On Thursday, LeBron James and Kevin Durant played each other for the first time in almost five years, though it wasn’t a regular-season game and they didn’t play for very long.

Thursday’s game in Palm Springs, California, between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns was the final exhibition game of the preseason. The Suns won the game easily, 123-100, but it was exhilarating for the fans who had been waiting for the Durant-James showdown for years.

On Christmas Day 2018, James and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated Durant and the visiting Golden State Warriors. Since then, whenever these two teams have met, one of James or Durant has been sidelined with an injury.

From NBA insider Mark Medina: “It’s just two iconic figures in the game of basketball today, and they’ll forever be two iconic figures in the game of basketball,” said Suns coach Frank Vogel, who mentored James in Los Angeles before he moved to Phoenix.

Since it’s been so long since they last played on the same court together, fans have lost out on something. “They’ve basically ruled this generation in different ways. I hope to run into them today!

The game itself didn’t feature many memorable interactions between the two stars. Despite just playing 17 minutes, Durant scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting. James continued to play for a short while longer than usual. In the Lakers’ loss, he scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds in just 22 minutes.

However, right before intermission at Acrisure Arena, Durant drained a 3-pointer with little resistance from James.

James’ first half was bad enough without someone poking him in both eyes at once.

After the half, the Lakers held a four-point lead, but the Suns outscored them by 20 points, resulting in an easy victory and the Suns’ fourth preseason victory. The bench player Saben Lee contributed 15 points, and the starting player Yuta Watanabe scored a total of 12 points. Both Devin Booker and Bradley Beal were held out of the Suns’ last preseason game.

The Lakers’ scoring was rounded up by 15 points from Anthony Davis and 14 points from Austin Reaves, who drained three 3-pointers. The Lakers’ preseason record was just 2-for-6.

The game on Thursday is, thankfully, simply a preview. Next Thursday at Cyrpto.com Arena in Los Angeles will be the rematch between the Lakers and Suns, and it will be the first true clash between James and Durant since Christmas Day five years ago.

That one will carry considerably more weight once all players are well and the regular season has begun.