The first round of the National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs is done and dusted.

Most of the matchup were not even close but there were two seven-game series in the Eastern Conference. Most noteworthy was the series between the Cleveland Cavaliers vs the Indiana Pacers that required a complete game from the Cavaliers and a dominating performance by LeBron James to pull off a Game 7 win. LeBron, who had never before faced elimination in the first round, finished with 45 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists to dispatch the Pacers and advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

Despite the loss, the Pacers can prepare for next season knowing they have a great foundation (Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner & Lance Stephenson) to build on. They often looked like the better team in the series but didn’t have much of an answer for LeBron James in the closeout game.

The Cavaliers are now in another tough series against the third youngest roster left in the play-offs, the Toronto Raptors.

Despite losing Game 1 at home, the Raptors played well but hit only 5 of 24 shots in the 4th quarter, missing their last 11 in regulation time, only to lose 113-112 in overtime. This will be the third straight year (including a sweep last year) that the Raptors will attempt to advance in the play-offs via LeBron who will again need to dig deep and motivate his Cavaliers past this hungry Canadian-based team in what could be another 7-game series.

The other Eastern Conference semi-finals has the injury-plagued Boston Celtics up against the Philadelphia 76ers. In Game 1, Al Horford, the MVP of Boston’s first-round series, was spectacular, with 26 points on an efficient 10-of-12 shooting while Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum contributed 29 and 28 points respectively for a surprising 117-101 victory.

This was the first time that three Celtics players scored 25 or more points in a non-overtime postseason game since Boston’s original ‘Big Three’ of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish did so in 1987. The win was attributed more to the open shots that Philadelphia missed than the defence of Boston. Maybe it was the rust of an extended layoff after closing the Miami Heat series in five games, but the 76ers, who won 20 of their last 21 games, are not a team who have blown defensive assignments or have shot 5-for-26 from three-point range.

This wasn’t what was expected and it’s fair to anticipate them playing much better as the series progresses. Game 1 will be viewed as an anomaly and the 76ers should dispatch the Celtics in 5 or 6 games.

In the Western Conference semi-finals between $1.60 JustBet favourites Golden State Warriors and the New Orleans Pelicans, the scales are tipped in favour of the reigning champions. Golden State, despite winning in five games, looked vulnerable in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs. The final two games were pedestrian offensively (to say the least) and they nearly blew Game 5 at home when they scored only 20 points in the final quarter. However, they have been the best team in the league for four years running and, in Game 1 of the semi-finals, this was on full display (minus Stephen Curry). Golden State earned a convincing 123-101 victory behind a 27-point performance from Klay Thompson, 26 from Kevin Durant and a triple-double from Draymond Green.

Two-time MVP, Stephen Curry returned from a five-week absence on Tuesday night for Game 2 and contributed 28 points to a 121-116 victory.

The Pelicans gave a better account of themselves in this game but, despite 25, 24 and 22 points from Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo respectively, the arsenal of the Golden State Warriors proved a little too much.

The series moves to New Orleans this evening and the Pelicans will be hoping for a lift from the hometown fans but a minor miracle may be necessary to avoid a sweep. The Pelicans were the first team to advance to the semi-final round and may very well be the first to exit.

The other Western Conference semi-finals has the Houston Rockets staring down the Utah Jazz.

This may be the most lopsided matchup in the Conference semi-finals and Game 1 took place less than 48 hours after the Jazz won their high-intensity series over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Jazz also lost Ricky Rubio in Game 6 against the Thunder and Game 1 was their first game without him in the line-up. This did not provide Utah with enough time to make adjustments, but they should work things out and provide more resistance as the series progresses. However, the Rockets are by far the more talented offence of the two teams and Utah should hold no real hope of outscoring their opponents.

The Rockets have three to four shooters on the floor at any given time, making them an extremely tough matchup for the Jazz defence.

Donovan Mitchell, along with Rudy Gobert and Jae Crowder can create problems for the Rockets but, with Houston’s firepower and the absence of Ricky Rubio, it’s hard to see the offensive production dropping to make this more than a five-game series on their way to meet the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

The listing of games for this weekend is provided below and full details of all the betting options and odds are available at the nearest JustBet location or online at www.justbetja.com .