The Golden State Warriors will meet the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA’s Western Conference finals, starting Tuesday. Game time is 6 p.m. Pacific for all games. Game 1: Tuesday, May 14, in Oakland Game 2: Thursday, May 16, in Oakland Game 3: Saturday, May 18, in Portland Game 4: Monday, May 20, in Portland Game 5*: Wednesday, May 22, in Oakland Game 6*: Friday, May 24, in Portland Game 7*: Sunday, May 26, in Oakland *if necessary In the Eastern Conference final, the Toronto Raptors will meet the Milwaukee Bucks, playing every other night starting Wednesday, May 15. Game time is 5:30 p.m. Pacific, except for Sunday, May 19, when it will be 4 p.m. Pacific.<doc-sep>The Portland Trail Blazers are heading somewhere they haven’t been in 19 years: The Western Conference Finals. The Blazers defeated the Denver Nuggets 100-96 Sunday at the Pepsi Center, earning the chance to face the Golden State Warriors in a best-of-seven series that will determine who goes to the NBA Finals. It’s the seventh time in franchise history — and first since 2000 — that the Blazers will play in the conference finals. Want to watch history in person? Tickets for Moda Center games go on sale to the public at noon on Monday. Visit trailblazers.com/tix or call the Rose Quarter Box Office at 1-844-RIPCITY to purchase them. Note: For authentic tickets, fraud protection and guaranteed seating, team officials urge fans to purchase tickets through the authorized website or by calling the box office. — Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Visit subscription.oregonlive.com/newsletters to get Oregonian/OregonLive journalism delivered to your email inbox<doc-sep>The top-seeded Golden State Warriors and third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers disposed of the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets in six and seven games, respectively. The two teams will meet for a third time in four years. Golden State beat Portland in a 2017 first-round sweep and a 2016 second-round, five-game set. How they got here Golden State: In their quest for a third straight title and fourth in five years, the Warriors lost DeMarcus Cousins to a torn left quad in Game 2 of the first round and Kevin Durant to a right calf strain in Game 5 of the second round. Yet, here we are, with Golden State installed as heavy favorites to beat Portland and become the first team since the Boston Celtics of the 1950s and ‘60s to reach five straight Finals. Cousins, somehow, is “on course” to return during the Western Conference finals, and Durant is scheduled to be re-evaluated this week, when we should know if and when he can play in this series. So, after all the hullabaloo over Durant’s impending free agency and Cousins’ decision to join a team already stacked with four All-Star starters, we are likely left with the Warriors of old for at least the start of this series. Are they still good enough with merely three All-NBA talents? They looked the part on Friday, when Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 60 points in a close-out win in Houston. The “Strength in Numbers” Warriors were back, with Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and a cast of late draft picks filling roles around Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green. Andrew Bogut was there, too. There is still some suspense, and that is a good thing. Curry and Thompson both battled cold streaks through two rounds, and Golden State’s depth remains a question, even as 35-year-old Iguodala turns back the clock and backup center Kevon Looney emerges as a real threat. There are concerns about Bogut, Quinn Cook, Alfonzo McKinnie and Jordan Bell, all of whom were called upon in Houston, and Livingston had been largely ineffective until Game 6. If you’re calling for more frontcourt minutes from Jonas Jerebko, you know you’re not completely at ease. Story continues If Durant returns by the time this series moves to Portland and is any semblance of himself, that’s a different story. Even as the Warriors went longer than expected in their first-round series with the Los Angeles Clippers and were deadlocked entering Game 5 against the Rockets, the outcomes never really felt in doubt, because Durant was the best player in all the playoffs and nobody had an answer for him. Stephen Curry has historically been a step ahead of Damian Lillard in the NBA's point guard hierarchy. (Getty Images) Portland: How the Blazers got here is a hero’s journey. They were swept from the first round by the New Orleans Pelicans in last year’s playoffs, and the NBA intelligentsia largely left them for dead. But Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum apparently do not die. They somehow never stop coming back stronger and better. Lillard took out the Oklahoma