Nothing can shade these ‘playoffs’ of the NBA, to the confrontation that will live two of the great stars of the competition. Lebron James and stephen curry will meet in one of the semifinals of the western conferencethe one that will live los angeles lakers and Golden State Warriors Starting this Tuesday, the best of seven games (2-2-1-1-1 format) with home court advantage for the defending champions. Both are chasing their fifth championship ring.
The pulse between Curry and LeBrontwo players curiously born in the same town Akron, OHthree years apart (‘King James’ has turned 38, three more than the point guard) will recover for the League one of the most exciting rivalries that have been experienced in the last decade: the four consecutive NBA finals between 2015 and 2018 that the cavaliers, then the team LeBron. The balance is favorable to Curry for 3-1. But the lonely title of the cavsthat of 2016, had a gigantic value, historical overtones, and consecrated LeBron in his land, after coming back from a 3-1 adverse to win the seventh game in Oakland and put on the third ring in its history.
Two teams reborn
No one, at the beginning of the title qualifiers, would have dared to bet on the Los Angeles team, after an erratic season, which changed unexpectedly with the transfers in the February market. the march of Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley, the two main references of the six departures, and the arrival of middle-class players (D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt…) has triggered the consistency of the team Darwin Harm, who had to overcome a ‘playin’ eliminatory against Minnesota Timberwolves to access the seventh place in the West and that he has finally left out in the first round, the Santi Aldama’s Memphis Grizzlies, that they had completed a splendid regular season.
They did not seem to arrive in a good line either. warriors to the playoffs for the title and the surprising Sacramento Kings, champions of the Pacific Division, they put them against the ropes taking the first two games. But the return of Andrew Wiggins after two months off due to a personal issue, and the indisputable prominence of Steph Curry revitalized Golden State. His 50 points in the seventh game of the tie are historic and have allowed the Warriors to recover their best image, who once again look like the champion team from a season ago.
The calendar
The Warriors and Lakers series will open at dawn from Tuesday to Wednesday (04:00).
2nd match: Thursday, May 4 in San Francisco
3rd match: Saturday May 6 in Los Angeles
4th match: Monday, May 8 in Los Angeles
The fifth, sixth and seventh, if necessary, would alternate starting with the Warriors court.