NBA conference finals: Predictions for Celtics-Cavaliers, Warriors-Spurs

The conference finals are here.

Can the Boston Celtics give the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers some trouble? Will the San Antonio Spurs slow down the Golden State freight train? Or are we bound for a Warriors-Cavs NBA Finals three-quel?

The USA TODAY Sports NBA crew weighs in.

Boston Celtics (1) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (2)

Sam Amick: Cavaliers in five

Jeff Zillgitt: Cavaliers in five

Michael Singer: Cavaliers in five

AJ Neuharth-Keusch: Cavaliers in five

How's that for consensus? The defending champs have yet to lose a game this postseason, and while we expect Boston — who just finished a seven-game series with the Washington Wizards — to prevent Cleveland from rolling into the NBA Finals with a perfect 12-0 mark, they won't do much more. The Cavaliers went 3-1 against the Celtics in the regular season, including a 114-91 rout on April 5, and at the end of the day, this fully-rested LeBron James-led unit is simply too strong and too experienced to fall short of a third consecutive trip to the Finals.

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Golden State Warriors (1) vs. San Antonio Spurs (2)

Sam Amick: Warriors in five

Jeff Zillgitt: Warriors in six

Michael Singer: Warriors in seven

AJ Neuharth-Keusch: Warriors in six

Note: These picks were made before opening tip of Game 1 — a 113-111 Warriors win — but were held until the Eastern Conference finals matchup was set after Boston's Game 7 win on Monday night. 

The Warriors are the more talented team from top to bottom and the season-ending injury to Tony Parker severely hampers the Spurs' offense, but we originally expected this to be a highly-competitive series regardless. That was before Kawhi Leonard reaggravated his left ankle injury in Game 1, leading San Antonio to squander a 25-point lead.

Leonard's status for Game 2 and beyond is still up in the air, and — as Spurs coach Gregg Popovich noted in Monday's rant — San Antonio will be at a serious disadvantage if their two-way star isn't on the floor. If Leonard can play at 80 percent of what he's capable of, the Spurs could make this interesting, but it won't change the final outcome.

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