Plenty to savour as top four do battle for NBA glory

THE franchise with the most NBA titles. The best basketball player of his generation. The reigning champion. The probable MVP.

The NBA has its final four and the line-up certainly does not disappoint.

Cleveland and Boston tip off the Eastern Conference finals on Monday and the Warriors and Rockets start their West title series on Tuesday. And yes, the Cavaliers and Warriors are four wins away from a fourth consecutive meeting in the NBA finals.

LeBron James is still generally considered the best player on the planet even at 33 and in his 15th NBA season.

Cleveland’s star is trying to reach the NBA finals for the eighth consecutive season, something only four other players have done, and they were all Boston Celtics. James is already the NBA’s all-time playoff leader in points, steals and minutes played.

This is the eighth time Cleveland and Boston have met in the postseason.

Boston has won four of the previous seven meetings, but Cleveland has won the past two, including the East finals last season.

This is only the third Gold- en State-Houston playoff meeting, and all have come in the past four seasons. The Warriors are 2-0 in the series, winning both times in five games.

Golden State is trying to reach the NBA finals for the 10th time, a mark that two other franchises have reached. The Los Angeles Lakers have made the finals on 31 occasions (winning 16 titles), and the Celtics have gone 21 times (winning a league-high 17 titles).

If the Warriors successfully defend their NBA title, it will be their sixth.

Houston’s James Harden seems like the probable winner of the NBA’s MVP award this season, with the only other realistic candidate for honours probably James.