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The rivalry between Stephen Curry and LeBron James will be reincarnated in a Christmas Day matchup that has now become customary in the last half decade of NBA basketball. This time, though, James will take on the Golden State Warriors with a different uniform, leading his Los Angeles Lakers into a bar-measuring matchup against the defending champions.
Curry argues this rivalry won't get old, given James' relocation to the West Coast.
Article Continues Below“We've seen him a lot over the last four years,” said Curry shortly after hitting a game-winning layup in a 129-127 win over the L.A. Clippers, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. “It'll be a fun atmosphere. Played him and his team on Christmas I think the last four years, including this year. It'll be a fun atmosphere, a fun game [with a] Bay Area and Southern California vibe kind of reignited a little bit so it should be fun.”
James, on the other hand, is seeing this as a challenge and an opportunity to rise to the occasion.
“We can't measure ourselves versus them,” James said after a 22-points, 14-rebound, seven-assist effort in a 107-99 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night. “That's a team that's won three out of four championships, the last four years. You can't measure yourself versus them.”
“It's going to be a very good environment. Those fans, obviously, love their Warriors. But I don't look at it as a special matchup. We're a team that's trying to get better every week, better every month. They're a team trying to figure out how to win another championship… But, we want to have championship habits. It's a special day. It's Christmas. We get to play the game of basketball on Christmas. It's my 13th appearance. Obviously, I'd love to be home with my family. But if I had to do anything else, playing basketball is pretty cool.”
Both teams see this matchup in different circumstances — the Warriors have won eight of their last 10 games and are now beginning to hit stride after getting all their pieces back in the lineup after an early-season rut. The Lakers have lost four of their last six and are only 5-5 in their last 10, looking to make a push at the end of the calendar year to avoid falling out of the top four in a grueling Western Conference.
