And the show goes on. NBA fans have been devouring face-offs between LeBron James and Stephen Curry for more than a decade now, as these two titans continue to hypnotize the masses when they share the court together. In addition to the aura of magnificence that filled Crypto.com Arena, this latest meeting featured high stakes.
Both the Golden State Warriors (45-31) and Los Angeles Lakers (46-30) desperately want to avoid grinding out a game or two in the NBA Play-In Tournament and are eying home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Their two keystones rose to the occasion and exhibited efforts befitting of a big postseason collision.
James scored 33 points on 10-of-15 shooting and made 5-of-8 3-pointers, while also recording nine assists, six rebounds, one steal and one block. The mammoth 40-minute outing was for naught, however, as Curry dropped a game-high 37 points on 10-of-21 shooting along with six assists in a 123-116 Warriors win. These two basketball savants still find ways to amaze viewers. Perhaps that is what defines their respective legacies most of all.
Fans relish the latest chapter of LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry
“Two legends dueling it out!” @dschnaq marveled. “No game is more entertaining then these,” @BronWorld declared. “Imagine Stephen Curry and Lebron James in the same team,” @FilmWWECrickNBA pondered. James and Curry exhilarated many basketball fans when they led Team USA to a gold medal in the Paris Olympics last summer, but they would have garnered unprecedented amount of attention if they were NBA teammates.
The public will have to settle for them being opponents. Although Curry’s Warriors defeated James and the Cleveland Cavaliers three times in the NBA Finals during the 2010s, this should not be viewed as a one-sided rivalry by any means. The all-time scoring champion bested the greatest shooter ever in 2016, and he led the Cavs to a six-game series in 2015 despite Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving both being injured.
