Kevin Love is done. Kyrie Irving is hobbling like Uncle Drew in the set-up scenes. But the Cavaliers remain second on the Vegas board at 13/5 odds as the NBA heads into the conference finals simply because of LeBron James. The Warriors are a heavy favorite at 4/7. The Hawks (9/1) and Rockets (10/1) are long shots.
Stephen Curry and James Harden finished 1-2 in the MVP voting. Curry hasn't reached the NBA Finals and Harden did it as a sixth man with Thunder, while LeBron has won twice in five trips. Given the cities, players and storylines involved, most of the nation figures to be pulling for a Warriors-Cavaliers matchup in the Finals. If the Cavaliers make it to the Finals, it would be the fifth consecutive appearance for LeBron. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird each had a run of four years. Michael Jordan had two championship three-peats but there were two seasons in between them.
Here's more discussion of LeBron and the rest of the NBA picture on The Rundown: