Don't take LeBron James and Stephen Curry for granted
LeBron James and Stephen Curry put on a show on Saturday night in the Lakers' 145-144 double-overtime win.
The mid-season affair had all the drama and intrigue of a Game 7 in the NBA playoffs. The way the two went back and forth recalled their epic matches in the NBA Finals during the mid-2010s.
James finished with 36 points, including the winning free throws with a second remaining. Curry had 46 points, including a three with 5.2 seconds left, giving the Warriors a one-point lead.
As ESPN noted on social media, James and Curry became the first opposing players of least 35 years old to score 35 or more points in the same game.
James, in particular, is rewriting the record books by maintaining a First-Team All-NBA level in his age-39 season. He posted a career-high 20 rebounds and added 12 assists on Saturday night against the Warriors, becoming the oldest player in league history to have a 30-20-10 game.
He's averaging 25 points per game this season and is shooting 39.9 percent from deep, the second-highest rate of his 21-year career.
Curry's 46 points were his most since Game 7 of the first round of the 2023 postseason against the Kings.
We should appreciate their continued brilliance while we can. Not only is it not guaranteed to last, but who knows how many more battles between the two we'll get.
The Lakers (24-23, ninth in Western Conference) and Warriors (19-24, 12th in Western Conference) are in the bottom half of the West. The teams met in the playoffs last season after first-round wins as the lower seeds, but they're more likely to meet in the play-in tournament this season (if they meet at all).
The two teams' struggles underscore the unprecedented nature of James' and Curry's production. Staying on top is difficult, but two all-time greats make it look easy. It isn't something we should take for granted.
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