SAN FRANCISCO — The Lakers were without one of their best players for all but seven minutes of their Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.

Despite Anthony Davis’ early exit Wednesday because of a left ankle injury, the Lakers pulled out a 115-113 victory over the Warriors after Austin Reaves’ game-winning layup in a matchup that featured two all-time great players adding another chapter to their historic rivalry.

“Austin’s a fearless competitor,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “And going back to very early in his career, he’s not afraid of big moments or big games or having the ball in his hands. He relishes that as a competitor.”

Reaves finished with his first triple-double of the season and second of his career with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

LeBron James (31 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot) and Warriors star Steph Curry (38 points on 8-of-15 shooting from 3-point range and six assists), whose teams had matched up in four previous Christmas Day games (2015-18), showed they’re still among the league’s best players despite being in the latter stages of their careers.

“It’s always a blast,” Curry said about playing against James on Christmas. “The competitive spirit, the history, his greatness allows me to just appreciate all that we’ve been through, all the battles back and forth. And the fact that in 2024 we’re still doing it, somehow the games are pretty electric and must-see-TV-type situations, I love it.

“I know like we’ve talked about it leading up to and we’ll probably talk about it until it’s actually real, you don’t know how many opportunities you’ll get to do it on this type of stage. You relish in it and that’s why it sucked so much to lose. Just because these are kind of those moments that matter a little bit more.”

When asked what’s good about the NBA despite the discourse surrounding the league’s ratings, 3-point volume and the state of the game, James responded: “LeBron and Steph ... (expletive).”

But it was James’ team that made the necessary plays down the stretch to pull out their fifth win in their past seven games, putting the Lakers at 17-13 on the season, and giving the Warriors (15-14) their 11th loss in their past 14 games.

“It’s always difficult to play without A.D., so I guess our job is even more heightened, we have to do a little bit more,” James said after the win. “Everyone has to chip in, especially on the defensive end because A.D. is our anchor.

“I thought guys did a great job of just playing off one another, getting to where we wanted to get to offensively and also being able to buckle down and get timely stops versus a really good offensive team.”

The win, without one of their stars, certainly gives the Lakers something they can try to build on.

“When you get a win like that on the road, a big game, it just does nothing but puts confidence in the group to continue to strive to be better,” Reaves said. “This is one game out of 82. But winning games like this means a lot.”

After the Warriors cut the Lakers’ nine-point lead to 97-94 with just under five minutes left, Reaves scored back-to-back buckets on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer and a runner on the Lakers’ next two possessions to put the Lakers up by eight.

Max Christie, who finished with 16 points, four rebounds, made a pair of free throws to give the Lakers a 104-94 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left.

The Warriors, thanks to Curry, didn’t go down without a fight.

Curry scored 17 of his points in the fourth quarter — eight in the final 26 seconds — including a corner 3-pointer while under pressure to make it a one-point game with 12 seconds left and a pull-up 31-footer to tie the score at 113 apiece with seven seconds left.

“When you got a great player out there,” James said, “you tip your hat and you just try to execute the next possession.”

And that’s exactly what the Lakers did when Reaves drove past Andrew Wiggins (21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists) for the game-deciding basket with a second left.

“The play was not for me,” Reaves said. “We were trying to get Bron the ball at the top of the key. But Draymond took him away, I think Wiggins jumped it a little bit, too. And then when I caught it, five seconds is a long time when it comes to basketball. And the last thing you want to do is go too early. Something happens, miss, go out of bounds, and then you give Steph an opportunity to chuck one from 85 feet and that’d be a horrible way to lose. So really just wanted to get the last shot, wanted to get a good look.”

The Warriors didn’t get a shot off before the final buzzer.