fashion for their 16th win of the season. An amazing way to win a game that was well-fought and doing so without the team’s leading-scorer in Luka.

But LeBron had a historic streak of his come to an end, which was a 1,297-game streak of scoring double-digit points in games that he played in. The last time he failed to score 10 or more points in a game was on Jan 5, 2007 when his Cleveland Cavaliers played against the Milwaukee Bucks. There were moments in recent years where the longest double-digit scoring streak in NBA history seemed destined to come to an end, but LeBron still managed to crack the mark time after time. Now, it had finally come to an end but with a win and James said that was all he cared about. His team winning in spite of him not scoring double-digit points. Reaves was the leading scorer as he continued his impressive streak of scoring when Luka sits out, with 44 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Jake LaRavia and Nick Smith led the bench scoring, while DeAndre Ayton scored 17 points and Hachimura had 12 points, including the game-winning shot.

Another clutch win for Los Angeles occurred a few days later as they took on the Philadelphia 76ers in concluding their Eastern Conference road trip. Luka was back for this game and he had a scoring duel against stars such as Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. The first quarter was close and tight, but the Sixers gained an edge in the second quarter. In the third quarter, the Lakers fought back with 12 straight points to take the lead, but Philly kept the score close. The fourth quarter was a fight to the finish, with LeBron stepping up big time with a few big three-pointers and 12 consecutive points scored to put the game away. Doncic was the leading scorer with 31 points and had 15 rebounds and 11 assists to knot down a triple double. James had 29 points in beginning a new double-digit scoring streak(he did not play in a Friday night game in Boston) along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists. All five starters for the Purple & Gold scored in double figures, with minimal contributions from the bench players providing a slight difference on the scoreboard that read a final score of 112-108 in favor of the road team.

With two clutch wins out east, the Lakers would be playing on the west side of the continental divide for the rest of this concluding month of 2025. They played a game against the Phoenix Suns on Sun, Dec 14 for their second of three matchups during this month. This matchup was added to the schedule due to both teams being eliminated from the NBA Cup quarterfinals and the game naturally took place in Phoenix just a week before an already scheduled game at the Mortgage Matchup Center was set to take place between these same two teams. But this gave another chance for a rivalry between LeBron James and Dillon Brooks to add a chapter onto the intense book of hatred that these two players have for each other. The game would be tied at halftime and there was an altercation in the second quarter between James and Brooks. Both of them received technical fouls for delay of game and that would loom large in a later moment in the game. The third quarter saw the Purple & Gold surge ahead to a nine-point lead with some fantastic defense holding the Suns to only 15 points in the period. The fourth quarter would be a higher-scoring conclusion to this game, although the Lakers held a massive 20-point lead with a little over eight minutes left in regulation. Phoenix fought back with a 14-3 run over a few minutes of game time, but Los Angeles kept the lead at a comfortable margin of double-digits with under four minutes left. However, the Suns kept scoring and a few defensive stops on the Lakers had this game at a tighter margin than previously thought. With under a minute left, Collin Gillespie made a three-pointer to lower the deficit to two points, forcing J.J Redick to call a timeout. On the next possession, LeBron made a layup and Phoenix called a timeout. On the next Suns play, Marcus Smart fouled Grayson Allen, who made two free throws and on the next play, the Lakers would be wise to let the game clock wind down to around five seconds left before taking a shot in taking advantage of the play clock. But instead Smart made a dumb move in driving to the basket with 20 seconds left for a layup attempt and the shot was blocked by Ryan Dunn. The Suns went down the court fast and Devin Booker took a three-pointer, which he missed but he got the offensive rebound and passed the ball to Brooks, who took a three-point shot and the basket was good as Phoenix had taken their first lead of the quarter. The Lakers called timeout, but during the break the referees went to the monitor to review something. That something turned out to be Brooks’ reaction after he made the shot, with him making an inappropriate and unsportsmanlike move. The NBA clearly has a code of conduct towards its players and any unnecessary mischief shall be treated with an iron fist. As it turned out, a replay review can assess a technical foul and Brooks was called for the technical via replay. With him receiving his second technical foul of the game, Brooks was ejected and LeBron would have a chance to tie the game with a technical free throw. Doncic could have taken the free throw potentially and Reaves would be shooting it if he was active(he was out of this game with a calf injury). Instead, James went to the line to take the game-tying technical foul shot, which he missed. The pressure was now on for the Lakers to get a score on this final possession. On the ensuing play, LeBron got the ball and shot a three-pointer, which was no good but a whistle was blown for a shooting foul on Booker while guarding the shot. The play was challenged by Phoenix head coach Jordan Ott and after the review, the head referee announced that the call on the court was upheld. LeBron would have three free throws to give the Lakers a potential two-point lead. But he missed the first one, putting pressure on him to make the next two, which he did. With a one-point lead, the Purple & Gold needed to defend for their lives and they did as LeBron blocked a shot from Allen to basically end the game. The Lakers won this tight game over the Suns for their 18th win of the season and third straight crunch time victory. Doncic once again led the team in scoring with 29 points mostly fueled by 13 made free throws. LeBron scored 26 points and in spite of missing five free throws helped cement a win for the Purple & Gold. Ayton had 20 points and 13 rebounds in his return to the place where he played the first five seasons of his NBA career. Jaxson Hayes led the bench scoring with 12 points and 9 rebounds. In spite of only making 7 out of 37 three-point shots and shooting not as good from the floor and from the free throw line as Phoenix did, the Lakers still managed to win this game.

