Five storylines to watch during the NBA play-offs

Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James enters the playoffs seeking a sixth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals and a burning desire to end the city of Cleveland's 52-year pro sports championship drought.

James, who won two titles in four trips to the NBA Finals with Miami before rejoining his hometown Cavaliers last season, came within two wins of ending Cleveland's drought last year but the weight of an undermanned team proved too much to handle.

With the team back at full health the Cavaliers earned the Eastern Conference's top seed despite rumours of discord among key players of the team. Cleveland are favourites to return to the NBA Finals but would have their hands full with whatever team represents the ultra-talented Western Conference.

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After etching their name in NBA history by surpassing the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls' hallowed benchmark of 72 wins in a single season, the Golden State Warriors (73-9) will look to cap a magical season with a second consecutive championship.

The core of last year's Warriors team remains intact, led by the league's leading scorer and reigning Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andrew Bogut.

A NBA Finals re-match with Cleveland, the East's top seed, seems a distinct possibility, but the Warriors must first get through a tricky Western Conference, where a San Antonio Spurs team that finished with six fewer wins could await in the penultimate round.

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Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder has done just about everything possible during the regular season but now one of the league's best players needs to check one key item off his NBA checklist - winning a championship - to cement his legacy.

In addition to proving himself as one of the most dangerous scorers in the NBA, Durant has been a rookie of the year and most valuable player, but the closest he's been to a league title is a 4-1 series loss to the Miami Heat in 2012.

Durant, who has always said an NBA title is the only trophy he truly cares about, has dodged all questions about his pending free agency this offseason but his burning desire for a maiden championship has fueled speculation that he could leave the Thunder if the season doesn't end in a championship.

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For nearly 20 years the Eastern Conference has been looked at by many as the ugly little sister to a Western Conference that has produced 12 of the last 17 NBA champions. The disparity has even prompted calls for a new playoff format.

But the East has enjoyed a bit of a revival this season and for the first time in nearly two decades the conference's eighth seed finished with a better record than their West counterpart.

The East's top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, powered by four-time league MVP LeBron James, are the conference's best shot at a title but talented teams like Toronto, Boston and Miami cold also make some noise.

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If the playoffs go according to seed, the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, by far the two best teams all season, will meet in a mouthwatering Western Conference final to determine which one earns the right to play for an NBA title.

The defending NBA champion Warriors are coming off a record-setting 73-win regular season while the Spurs (67-15) were not far behind and tied the league record for most home wins with 40, the only loss coming in their penultimate home game.

Anything less than a showdown between the Warriors and 2014 champion Spurs would be a disappointment.