LeBron James season-high 40 points is not enough: Los Angeles Lakers fall to Golden State Warriors

This Western Conference showdown featured the two superstars that will forever be linked in NBA history. LeBron James and Stephen Curry put on a show once again, but the King's season-high was not enough as the Los Angeles Lakers fell short to the Golden State Warriors 128-121 at Crypto.com Arena.

This was a huge game for both organizations as it had major playoff implications in the Western Conference. It was a back-and-forth contest for majority of the night with the stars showing out in LA. However, it was an unfortunate game for 9-time All-Star Anthony Davis, as he only played 12 minutes due to an eye injury.

AD hit a tough layup over Trayce Jackson-Davis to end the first quarter but in the process, he got hit in the eye while the rookie contested the shot. He sat the whole second quarter before being ruled out with a corneal abrasion to his left eye.

However, the Lakers were able to still remain competitive throughout this matchup. LeBron James carried the team on his back and the role players stepped up with the absence of their second best player. It was an entertaining battle and there were fireworks in the 4th quarter as the stars went at each other.

The future Hall of Famers on both sides did whatever they could to lead their team to victory. Fans were on the edge of their seat to see who would come out on top. Then, with under 2 minutes remaining the game slowed down. There were numerous challenges and replay reviews, and all this stopped time caused the shot clock to malfunction.

In total, there was a 20 minute delay. The coaches and players grew frustrated while the fans were restless. Even the commentators were complaining, saying that this should not be happening and this was never before seen. In the end, Lakers PA Lawrence Tanter had to use a stopwatch and announce the shot clock in 5 second intervals.

This game truly had it all, as it went from an exciting watch to a dull ending to the clock issues, but nonetheless it was a wild game with huge playoff implications based on the results of the matchup.

LeBron James did all he could, as he scored a season-high 40 points with the absence of AD. He also recorded 8 rebounds and 9 assists. D'Angelo Russell had 23 points and 13 assists while Rui Hachimura contributed 14 points. Austin Reaves scored 11 points while Anthony Davis finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in his 12 minutes of play.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 31 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Klay Thompson poured in 26 points off the bench while drilling 5 three pointers. Jonathan Kuminga splashed in 23 points while Andrew Wiggins scored 16 points. Draymond Green recorded 6 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists while Chris Paul contributed 8 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists off the bench.

This was a huge win for Golden State, as they improve to 35-31 and leapfrog the Lakers to now own the 9th seed in the Western Conference. The 9th seed is massive because in the play-in tournament, they will have home court advantage against the 10th seed.

There are still 16 games left in the regular season so the Warriors can still improve in the standings, but if the playoffs started today they would face LA once again and it would be played in the Bay Area. They are 6-4 over their last 10 games and will look to follow up this huge victory with another win on Monday against the New York Knicks.

Meanwhile, this is a devastating loss for the Lakers as they now drop to 36-32 and fall to the 10th seed. This was an important game for Los Angeles as they could have widened the gap between them and their rivals, but instead they now sit behind them and no longer have a massive advantage.

The purple and gold can still improve in the standings, as they sit just 3.5 games behind the 6th seed, but it will be tough with just 14 games remaining on their schedule. Everything will need to go right for that to happen, but as of now all LA can do is take care of what they can control. They are 5-5 over their last 10 games and will look to snap their 2-game losing streak on Monday against the Atlanta Hawks.