The Warriors are still looking for a turnaround after the players-only meeting

SAN FRANCISCO – Stephen Curry started his Christmas Day at the Chase Center by addressing a Golden State Warriors pregame meeting for players, then backed up the talk with his best performance of the holiday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Curry poured in 38 points, including eight points in a frantic final 25.7 seconds, only to see Austin Reaves score on a driving layup with 1.7 seconds left to lift the Lakers to a 115-113 victory.

After a 12-3 start, Golden State has lost 11 of its last 14 games. That’s why Curry and his teammates came together to talk about trying to find a way out of this funk.

“It’s a pivot for obviously what direction our season can go,” Curry said after scoring his personal best for a Christmas game. “Our last 14 games, it’s just been tough trying to find any kind of momentum or consistency and through that you just can’t lose spirit and believe that we’re a good enough team to figure it out because this league is ruthless.

“This league changes from window to window of what you can fall back on and when you dig yourself a hole like that it can sometimes be hard to pull yourself out of. So we’re right in that window where we still can regain some momentum, how many weeks before the (All-Star) break is crucial, otherwise (we’re) in a situation where we’re chasing down the stretch and nobody wants to be there.

There’s a chance Curry might not be available to help Golden State (15-14) snap a two-game losing streak when the Warriors visit the LA Clippers at the Intuit Dome on Friday. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the team will consider resting Curry to deal with bilateral tendinitis in his knees at some point during the next two tilts. The Warriors will play a back-to-back, starting with the Clips and continuing at home Saturday against the Phoenix Suns.

“We’re down,” Kerr said of the team’s morale during this slump. “Everyone is disappointed. We’ve lost some confidence. You can feel it. We had a great atmosphere early in the season and we’re going through it right now.

“But I love our guys, high-character guys. They care. They care about each other. I believe in them. I believe we’re going to turn this around, so it’s all part of the season, part of life.”

Curry did everything he could to turn the Warriors’ momentum against the Lakers. Golden State trailed 104-94 with 3:27 left in the contest. Curry then scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 113 with 7.6 seconds left. He had hit two 3-point bombs in a span of five seconds to send the Chase Center into a frenzy as his Christmas showdown with LeBron James lived up to the hype.

Curry was 14-of-24 from the field, including 8-of-15 from behind the arc. But it wasn’t enough.

The Warriors continue to look for a way to turn things around after falling to eighth in the Western Conference standings.

“We’re at a point right now where you can either let go and let some more go,” Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis said, “or you can get back on the horse and start winning.”

Kerr, Curry and Draymond Green have repeatedly said they believe the Warriors are a good team and will get through this stretch.

“I still have hope and faith and confidence that we can figure it out,” Curry said. “So, that’s how I’m built. And I feel like you go out there and talk about it, but how you execute, how you show up on a nightly basis, the effort that we put in, even considering what our record is.been over the last stretch, it’s a team that’s desperate that just hasn’t gone our way, so yeah, until things change, you’ve got to keep that mentality.