The Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns 116-107 at Footprint Center on Saturday, claiming victory in the eye-catching matchup on Christmas Day.

Stephen Curry, who struggled in each of the previous eight Christmas Day games he played, dropped 33 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Warriors. Having made five triples, he's only one game away from matching his own record of draining at least one 3-pointer in 157 straight games and one shot away from making 3,000 3-pointers in his career.

"Nice to win on Christmas, nice to win on the road against the best record in the league, short-handed. All the other context of the situation – a huge win. Everybody stepped up. It was a great atmosphere. Just toughed it out at the end, and obviously Otto [Porter Jr.] took over down the stretch, so that was huge all the way around," Curry said after the game.

Like Curry mentioned, the Warriors came to Phoenix short-handed, missing Andrew Wiggins, Andre Iguodala, Jordan Poole and Damion Lee. Meanwhile, the Suns were able to wait for them at ease with their complete squad.

Suns head coach Monte Williams used the phrase "will of war" to describe his expectations from the players. Apparently, the team heard their coach and did as he requested. From the end of the first quarter, seven footers Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee began to close out to challenge Curry's shooting when he called screens. From the second half, defenders even began to double-team Curry around the logo area, trying to force him to give up the ball to teammates.

Such aggressive defense worked. Curry missed 17 field goal (FG) attempts, including nine from downtown and took only three shots in Q3. The Suns couldn't shut him down complete, but at least they watered his efficiency hard.

The good news for the Warriors was that Curry's teammates managed to step up this time. Otto Porter Jr. was 8-13 in FGs and made three triples to get 19 points. Both Gary Payton II and Draymond Green made two shots behind the arc. Payton II posed constant threats against the Suns' rim with bold cut-ins while Green delivered 10 assists, three steals and three blocks. Kevon Looney couldn't stop Ayton from shooting 8-10 in FGs, but he grabbed six offensive rebounds.

Even first-year rookie Jonathan Kuminga did some excellent work. Not only did he go 3-4 in FGs to get 12 points, the 19-year-old also showed his quick-learning ability. After he was blocked by McGee around the paint from behind, Kuminga first chose to fire at the middle range to dodge McGee. Then in the second half, he tricked McGee to commit a Flagrant One foul with a sharp brake.

These were all small things, but they were also signs that Kuminga has the chance to fit in the Warriors' complicated offensive system. That system requires players to do a lot of running, screen-setting and ball movement. But it will take the burden off Curry if the rest of them can make shots like they did on Saturday.

Compared with the Warriors, the Suns' biggest advantage on Saturday was depth, but some of their players failed to do their job. For example, Cameron Payne had only seven points and two assists, but committed five turnovers in less than 19 minutes. Devin Booker made some surprising defensive contributions, including two steals, but he failed to carry his offensive duty after missing 14 of 19 FG attempts to score only 13 points.

The Warriors' double-teaming defense from time to time was partly responsible for Booker's underperformance, but his cold touch of 2-7 in the middle range and multiple missed layups were on himself.

It's hard not to blame Westbrook for Lakers' loss

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 122-115 at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday to achieve a valuable win at home.

James Harden, the only one of the Nets' "Big Three" that could play, put down a triple-double of 36 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists after walking to the free throw line 17 times. He even had three blocks. In most of the time, the Lakers' defenders were basically helpless in front of Harden, but that's foreseeable and acceptable damage for the purple and gold.

What the home team couldn't live with were the 34 points and eight triples by Patty Mills. The Australian guard tore the Lakers' defense apart from the left corner and the right wing, where he was 8-8. Mills is not an off-the-dribble shooter like Harden. He's a smart off-ball attacker but the Nets on Saturday lacked players who could set solid screens for him.

It's safe to say that the Lakers' poor defense was why Mills could drain so many lethal shots at the 3-point line.

Russell Westbrook also had a triple-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in Saturday's game. Five of his rebounds were on the offensive glass and led to six second-chance points.

However, compared with the above positive work, Westbrook's 4-20 FG shooting performance, especially the ugly 4-15 in the paint, was too bad to ignore. Moreover, he failed to follow Mills who drained an open 3-pointer in the left corner to make it 115-110 for the Nets at 1:35. Then at 0:28, when his team trailed 118-115, he failed to dunk the ball into the basket, leaving the Lakers no other choice but to foul on Harden.

James was open at the right corner and so was Carmelo Anthony at the right wing. Westbrook should not be blamed for trying to dunk, but he couldn't escape the blame after failing to make the dunk.

James had 39 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Lakers in Saturday's game. Antony and Malik Monk did their offensive job by score 17 and 20 points. Anthony even had 11 rebounds, two steals and three blocks playing big men in the small-ball lineup.

However, none of these could stop the Lakers from suffering their fifth loss in a row, which hurts James much more than the post of him being dunked over by Nic Claxton in an alley-oop.

Other games on Saturday (away teams come first):

Atlanta Hawks 87-101 New York Knicks

Dallas Mavericks 116-120 Utah Jazz