LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 LeBron James and Kevin Durant first faced each other in the playoffs way back in 2012, when the Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder to win James’ first NBA championship.<\/p>\n
The superstars met again in 2017 and 2018, and Durant’s Golden State Warriors beat James’ Cleveland Cavaliers to win Durant’s two rings.<\/p>\n
The two greatest scorers of this generation are matched up once again in the postseason this weekend when Durant and his Houston Rockets visit James’ Los Angeles Lakers. Game 1 is Saturday night<\/a> in the latest chapter of this friendly rivalry, and the basketball world will be watching.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s prime time,\u201d Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. \u201cTwo of the best, and still doing it at this stage in their careers. And they have had some battles in the playoffs, but not a ton being in the East and the West a lot. So that part alone has a lot of storylines, a lot of history. I\u2019m sure this will add to their chapters.\u201d<\/p>\n The 41-year-old James is the top scorer in NBA history<\/a>, and the 37-year-old Durant is fifth<\/a>. While this fourth engagement might turn out to be their final spring meeting \u2014 and maybe even James’ final playoff appearance, who knows? \u2014 they’re both thinking mostly about the task before them, not the history behind them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always great playing against great players,\u201d Durant said. \u201cYou feel their presence on the floor, even if you\u2019re not matched up with them. But it\u2019s just like all basketball players know, it\u2019s much more than just one player. You need a whole group of guys to go out there and win … but yeah, the matchup is definitely fun. Two great players who\u2019ve been in the league for a long time. But everybody who\u2019s involved in this series knows it\u2019s much deeper than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, their shared playoff history only underlines the importance of a supporting cast, even for players of their stature.<\/p>\n James’ Heatles were too much for a young Thunder group led by Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. The Warriors then became arguably the most loaded team in recent NBA history when Durant chose to join Stephen Curry, and it was too much even for James, who moved to the Lakers a few weeks after his Cavs fell to Golden State for the third time in four years.<\/p>\n The importance of a supporting cast is the reason fifth-seeded Houston is the prohibitive favorite in this series, of course.<\/p>\n The Lakers lost NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and prolific guard Austin Reaves to injuries two weeks ago, and they’re both out indefinitely<\/a>.<\/p>\n So while James is once again attempting to carry an inferior roster<\/a> to places it would never otherwise go, the hard-working Rockets are healthier around Durant, who wants his first postseason with Houston to be memorable.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we know that\u2019s the head of the snake,\u201d James said of Durant. \u201cBut it\u2019s the Houston Rockets, and they have some damn good players on their team. It\u2019s not just a KD team. It\u2019s the whole group. Like I said, KD is gonna do what KD does. He\u2019s a Hall of Famer. We know that. So we have to prepare not only for him, but for the whole group.\u201d<\/p>\n Hanging in<\/p>\n The Lakers aren’t publicly predicting when their top two scorers will return, if at all. The injuries to Doncic (Grade 2 hamstring strain) and Reaves (Grade 2 oblique strain) typically take several weeks to heal. The first-round schedule has a few extra days off, but that’s no guarantee.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going try to make this season as long as possible so that we can get those guys back at some point,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what that is, but that\u2019s just our job. And their job is to do everything they can to be in a position to come back at some point. It may not work, but that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Tough out<\/p>\n Hard-working, resourceful Houston would be a tough matchup even under ideal circumstances for the Lakers, but the Rockets know they’re facing a competent opponent playing with extra fire from the widespread perception that this short-handed team can’t hang with them.<\/p>\n