LeBron (48 points) vs the Pistons in 2007 or Stephen Curry (40 points) vs the Blazers?

As Stephen Curry took over overtime Monday night in Game 4 against the Blazers, only one performance in recent memory came to mind: What LeBron James did to the Pistons in 2007. As a 22-year old, LeBron turned in an all-time great NBA performance: 48 points on the road in a double-overtime victory over the Pistons.

LeBron scored his team’s last 25 points, and 29 of their final 30. Marv Albert announced the game and capped it by calling LeBron’s effort, “one of the all-time performances in NBA history.” The Pistons were a 53-win team that season, and the #1 seed in the East. As you can see in the video, they rotated Tayshaun Prince (2nd team all-defense in 2006-2007) and Chauncey Billups onto LeBron. It was to no avail. LeBron made the game-winning basket on a layup in the closing seconds – as four Pistons defenders converged in the lane to try and stop him.

Fun sidenote: You’ll hear the voice of Albert in the video, but also Doug Collins and … yes, that’s Steve Kerr. Listen closely at 7:05 in the video: “This is unbelievable. This is Jordan-esque.”

That’s pretty much what you could say about Stephen Curry’s Monday night against the Blazers. The big difference with his game – 40 points, 27 in the 4th quarter and overtime – is that Curry was coming off a knee injury. He hadn’t played in two weeks. He didn’t start Game 4, and his missed his first 10 3-point attempts. Then, he took over and carried his team to a 3-1 series lead.

Fun with numbers:
LeBron, 48 points, 9 rebounds 7 assists
Curry, 40 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists

There is no winner in this debate of greatness. LeBron’s was probably more incredible, but with Curry coming off the injury, and playing the way he did for three quarters … I think I lean to Curry.