Want to know what time the 2019 NBA Western Conference Finals start and what channel to find it? Here’s a schedule of the 7-game series (if necessary) between the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trailblazers. The series starts on Tuesday, May 14 at 9:00 PM Eastern (6:00 PM Pacific). On TV, you can find the entire Western Conference Finals on ESPN (Be sure to watch ESPN in HD. See this guide.) Or, you can stream the games on ESPN.com or the ESPN app for tablets and smartphones. NBA 2019 Western Conference Finals Schedule Tue, May 14 Golden State vs Portland 9:00 PM (ET) 6:00 PM (PT) ESPN Thu, May 16 Golden State vs Portland ESPN 9:00 PM (ET) 6:00 PM (PT) Sat, May 18 Golden State @ Portland 9:00 PM (ET) 6:00 PM (PT) ESPN Mon, May 20 Golden State @ Portland 9:00 PM (ET) 6:00 PM (PT) ESPN Wed, May 22* Golden State vs Portland 9:00 PM (ET) 6:00 PM (PT) ESPN Fri, May 24* Golden State @ Portland 9:00 PM (ET) 6:00 PM (PT) ESPN Sun, May 26* Golden State vs Portland 9:00 PM (ET) 6:00 PM (PT) ESPN * if necessary Also See: NBA 2019 Eastern Conference Finals Schedule<doc-sep>Portland Trail Blazers’ CJ McCollum, left, and Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson reach for the ball during the first half of Game 1 of the NBA basketball playoffs Western Conference finals Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry made nine 3-pointers and scored 36 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 116-94 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals while playing without injured star Kevin Durant once again. Curry shot 12 for 23 in his fourth 30-point performance this postseason, finding far more open looks than he had in the last round against Houston. The two-time NBA MVP outplayed the Portland duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who combined to go 11 for 31 facing a strong Golden State defense. Klay Thompson had 26 points, including a late one-handed slam. Draymond Green established the energy on both ends early for the well-rested Warriors and finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. Lillard scored 19 points back home in Oakland, just miles away from where he grew up. McCollum had 17. Watch AJ McCord’s Courtside Chats before and after Game 2 on KOIN.com and on KOIN’s Facebook page Warriors guard Steph Curry and Blazers guard Seth Curry are the first siblings to face each other in an NBA conference final — a dilemma most any parent would love. Dell and his wife, Sonya, decided wearing a split jersey with the Warriors and Blazers would be “too easy.” Instead, they’ll flip a coin before each game in the best-of-seven series to determine which team they’ll represent. Multnomah County Commission Chair Deborah Kafoury tweeted the Morrison Bridge will be lit up in red and white Tuesday night for the Blazers. FREE WATCH PARTY 🎉 Cheer on the @trailblazers with the best fans in the NBA as we broadcast Games 1 & 2 on our 30 foot screen by the fountain outside of the Moda Center. Arrive early to watch the pregame shows, grab food or beverages from Dr. Jacks, and other Blazer activities! pic.twitter.com/BOu7aOvq88— Moda Center (@ModaCenter) May 13, 2019 KOIN 6 News contributed to this report.<doc-sep>OAKLAND — What would have happened if the Warriors actually tried Tuesday? In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals Tuesday, Golden State turned in what was effectively a lax, regular-season effort. They still beat the Blazers by 22 points. What would have gone down had the Warriors played more than five, maybe 10 minutes of focused, playoff-caliber basketball? Would they have won by 30? What about 40? Yes, these two teams might be meeting with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line, but Game 1 proved what I suspected all along: these West Finals are simply not a fair fight. The Blazers just don’t have the players to match up with Golden State — even without Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins in the fold. On top of that, they don’t have the schemes to get the most out of the guys they have. Within the first few possessions of Game 1, it was clear that the Warriors would be able to coast to victory. Sure enough, they did just that, only turning on the jets for a few moments at the end of the contest to reward an otherwise sleepy crowd for an otherwise unremarkable — but comfortable — performance. Yes, the all-important first game of what has routinely been an epic series felt far more like a mid-January game with a few players resting. The Warriors clearly didn’t fear the Blazers coming into this series, and they found no reason to change their minds in Game 1. The truth was in the rotations. After fighting to get anything out of his bench for the first five games of the Warriors’ tough-fought series win over the Rockets in the last round, Golden State coach Steve Kerr used an 11-man rotation on Tuesday. Players like Quinn Cook, Jonas Jerebko, and Jordan Bell were not getting break-glass-in-case-of-emergency, treading-water minutes — no, they were getting prescribed run, just like it was a meaningless regular-season game. (In Bell and Cook’s cases, they weren’t even getting run in some of those games.) That plan worked just fine, too — the Warriors’ bench scored as many points (36) as the Blazers’ star backcourt, every Warrior bench player had a positive plus-minus rating, and the Warriors’ Core Four averaged 34 minutes of playing time, essentially half a quarter of playing time less than they took on in the series against Houston. When asked — and then pressed — about the deep rotation after the game, Kerr was diplomatic: “It’s a different game,” Kerr said, comparing these West Finals to the second-round matchup with Houston. “Every team presents different challenged. There’s different matchups. The way Houston plays, it makes it more difficult to play a lot of people.” But the real answer was obvious. Kerr can’t say it — he’s too nice a guy and too many people were watching — but I will: the real difference in the matchup between Houston and Portland is that Houston has much, much better players. In the coming hours, excuses will be made for Portland. The most common one will surely be that the Blazers were tired for Game 1, having played a tough game against the Denver Nuggets Sunday afternoon in the Mile High City. Indeed, it wouldn’t be hard to find moments when the Blazers’ legs weren’t under them Tuesday. But I’m not sure when the Blazers will get the rest they apparently need — games come every other day in this series — and I’m curious as to where people think they’ll find more points. Blazers guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are the Blazers’ only serious offensive threats, and they faced a steady diet of Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala, respectively, when they handled the ball in Game 1. It seems so easily forgotten, but defense matters — especially in the playoffs — and the Warriors have two of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. And if either of those guys failed to contain Lillard or McCollum — we are in the freedom of movement era, after all — Draymond Green and Kevon Looney were right behind them. They’re pretty good at defense too. The big men always seemed to be in perfect help-side position, because they didn’t have to take the other Blazers seriously and could cheat on position. It was almost as if the Warriors were playing zone. Against Houston, the Warriors had to mark everyone on the floor, making it dangerous to double-team or over-commit help-side defense to stop James Harden or Chris Paul. Against the Blazers Tuesday, the Warriors treated the Portland spot-up shooters like they didn’t exist, because in the Blazers’ offense, they kind of don’t — Lillard and McCollum don’t trust their supporting cast enough to drive and kick, so instead, they take a steady diet of long step-backs and contested shots in the lane. That’s unlikely to change in Game 2 and beyond. But sure, the Blazers’ backcourt will be able to combine for the necessary 65-plus points per game doing that… That nonsense worked against the Nuggets, but it won’t fly against the Warriors’ defense — even one is yet to really put on the clamps. On the other side of the court, the Blazers’ defensive strategy was to leave Stephen Curry — the greatest 3-point shooter of all time — wide open. No, that’s not hyperbole. Because of injury, the Blazers are starting the worst pick-and-roll defensive big in the NBA, Enes Kanter, in this series, while the Warriors, without Durant in the lineup, are running a lot of pick-and-roll. The result was predictable, but it was interesting to see it play out, nevertheless. Instead of blitzing Curry with a double-team when he came off the pick, the Blazers instead opted to drop Kanter into the lane, as to dissuade Curry from driving to the basket. The only problem with that strategy is that it often left Curry with yards — again, I mean this literally — of free space to shoot a 3. And that’s not a defensive strategy, that’s a death wish. Terry Stotts on his decision to drop the bigs vs Steph Curry… pic.twitter.com/64T7tVgFHd — Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 15, 2019 Curry made nine of his 15 3-point attempts Tuesday. Half of them were comically wide open. But when the Blazers brought another person into the fray to cover for Kanter, they merely set up a 4-on-3. Only in this case, Curry still has the ball. Say what you will about the defense in the last two rounds, but at least the Clippers and