Thursday night featured a primetime matchup between two teams who dramatically shook up their rosters at the trade deadline. But those moves weren’t on display: Jimmy Butler, while in the house, didn’t suit up for his Golden State Warriors debut, nor did Luka Dončić for his Los Angeles Lakers debut.

And for one night, at least, we saw which team is better absent their new addition, with the Lakers holding on for a 120-112 victory.

The Warriors dug a huge hole, and spent the entire game trying to climb out of it — which, to their credit, they nearly did. Behind a string of turnovers, they fell behind 9-3 and then, following an 11-0 Lakers run, trailed 20-8 halfway through the first quarter. They showed some life as the quarter wore on, but seven turnovers led to nine points for Los Angeles, and a 34-21 Lakers advantage after one.

Then it got ugly fast. A sequence early in the second quarter featured LeBron James draining a three-point shot on three consecutive possessions, while Steph Curry and Draymond Green missed layups. If you got up to get a beer, you came back to find a 47-23 deficit, and then a 50-25 deficit, and then a 59-33 deficit.

Behind some energy from Pat Spencer, the Warriors started to show some life and some heart, but their transition defense was spectacularly awful, and the Lakers feasted on it. In a moment that felt emblematic of the game, the Warriors drew up a nice inbounds play to get Curry a shot at the buzzer, but he missed the open three. The Lakers led 69-49 at the break, with James dropping in 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting (and 5-for-6 from deep), and Curry just 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting (and 1-for-7 from deep).

But the Warriors were not going anywhere. Steve Kerr went small to start the third quarter, replacing Quinten Post with Moses Moody, and it immediately paid off. Moody quickly made a three, followed by one from Buddy Hield, and then a dunk from Moody. It was an 8-0 run to start the frame, and suddenly the Dubs were within 12.

Moody’s minutes were huge, and a few minutes later he grabbed an offensive rebound and drove the lane for a thunderous dunk to make it a single-digit game. With that, the Warriors intensity kicked up a notch. They were hustling, they were scrapping, and they were getting loads of offensive rebounds. A Curry three pulled them to within six points with just under four minutes remaining, but the momentum shifted back to LA by the end of the quarter. Again it ended with a possession that summed up the game: Curry turned the ball over with a few seconds remaining, leading to an easy layup for James, and a 90-79 Lakers advantage at the end of the frame.

There was one final push. After a bucket by LeBron made it a 13-point game, the Dubs rattled off a furious run, pulling to within six points, and forcing a Lakers timeout. But they just couldn’t get over the hump. It seemed like the game lived between five and 10 points all quarter long, and every time the Warriors threatened to get closer, the Lakers would respond. Hield grabbed an offensive rebound and found Curry for a reload three that made it a five-point game with about three-and-a-half minutes remaining, but the Warriors offense went cold after that, and a three from James made it a nine-point game with just over a minute remaining.

We were treated to one last glimmer of hope, which evaporated quickly. Curry responded with a deep three to pull the Dubs within six. A half-court press nearly forced a turnover, but the Lakers recovered. To add insult to injury, the refs missed a blatant eight-second violation. It should have been the Warriors ball, down six, with more than 50 seconds remaining. Instead, the Warriors stopped to complain about the brutal missed call, and the Lakers ended up with a clinching, uncontested layup.

The Dubs get a day off now, and then face the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. On the bright side, Butler is expected to play in that game.