The Cleveland Cavaliers will enter the NBA playoffs as heavy favorites to eliminate Boston quickly, but LeBron James said the team won’t look past the Celtics.

“There will be no overlooking Boston no matter what the records are,” James said. “Everyone’s 0-0 when you get to this point, so our whole game plan right now is giving ourselves a chance to win the game.”

James’ history is proof he means it. His teams are 24-3 in first rounds the last six years and none of those series have extended beyond five games. The Celtics went 40-42 in the regular season and enter Sunday as 11-point underdogs.

The Cavs begin these playoffs as the heavy favorites to win the East, according to the online gambling site Bovada, and tied with the Golden State Warriors at 11/5 odds to win the first championship in franchise history.

But Coach David Blatt is already tired of questions about a deep playoff run that could last two months. He’s focused simply on the Celtics.

“I’m not an oddsmaker and I don’t follow that stuff,” Blatt said. “This is a first for this team, this is a new team and this is the first for the Cavs in the last five years. We don’t need to be thinking about anything other than how to do a good job in the first series against the Boston Celtics. It’s going to be very competitive and tough.”

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INDIANA WON a tiebreaker with Utah, giving it slightly better odds at winning the draft lottery.

Both teams finished with 38-44 records. The Pacers have a 0.8 percent at the top pick and the Jazz have a 0.7 percent chance.

The Celtics will have the 16th and 28th picks.

HAWKS: Forward Thabo Sefolosha is recovering from surgery on his right leg, which he said was injured during his arrest by New York police last week.

Sefolosha will miss the playoffs with an expected recovery period of about six months. The team hopes he’ll be ready for the start of training camp next season.

A VIDEO game simulation of the NBA playoffs sees Golden State beating Cleveland after getting by San Antonio.

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The 2K Sports simulation culminated with the Warriors topping the Cavaliers in six games, with Stephen Curry winning NBA finals MVP after scoring 46 points in the clincher.

THE NBA could extend the season by a week in 2015-16 to build in more rest for players, but there will be no changes to the playoff or draft lottery.

Commissioner Adam Silver is committed to reducing the number of times teams have to play four times in five nights or on back-to-back nights. He thinks ending the season a week later next year could help, and said a decision should be made by early May.

SPURS: Center Tiago Splitter participated in practice but the team was unsure if he’ll play in Sunday night’s playoff opener against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Splitter missed the final six games of the regular season because of tightness in his right calf. He missed more than a month earlier this season after straining his right calf.

HALL OF FAMER Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is recovering after undergoing quadruple coronary bypass surgery.

Dr. Richard Shemin, who performed the surgery, said Abdul-Jabbar, a 68-year-old former NBA and UCLA star, is expected to make a full recovery. He was admitted this week with cardiovascular disease.


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