The NBA Conference Finals got underway on Sunday afternoon and the action has been intense ever since.

The Boston Celtics outscored, outmaneuvered and outmuscled the Cleveland Cavaliers in an unexpected blowout win and, on Monday, the reigning champions Golden State Warriors proved their mettle in making the Houston Rockets look second-best on the night.

Boston came out with all cylinders firing in game one. They established a 61-35 halftime lead and ultimately won easily, 108-83. Jaylen Brown dropped 23 points with eight rebounds, Marcus Morris contributed 21 points with 10 rebounds, and Al Horford added 20 points with six assists in a game in which the Celtics shot over 50 per cent from the field. The Cavaliers, on the other hand, had an appalling shooting night, finishing four-of-26 from three-point range. LeBron James was limited to 15 total points (5-of-16 from the field) and was guilty of seven turnovers.

In what was commented (post-game) by James to be a “feel out game,” marked the 15th time in his illustrious postseason career that his team has dropped the first game of a series. However, while James may have completed his ‘feeling-out’ process in game one, the Cavaliers found the second half of game twoon Tuesday night a far cry from their shooting display in the series just ended against the Toronto Raptors. Shots that were falling in the previous series appeared to be repelling from the basketball hoop as if they were ‘like’ magnetic poles. James took control early in game two, scoring all of 21 points in the first quarter, before finishing with 42 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds (his record-tying 40th postseason triple-double). But that just wasn’t enough, as the Celtics survived James’ early onslaught and battled back from a first-half deficit to outscore their opponents 59-39 in the second half to take game two, 107-94. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 23 points, while six different players scored in double figures to power the Celtics’ offense.

The Cavaliers needed an exceptional effort from James to win game two; they got one and still didn’t win. James is 2-4 in play-off series where he’s trailed 0-2 (the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons and 2016 Finals against the Warriors being the only victories).

The Celtics are 9-0 at home in the play-offs this year and are 37-0 when leading a best-of-7 series 2-0. Game 3 of this series will take place on Saturday night in Cleveland and James, despite any superhuman effort he may produce, will need the energy of the home crowd and major assistance from his supporting cast if they are to avoid an early exit from this series. The Celtics were eliminated by the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals last year (4-1) and this series may be far from over, but the hole may be too deep for even ‘King James’ to climb out. Even without Kyrie Irving, a 4-2 series victory is anticipated for Boston.

The JustBet $1.28 favourite Golden State Warriors vs Houston Rockets game on Monday night averaged 8.8 million total viewers (in the United States) to register the most-watched Western Conference Finals Game one of all time. The game was eagerly anticipated and lived up to each heart-stopping minute. James Harden and the Rockets started on the front-foot and established an early lead, but the Warriors quickly shook off the cobwebs, erased the deficit and the game was tied going into half-time. In the third and fourth quarters, the Warriors turned the tables, imposed their will and ultimately snatched a 119-106 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.

Despite 41 points from Harden and 23 points from Chris Paul, the Rockets’ supporting cast struggled to hit three-pointers and missed several ‘easy’ shots around the rim. For the Warriors, reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant was almost unstoppable with 37 points and sharp-shooter Klay Thompson saved his best for late in the game with a 28-point contribution. The game was electric and the Rockets definitely have some answers for the Warriors, but there were far too many isolation plays for Harden to keep the toe-to-toe action going throughout the game.

In game two on Wednesday night, the tables turned dramatically and the Rockets laid a beat down on the Warriors in a 127-105 win to level the series 1-1. It was obvious that the isolation exhibition in game one was not going to help the Rockets in this series and that more help was needed from the role players if they had any hope to beat the Warriors. The role players answered the call in a major way. Harden and Eric Gordon each scored 27 points to lead a balanced attack. P J Tucker added a play-off career-high 22 and Trevor Ariza had 19, while Chris Paul put up 16 points (limping for most of the second half). The Rockets, however, had no answer for Durant, who racked up 38 points but got very little assistance from his teammates. Stephen Curry’s 16 points and Klay Thompson’s eight points aside, the Warriors committed far too many turnovers (especially in the first half) and missed ‘easy,’ point-blank lay-ups that they normally make in their sleep. The Rockets played well, but should be concerned that it took an almost perfect game from them and a poor performance from their opponents to carve the win.

The record-setting regular season of the Rockets ensured home-court advantage throughout these play-offs, but that is of very little consequence now. The Warriors, who are the second seed in the West, opened a play-off series away from home for the first time since 2014 when they lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 in the opening round.

The listing of remaining games for the Conference Finals are provided below and full details of all the betting options and odds are available at the nearest JustBet location or online at www.justbetja.com.

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS 2018

DATE TIME HOME TEAM AWAY TEAM

MAY 19 20:30 Cleveland Cavaliers Boston Celtics

GAME 3

MAY 21 20:30 Cleveland Cavaliers Boston Celtics

GAME 4

MAY 23 20:30 Boston Celtics Cleveland Cavaliers

GAME 5*

MAY 25 20:30 Cleveland Cavaliers Boston Celtics

GAME 6*

MAY 27 20:30 Boston Celtics Cleveland Cavaliers

GAME 7*

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS 2018

DATE TIME HOME TEAM AWAY TEAM

MAY 20 20:00 Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets

GAME 3

MAY 22 21:00 Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets

GAME 4

MAY 24 21:00 Houston Rockets Golden State Warriors

GAME 5*

MAY 26 21:00 Golden State Warriors Houston Rockets

GAME 6*

MAY 28 21:00 Houston Rockets Golden State Warriors

GAME 7*

*if necessary

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The JustBet odds for the NBA Conference Championships and Finals

are below. Please note that the odds are subject to change.

CONFERENCE WINNER 2017-2018

TEAM ODDS

EAST— CLE CAVALIERS 1.75

BOS CELTICS 1.95

WEST — GS WARRIORS 1.18

HOU ROCKETS 4.25

NBA CHAMPION 2017-2018

TEAM ODDS

GS WARRIORS 1.28

CLE CAVALIERS 9.50

BOS CELTICS 12.00

HOU ROCKETS 5.50

NBA CHAMPION 2017-2018

TEAM ODDS

GS WARRIORS 1.28

ANY OTHER 3.30

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