Today at 3pm Eastern Time, the 2017 NBA Playoffs will begin. All of the playoff series are best of seven, meaning the first team to win four games in each is victorious and moves on. This happens for both the Eastern and Western conferences, until the best of both meet each other for the Finals.

This year, Microsoft -- through its "Bing Predicts" service -- says that Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors of the West will beat LeBron James and the the Cleveland Cavaliers of the East to become NBA Champions.

"Golden State is predicted to meet Cleveland in the NBA Finals for the third straight year. They are predicted to avenge last year’s defeat to win the series 4-1 and regain the title. If you’re looking for a First Round series to follow, Bing predicts seed #5 Atlanta to upset #4 Washington and win 4-2; Atlanta will not carry the momentum to the Eastern Semifinals though, and lose to Boston in 7 games. In the West, Bing predicts Houston to prevail over Oklahoma City in another much-anticipated First Round series. Houston’s efficient offense, led by MVP-candidate James Harden, will need 7 games to beat Oklahoma and their own MVP-candidate (and Harden’s former OKC teammate) Russell Westbrook," says The Bing Team.

The team explains, "Interested in how we do it? We generate our Bing sports predictions in two stages. We start with a traditional statistical model which incorporates win/loss, margins of victory, record at home and on the road, player composition, and many other factors to determine team strength."

While successfully picking the correct team to become the champions is not an easy task, the Warriors are favored by many to do so, meaning Microsoft is not making any shocking claims here. With that said, upsets in a best-of-seven match-up can absolutely happen. Not to mention, you can never count out the great LeBron James from willing his team to a championship, either.

Do you agree with Microsoft, or will a different team become the champions? Tell me in the comments below.

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