The Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors defeated the Portland Trail Blazers and Milwaukee Bucks in four- and six-game conference finals series, respectively. This is Golden State’s fifth straight NBA Finals appearance — the most consecutive trips to the title series in a half-century — while Toronto is there for the first time.

How they got here

Golden State: If you want an idea of how well-oiled this Warriors machine is, the two-time defending champions just swept the Western Conference finals without Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins. You don’t need to say much more than that.

They lost Cousins to a torn left quad in Game 2 of the first round and Durant to a right calf strain in Game 5 of the second round. Golden State is holding out hope both can return “at some point” in the Finals, but they may not even need them.

The Warriors even closed out the Blazers in Game 4 without Andre Iguodala, who was enjoying his annual playoff resurgence and unlocks all varieties of versatile lineups for coach Steve Kerr. Iguodala is expected to be ready to start this series.

More importantly, the Warriors still have Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the triumvirate that delivered the first championship in 2015 and won a record 73 regular-season games together in 2016. They have outscored opponents by an average of five points per 100 possessions over 440 minutes in these playoffs, regardless of who else is on the court with them. That is not the landslide margin we have come to expect from the Warriors, but with two of the greatest shooters in NBA history and a peak-looking Green, Golden State has looked downright unstoppable in their five games since Durant suffered his injury.

They looked more vulnerable against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round and through the first four games of their conference semifinals set with the Houston Rockets, but it’s hard to tell how much of that was this ridiculous collection of talent feeling they could coast to a fourth ring in five years without exerting max effort.

The absence of Durant created some urgency for these Warriors, and everyone has done well to respond, right on down to a bench that once seemed like a weakness. They have gotten contributions from everyone on the 15-man roster at some point in these playoffs, starting 11 different players, and fourth-year center Kevon Looney in particular has been a revelation. There is strength in numbers by the bay again.

Toronto: Kawhi Leonard has been incredible, doing his best Michael Jordan impression. That might be the long and short of how the Raptors have gotten here.

Toronto traded DeMar DeRozan in hopes of climbing out of the rut LeBron James stuck them in for the past few years, and here it is. The Raps made the Finals for the first time because Leonard made one of the greatest shots in NBA history to beat the Philadelphia 76ers at the buzzer of Game 7 in the second round, and then he owned MVP favorite Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Eastern Conference finals.

Entering Game 6 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Leonard was averaging 31.4 points on 51/41/89 shooting splits, with 8.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. The list of players to post those playoff numbers with that level of shooting efficiency (a 63.1 true shooting percentage) includes only LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

View photos Kawhi Leonard has a chance to be the best player in the NBA Finals again. (AP) More

That doesn’t even account for the fact that Leonard took on the burden of primarily defending Antetokounmpo after the Raptors lost the first two games to Milwaukee. In the series-swinging Games 3-5, Kawhi guarded Giannis for 112 possessions, holding one of the most dominating forces in the game to 21 points on 9-for-27 shooting and three assists against four turnovers. The Bucks — owners of the East’s best offense during both the regular season and playoffs — scored a putrid 83 points per 100 possessions when Leonard was defending Antetokounmpo.

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