Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers
Thursday, December 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 22500012
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 25 28 21 22 96HOU 37 26 29 27 119
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Amen Thompson's 26 points lead Rockets to 119-96 win over Doncic and the Lakers
LOS ANGELES -- — Amen Thompson scored 26 points to lead six players in double figures and the Houston Rockets never trailed in beating Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers 117-96 on Thursday night.
Kevin Durant added 25 points and nine assists for the Rockets, who ended a two-game skid while improving to 7-7 on the road. Thompson had seven rebounds and five assists.
Doncic scored 25 points and LeBron James added 18 points for the Lakers, who fell to 25-27 in their 27th consecutive appearance on Christmas and 52nd overall in a tradition that began in 1949. They've dropped three in a row overall.
Doncic and James were a combined 4 of 11 from 3-point range. They also combined for nine of the Lakers' 16 turnovers. Doncic returned after missing a loss at Phoenix after injuring his left leg in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last weekend.
James and Durant squared off in the highest-scoring matchup in NBA history. No two opposing players ever entered a game with more combined career points.
Alperen Sengun had 12 rebounds in helping the Rockets dominate the boards, 48-25. He had as many as the Lakers' entire starting lineup combined.
The Rockets led by 14 points in the first quarter and were up 63-53 at halftime, when James had just eight points. Durant and Thompson had 16 each in the half.
Houston opened the third with an 18-5 run that extended its lead to 23.
The Lakers got no points from starter Rui Hachimura while losing starter Austin Reaves to a sore left calf. He had 12 points and didn't return after halftime.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CC C. Capela
DF D. Finney-Smith
JD J. Davison
JG J. Green
JO J. Okogie
JS J. Smith Jr.
JT J. Tate
KD K. Durant
RS R. Sheppard
SA S. Adams
TE T. Eason
LALAR A. Reaves
AT A. Thiero
BJ B. James
DA D. Ayton
DK D. Knecht
DO Doncic
JL J. LaRavia
JV J. Vanderbilt
LD L. Dončić
LJ L. James
MK M. Kleber
MS M. Smart
RH R. Hachimura
HOU/LAL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur