The National Basketball Association (NBA) play-offs seem to be going by extremely quickly. The Western Conference finalists were decided on Tuesday, while the Cleveland Cavaliers made quick work of their series against the Toronto Raptors, putting the finishing touches on the sweep last Monday night.

The Cavaliers, following a fairly pedestrian regular season, stumbled into the pla-offs and found the going tough against the Indiana Pacers. Maybe spurred on by that experience, LeBron James found his footing late in that series, marched into the Toronto series and put up some of the best numbers of his heralded play-off career.

The Raptors, who topped the Eastern Conference with 59 wins (Cleveland was 4th with 50 wins), struggled to get past the Washington Wizards in the first round and were made to look like impostors against the dominance and brilliance of LeBron James.

In the closeout game 4, the Cavaliers pummelled the Raptors 128-93 in a game that included 60 per cent shooting or better from all their starters. James will stroll into the Eastern Conference finals seeking his eighth straight NBA finals appearance (9th overall). From the looks of things, the possibility of stopping him appears to be an impossible dream.

After closing out the regular season on a 16-0 run and outplaying Miami in the first round of the play-offs, the Philadelphia 76ers had no answer for the Kyrie Irving-led Boston Celtics. The closeout game on Wednesday was a nail-biter, but they failed to come up with the goods at critical moments which leaves the Celtics facing the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals starting Sunday.

The Cavaliers will not have home court advantage in their Eastern Conference finals (as if that makes a difference), but while LeBron is expected to continue his phenomenal display, the supporting cast is suspect. Kevin Love was brilliant, for the most part, and significant contributions were made by J R Smith and Kyle Korver in the Toronto series, but how much assistance will James receive in the Conference finals? Whatever happens with the play of the supporting cast, “King James”has shown more than enough to indicate he will carry them on his back (literally) to ensure his place in the NBA finals.

The eagerly anticipated matchup between the reigning champions ( and JustBet $1.75 favourites) Golden State Warriors and the record-setting Houston Rockets is, for true basketball fans, a dream realized.

The Rockets and Warriors have been the two best teams in the NBA all season and there’s an air of inevitably surrounding this matchup. The Rockets designed their entire offseason last summer with the Warriors in mind.

They acquired Chris Paul, other versatile defensive players and three-point shooters who could help them keep pace with Golden State. The Warriors, who won 16 of their 17 post-season games played last year, have not had it as easy this postseason, but their talisman, and two-time MVP Stephen Curry, joined the fray in the second game of the just-concluded series and his effect was immediate.

While Houston were making major overhauls to their roster last summer, the Warriors did next to nothing. Their core remains the same — Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — all All-Stars who fully understand the ever-moving, ball-sharing offence of the ‘Dubs.’

For both teams, the road to the West finals has been similar. Houston made relatively quick work of Minnesota and Utah, both in five games, and the Warriors dispatched San Antonio and New Orleans in five-gamers. Heading into their closeout games, both teams had been producing on both sides of the ball — Houston was number one in the play-offs in offensive rating (110.3) and the Warriors were fourth (109.1). The Warriors were tops in defensive rating (99.4) and the Rockets were second (101.1).

This will not be the NBA finals, but come Monday night, the main event begins. Game one of the Western Conference finals will set off the fireworks and NBA fans will be sitting on knife’s edge. Chris Paul will have his first appearance this deep in the postseason and the expectation is for a close series but, despite the home court advantage, the Rockets may not have enough to get past the Warriors. The Rockets have been plotting to overthrow the Warriors for almost a full year now, but Golden State has superior depth, flexibility and play-off experience, and a slight advantage in coaching. The best bet here is that they will fail.

The listing of games for the Conference Finals are provided in the table (at right), and full details of all the betting options and odds are available at the nearest JustBet location or online at www.justbetja.com.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS 2018WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS 2018

DATE TIME HOME TEAM AWAY TEAM

MAY 13 15:30 Boston Celtics Cleveland Cavaliers

GAME 1

MAY 15 20:30 Boston Celtics Cleveland Cavaliers

GAME 2

MAY 19 20:30 Cleveland Cavaliers Boston Celtics

GAME 3

MAY 21 20:30 Cleveland Cavaliers Boston Celtics

GAME 4

MAY 23 20:30 Boston Celtics Cleveland Cavaliers

GAME 5*

MAY 25 20:30 Cleveland Cavaliers Boston Celtics

GAME 6*

MAY 27 20:30 Boston Celtics Cleveland Cavaliers

GAME 7*

*if necessary

DATE TIME HOME TEAM AWAY TEAM

MAY 14 21:00 Houston Rockets Golden State Warriors

GAME 1

MAY 16 21:00 Houston Rockets Golden State Warriors

GAME 2

MAY 20 20:00 Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets

GAME 3

MAY 22 21:00 Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets

GAME 4

MAY 24 21:00 Houston Rockets Golden State Warriors

GAME 5*

MAY 26 21:00 Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets

GAME 6*

MAY 28 21:00 Houston Rockets Golden State Warriors

GAME 7*

*if necessary

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