The NBA playoffs are finally here. And as LeBron James says, ‘it’s a sprint now’

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer

There’s a 64-win team in Boston that ran away with the league’s best record. The defending champions in Denver, a group that won 57 games. A fearless young bunch in Oklahoma City, whose No. 1 seed was no fluke. A trio of Villanova alums in New York, who turned the Knicks into a real contender. And, once again, there’s LeBron James, too. The NBA playoffs are about to begin with the Celtics and Nuggets the heavy favorites to collide in the Finals, and no shortage of teams have realistic belief that they can win the whole thing as well.