SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Austin Reaves scored the winning layup with one second left after Stephen Curry tied it on a 31-foot 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining, LeBron James had 31 points and 10 assists playing in his NBA-record 19th Christmas Day game, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Golden State Warriors 115-113 on Wednesday night.
Curry scored 38 with eight 3s, hitting one under pressure from the baseline with 12 seconds left and another with 2:49 remaining only for James to answer from long range on the other end.
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Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) dunks against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, and guard Max Christie, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) argues with referee Justin Van Duyne (64) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) dribbles against Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield (7) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a three-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) gets fouled by Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a three-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Reaves recorded a triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Lakers, who lost big man Anthony Davis to a sprained left ankle late in the first quarter.
Lakers: D'Angelo Russell was out with a sprained left thumb. Center Jaxson Hayes played some 3-on-3 against the coaching staff and is progressing from a sprained right ankle that has sidelined him since mid-November.
Warriors: Golden State lost for the 11th time in 14 games. ... Green was hit with his eighth technical late in the second quarter, putting him halfway to the 16 mark that would bring an automatic one-game suspension.
With James running right at him, Curry coolly sunk a 3 at the 10:59 mark of the second quarter before James hit from deep 17 seconds later.
The two superstars also battled on Christmas in 2015, 2016 and 2018 after the Warriors and James' former Cavaliers faced off in the NBA Finals.
Curry became the seventh player in NBA history with at least 11 starts on Dec. 25, joining James, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
James earned his 11th win on Dec. 25, passing former teammate Wade’s holiday record.
Golden State visits the Clippers on Friday night, while the Lakers return home to host Sacramento on Saturday.
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Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (00) dunks against Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, left, and guard Max Christie, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) argues with referee Justin Van Duyne (64) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) dribbles against Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield (7) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a three-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) gets fouled by Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a three-point basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Houthi rebels in Yemen say Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeted the rebel-held capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida. The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa, power stations and ports.
The strikes on Thursday follow several days of Houthi launches setting off sirens in Israel, and last week, Israeli jets bombed Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people. The Houthis have also been targeting shipping in the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
In the Gaza Strip, an Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists in a van with press markings outside a hospital in a refugee camp, the Health Ministry said Thursday. Israel's military said it targeted a group of militants allied with Hamas, which ignited the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in southern Israel.
Israel's bombardment and ground invasion in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.
Hamas’s attack on southern Israel in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, while 250 others were taken hostage by Palestinian militants. Around 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, although only two-thirds are believed to still be alive.
Here’s the latest:
JERUSALEM — Houthi rebels in Yemen said Israeli airstrikes on Thursday targeted the rebel-held capital of Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, following several days of Houthi launches that set off air-raid sirens in Israel.
The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa and ports at Hodeida, Al-Salif and Ras Qantib along with power stations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Wednesday that “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas and Hezbollah and Assad’s regime and others learned.”
The Iran-backed Houthis’ media outlet reported the strikes in a Telegram post, but gave no immediate details. The U.S. military also has targeted the Houthis in Yemen in recent days. The United Nations has noted that the ports are important entryways for humanitarian aid.
Over the weekend, 16 people were wounded when a Houthi missile hit a playground in Tel Aviv.
Last week, Israeli jets struck Sanaa and Hodeida, killing nine people, calling it a response to previous Houthi attacks. The Houthis also have been targeting shipping on the Red Sea corridor, calling it solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
QAMISHLI, Syria — Thousands of people in northeastern Syria attended a funeral Thursday for six fighters from a Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed force who were killed in ongoing clashes with Turkish-backed militias.
The Turkish-backed groups are launching attacks to take the Arab cities west of the Euphrates River that are under the control of the Kurdish group . The Turkish-supported groups helped overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s rule of Syria, and have since kept pushing eastward against the Kurdish groups.
“We thought that Syria today has entered a new stage after the fall and escape of Assad. We thought that we got rid of all of this, but this attack on us changed everything and those who came in are taking orders from Turkey,” said Nihayet Hassan, the uncle of a killed fighter.
The fighters were killed during attacks on Tishreen Dam near the strategic city of Manbij in recent days. The bodies were returned to the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria where the U.S.-backed group, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, has a strong presence.
Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups backed by Turkish jets have for years attacked positions where the SDF are present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the Turkish border.
