<div align="center"></div> McGrady ready to take on James: "He's never beaten me (since I've been in Houston)," McGrady said. "Hopefully, we can keep that going. It's always a great matchup, The only thing I remember about our matchup is his rookie year when we had an unbelievable Christmas Day game. We both put up some big numbers." Two of the very best at their position face off in what should be an exciting matchup tonight, especially given their competitive history. So far this year Lebron has been nothing short of spectacular avg 27.5pts 6.8reb, and 6.7Ast. Tmac on the other hand has been slow to start the season but was quoted recently in an interview: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">"When you face anybody of his caliber, you're going to bring your A-game," McGrady said. "It's a challenge. He's one of the elite players in this league and when you face him, you got to bring your A-game. And being the competitor that I am, I will."</div> Even though Tmac has done an admirable job defering to Yao and has sacraficed some of his statistics in an effort to make life easier for his teammates you have to expect Tmac to look for his own shot more in this game. Tmac has avg 18.7Pts, 5.9Reb, 6.7Ast. Not bad numbers but hes shooting a career low from the field and is avg a career high in t.o. Many expect this game to be Tmacs coming out game for the season. So heres my question, who do you think will play the best and who will come out with the W? And Now......... <u><font size=""3""><div align="center">A Brief look back on the many Tmac vs Bron battles:</div></font></u> <u>First Ever meeting: Christmas Day 03</u> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=231225019 Magic win 113-101 in OT LeBron: 34Pts (13-28), 6Ast, 2Reb, 2Stl, 1Blk, 8T.o. Tmac: 41Pts (15-29), 11Ast, 8Reb, 3Stl, 1Blk, 2T.o. LeBron had one of his best games of his young career but the Rookie was no match for Tmac on this night, After the game Lebron was quoted: "He is an All-Star, He is a future Hall of Famer. Guys like him you cannot stop, you can only hope to contain him." <u>The Rematch: January 26, 2004</u> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=240126005 Cavs win 99-98 LeBron: 16Pts (7-19), 3Ast, 5Reb, 2Blks, 3T.o. Tmac: 36Pts (11-19), 2Ast, 1Reb, 1T.o. This was the game where Tmac was on fire shooting tying an NBA record for most 3's in a half but sadly had to leave the game after only 25 minutes and the Magic lost on a Rod Strickland airball. <u>Matchup #3: February 27th, 2004</u> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=240227019 Cavs win 112-107 in OT LeBron: 30Pts (11-19), 3Ast, 11Reb, 3Stl, 1Blk, 3T.o. Tmac: 35Pts (11-32), 8ast, 4Reb, 3Stl, 1T.o. Another OT thriller with both Tmac and Bron playing at their best, but in the end LeBron closed the game out scoring 6 in OT, while Tmac went 1-6 in the same span and was quoted after the game: "LeBron is incredible, really, Nothing rattles him at all. He's extremely confident and a real competitor. At the age of 19, that's scary." <u>Matchup #4 Cut Short: December 29th 2004</u>http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=241229005 Rockets win 98-87 LeBron: 3Pts (0-5), 5ast, 3Reb, 17Minutes Tmac: 34Pts (13-31), 5ast, 7reb, 1Stl, 1T.o. Sadly Mutumbos razor sharp elbows deprived us of what was going to be a great matchup, this was the game that forced LeBron to start wearing the Mask. <u>Matchup #5: March 24, 2005</u> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8doMMmt7c0 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=250324010 Rockets win 99-80 LeBron: 19Pts (7-22), 8Ast, 4Reb, 1Stl, 2T.o. Tmac: 31Pts (11-21), 5Ast, 4Reb, 2Stl, 3T.o. Check out the game recap on youtube Tmac was amazing, Lebron had an off night. After the game Tmac had this to say "I just wanted to come in this game and stay aggressive -- go to the hole and not settle for the jumper, I'm just trying to get out of that slump. To do that, you just go to the hole, get your confidence that way and everything will open up." <u>Matchup #6: January 5th, 2006</u> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=260105005 Rockets Win 90-81 LeBron: 32Pts (13-19), 5Ast, 9Reb, 1Stl, 3T.o. Tmac: 34Pts (14-29), 5Ast, 5Reb, 2Stl, 4T.o. Without Yao in the Lineup and with Tmac recently coming back from injuries no one thought the Rockets had a chance against the 19-10 Cavs. Things changed quickly as Tmac did most of his damage early and hit key jumpers late in the game to seal the W. <u>Matchup #7: 2006 All Star Game in Houston</u> http://www.basketball-reference.com/allstar/NBA_2006.html East Wins 122-120 LeBron: 29Pts (12-21), 2Ast, 6Reb, 2Stl, 1T.o. Tmac: 36Pts (15-26), 2Ast, 0Reb, 1Stl, 1Blk With the All Star game being held in Houston you knew Tmac was going to come out shooting, and had a sick cross on LeBron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C14ZwE4ybI But in the end with the game on the line and LeBron gaurding him, Tmac chose to shoot over LeBron and the Refs chose not to call the foul, and forced Tmac to watch LeBron hoist the All Star Game MVP.
I remember the third matchup because it was the first NBA game I ever went too. I was so excited because LeBron and the Cavs were killing us but we fought back and sent the game into overtime. We still lost but it was so exciting to see LeBron and McGrady square off against each other.
Two of my favourite SF's in the game, both of these player are in my TOP 3 favourites. I love that matchup and I hope, that T-Mac will make a monster game.
I remember seeing the first ever matchup between these two incredible SFs. Looks like T-Mac has had better stats but LeBron has hung in there.
