For only the second time since 2014, the Los Angeles Lakers will play a Christmas Day basketball game somewhere other than Staples Center/Crypto.com Arena. This year, LeBron James and his teammates will drop down the chimney of the American Airlines Center to visit Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.

Neither team is where it wants to be as the New Year approaches. The Lakers initially rebounded from a 2-10 start to claw back into the outskirts of the playoff race, only to lose Anthony Davis to a foot injury. Los Angeles has predictably faltered without AD and, coming off a regrettable loss to the Charlotte Hornets, sits at 13-19 with the eighth-worst net rating in the NBA.

Dallas, meanwhile, has lumbered to an underwhelming 17-16 mark, lost in the shuffle amid a jumbled Western Conference. Luka has been spectacular — 32.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8.7 assists, No. 1 in VORP, No. 2 in Win Shares — but he's surrounded by a mediocre supporting cast.

If nothing else, this Christmas clash will provide us the juicy opportunity to watch two generational stars go toe-to-toe while attempting to uplift subpar rosters. That sounds like a jolly time.

On that note, let's make a few predictions for Lakers-Mavs.

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3. LeBron James will score 38 points

Nobody loves crafting a narrative more than LeBron.

Between the high-profile battle against one of his favorite peers (who is, in many ways, an indirect protégé) and his ongoing quest to stave off Father Time, LeBron may not have a better stage all season to put on a show…which happens to come five days before his 38th birthday.

I believe this game will feature an electric mano-a-mano micro-competition between LeBron and Luka (hopefully they match up often, though they probably won't). Without AD, LeBron will need to have one of his biggest scoring games of the season to keep the Lakers close. For the sake of poetry, I can see LeBron satisfying the sportswriters and dropping precisely 38 points.

(BTW, a couple of LeBron nuggets per Marc Stein: Sunday will mark LeBron's 17th Xmas game, breaking a tie with Kobe Bryant for most in NBA history. LeBron is 10-6 in his career on the holiday. He's scored the most total points in Christmas history, at 422.)

2. The Lakers will have no answer for Luka Doncic

Nobody can stop Luka. Yet, the Lakers seem particularly ill-suited to contain the MVP candidate. Not counting LeBron — who primarily plays power forward and rarely checks the opponent's top option — the most glaring hole on the Lakers' roster (besides an injured AD) is in the large wing department. Troy Brown Jr. (6'6) and Juan Toscano-Anderson (injured) are their only rangy-ish wing defenders.

Who are the Lakers going to throw on Luka? Patrick Beverley? Russell Westbrook? Austin Reaves? Max Christie? LeBron for extended stretches? Yeesh.

Without Davis manning the middle to help thwart Luka's drives, the Lakers may gift-wrap the Mavs superstar loads of easy buckets. Look for Darvin Ham to deploy the zone he's oft-utilized in recent weeks.

1. 3-point shooting will be the X-factor

The issue with the zone, of course, is it opens up perimeter looks.

Dallas has the highest 3-point frequency in hoops. They rank third in 3s made and attempted per game. Los Angeles, on the other hand, ranks 28th, 30th, and 28th in those respective categories.

If LeBron and Luka play to a wash, Dallas' perimeter prowess might very well swing the game.

Merry Christmas!