City Thunder in Round 1 with one of the greatest close-out game performances in NBA history, and McCollum ousted the Denver Nuggets in Round 2 with an almost equally dramatic Game 7 performance. Both were marked by signature moments — Dame’s 37-foot game-winner and CJ’s late chase-down block — that finally pounded into our brains: Yes, you can win with two 6-foot-3 playmaking guards leading the way, or at least with these two. The Blazers were written off once center Jusuf Nurkic snapped his leg in two at the end of March, but the resilience of Enes Kanter and emergence of Zach Collins helped Portland answer some questions about whether they can win without him. That they have done so despite more inconsistent play from stalwart swingmen Al-Farouq Aminu and Mo Harkless is further testament to Lillard and McCollum. Portland’s backcourt is averaging 54 points on 44/39/80 shooting splits, along with 10.6 rebounds and 9.4 assists per game in the playoffs. You don’t need much help when they’re giving you that kind of production, and they’ve gotten more than they bargained for from midseason additions Kanter and Rodney Hood (who enter this series battling shoulder and knee injuries suffered against Denver, respectively). Mostly, though, Portland has gotten through by playing smart and hard and together. They rarely give away extra possessions and work to get more, playing with the import of a team marked by stability and a sense that everyone knows his place in the hierarchy. Whether that matters against a team that has proven time and again to be more talented, with or without Durant, we are about to find out. Head to head Since we aren’t clear whether Durant will be available and for how long, since Nurkic was really good against the Warriors, and since neither Curry nor Green played in a game Golden State won by 28, it’s hard to draw many conclusions about the first season series split of the Steve Kerr era between the two teams. Yet, it does feel like there is something to the Blazers winning in Oracle Arena for the first time since November 2013 — on another Lillard game-winner with 6.3 seconds left, no less — and then blowing the Warriors out at home in their most recent meeting. Both of those games featured the full Cousins-less contingent of Golden State stars, with Looney playing center, and that has to give Portland even more confidence than they already exude, especially if Durant remains sidelined. Durant was remarkable — and remarkably consistent — against the Blazers, averaging 28.8 points (on 57.5/41.2/76.2 shooting splits), 6.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and three combined blocks and steals over the four meetings. Likewise, Nurkic was really impressive against the Warriors this year, averaging 20.3 points, 10 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the four games. Both of their absences impact the apexes of the two teams in different ways, but neither is unaccustomed to playing without them. McCollum was fairly inefficient in all four games against Golden State during the regular season, averaging 18 points on 18 shots and shooting a combined 11 of 40 (3 for 18 from 3-point range) when guarded by Curry, Thompson or Iguodala. Lillard wasn’t so efficient, either — until he hit the game-winner in their second meeting, and then he finished with 69 points on 23-of-38 shooting (12 of 21 from 3-point range) and 13 assists over the final two meetings. They both need to be great to win this series. Curry and Thompson were themselves against the Blazers, save for a 2-for-16 stinker from Klay in the blowout loss on Feb. 13. Green is a wildcard, as always. He was mostly ordinary against the Blazers during the regular season, as he was against everyone, but he has been great in the playoffs. His ability to make shots and then hold up against Kanter’s relentless offensive rebounding will go a long way in determining how often Golden State can play its vaunted small-ball lineups. Likely starting lineups With Durant out for Game 1 and unlikely for Game 2, the Warriors will likely stick with the same starting lineup that finished the Houston series: Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Green and Bogut. Durant and Cousins will probably supplant Iguodala and Bogut if they return, although Kerr may also consider starting Looney at center. Golden State’s best non-Durant lineups in the playoffs have both featured Looney. And while even the lineup of Curry, Thompson, Durant and Green with Looney finished a net negative against Portland during the regular season, that was before Nurkic went down. It will be interesting to see if Kanter can make Looney pay in the same way, or if Looney’s athleticism can help the Warriors run Kanter off the floor. Otherwise, how much Bogut do we see in this series? Can he match Kanter’s effort at age 34? Or is Green their best option against stronger centers? Will the Blazers counter with Collins and open themselves up to Golden State’s more versatile lineups? The return of Cousins could throw another wrench into this mix.<doc-sep>
