What we learned as Steph Curry, Warriors outlast Klay, Mavs in Christmas Day win

BOX SCORESAN FRANCISCO – Cheer and joy had no place for drama and coal when it came to the Warriors on Christmas this year.Though the game wasn’t stylistically a thing of beauty, the Warriors outlasted the Dallas Mavericks 126-116 on Thursday for their third straight win, giving Golden State (16-15) its second three-game win streak of the season.Steph Curry never got going, yet still led the Warriors with 23 points. Nobody else on the Warriors reached 20 points, but six others scored in double figures. Steph from deep &zwj; pic.twitter.com/bfyl9FX92M — Warriors on NBCS (&commat;NBCSWarriors) December 26, 2025 No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg scored a game-high 27 points in his first career contest against the Warriors. Franchise legend Klay Thompson struggled shooting and scored a lowly seven points off the bench for the Mavs. Thompson went 3 of 8 from the field and made one of his four 3-pointers in 26 minutes. The Warriors shot an ugly 28 percent from 3-point range themselves but still had a 30-point advantage on threes over the Mavs. Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ third straight win.Draymond’s Christmas ResponsePromises were made in the aftermath of Monday’s incident that the argument between Draymond Green and coach Steve Kerr during a third-quarter timeout would not linger. The two apologized to each other, as well as the team, and turned the page.Kerr also made it clear that the past has shown he expected the best version of Green in the next game, which just so happened to fall on Christmas in front of a national audience. The response by Green and his Golden State teammates had them walking the walk after talking the talk. Nobody seemed fazed by a frustrating scene a few days prior, including Green. He played spectacular defense on Anthony Davis before the often-injured big man’s day ended early. Davis, in just under 11 minutes, scored just three points and was 1 of 4 from the field. As for Green, he gave the Warriors seven points, five rebounds, three assists and two turnovers, and was a team-low minus-9. He went to the bench at the 8:46 mark of the fourth quarter with five fouls and returned for the final four minutes and 37 seconds. The Warriors outscored the Mavs by four points down the stretch with him back on the court.Focus and composure weren’t a problem for Green after two straight games of letting his emotions take over in the worst ways.Good Enough Group EffortIt was one year ago when the Warriors wasted Curry’s Christmas heroics of 38 points and eight 3-pointers in a heartbreaking last-second loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. Curry this year was much closer to how he typically fares on Christmas. The holiday hasn’t always been kind to Curry. Coming into Curry’s 12th Christmas game, he has only averaged 17.6 points on 35.1 percent shooting with a 28.0 3-point percentage. Curry couldn’t find his 3-point shot (2 of 10), opting instead to convert a few layups and made all nine of his free throws. Steph becomes the 22nd player in NBA history to reach 26,000 points pic.twitter.com/2VC9JivTuM — Warriors on NBCS (&commat;NBCSWarriors) December 25, 2025 Jimmy Butler didn’t go on a scoring spree and still was what Curry and the Warriors needed. Doing it all, Butler just missed a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Butler was a plus-14.Warriors reserves scored 64 points, 10 more than the Mavs’ bench, and featured four players who ended with 10 or more points. Every bench player had a positive plus/minus, led by De’Anthony Melton’s 16 points as a plus-19. Those around Curry picked him up, and there still will be corrections to be made from film.You Can Call Him AlTruth be told, everybody reaches an age where their body needs a break. Al Horford, at 39 years old, is firmly entrenched in that club. Between a sciatic nerve irritation issue and missing a few days for an excused personal reason, Horford hadn’t played in the Warriors’ last seven games over a three-week stretch going into Thursday. That long of a break apparently is exactly what Horford needed to deliver the kind of player the Warriors always expected after signing the five-time All-Star center. The Warriors struggled shooting the ball to begin the game, missing their first six 3-point attempts. Then Horford got off the bench for the first time since Dec. 4 and brought the goods. Horford, in the final three minutes and 43 seconds of the first quarter, let it fly from deep four times, connecting on all four. The Warriors went from leading by two points before his first shot attempt to owning a 12-point lead at the end of the first quarter, in which Horford scored 12 points on a perfect 4 of 4 beyond the arc. Al Horford is on a HEATER pic.twitter.com/kOnsvVK0TH — Warriors on NBCS (&commat;NBCSWarriors) December 25, 2025 The 19-year NBA veteran also made history in the first quarter alone. Horford became the first player ever to make four 3-pointers in a Christmas game at 39 or older. In 11 minutes off the bench, Horford was a plus-9 with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting while adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals.A Christmas miracle or just one game? Horford looked spry and resembled what the Warriors would love to see as often as possible the rest of the season.Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

What we learned as Steph Curry, Warriors outlast Klay, Mavs in Christmas Day win

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