The final clutch game that will be broken down here is a game on Thur, Dec 18 against the Utah Jazz, whom the Lakers played twice in November. Ayton and Reaves were inactive for this game, with Utah missing a few key players as well. The game started out with a high-scoring surge by the Jazz, who scored 41 points in the first quarter. The Lakers tried to keep up in the second quarter with a 41-point scoring output themselves, but the Jazz led by five points at halftime. In the third quarter, the Purple & Gold kept creeping closer and the fourth quarter was set up to be another close dramatic finish. The Lakers finally took the lead in the fourth quarter and added onto it as they gained a 12-point lead after a few threes made by Luka and Smart. But the Jazz didn’t give up so easily as they got within six points of the lead with two minutes left. A couple of clutch baskets were made by Hachimura and Hayes to keep the lead at multiple possessions. In the end, the Lakers made some valuable free throws to win the game in Salt Lake City by a final score of 143-135. Doncic had another triple-double as he led the team in scoring(45 points), rebounds(11), and assists(14). LeBron followed from behind in those categories with 28 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. Smart, Hayes and Hachimura all had double-digit scoring games and LaRavia led the bench scoring with a dozen points. With 19 wins, the Lakers were near the top echelon in the Western Conference. However, this month has also had its bumpy moments and tough losses due to poor defense and shooting.

Bumps In The Road: Blowout Losses To Phoenix(Twice), Boston and the Clippers, Along With An NBA Cup Defeat to a Spurs Team Without Wemby Along With Significant Injuries

In spite of all the successful wins in this month, the Lakers are lucky to have four wins on their ledger in December. This month has featured tough losses to the Suns(once at home, another one in Phoenix), Celtics, Spurs(in the NBA Cup) and even the lowly Los Angeles Clippers. With only three games at home in this month, spending time on the road potentially drained some energy out of the Purple & Gold. The first loss came on Mon, Dec 1 with an end to a five-game winning streak that concluded November on a strong note. In spite of losing Devin Booker to a groin injury, the Suns shot the lights out at Crypto.com Arena as they made 17 three-pointers and shot well over 50% from the floor. Collin Gillespie had the game of his life with eight made three pointers to be the second-leading scorer for Phoenix, whose leading scorer was none other than Dillon Brooks with 33 points. Former Laker Jordan Goodwin and almost-Laker Mark Williams each had 13 points while Los Angeles could barely keep up with not much scoring from the bench and in spite of 38 points from Doncic, 21 turnovers, including nine from Luka, is what doomed the Purple & Gold in this game. LeBron was barely able to continue his active double-digit scoring streak before it ended in Canada a few nights later. A goose egg from Hachimura didn’t help either as Dalton Knecht had 13 points off the bench to be the third-leading scorer in this 125-108 loss at home.

Another tough loss occurred at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass as the Lakers had to face their old rivals in the Celtics without LeBron(rest) and Luka(injury). Getting down by more than twenty points in the first quarter was less than ideal and they only scored 46 points in the first half against the 69 points by Boston. In the end, Austin Reaves could only do so much as he scored 36 points while only having Gabe Vincent, Nick Smith and Hachimura as teammates that logged double-digit points. Boston had 30 points from Jaylen Brown and had five other players score in double-figures. Making 24 threes and shooting 55% from the field is a good offensive recipe for a win along with only allowing around a 40% shooting mark to the Lakers. A 126-105 loss to the Celtics was wedged in between the clutch wins in Toronto and Philadelphia for the Purple & Gold.