Portland and Golden State meet in the postseason for the third time in four years. Can the Trail Blazers push for a different outcome against a potentially shorthanded Warriors team? Both the Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors enter the Western Conference Finals after incredibly taxing series-clinching wins on the road. Portland endured a seven-game slugfest with the Denver Nuggets that included a four-overtime game while the Warriors, already without DeMarcus Cousins who has not played since tearing his quad in the 1st Round, outlasted the Rockets despite losing Kevin Durant in Game 5 with a strained calf. These teams know each other well as they met in the playoffs in 2016 and 2017. The Warriors swept the Blazers in the 1st Round in 2017 and beat them in five games in the Conference Semifinals in 2016. Series Schedule Game 1 - Tuesday, May 14 at Golden State, Time: 9:00 p.m. Game 2 - Thursday, May 16 at Golden State, Time: 9:00 p.m. Game 3 - Saturday, May 18 at Portland, Time: 9:00 p.m. Game 4 - Monday, May 20 at Portland, Time: 9:00 p.m. Game 5 (if necessary) - Wednesday, May 22, at Golden State, Time: 9:00 p.m. Game 6 (if necessary) - Friday, May 24, at Portland, Time: 9:00 p.m. Game 7 (if necessary) - Sunday, May 26, at Golden State, Time: 9:00 p.m. Recapping the Season Series Result: Series split 2-2 Best game: Dec. 27, 2018 - Trail Blazers 110, Warriors 109 (OT) Best performance: Damian Lillard - 40 points, 14-23 FG, 6-13 3-pt FG on December 29 Although the teams split the season series, only one of the four games - the overtime thriller on December 27 - was particularly close. Each team had a blowout win (Portland won by 22 in February and Golden State won by 28 in November) while the Warriors led by double digits throughout almost the entire fourth quarter of their other win. In the overtime game on December 27, Portland blew a 10-point lead with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter before ultimately pulling out the win in overtime thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer by Damian Lillard with 6.0 seconds left. Both Lillard and CJ McCollum played in all four games as did Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green each played in three of the four meetings while DeMarcus Cousins did not play in any of the four matchups. Key Storyline: Which backcourt decides the series? https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/NBA_Global_CMS_image_storage/d4/86/damian-lillard-and-cj-mccollum_u53us424v7ak1xd5m4xqpsdhh.jpg?t=-1316423294&w=500 The easy answer is the injury to Kevin Durant which looms large over the series. How many games will he miss? Nobody know for certain and it's a question that tugs at the strings of this series. MORE: Medical expert weighs in on Durant injury What we do know is that if Durant is out, the series will fall into the hands of the dynamic backcourts of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for Golden State and Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum for Portland. These are the two best backcourts in the NBA and both are cooking. Lillard was perhaps the biggest star of the opening round when he torched Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder, slamming the door hut with an emphatic 50-point game and game-winning buzzer-beater to clinch the series. Last round against Denver, it was McCollum's turn to take over as he scored 41 points in Game 3 before dropping 30 and 37 in Game 6 and Game 7, respectively. For the Warriors, both of the Splash Brothers are coming off signature performances in Golden State's epic road win in Houston without Kevin Durant in Game 6. Thompson erupted for 21 points for the Warriors in the first half to keep them in it with Curry going scoreless before Curry atoned for his poor showing with 33 points of his own in the second half including 23 in the fourth quarter. Each of these guards has shown an incredible knack for timely shot making at various points in this postseason and especially given the uncertainty regarding Durant's strained calf, whichever backcourt steps up will give their team the upper hand. Three Players to Watch Kevin Durant vs. Portland in 2018-19 (four games): 29.8 points (57.5 FG%), 6.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.0 blocks The longer Durant misses, the greater opportunity that Portland has of making this a competitive series. Prior to limping off during the third quarter of Game 5 against Houston, Durant was playing the best basketball of his career.