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>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 - Wednesday, May 15 at Golden State Game 2 - Friday, May 17 at Golden State Game 3 - Sunday, May 19 at Portland Game 4 - Tuesday, May 21 at Portland Game 5 (if necessary) - Thursday, May 23, at Golden State Game 6 (if necessary) - Saturday, May 25, at Portland Game 7 (if necessary) - Monday, May 27, at Golden State 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. Coach Steve Kerr called him the best player in the world during the Houston series and during his on-court interview following the win in Game 6 without him, Curry echoed Kerr's sentiments. He's averaging over 34 points per game on better than 50-40-90 shooting while also at times guarding the other team's best player. One key to watch? If Portland steals a game or two early, will Golden State feel pressure to rush Durant back before he's fully recovered? And if that happens, what kind of toll might that take on Durant moving forward not only in this series, but for potentially an NBA Finals matchup against either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kawhi Leonard? Andre Iguodala vs. Portland in 2018-19 (three games): 4.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.7 blocks (in 21.9 mpg) Curry and Thompson might get most of the credit for that Game 6 win, but the Warriors simply do not win without Iguodala who hit five timely threes while also recording five steals. He also played 38 minutes and averaged just under 35 minutes per game, far more than he did during the 1st Round (25.7) or regular season (23.2). Golden State's bench is shallow and the Warriors are relying heavily on the 35-year old Iguodala who has risen to the occasion. Can he continue to hold up carrying this significant of a load? Seth Curry vs. Golden State in 2018-19 (four games): 6.8 points (36.4 3P%), 1.8 rebounds (in 16.4 mpg) It's impossible to talk about this series without hitting on the fact that this will be the first time in NBA history that brothers will face off in the Conference Finals.<doc-sep>In a matchup little expected, the Portland Trail Blazers will face off against the Golden State Warriors with a spot in the 2019 NBA Finals on the line. Prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, many had expected a rematch of the 2018 Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets to take place once again this year. Due to a reshuffling of the seeding towards the end of the regular season, that matchup was gifted to fans in the second round. In Houston’s place, the Portland Trail Blazers took advantage of a golden opportunity to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. Looking to avenge last season’s crushing playoff sweep, Portland won 50-plus games for the first time in four years. Once starting big man Jusuf Nurkic broke his leg in late March though, any hope of a deep postseason run seemed lost. On the backbone of their star backcourt, the Blazers powered on. They soundly defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in round one before sneaking by the Denver Nuggets in a tough seven-game second round series, including a defining Game 7 victory on the road. https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1127941612854763520 The Warriors were always supposed to be at this point, but the road traveled has been littered with unexpected potholes. Despite facing off in the 1-8 matchup, it took the Dubs six games to take down the star-less Los Angeles Clippers, including falling victim to a historic 31-point comeback in Game 2. Kevin Durant would suffer a strained right calf late in a crucial Game 5 of their conference semifinal matchup with the Rockets. Golden State still managed to pull out a five-point road victory in Game 6 to clinch the series. This season has already been a successful one for the Blazers, yet it’s also one they would like to extend by eliminating a team they’ve fallen victim to twice in postseasons past. With KD’s injury, no scenario is that outlandish in the final four of these 2019 NBA Playoffs, which could create even more drama in what has already been a truly exciting postseason.<doc-sep>The Golden State Warriors haven’t outwardly cared about a regular season game since they broke the record for wins back in 2016. So I’ll understand if you think it’s a waste of time to review that. Yet as we wait for the 2019 Western Conference Finals to begin and we sift through all the elements of this series, I figured we might as well run through what has already transpired. And given that the Blazers won two of the last three regular season meetings — and four of the last seven regular season meetings over the last two seasons! — it might be helpful to look back and what happened against our conference finals opponent in the recent past. Warriors vs. Blazers season series 2018-19 Season Score Head-to-Head 2018-19 Season Score Head-to-Head Nov 23, 2018 125 - 97 103-123 Dec 27, 2018 109 - 110 OT 103-124 Dec 29, 2018 115 - 105 104-124 Feb 13, 2019 107 - 129 104-102 Let’s just run through a few of the highlights from the season series between these two. The December loss to Portland was ... strange Justin Mak summarized the December 27 loss to the Blazers pretty well by writing, “...the game became derailed [...] with a number of strange events — things that probably won’t occur for the next several seasons.” You can call the writers at Golden State of Mind homers all you want — I mean, it’s right in the name so it’s hard to refute that — but he’s probably right about that. In fact, I’ll go further: we probably won’t see a game like that ever again. The Golden State Warriors, who have won three championships anchored by a backcourt duo nicknamed the Splash Brothers for their shooting prowess, shot 29.5% on 44 3-point attempts that night. And Jannelle Moore described another aspect of their shooting that night that was even more bizarre in her analysis of the game: When they get to the line, the Warriors are arguably the best free throw shooting team in the league. On the year, Stephen Curry is shooting 94 percent. Kevin Durant is shooting 93 percent while Klay Thompson is shooting 83 percent. Last night, the trio shot a combined 4-for-11. The Blazers committed 18 fouls. The