Golden State’s Stephen Curry celebrates one of his baskets against Sacramento Kings during 3rd quarter of Game 7 Sunday in Sacramento, Calif. Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
SAN FRANCISCO — It’s LeBron vs. Steph on the big stage, Take V.
With a slightly different look in the playoffs these days for two of the game’s greatest players.
“Just two of the most competitive players that have ever played this game,” James said Monday. “We want to etch our name in the history books as much as we can, and we’re playing our own way. I’ve got nothing but the greatest admiration and respect for Steph.”
Curry and Draymond Green reflect back on Golden State’s many memorable NBA Finals battles with James and marvel how they’re all still playing such high-level basketball so many years later.
Yet this Western Conference semifinal matchup starting Tuesday is new for everybody: Curry, Green, Klay Thompson and these Warriors have never faced LeBron’s Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs — even if they’re plenty familiar with James himself.
“It is special to know the first series we played him in Cleveland in the ’14-15 to now, we’re blessed to be playing at this level,” Curry said. “Excited about a new chapter, two teams trying to keep their season alive and chase a championship. That’s what it’s all about.”
The Warriors and James’ Cavaliers faced off in four straight NBA Finals from 2015-18.
Game 1 in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series is on the Warriors’ home floor — Golden State is the sixth seed and the Lakers No. 7. It’s the first time a No. 6 seed has home court in the second round since the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets against the No. 7 Seattle SuperSonics in 1987.
“It’s weird, a six-seven seed series, we get home-court advantage, so we’ve got to take advantage of that,” Curry said.
Curry is 15-7 against James in the playoffs, with Curry averaging 25.4 points to James 33.
KNICKS-HEAT: The New York Knicks know how difficult it is having to play a postseason game without their do-everything forward.
The Miami Heat don’t want to be reminded what it’s like now.
Jimmy Butler’s status is uncertain for Miami. The Knicks aren’t sure yet about Julius Randle. That makes it hard to predict what will happen when the Heat try for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night.
Both players were listed as questionable for the game, as was Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, all because of ankle injuries.
Miami pulled out a 108-101 victory on Sunday even with Butler slowed down the stretch after spraining his right ankle with 5:05 to play. Coach Erik Spoelstra said Monday that the Heat might not have an update on his availability until shortly before the game at Madison Square Garden.
Butler is their most important player, scoring 56 and 42 points in the final two games of their first-round series, when the Heat knocked off Milwaukee to become the sixth No. 8 to beat a No. 1 seed in NBA history.
The Heat ended up that low in the standings in part because of how often they were without a healthy lineup, so they are used to facing the unknown.
“Again, it’s not like we’re just doing this today,” Spoelstra said. “This has been six months of this kind of life that we’ve existed and then we still don’t know who will be available for them.”
The Knicks only watched film on Monday, so there was no chance for Randle, who sat out Game 1, to get on the practice court and test his sprained left ankle he reinjured in the Game 5 clincher against Cleveland. The All-Star forward was far from his best in that series after missing the final five games of the regular season with the initial injury, but the Knicks would take whatever they could get now.
“If he’s on the court, he’s going to be Julius Randle,” Knicks forward RJ Barrett said. “He’s an All-Star, so him being out there on the court definitely does something for us and whether he’s out there or not, we’ve got to try to figure it out, because we’re in it. We’re here, of course we want him back, but we’ve got to be prepared for everything.”
That was the same message from the Heat, who got only one basket in the fourth quarter from Butler, the leading scorer in the first round of the playoffs with 37.6 points per game. They held up fine with a limited Butler in the game’s closing minutes, with veterans Kyle Lowry (nine points) and Bam Adebayo (eight) having big final quarters.
It was another reminder that the Heat, who were a game away from the NBA Finals last year, aren’t the typical No. 8 seed.
“We know what we’re all capable of,” guard Max Strus said. “We know what we all do and what we’re all good at, and we’ve been here before. Everybody’s been in these playoff moments.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.