NBA playoff overview: Warriors seek 5th title in 9 years

For theGolden State Warriors, it’s a drive for five, as in fivechampionships in nine years. It’s a similar thought for LeBronJames, as the NBA’s all-time points leader is set to resume hisquest for a fifth ring.

And for abunch of other teams, just one ring would satisfy.

The NBAplayoffs start Saturday, with Milwaukee as the No. 1 team in theEastern Conference and holder of home-court advantage throughoutthe postseason, and Denver as the No. 1 seed in the WesternConference for the first time.

“Every year,I mean, it’s tough,” said James, who helped the Los Angeles Lakersget back to the playoffs despite a topsy-turvy year marred byinjuries and slumps. “There’s too many great teams, too many greatplayers. Every year is tough. No matter if you’re the 1 seed or the8 seed, every single year is tough.”

The defendingchampion Warriors open on the road, albeit not far from home, asthey take on Sacramento — one of the feel-good stories in the NBAthis season, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2006.Kings first-year coach Mike Brown was part of the Warriors’ staffunder Steve Kerr for years, and brought that championship cultureto Sacramento.

They’ve beentalking playoffs all year. But Brown knows that words only go sofar.

“At the endof the day, the best teacher is going to be the actually goingthrough it and seeing how you hold up to things that come your way,especially the adversity,” Brown said.

The Warriorsknow what that means. They opened the season with a ring ceremony,and that was about the last thing that went according to plan. Theydidn’t get over the .500 mark for good until late February.

But ifthere’s another title, the Warriors know all the struggles will beforgotten.

“When you’recoming off a championship and lacing ’em back up, you’recelebrating what you accomplished,” Warriors guard Stephen Currysaid. “But every time you step foot on the floor and practice andget ready for the games and everything that we’ve been through thisyear, it’s all about the goal at the end of the year of having anopportunity to go chase another one.”

Some of thetop playoff hopefuls had less-rocky paths to the playoffs.Milwaukee — champions two years ago, with much of the same core now— was at or near the top of the East all season. In some order, theEast 1-2-3 has been the Bucks, defending East champion Boston andtitle-starved Philadelphia since mid-January.

The Bucksdealt with injuries, the Celtics dealt with a preseason coachingchange, and neither was derailed. A title for Boston would be thefranchise’s 18th, breaking a tie with the Lakers for the most inNBA history. And the Celtics have not forgotten the pain of losinglast year’s finals.

“We’veessentially been waiting for this moment, getting to the playoffs,”Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “The group is locked in, thegroup is focused, everybody’s back healthy, so we’re just preparingthe right way. ... Now, it’s here. We’re all excited and ready forthe moment.”

The moment —and the ring — are all that matters. Just ask Bucks star GiannisAntetokounmpo.

“This is whatwe need,” he shouted to Bucks fans earlier this month, pointing tohis ring finger. “We need a second one.”

Some need afirst.

Chris Paulstill doesn’t have a ring, even though he and the Phoenix Suns ledthe Bucks 2-0 in the finals two years ago. So now, he and DevinBooker have Kevin Durant — a two-time champion and three-timeOlympic gold medalist — alongside them to try and win it all. TheSuns drew Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers in Round1.

“We’re readyto go,” Booker said.

Denver — aNo. 1 seed, a team that moved into first in the West a few daysbefore Christmas and stayed there the rest of the way — has atwo-time (and possibly soon-to-be three-time) MVP in Nikola Jokic,and has the best regular-season record in the West over the lastfive years.

And yet, fewbelieve;FanDuelSportsbookhas Denver tied for the third-best odds to winthe West and the fifth-best odds to win the NBA title.

“Thepressure, that I have, is pressure I put on myself,” Nuggets coachMichael Malone said. “You’re never going to be able to put anypressure on me. This is my job, this is my livelihood, I love myjob and we as an organization put pressure on ourselves to win achampionship. That’s what motivates us.”

James knowsthat motivation. He’s been running off it for most of his 20-yearcareer.

“That’s theonly reason I play still, is to try to put myself in a position tomake championship runs and give teammates that never been a part ofa championship run something they haven’t experienced before,”James said. “It has not changed for me, I would say, since about2006, ’7. That’s just been my mindset every year: How can I make achampionship run?”

He knows theway. So do the Warriors.

One step at atime, Curry insists. Game 1’s of Round 1 are Saturday and Sunday.Titles will not be won nor lost this weekend. It’s a marathon, aswas the regular season when a slew of teams got off to slow starts— the Lakers were 2-10, the Warriors were 3-7, the 76ers were 0-3,the Kings 0-4, Brooklyn 1-5 — and made the playoffs anyway.

Lock in, asCurry says. It’s ring time.

“It’sextremely hard to do what we’ve done,” Curry said, “and what we’regoing to try to do.”