Warriors should have made them pay at the line, but they didn’t. The Warriors shot 6-for-15 overall from the free throw line that night, which is pretty devastating in a one-point loss. You could probably guess that’s extremely uncharacteristic for the Warriors, but context helps: their 40% free throw percentage that night was the fifth-worst free throw shooting night for any NBA team in the last 35 seasons, according to NBA.com/stats (even more bizarre, the worst free throw shooting performance in that span also occurred this season...and it was when the same Warriors shot 37.5% against the Denver Nuggets on April 2). Yet the strangeness didn’t stop there, to underscore Justin’s point. The AP recap includes this nugget: A series of silly mistakes followed: Thompson made a steal and threw it toward midcourt and Green couldn’t keep the ball from going over the line for a backcourt violation, as Portland regained possession. Then, Green clanked a one-handed dunk try off the back of the rim. This after he had earlier thrown a pass off Thompson’s head. Then there was this play near the end of regulation when Curry’s superpowers ended up turning against him (and the team). This doesn't count, but it should pic.twitter.com/g07WQQ6Amx — Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 28, 2018 I mean, what? ! You couldn’t make this stuff up. It was a weird game and was easily among the most bizarre losses of the season. Maybe you can dismiss all of that and take something from that game, but I’m at a loss. Lillard is very efficient against the Warriors I’ve seen and heard a few Warriors fans say they preferred to play the Nuggets instead of the Blazers in the conference finals due to their fear of Oakland native Damian Lillard. That’s not unreasonable. Damian Lillard scored 28.3 points per game against the Warriors in his four games against the team this season, which is just a few points more than his scoring average overall. But he scored those points on 50% 3-point shooting and a true shooting percentage of .622. The performance you might best remember this season is the time he scored 40 points on 14-for-23 shooting two days after that bizarre game described above. But if you’re from the Bay Area — or even a fan of the Bay Area — and I need to sell you on how dangerous Lillard is, I’m gonna question your basketball knowledge and just suggest you study up. Dude’s a problem and it’s not hard to imagine him winning a game in this series by sheer force of will. Nurkic was very good against the Warriors Jusuf Nurkic averaged 20.3 points per game and 10 rebounds a game in four games against the Warriors this season. That included a huge 27 points on 10-for-18 shooting in that wild game on December 27. Thomas Bevilacqua summarized Nurkic’s impact against the Warriors in his analysis after the December 29 game. While Looney did an admirable job against Nurkic, the Trail Blazers’ big man had his way with the Warriors for much of Saturday night’s game. Nurkic scored 21 points against the Warriors while grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 7 assists. This game came off the heels of his 27-point, 12-rebound performance in Thursday night’s overtime win. That Nurkic was able to turn in these performances is perhaps emblematic of one problem the Warriors have been dealing with for much of this season. Centers who aren’t afraid to mix it up in the paint can really hurt the Warriors. And Portland will really feel Nurkic’s absence this series as he was a major weapon for them both scoring and on the boards. The Blazers have gotten improved offensive rebounding contributions from Al-farouq Aminu, Mo Harkless, and Meyers Leonard during the playoffs while Evan Turner has led the team in defensive rebounding percentage in limited minutes.<doc-sep>
The Western Conference Finals matchup is set as the Golden State Warriors will take on the Portland Trail Blazers. Game 1 will take place on Tuesday, May 14 in Oakland at 9 p.m. Eastern. It will also be the same day as the NBA lottery. Despite the Warriors closing out the series without Kevin Durant, Draymond Green noted the team still needs KD. “We still need KD back. But we can get him back now,” Green told The Athletic. With or without Durant, the Warriors are still the favorite to be NBA champions once again thanks to Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. The Blazers and Warriors split their four games during the regular season. Portland represented a much more difficult test as the two teams split their four regular-season matchups. The Blazers won their last contest in February by 21 points. Golden State awaited the winner of the Portland and Denver series. The Blazers appeared to offer a more formidable opponent based on past games along with the offensive firepower of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Golden State took three of four games against Denver, and most of the matchups resulted in blowouts. Golden State is still likely to be heavy favorites in both the series and Game 1. The series offers an exciting matchup between Curry and Lillard. The two All-Stars trolled each other over workout videos before the season started. Damian Lillard Will Take on His Hometown Team Lillard grew up in Oakland and will take on his hometown team in the Western Conference Finals. Green noted last month that Lillard plays “like a guy from Oakland.” “He can score the ball with the best of them,” Green noted to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Dame has a chip on his shoulder. Has since the day he walked into this league. He play like a guy from Oakland, with a chip on his shoulder. A guy who’s been doubted forever. That showed up in a major way in that series.” Here is a look at the Western Conference Finals schedule for the Blazers and Nuggets. Western Conference Finals 2019 DATE GAME TIME(ET)/TV Tues., May 14 Blazers vs. Warriors Game 1 9 p.m. ESPN Thurs., May 16 Blazers vs. Warriors Game 2 9 p.m. ESPN Sat., May 18 Warriors vs. Blazers Game 3 9 p.m. ESPN Mon., May 20 Warriors vs. Blazers Game 4 9 p.m. ESPN Wed., May 22 Blazers vs. Warriors Game 5 9 p.m. ESPN Fri., May 24 Warriors vs. Blazers Game 6 9 p.m. ESPN Sun., May 26 Blazers vs. WarriorsGame 7 9 p.m. ESPN Blazers vs. Warriors Pick: Golden State in 6 Games.