warriors

SAN FRANCISCO — Fans from New Zealand and Australia held signs toward the camera. They had traveled thousands of miles to watch Warriors star Stephen Curry play.

One sign crossed out “play” and replaced it with a frowning face.

They were instead treated to a steady performance from LeBron James, who led the Lakers to a 119-103 win over the Warriors on Thursday, with 26 points and 11 rebounds. The Lakers kept pace with the Houston Rockets in a tight race for the No. 4 seed in the West.

Battling a chronic knee injury in the latter stages of the season, Curry watched from the sideline. His absence in the Warriors’ last home game of the season also put a damper on what could have been another enthralling matchup between the league’s two biggest stars.

Between the artistry of Curry and the physicality of James, they’ve been faces of the NBA, Lakers coach JJ Redick said. But with the 41-year-old James not under contract after this season, the generational stars may never compete on an NBA court against each other again. Redick called the idea “dark.”

“It’s been fun to watch as a fan,” Redick said of the rivalry between Curry and James, “and it’s been fun to be a part of it the last couple years.”

Curry greeted James before the game. Now a sneaker free agent after his high-profile departure from longtime sponsor Under Armour, Curry honored his contemporary with a blue and yellow version of the LeBron X iD sneakers.

Trying to avoid their longest losing streak of the season, the Lakers (51-29) relied on James to steady the ship. After the Lakers gave up a 9-0 run to start the second quarter, he hit a contested three out of a timeout to get the team back on track. He fed the ball to Deandre Ayton, keeping the big man engaged for 21 points on nine-of-11 shooting with five rebounds.

Losing James before Tuesday’s game against the Thunder added to an emotional week for the Lakers. They lost Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in the same game in a blowout loss in Oklahoma City last week and had to face the Thunder again without James. Jaxson Hayes was a late scratch Tuesday and remains day-to-day after missing Thursday’s game as well.

Lakers star LeBron James shoots during a win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

(David M. Barreda / Los Angeles Times)

Redick admitted the Lakers were not prepared to compete against the Thunder at home Tuesday. He recognized trying to inject some energy into his team by calling early timeouts and subbing out veterans such as Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt perhaps didn’t help, especially after a heated exchange with Vanderbilt was caught on camera.

“What I told the team today — I think this is important — is we have had a very disjointed season because of all the injuries and throughout the year, we, collectively, staff, players, we’ve had to figure out the best path forward with whatever group is available,” Redick said. “And that’s no different right now. We have to figure out over these next three games and over next week, the best path for this team to play winning basketball.”

Through the emotional ups-and-downs, Redick checks in with Reaves and Doncic daily. Doncic, currently in Spain receiving treatment on his injured hamstring, is in “relatively — relatively good spirits,” Redick said. Doncic is “attacking” his rehab, Redick said, but being away from the team has taken a toll on his psyche. Reaves, who is out with a Grade 2 left oblique strain that is expected to take four to six weeks to heal, has benefited from staying with the team.

“I think for both of those guys, there is, like, a carrot,” Redick said. “If we can get this season extended, they can come back and they can play. Those guys love playing basketball.”

The Lakers lost the No. 3 seed, and are fighting to maintain home-court advantage over Houston, which won its eighth straight game Thursday. Both teams have two games remaining and the Lakers have the head-to-head tiebreaker.

NBA star marks comeback after nine weeks as Houston Rockets beat Golden State Warriors 117-116 in San Francisco.

Stephen Curry marked his return from a two-month absence ‌with 29 points but ended up on the losing side as the Houston Rockets edged the Golden State Warriors 117-116 in San Francisco.

The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun capped a 24-point performance with a go-ahead interior ⁠hoop with 11.1 seconds remaining, sealing his team’s victory on Sunday night.

In his first return to San Francisco ⁠as a member of the Rockets, former Warriors star Kevin Durant poured in a game-high 31 points for Houston (49-29).

Durant also found time for a team-high eight assists and eight rebounds, one shy of Smith’s nine for team honours in both categories.

The Rockets have now moved within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets in their three-team ⁠duel for third place in the Western Conference.

Brandin Podziemski backed Curry with 18 points for the Warriors (36-42), who have virtually assured themselves of the 10th seed in the Western play-in tournament.

Sengun’s four-footer from the middle of the key came after Golden State used a 17-6 burst to overtake the visitors on a ‌Gary Payton II layup with 19.6 seconds remaining.

Golden State had a shot after Sengun’s hoop, but Curry misfired under heavy pressure from 30 feet, capping a 5-for-10 effort from three-point range.

Jabari Smith Jr had 23 points, Amen Thompson 18 and Reed Sheppard 11 for the Rockets, who won their sixth straight game.

Curry, who ⁠had missed 27 straight games since a January 30 injury against Detroit, ⁠played 26 minutes, during which he hit 11 of his 21 shots.

Coming off the bench in the regular season for the first time in 14 years, Curry was greeted by a warm standing ovation and greetings on the big screen when he entered with 4:54 left in the opening quarter.

“He’s one of the most beloved players in league history, Bay Area history in any sport, and I think a long absence like this reminds everybody how lucky we are to see him, to watch him, to coach him, to play with him,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “So tonight’s a special night because we’re reminded of how lucky we’ve been and how lucky we still are.”

Kerr said before the game that it is still unclear how many of the remaining games Curry will play, given Golden State have five contests in eight days with a back-to-back the rest of the way – and the expectation is he would not play on consecutive nights.

“We’re going to manage it accordingly. The plan for tonight would be shorter bursts, and we’ll see on the minutes,” Kerr said. “But first game back, he’s not playing 48 minutes.”