LeBron James, Stephen Curry, MVP candidates open NBA title chase | NBA News – Times of India

LeBron James and Stephen Curry start their run at NBA championship No. 5 this weekend, with the logjam of ‘Most Valuable Player’ (MVP) candidates — Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo — also set to resume their title runs.
There are four games on Saturday, four more on Sunday, as the two-month push toward an NBA title begins. And one of the most anticipated first-round matchups will have Kevin Durant and his Phoenix Suns taking on Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers.
WHAT’S THE NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE?
Sacramento has waited almost 17 years for a playoff game. Fittingly, the Kings will have to wait through three other games Saturday before they finally get on the floor.
Saturday: Brooklyn at Philadelphia, then Atlanta at Boston, then New York at Cleveland, then Golden State at Sacramento.
Sunday: Los Angeles Lakers at Memphis, then either Miami or Chicago at Milwaukee, then the Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix, then either Minnesota or Oklahoma City at Denver.
WHO ARE THE FAVORITES?
Let’s start with this: FanDuel Sportsbook has odds that suggest it’ll be a Milwaukee vs. Phoenix matchup in the NBA Finals. The Bucks are the title favorites, and rightly so since they posted the NBA’s best regular-season record and have home-court advantage for the entirety of their stay in the postseason. Boston has the second-best odds of winning a title, followed by Phoenix third, Golden State fourth and Denver and Philadelphia tied for fifth.
The lower-seeded team is favored in every series — except the Golden State-Sacramento matchup, where FanDuel’s odds say the sixth-seeded Warriors are significant favorites over the third-seeded Kings.
For those that really want to plan ahead, FanDuel is also offering odds on the NBA draft. If you wanted to wager $5,000 on Victor Wembanyama being the No. 1 pick … you’d win $25 if you’re right.

WHAT ARE SOME TOP MATCHUPS?
There are some matchups with serious star power in the first round, including:
— LeBron James vs Ja Morant in the Lakers-Grizzlies series.
— Kawhi Leonard vs Kevin Durant in the Clippers-Suns series.
— Stephen Curry vs De’Aaron Fox in the Warriors-Kings series.
HOW TO WATCH
— NBA playoff games will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV.
— The NBA Finals will be broadcast on ABC beginning June 1
THE IN-LAWS
A few days with the in-laws awaits Brooklyn’s Seth Curry. His father-in-law is Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers; Seth Curry and his daughter Callie have been married since 2019.
RECAPPING THE SEASON
A look back at the regular season, where free-throw shooting set records and scoring came as easily as it has at any point in the last 50 years:
— Chronology of the season, including a pair of 71-point games from Donovan Mitchell and Damian Lillard.
— LeBron James passes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, becomes NBA all-time scoring leader.
QUOTABLE
“Can’t fast forward to the end of the race. That’s part of human nature and when you have experience of getting to the mountaintop and finishing the job, you understand how hard it is to do that and the amount of effort mentally and physically it takes to go through an 82-game season and four rounds of the playoffs.” — Warriors guard Stephen Curry, on the mental challenge of winning a title.
WHO ARE THE PLAYOFF REFEREES?
The NBA selected 36 referees for Round 1 of the playoffs, with Ray Acosta and Aaron Smith making their debuts as members of the playoff staff.
No women made the playoff list, though three came close. Lauren Holtkamp, Ashley Moyer-Gleich and Natalie Sago were all tabbed as playoff alternates.