“It is obvious that Turkey’s issue is with the Kurds. It is not about an organization, or the PKK, no, their target are the Kurds,” said Ahmad Ammo, a Qamishli resident who attended the funeral.
The U.S. has about 2,000 soldiers in eastern Syria to help fight the Islamic State group and protect critical oil fields there.
BEIRUT — The Lebanese military said Thursday that Israeli troops encroached on areas of southern Lebanon, violating a ceasefire agreement that ended the war between Israel and the Hezbollah group.
The U.S.-brokered ceasefire that went into effect a month ago called for Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops to leave southern Lebanon over a 60-day period as Lebanese army soldiers gradually deploy in the country south of the Litani River. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reported incident.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli bulldozers are setting up dirt barricades that would close off the road between Wadi Slouqi and Wadi Hujeir.
Lebanon’s military said it brought reinforcements into the areas entered by Israeli troops. NNA said the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, sent a patrol unit to an area near the southern town of Qantara where Israeli forces are present.
UNIFIL in a statement expressed its “concern at continuing destruction by the IDF (Israeli military) in residential areas, agricultural land, and road networks in south Lebanon.”
Lebanese army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun traveled to Saudi Arabia earlier Thursday as part of ongoing efforts by the cash-strapped military to find financial support to deploy in larger numbers.
The Lebanese military and government have complained about Israeli strikes and overflights in the country to a new monitoring committee headed by the U.S. that also includes France.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Health Ministry said Thursday. The Israeli military said it had targeted a group of militants.
The strike hit a car outside the Al-Awda Hospital in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the territory. The journalists were working for the local Quds News Network.
The military said it targeted a group of fighters from Islamic Jihad, a militant group allied with Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel ignited the war. Associated Press video showed the incinerated shell of a van, with press markings still visible on the back doors.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says over 130 Palestinian reporters have been killed since the start of the war. Israel has not allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza except on military embeds.
BEIJING — China has pledged two more shipments of humanitarian aid to Gaza, in an indication of support for the Palestinian Authority, state media reported Thursday. The agreement was overseen in Cairo by Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang and Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh.
“To ease the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, the Chinese government has continued to provide assistance to Palestine,” Liao was quoted as saying. The types and quantities of aid to be delivered via Egypt were not given, but China has previously shipped food and medicine to Gaza. China has longstanding ties with the Palestinian Authority but has also sought to strengthen economic and political relations with Israel.
Al-Louh “voiced appreciation for China’s consistent and firm support for the just cause of the Palestinian people and for raising this issue on international occasions," state media said.
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday at Israel’s request to discuss recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Israel’s U.N. Mission said Wednesday the meeting will take place at 10 a.m. Monday.
Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said he expects the council will condemn the Houthi attacks.
He urged the council “to enforce international law and hold Iran, the Houthis’ patron, accountable.”
Alluding to Israeli retaliation for the attacks, Danon said ”It seems that the Houthis have not yet understood what happens to those who try to harm the state of Israel.”
A mourner cries while she takes the last look at the body of a relative, one of eight Palestinians killed, during their funeral following the withdrawal of the Israeli army, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Locals stand next to a damaged building after the latest Israeli military operation, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Syrian fighters travel on vehicles, as they patrol at a highway, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Security forces of the newly formed Syrian government patrol in downtown Homs, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The coffins of two of six Kurdish fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) killed in ongoing clashes with Turkish-backed militias in northern Syria are carried during their funeral in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hogir El Abdo)
A mourner cries after taking a last look at the body of a relative, one of eight Palestinians killed, during their funeral following the withdrawal of the Israeli army, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Locals stand next to a damaged building after the latest Israeli military operation, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A mourner cries while she takes the last look at the body of a relative, one of eight Palestinians killed, during their funeral following the withdrawal of the Israeli army, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Mourners carry the bodies of killed Palestinians, some wrapped with the Islamic Jihad flag, during their funeral following the withdrawal of the Israeli army, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
A mourner cries after taking the last look at the body of a relative, one of eight Palestinians killed, during their funeral following the withdrawal of the Israeli army, in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Mourners react as they carry the bodies of five Palestinian journalists who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A relative mourns over the body of one of the five Palestinian journalists who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians, mostly journalists, gather around the bodies of five Palestinian journalists who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A woman reacts during the funeral of five Palestinian journalists who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Relatives and friends mourn over the bodies of five Palestinian journalists who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
