A look at past playoff battles between LeBron James and Kevin Durant

TL;DR

LeBron James and Kevin Durant will face off in their fourth playoff series starting Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT. This matchup marks the first time they meet in the postseason before the NBA Finals.

Key points

LeBron James and Kevin Durant will meet in the playoffs.
The game starts Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
This is their fourth playoff series against each other.
Both players are among the greatest in NBA history.
It's their first postseason meeting before the NBA Finals.

Los Angeles LakersHouston RocketsLeBron JamesKevin Durant

On Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific time, the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. That means LeBron James will go up against Kevin Durant for up to seven games in a row.

James and Durant are, along with Stephen Curry, the greatest players the NBA has seen over the last 10 to 15 years. Both have won MVPs, scoring titles, championships and numerous other individual honors, and the story of basketball cannot be told without telling the stories of both men.

While their rivalry isn't quite as riveting as the one between James and Curry, let alone the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry of the 1980s, it is still one that is at least something close to must-see television. The two superstar forwards will be meeting for the fourth time in the playoffs, and it will be the first time they have met in the postseason before the NBA Finals.

Here is a look at those three previous championship clashes between James and Durant.