The opening tip  LeBron James and Stephen Curry will meet for the fifth time in an NBA playoff series. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Finally, it's LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry again SAN FRANCISCO — There was a time, not that long ago, when LeBron James and Stephen Curry met in the playoffs with such regularity that it felt like no one else would get a turn. From 2015 to 2018, James's Cleveland Cavaliers and Curry's Golden State Warriors became the first opponents to face off in four straight NBA Finals. That stretch featured the rise of the "Splash Brothers" in 2015, the Cavaliers' unprecedented 3-1 comeback in 2016, the Bay Area arrival of Kevin Durant in 2017 and, finally, the collapse of James's second Cleveland tenure in 2018. Along the way, the two biggest superstars of the past decade combined to drive the largest television audiences of the post-Michael Jordan era, with an average of 20 million viewers tuning in throughout the 2016 and 2017 Finals. But James's departure to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 free agency began an era of missed connections with Curry. The recast rivalry between the Lakers and Warriors got off to an ominous start when James suffered a groin injury on Christmas 2018 and the Lakers fell out of the 2019 playoffs. As Curry battled injuries of his own, the Warriors proceeded to miss the 2020 and 2021 playoffs, and they weren't even invited to Disney World when James's Lakers won a title in the Bubble. Then, when Golden State rallied to win the 2022 title, the Lakers missed the playoffs again as they struggled with health questions and the aftermath of a doomed trade for Russell Westbrook. Nearly five years since they last squared off in the Finals, James and Curry, who are both four-time champions, are finally set to resume their postseason rivalry Tuesday when the No. 6 seed Warriors will host the No. 7 Lakers at Chase Center. Just as James and Curry have taken roundabout paths to their latest showdown, their teams have defied the odds to make it to the conference semifinals. In fact, this will be the first postseason matchup between the sixth and seventh seeds since the Houston Rockets and Seattle SuperSonics in 1987. "We've got a young ballclub with not much experience in the postseason," James said Friday, after the Lakers eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies from the first round. "I'm trying to give my knowledge about what I've been through and what they can expect. As hard as this series felt and as hard as this series was, it gets even harder when you move a level up. We were able to conquer level one and we move to level two." The Lakers launched their infamous 2-10 start to the season with a dismal opening-night showing against the Warriors, one that led James to criticize his supporting cast's lack of shooting. Held back by Anthony Davis's foot injury and ongoing fit questions with Westbrook, Los Angeles remained on the outside of the West's play-in tournament picture as recently as March 21. Optimism returned in full force following the midseason trade of Westbrook for a package of players that included starters D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt, which improved the Lakers' defense and chemistry. Unfortunately, the 38-year-old James then went down with a foot injury that nearly required season-ending surgery. If not for a comeback win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the play-in tournament, the Lakers would have drawn Nikola Jokic and the top-seeded Denver Nuggets rather than the Grizzlies in the first round. Memphis's depleted front line, ill-advised trash talk and maturity questions helped Los Angeles claim a convincing six-game victory. "The Lakers changed their team dramatically at the trade deadline and made some brilliant moves," Warriors Coach Steve Kerr said Sunday. "They're excellent defensively. They've got one of the all-time greats in LeBron, but a lot of talent across the roster. It's going to take a big effort to beat them." Meanwhile, the Warriors have dealt with all manners of dysfunction, from Draymond Green's preseason punch of teammate Jordan Poole to their abysmal 11-30 road record. With Curry missing two long stretches due to injuries, Golden State wobbled through an underwhelming title defense. The Warriors didn't work into the play-in mix until after Christmas, and they didn't secure a guaranteed playoff spot until the final day of the regular season. Their position only got more perilous during a marathon first-round series with the Sacramento Kings. Curry faced a 2-0 series deficit for the first time in his career, and Green was suspended for Game 3 after he stomped on Domantas Sabonis's chest. If Kings forward Harrison Barnes had made a Game 4 buzzer-beater, the Warriors would have been in a 3-1 hole. Only after Golden State laid an egg at home in Game 6, did Curry finally put away Sacramento with a 50-point explosion in Game 7. After ripping off a 16-1 playoff run in 2017, a 16-5 run in 2018 and a 16-6 run last year, the Warriors were the only one of this season's eight quarterfinalists to need seven games to advance. Of course, James and Curry played huge roles in helping their teams survive so much turbulence. James, who averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game this season, paced himself and struggled with his outside shot against the Grizzlies, taking a step back at times to allow more scoring opportunities for Davis, Russell and Austin Reaves. But in a pivotal Game 4 overtime win, James delivered two huge buckets down the stretch and finished with 22 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists in the first 20/20 game of his 20-year career. "LeBron is playing more off the ball than he ever has in his career, which I applaud," Green said. "It's hard for a guy like that to make that transition, and he's seamlessly done it. It's helped their team. Not that LeBron holding the ball is a problem, but it's allowed other guys to do more. It will be a tough series." Curry, who averaged 29.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game while flirting with a 50/40/90 shooting season, topped 30 points in five of the seven games against Sacramento. The 35-year-old guard set a new postseason career-high with 50 points in his sensational series finale. While James and Curry have contrasting physiques and styles of play, they continue to share a fierce competitive desire that has enabled them to stave off younger stars like Memphis's Ja Morant and Sacramento's De'Aaron Fox. Los Angeles and Golden State will meet in the postseason for the first time since 1991 because their franchise players keep refusing to exit stage left. "It's amazing because you're still in the fight," Curry said. "It's better than the alternative of being on the outside looking in. Having been down 0-2 in this series [against the Kings], nothing is guaranteed, and you don't take anything for granted. We're blessed to be playing at this level still and excited about a new chapter." | 
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