Following the Warriors 120-100 win over the Kings in Game 7 of the first-round of the NBA Playoffs, Steph Curry looks ahead to the Warriors-Lakers playoff series.
For the first time since 1991, the Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers will meet in the NBA playoffs, with their highly anticipated Western Conference semifinals series beginning Tuesday night at Chase Center.
The Warriors set up the epic showdown between longtime California rivals by pulling out a 120-100 Game 7 win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at Golden 1 Center.
By scoring a Game 7-record 50 points, Steph Curry will match up against LeBron James in the postseason for the fifth time (not including their 2021 Western Conference play-in battle). In the previous four meetings -- all NBA Finals -- the Warriors won three times.
"It's amazing because you're still in the fight, better than the alternative of the outside looking in," Curry told reporters after Sunday's game on facing James again. "Having been down 0-2 in this season, nothing's guaranteed, you don't take anything for granted.
"It is special to know the first series we played him in Cleveland in the '14-15 season to now, we're blessed to be playing at this level still and excited about a new chapter. Two teams trying to keep your season alive and chase a championship. That's what it's all about."
James and the Lakers made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs by first getting out of the play-in tournament and then upsetting the No. 2 seed Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.
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After playing the young and fast Kings, the Warriors know the Lakers present a different challenge.
Los Angeles has been on a roll since the Feb. 9 trade deadline: From that point, they went 19-8 to finish the regular season with a 43-39 record, good enough to secure the No. 7 seed in the West. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first play-in game.
During the regular season, the Lakers won three of the four matchups, with those three victories coming after the trade deadline.
"They're totally different than the Kings," Curry told reporters. "They present a lot of different challenges. We know [LeBron] really well. Played them a couple times since the trade [deadline] and they look extremely different. I know they're playing good basketball. It's weird, a six and a seven-seed series and we get home-court advantage, so we've got to take advantage of that.
"But they are big, so we've got to have everybody locked in on our preparation over the next 48 hours. Even if guys didn't get much run in this series, that's the nature of the playoffs. Move on to a different team and different style, everybody's got to be ready to make those adjustments on the fly."
Klay Thompson, a Los Angeles native, called it "dream come true" to play the Lakers in the NBA playoffs. His dad, Mychal, starred for the Lakers and currently works as one of their broadcasters.
RELATED: Klay will forever remember the 'Steph Curry Game' vs. Kings
The Warriors now are 19-0 in Western Conference playoff series under coach Steve Kerr, and they will put that perfect record on the line when they renew their rivalry with the Lakers.
The winner of the Warriors-Lakers series will advance to the Western Conference finals and face the winner of the series between the No. 1 seed Denver Nuggets and No. 4 seed Phoenix Suns.
Here's the full schedule for the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series:
Game 1 -- Tuesday, May 2 -- Lakers at Warriors -- 7:00 p.m. PT-- TNT
Game 2 -- Thursday, May 4 -- Lakers at Warriors -- 6:00 p.m. PT -- ESPN
Game 3 -- Saturday, May 6 -- Warriors at Lakers -- 5:30 p.m. PT -- ABC
Game 4 -- Monday, May 8 -- Warriors at Lakers -- 7:00 p.m. PT -- TNT
Game 5 (if necessary) -- Wednesday, May 10 -- Lakers at Warriors -- Time TBD -- TNT
Game 6 (if necessary) -- Friday, May 12 -- Warriors at Lakers -- Time TBD -- ESPN
Game 7 (if necessary) -- Sunday, May 14 -- Lakers at Warriors -- Time TBD -- TV TBD
Programming note: NBC Sports Bay Area will provide full coverage before and after each Warriors-Lakers playoff game. All NBC Sports Bay Area Warriors playoff pre/post and game coverage also can be seen on the NBC Sports app and on NBCSportsBayArea.com.
