LOS ANGELES – In their final tuneup before the Christmas Day showdown against the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Memphis Grizzlies at home, 107-99.

The Lakers will now enter Tuesday night having lost four of their last six games, but will have to get it together in arguably their toughest game of the year against the defending NBA Champion Warriors. James, however, doesn't see the game as a measuring stick for his Lakers despite it being branded as the marquee matchup of the day and a potential playoff series in April or May.

“Nah, we can’t measure ourselves versus them,” said James. “That’s a team that’s won 3 of the last 4 championships. You can't measure yourself versus them. We just need to continue to try to get better. It’s not a measuring stick for us.”

While James does have a point that no one can really compare themselves with the Warriors, it's interesting, to say the least, that James doesn't at least see this as some kind of test to see where his team is at this point in the season.

“It’s gonna be a very good environment,” added James. “Obviously, they love their Warriors. I don’t look at it as a special matchup. We’re a team that's trying to get better and better every week, better and better every month. They're a team that's trying to figure out how they can win another championship and that's their goal every night. That's our ultimate goal, but we've got some things we need to do between that to get to the point where we can discuss a championship, but we want to have championship habits.”

Despite it not being a ‘special matchup,' as James says, there's no denying that being one of 10 teams to play on Christmas Day is special on its own.

Article Continues Below
More Los Angeles Lakers News
Byron Scott during the Jerry Colangelo Golf Classic on September 13, 2024.
Former Laker Byron Scott reveals Kobe Bryant’s ‘most gangster s**t’ everMiguel La Torre ·
Coco Gauff of the United States poses with the trophy after winning the women’s singles final against Aryna Sabalenka on day 14 at Roland Garros Stadium.
LeBron James erupts with huge reaction to Coco Gauff’s French Open winLorenzo J Reyna ·
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kobe Bryant, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Lakers
How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander draws ‘influence’ from Kobe BryantTomer Azarly ·
LeBron James, Stephen (Steph) Curry, who may be heading to an ESPN NBA broadcasting booth after they retire, after Lakers-Warriors game on December 25, 2024.
ESPN has ‘hopeful’ LeBron James, Stephen Curry wishAndrew Korpan ·
Chris Paul rescinded NBA trade Lakers Hornets
Chris Paul shuts down Hornets-Lakers trade conspiracyJulian Ojeda ·
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates with Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) during the fourth quarter.
Luka Doncic’s offseason body transformation has Lakers fans hypedJedd Pagaduan ·

“It's a special day. It's Christmas. You get to play the game of basketball on Christmas. It's my 13th appearance. Obviously, I would love to be home with my family, but if I had to do anything else, playing basketball is cool.”

https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly/status/1077097847659495426

On his part, James is doing more scoring than he's had to in the last nine years. On the season, he's averaging 27.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.1 three-pointers per game on 51.8 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent from beyond the arc. No opponent knows James better than the Warriors, so it'll definitely be interesting to see how his new-look team fares against the defending champs.

The Lakers and Warriors tip off their Christmas Day matchup at 8PM EST on ABC.