On Wed, Dec 10, the Lakers hosted the San Antonio Spurs for an NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup. In spite of plans to use the alternate NBA Cup court, the Purple & Gold stuck with their normal court design for this game out of an abundance of caution. The Spurs were without their superstar player in Victor Wembanyama due to a calf injury that had kept him out for a few weeks. So, unlike their first matchup of the season the Lakers would not have to worry about Wemby on the other side. That didn’t mean San Antonio didn’t have good players to lift them to a potential victory. The Spurs got off to a hot-shooting start with 39 points in the first quarter and they scored 70 points in the first half as they held a double-digit lead over L.A at halftime. In the third quarter, San Antonio kept pushing the lead up high with efficient shooting from behind the arc that pushed their lead to over 20 points. The Lakers were down by 17 heading into the fourth quarter, where they continued to be held down by the might of the Spurs’ shooting. In spite of a late rally that cut the deficit down to nine points, the Purple & Gold were unable to completely overcome the amazing offensive performances of a couple key players on the other side. San Antonio won 132-119 and advanced to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas, Nev. Their leading scorer was Stephon Castle, who knotted 30 points and had 10 rebounds/6 assists. De’Aaron Fox didn’t play in the first matchup against the Lakers this season and had 20 points in this one. Five other Spurs players scored in double-figures, with valuable bench contributions from Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie and Dylan Harper(the son of former sharp-shooting guard Ron Harper). The Purple & Gold were mostly healthy for this game before Reaves’ calf injury was diagnosed, as Luka had a pedestrian performance of 35 points, five rebounds and only eight assists. Marcus Smart was the second-leading scorer with 26 points off the bench and most of the shots he made were from three-point land(eight of them). LeBron had 19 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists while Reaves and Ayton were the only other players in double-digits for the LakeShow.

A couple of other tough losses came after the clutch wins in Phoenix and Utah as the Lakers lost a game in Inglewood at the Intuit Dome to the then six-win Clippers. They were without Reaves, Ayton, Hachimura and Gabe Vincent for this game and after one half of sloppy play, Doncic was ruled out with a lower leg injury. LeBron had to be the leading scorer with a season-high 36 points but with very little help from his teammates. A season-low 88 points were scored by the Purple & Gold while the Clippers barely did enough to skate by with a 15-point win. Kawhi Leonard and James Harden led the way with 32 and 21 points respectively. A season-low 39 points in the first half(even lower than the debacle in Boston) hamstrung the banged-up Lakers. Another blowout loss occurred in Phoenix as the Suns got some payback even with Reaves and Ayton back for Los Angeles. Poor defense was the theme of this 24-point drubbing and Redick called out his own team on it, saying “We don’t care enough right now”. That statement came after a Christmas Day game against the Houston Rockets, who had a scorching hot start shooting from the floor that continued to gift them throughout the game. Luka Doncic returned only to score 25 points and have a plus-minus of -25 in a lackluster performance. In the final potential Christmas matchup between LeBron James and Kevin Durant, the King only scored 18 points while KD had 25 points and eight assists. Amen Thompson was the leading scorer for Houston with 26 points to combine with Durant for over 50 points. Four other Rockets players scored in double-digits as Houston got its first Christmas win in seven years.

With their first real losing streak of the season, the Lakers are facing a tough beginning to the new year of 2026 as Austin Reaves was recently ruled out for the next four weeks with a calf strain. Those two words are something you don’t want to see on your injury report. So, the training staff is being extra cautious with Reaves, who is a valuable asset in a contract year for the Purple & Gold. The front office headed by Rob Pelinka might need to think ahead to the trade deadline and acquire some reinforcements around Luka and LeBron, assuming that duo remains together for the whole season. Some good news is that Vincent will be back from a back injury soon, so the Lakers will be mostly healthy going forward. At 19-10, Los Angeles will play host to the Sacramento Kings before a massive Tuesday night game against the insurgent Detroit Pistons. This will come on the 41st birthday of one LeBron Raymone James Sr. In his potential final birthday game, LeBron will look to gift himself and the Lakers a good win to close out this calendar year. To open up the new year, a two-game set against the Memphis Grizzlies will happen before a short two-game roadie in a back-to-back, featuring a primetime game in San Antonio. A lot of road games will be played due to the Emmy road trip to conclude January, featuring games against the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers. The Lakers will hopefully maintain their place in the top-five teams in the Western Conference while continuing to remain unbeaten in clutch games. A blowout win or a few would be nice to get sooner rather than later. With the halfway mark of the season approaching, some work needs to be done on the defensive end as well as on the offensive side with no Reaves for at least a month. J.J Redick and the coaching staff will hopefully have this squad bent into shape for the path ahead into the new year.