On Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time, the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. That means LeBron James will go up against Kevin Durant for up to seven games in a row.
James and Durant are, along with Stephen Curry, the greatest players the NBA has seen over the last 10 to 15 years. Both have won MVPs, scoring titles, championships and numerous other individual honors, and the story of basketball cannot be told without telling the stories of both men.
While their rivalry isn’t quite as riveting as the one between James and Curry, let alone the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry of the 1980s, it is still one that is at least something close to must-see television. The two superstar forwards will be meeting for the fourth time in the playoffs, and it will be the first time they have met in the postseason before the NBA Finals.
Here is a look at those three previous championship clashes between James and Durant.
2012 NBA Finals
At the time, James was 27 years of age and still ringless. He had joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat the previous season amidst tremendous hype, but their maiden voyage together ended in disaster with a six-game loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the finals.
In 2012, James was calmer, more collected and a little more mature. With Miami facing a 3-2 deficit against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, he responded with 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a Game 6 blowout win, then he put up 31 points in Game 7 to send the Heat back to the NBA Finals.
There, they met Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder, who also had a young Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Durant had just won his third straight scoring title at the tender age of 23, but the Thunder were no match for the Heat, who prevailed in five games.
James’ stats: 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists a game
Durant’s stats: 30.6 points, six rebounds, 2.2 assists a game
2017 NBA Finals
After winning back-to-back titles with the Heat, James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 and faced Curry’s Golden State Warriors in the next two championship series. The Cavs lost in 2015 after co-star Kyrie Irving got injured in Game 1, but they overcame a 3-1 series deficit to knock off the Warriors the following year after the Warriors had won a record 73 regular-season games.
Golden State responded by signing Durant away from the Thunder. This time around, Durant was searching for his first ring, and his new squad was thought by some to be invincible. But there was also a feeling among some that Cleveland could prevail if it outhustled, outfought and outsmarted the Warriors.
None of that happened. The Warriors jumped out to a 3-0 series lead after Durant hit a clutch jumper over James late in Game 3. After Cleveland managed a Game 4 victory, Golden State closed it out at home in Game 5. Durant was now a made man, not to mention the finals MVP.
James’ stats: 33.6 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists a game
Durant’s stats: 35.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists a game
2018 NBA Finals
This time, Irving had departed for the Boston Celtics, and James had a decent but not great supporting cast. The Cavaliers won a modest 50 games during the regular season, and while James played sensational basketball in the first three rounds of the playoffs, they were huge underdogs versus Durant and the Warriors.
James had 51 points in Game 1, but Cleveland lost 124-114 in overtime after J.R. Smith mistakenly dribbled out the clock at the end of regulation, thinking the team was ahead. After that, it was no contest. The Warriors swept their way to another world championship, and Durant was the series MVP again.
James’ stats: 34 points, 8.5 rebounds, 10 assists a game
Durant’s stats: 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists a game
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: A look at past playoff battles between LeBron James and Kevin Durant
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