Rockets — by virtue of blitzing Curry — forced Green to handle the ball. The Warriors scored 116 points in Game 1, but frankly, that seemed like a low output, given what the Blazers’ defensive was giving them. Overall, they were rushed and unfocused on most offensive possessions, and yet they still shot 50 percent from the floor and 51.5 percent from beyond the arc. It’s going to take one inspired effort from the Blazers, paired with a next-level letdown from the Warriors, for Portland to steal even a game in this series. Perhaps that happens — we’ve certainly seen both parts of that formula play out separately — but I was told by respectable people coming into this series that the West Finals would be respectable. One of the arguments I heard was that the Blazers played the Warriors well in the regular season. Yes, that alone was enough for some to think that this series could be interesting. Related Articles Warriors and their fans have been part of NBA’s fans vs. players problem Steve Kerr admits he can’t stop thinking about Klay Thompson’s return Andrew Wiggins wants to play in the Olympics. Will Steph Curry appear in his first Games? Kurtenbach: The Warriors can’t make the same mistake again this offseason Warriors exit interviews: Wiseman in future plans, help for Curry, the Klay-Oubre puzzle and more When presented with that argument Monday, Thompson issued a pithy and unimpeachable retort: “It’s playoff time, though.” Yes, this is an entirely different ballgame — one the Warriors know oh so well.<doc-sep>
Eric Christian Smith/Associated Press The Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors earned valuable days off after clinching their respective conference semifinal series in five and six games. The top-seeded Bucks await the winner of Sunday's Game 7 between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Golden State's Western Conference Finals opponent will be the victor of Game 7 between Denver and Portland, which is the first of two series-deciding games Sunday. The Warriors have three days off before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals Tuesday, while the Bucks start the Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday after six days off. Dates and TV Info for NBA Conference Finals Video Play Button Videos you might like Golden State Trying to Get Healthy The Warriors finished off their series with the Houston Rockets without Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins on the floor. Of course, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala are solid players in their own right, and they proved that in Friday's Game 6 victory. Between now and the first tip of the Western Conference Finals, the focus will be on Golden State's injured duo. Marc Stein of the New York Times reported Cousins is on course to return to the active roster if he maintains the progress he has made working back from a torn quad. According to ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski, Durant suffered a mild right calf strain and will be re-evaluated next week. The good news for the Warriors is they will not have to rush Cousins or Durant back on to the floor if they keep playing like they did in Game 6. Easing both stars back into the lineup is the ideal strategy, and if they prove they are able to perform on the court, they could be key contributors in the NBA Finals. Brogdon Working Back to 100 Percent Milwaukee is dealing with its own injury woes with the Eastern Conference Finals on the horizon. Malcolm Brogdon has been working his way back to 100 percent, but he is not guaranteed of a starting spot when Wednesday rolls around. Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters that Brogdon needs more game action to recover from a minor plantar fascia tear, per ESPN.com's Malika Andrews. "He needs more game minutes, more game action," Budenholzer said. "We plan to continue to increase Malcolm's workload and minutes. To say exactly how it's going to play out—the next step will be him playing a little bit more in Game 1." Brogdon does not have to be rushed into the starting five for Game 1 because the Bucks have received plenty of impressive performances from other role players. Nikola Mirotic, who has started in place of Brogdon, George Hill, Ersan Ilyasova and Pat Connaughton all reached double digits in the series-clinching Game 5 win over Boston. If the supporting cast behind Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to thrive, the Bucks will be in great shape to advance to the NBA Finals. Unfortunately not all the injury news is positive in Milwaukee, as Pau Gasol underwent surgery for a stress fracture in his foot Thursday, per the team's official website. Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from NBA.com.