The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors will play host to the visiting Portland Trail Blazers in Game one of the Western Conference Semifinals at the Oracle Arena on Sunday. This will be the first of two games in Oakland before the second round best-of-seven series shifts to Portland for games three and four.

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The top-seeded Warriors successfully moved to the NBA playoff's second round after getting the better of the eight seeded Houston Rockets with a 4-1 series triumph. The league's most victorious regular-season team were able to accomplish the task even without the ruling MVP Stephen Curry, who injured his right knee in Game four.

The Trail Blazers, who finished as the sixth-seeded team in the West, ousted the conference fourth-best club Los Angeles Clippers 4-2. Portland was able to capitalize on the absence of Clippers' main players Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who both suffered injuries during the opening round.

This season, the Warriors and the Blazers are 3-1 against one another with the defending champions having the edge, but Portland gave the Golden State team its most lopsided loss of the season with a 137-105 defeat on February 19 at the Moda Center.

"It wasn't a fluke," 2016 Coach of the Year Steve Kerr said on Saturday. "That's what happens if you play Portland and you throw the ball away. They've got explosive players all over the floor and 3-point shooting everywhere."

The Blazers, who many believe will benefit from the absence of Curry, will not be overlooking the Warriors even without their leading scorer.

"That's a championship team," Blazers starting guard Damian Lillard said. "Even without Steph, they're still a championship team. We've got to keep our mind right, compete and play together. We can't be worried about who's not out there because we just watched them beat Houston by 25 twice without Steph."

The projected starters for the Warriors are Klay Thompson, Shaun Livingston, Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, and Andrew Bogut. While CJ McCollum, Damian Lillard, Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless and Mason Plumlee will start for the Trail Blazers.

TagsGolden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers, Stephen Curry, damian lillard, Western Conference playoffs, Klay Thompson, dub nation