Boston has a 64-win club that leads the league in wins. Denver’s defending champions have won 57 games. A bold young team in Oklahoma City, whose No. 1 seed was no fluke. A trio of Villanova alumni in New York transformed the Knicks into a legitimate contender.

Once again, there’s LeBron James.

The NBA Playoffs Are Finally Here. And As LeBron James Says, ‘It’s A Sprint Now’

The NBA playoffs are ready to begin, with the Celtics and Nuggets the big favorites — at least according to BetMGM Sportsbook — to meet in the Finals, and there are plenty of teams who believe they can win the whole thing. After a seven-month buildup that included training camp, a preseason, the regular season, the first NBA Cup, and a play-in tournament, the league finally wakes up on Saturday with 16 clubs left in contention for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

“Come Saturday, there are 15 other teams that want what we have,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “We have the world championship trophy and everybody’s trying to take it from us.”

Let the games begin. The Nuggets are attempting to become the sixth franchise to win back-to-back championships, with the majority of last season’s core returning this year, including likely NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. They’ll begin their quest against the Lakers and James, who is chasing his fifth championship and has never concealed that this is, by far, the most important time of year for him.

“There ain’t no more pace,” said the 39-year-old James, the league’s oldest active player and all-time scoring leader who is looking for his fifth NBA championship. “What are you pacing yourself for? Now it’s time to sprint. It’s a sprint now. We already completed the marathon.”

Round 1 begins on Saturday, with four games: Orlando at Cleveland, Phoenix at Minnesota, Philadelphia at New York, and the Los Angeles Lakers at Denver. On Sunday, four more Game 1s are scheduled: Miami at Boston in a rematch of the previous two East finals, Dallas at the Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana at Milwaukee, and New Orleans at Oklahoma City.

The Thunder won 22 games three seasons ago, and 24 games the following year. Those days are long gone: 40 victories last season demonstrated potential, and 57 wins this season — with no full-time starter above the age of 25 — indicate that OKC’s time may have come.

“It means a little more, how we got here, for sure,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder guard who has averaged 30.1 points this season and is a legitimate MVP candidate. “But at the end of the day, I suppose it’s home-court advantage until the Finals. That’s always a plus when you have a home court like ours.”

They are young, brash, and undeniably entertaining. When asked why he wasn’t wearing his division title T-shirt when the Thunder clinched the No. 1 seed, Thunder guard Jalen Williams responded, “This leather jacket cost a lot,” eliciting laughter.

The Thunder were not expected to be in this situation; they were assigned 100-1 odds to win the NBA championship when the season began. Boston is an entirely different tale; the Celtics met and beyond expectations.

The NBA Playoffs Are Finally Here. And As LeBron James Says, ‘It’s A Sprint Now’

All Boston did this season was post the fifth-best record in franchise history, which is a significant accomplishment for any team, but especially for one as legendary as the Celtics. Three of the four Boston teams with the best regular season records went on to win NBA championships.

“You can’t even expect to be a 64-win team,” Celtics President Brad Stevens explained. “That’s a really difficult level to meet, no matter how good you are, how well organized you are as a coach, or how many alternatives you have as a player. That’s just difficult to do.”

The Celtics have no visible weaknesses, finishing the season ranked first in offensive rating, second in points per game, third in defensive rating, and fifth in points allowed per game. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis all finished with at least 20 points per game; only two earlier Celtics teams had three 20-point scorers in a single season. They also added Jrue Holiday – a U.S. Olympian this summer, like Tatum — in the offseason to help lead a defense designed for this time of year.

“Everybody has that right mindset,” Celtics guard Derrick White said. “We’re looking forward to this.”

The Knicks lost Julius Randle but have continued to ascend, powered by the Villanova trio of MVP candidate Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo. They face a blockbuster first-round series against Joel Embiid and the 76ers, who were competing for a top-2 seed before Embiid was injured and missed much of the season.

“We just focus on getting better every day,” Brunson explained.

The Thunder, Indiana (the league’s best scoring club this season), and Orlando are all making their playoff debuts for the first time since 2020. Indiana faces a Milwaukee team that will be without star Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the Magic face a Cleveland team that has not won a playoff series without James since 1993.

The NBA Playoffs Are Finally Here. And As LeBron James Says, ‘It’s A Sprint Now’

“We’re going to enjoy this,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said, “because they deserve to.”

The title will most likely go to one of Boston, Oklahoma City, Denver, New York, Milwaukee, or Minnesota. Since 1984, 39 of the 40 NBA champions have begun the playoffs as the first, second, or third seed in their conference.

Having saying that, this year has been somewhat unpredictable. And, as always, the playoffs are full of surprises.

“The reality is we’re going to have to play well on Sunday,” Stevens told reporters. “And beyond.”

SOURCE – (AP)