LeBron James vs. Steph Curry is still as great as ever. But this chapter is different

SAN FRANCISCO – At the 7:23 mark of the second quarter, Stephen Curry checked out for a breather.

As Curry passed halfcourt and sauntered over to his spot on the Warriors’ bench, LeBron James followed him, first to the end of the bench, and then to Curry’s seat. The whole way over, James spoke to Curry, before smiling and laughing with Golden State’s players and coaches.

“He was just joking around about having to guard me all the way till I got to the bench,” Curry said.

If anyone knows what it takes to slow Curry and the Warriors – the mental fortitude, the attention to detail, the relentless energy – it’s James.

Magic and Bird. Russell and Chamberlain. LeBron and Steph.

“What we’re witnessing right now is something that we literally might not see for the next 20 years with guys playing at a high level and being the best on both teams in the playoffs,” Tristan Thompson, the only player who’s been James’ teammate in five playoffs matchups against Curry and the Warriors, told The Athletic. “We just gotta absorb it and be thankful to be a part of it.”

Era-defining greatness.

Steph and LeBron during Game 1 🤝

📺: Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/12BR9FMERH

— NBA (@NBA) May 3, 2023

On Tuesday night, the sixth and latest chapter of the longstanding James-Curry rivalry tipped off. James, 38, and Curry, 35, famously faced off in four straight NBA Finals from 2015 through 2018 while James played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Their last postseason matchup was technically in 2021, when the Lakers hosted and prevailed past the Warriors in the No. 7-8 Play-In tournament game. Between the two superstars, they have eight championships, six MVPs, five Finals MVPs, the league’s all-time scoring title and the league’s all-time 3-pointers made crown. Despite their respective successes, which have many considering each of them top-10 players ever, their team-first styles couldn’t be more different.

“Just two of the most competitive players that have ever played this game,” James said Monday of the dynamic between him and Curry. “And we want to etch our names in the history books as much as we can. But playing and doing it our own way.”

James’ Lakers won Game 1 of this second-round series, 117-112, on the road, stealing home-court advantage from the Warriors at Chase Center. The Lakers defeated the Warriors for the fourth time this season, improving to 4-1 against their Northern California foes.

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Yet the enduring quality of this 23rd head-to-head playoff matchup between the two stars was how different it was from the previous 22 in this showdown. For perhaps the first time in the rivalry, it is Curry, not James, who needs to deliver a Herculean performance for his team to win.

Curry holds a 3-1 advantage in the head-to-head series (3-2 if you count 2021) in part because his teams have always been better than James’ teams. The Warriors have been the favorite over James’ Cavaliers in all four Finals series.

But as Game 1 showed, James no longer has to be superhuman for these Lakers to have a chance. The teams’ respective rosters are more even than any of the prior James-Curry matchups, aside from perhaps the 2016 NBA Finals (James’ only series victory, when Cleveland famously came back from a 3-1 deficit).

James scored 22 points in the Game 1 victory, his third-fewest in his 23 playoff games against the Warriors, and his lowest in a win (his previous low was 27 points in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals). He added 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks, finding additional ways to impact the game – as he has often had to this postseason – in spite of his erratic jumper (1-for-8 on 3s).

“There’s times where he’s going to dictate the pick and roll, the offense, there’s times he’s going to be off the ball,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said. “We got guys that can carry the load from (D’Angelo Russell), Austin (Reaves), Dennis (Schröder), Rui (Hachimura), obviously (Anthony Davis). It gives him a chance to not have to make every play.”

Ham noted that James’ defense, including a late block on Curry, were key parts of the game plan – and came at the expense of James’ offense.

“We knew what we did off the ball defensively, particularly, would be extremely important,” Ham said. “He was all on board for that and understood why we had to do it. He did his part. Defensive rebounding is a huge thing. Some of the blocks he had, some of the hard, tough rebounds he had, it allows us a lot of flexibility defensively.”

LEBRON MEETS STEPH AT THE RIM 🚫 pic.twitter.com/1FKOPoXwnu

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 3, 2023

Curry, meanwhile, faced an abundance of attention from the Lakers’ defense, with Jarred Vanderbilt, Schröder and Reaves each taking turns hounding him 94 feet, overplaying him off the ball and doing their best to funnel him toward the paint, where Davis was stationed to block and alter shots. Curry still scored 27 points, but did so inefficiently, making just 10 of 24 shots, and turning the ball over (five times) more than he assisted (three times).

Nonetheless, Curry led a 14-0 run late that tied the game up, 112-112, with 1:38 remaining. The Warriors had all the momentum, and their dormant crowd was finally alive. But the Lakers, who had been prepped by James for an inevitable Warriors barrage, scored the final five points of the game to take a 1-0 series lead.

“We’ve been playing playoff basketball for about 2 1/2 months now,” James said. “We’ve been very resilient. Tonight versus a team like Golden State, defending champions, we know how great they are on their home floor over the years. To withstand that, it’s another good step for our ballclub.”

In many ways, the contrasting styles of James and Curry were displayed in the vastly contrasting styles of the teams. The Lakers are bigger and more physical, living in the paint (54-28 points in the paint advantage) and the free-throw line (25-of-29 free throws for the Lakers compared to 5-of-6 for the Warriors). The Warriors were far more prolific from beyond the arc, making 21-of-53 3-pointers, and excelled with their stellar ball movement (30 assists) and transition offense.

Golden State had been 13-0 all-time in the regular season and playoffs when making at least 15 more 3s than their opponent, meaning the Lakers’ style of play won in a manner that other bigger, more physical opponents had lost. James, who said over the weekend that the key to beating Golden State is limiting one’s mistakes, said his team has to be better defensively moving forward.

“We’ve got to do a better job,” James said. “I think even though late they made a run, throughout the second half only giving up 48 points, that’s really good. But we had a couple of lulls when they allowed those guys, Steph, Klay and Jordan, to get some looks, they were really tuned in. They’re going to get their looks anyways, so we can’t have our own personal problems. We got to be better.”

With most of the attention on James and Curry, Davis had one of the best games of his career: 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks in 44 minutes. He played the entire second half, and was a wall unto himself defensively. Warriors players, much like the Grizzlies’ before them, were actively avoiding trying to challenge Davis in the paint in the second half. He joined Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal as the only Lakers players to post a 30-20 stat line in the playoffs.

Anthony Davis joins Tim Duncan (twice in 2003) as the only players in the last 45 years with at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a playoff game. pic.twitter.com/ixLYseJP0s

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 3, 2023

Davis carried the biggest load on both ends, but he had help from the rest of the Lakers’ burgeoning supporting cast. D’Angelo Russell scored 19 points, including the go-ahead layup with 1:24 left and 10 points in a pivotal third quarter in which the Lakers distanced themselves from the Warriors. Schröder had 19 points and did an impressive job against Curry. Vanderbilt was seemingly everywhere in an awesome all-around effort, posting eight points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

And then there was James. While he still led the Lakers in shots – he attempted five more than Davis and Russell – he spent much of his time playing off the ball and letting others initiate plays. At some point, he’s going to need to start making his 3s, since he’s shooting just 18.4 percent on them this postseason. But the Lakers are confident that he’ll have more energy later in the series given his reduced offensive workload.

“Now down the stretch when we really need him to step up and dominate the ball, particularly, he’s able to do that with a lot of gas left in his tank,” Ham said.

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Though it didn’t take long for James and others to zero in on adjustments for Game 2, the history of the Curry-James rivalry remained a conversation topic before and after Game 1. Before the game Ham called it “the best rivalry of this generation.” Said Kerr: “It’s not quite the same timeline as Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird, but it’s pretty close.”

Tuesday also marked James’ first postseason appearance at the Chase Center, which opened in 2019. When asked about his feelings after winning there for the first time in the playoffs, James reminisced on his wars with the Warriors.

“I got a lot of history in Oracle, a lot of battles in that arena over the years,” James said after Game 1. “It’s definitely a different feeling walking here into a post-season game, being in the Chase (Center) now. That Warriors and the GS, those colors hasn’t changed. So my focus and my respect for them hasn’t changed, as well.”

Curry, who spoke after James, was relayed James’ comments about playing the Warriors again.

“You have to reflect on everything that we’ve all gone through since the ’15 Finals, and just appreciate the opportunity to have another chapter in that battle and that competition,” Curry said. “Obviously once the ball drops, it’s a different feel just based on how the Lakers play versus the old Cavs teams, and even just a different style that he’s playing a little bit. He’s trying to come at you a little differently and space you out a little bit. He’s shooting a lot more threes and stuff like that. It’s just a little different vibe.

“But there is a reflection of how awesome and special this battle is; and the fact that we get to do it again, you know, we want to come out on top and it’s going to be a fun series all the way around. But there is a moment of reflection, for sure, just how cool this is, all these years later.”

While the nature of their workloads may have changed, history suggests that, in the end, the fate of this series, like the other matchups that preceded them (at least the ones not involving Kevin Durant) will inevitably come down to the greatness of James versus Curry. A shot. A defensive stop. A pass. There are at least three more games, though almost certainly a couple more beyond that, to determine exactly how two of the game’s greatest complete this next chapter in their rivalry.

“It’s just an honor to be able to play this game at a high level, play with other great players, then also look on the other side and see other great players, being a part of that’s historic, something that lasts a lot longer than we are today,” James said. “That’s pretty cool.”

(Top photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

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