STAYING POWER: Golden State has advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the fifth straight season, joining the Lakers (eight in a row from 1982-89) as the only teams to accomplish this feat. The Warriors are seeking to become the second franchise to make five straight NBA Finals. The Celtics reached 10 consecutive NBA Finals from 1957-66.

BACK AGAIN: Portland is making its first appearance in the Western Conference Finals since 2000. In that series against the Lakers, the Trail Blazers couldn't hold a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 7 as the Lakers advanced to win the first of three straight titles with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Stephen Curry and Portland's Seth Curry are set to become the first pair of brothers to play against each other in the Conference Finals. Their parents, Sonya and Dell Curry, have said their plan is to flip a coin to split which kid to root for and which parent wears which team's gear. Seth has Golden State ties, having played one season with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA G League. The sharpshooting brothers have nearly identical career three-point field goal percentages: 43.9 percent for Seth and 43.6 percent for Steph.

DAME FORTUNE: Damian Lillard embraces being a franchise player. Portland has not been a prime destination for the elite free agents. The roster is filled with players who have struggled to find their footing in the league at various points. And the Trail Blazers have experienced their share of playoff frustration during his tenure. Through it all, though, Lillard has remained committed to seeing it through in Portland.

COMING HOME: The series will be a homecoming for Lillard, an Oakland, Calif., native who played at Oakland High School - three miles from Oracle Arena, where he attended many games as a kid. He will now take part in some of the venue's last few NBA games. Lillard, who follows Gary Payton and Jason Kidd as star guards from the city, has donated money to help refurbish Oakland High's gym, add a weight room and more.

PORTLAND’S PERSEVERANCE: Last year, after Portland was swept in the first round for the second season in a row, there were calls to break up the backcourt of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum and fire coach Terry Stotts. But the Blazers kept their core and coach together and are now reaping the rewards - made all the more impressive by the fact that they lost their best frontcourt player, Jusuf Nurkic, to a season-ending leg injury in March.

WAITING GAME: Kevin Durant's status for this series remains fluid after the two-time Finals MVP strained his right calf in Game 5 against the Rockets. Durant is averaging a league-best 34.2 points in the postseason.

ON GUARD: The backcourt matchup featuring Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson vs. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum is spectacular. All four are 20-point scorers. Curry, Thompson and Lillard have made at least four All-Star teams each. McCollum, a master of the mid-range, might be the league's most underrated player, and he scored 37 points in Portland's decisive Game 7 victory in the previous round. Curry, Lillard and McCollum all came from mid-major colleges, while Thompson was a No. 11 draft pick from Washington State.

DRE DAY: Golden State's Andre Iguodala elevated his play in the Conference Semifinals. He averaged 13.5 points and shot 60.4 percent from the field in 34.5 minutes per game, up from 5.7 points on 50 percent shooting in 23.2 minutes during the regular season. Iguodala's insertion into the starting lineup has paid huge dividends.

OLD BUDS: Iguodala and Portland's Evan Turner have remained close following their two-season stint (2010-12) as teammates with the 76ers.
The 30-year-old Turner refers to the 35-year-old Iguodala as his big brother. Both players are often lauded for their cerebral and professional approach.

ALL THE STOTTS: Portland coach Terry Stotts has a great back story: He grew up in several Midwestern states as well as Guam; majored in zoology at Oklahoma and received an MBA from the school; played professionally in the CBA and in several European countries; coached in the CBA; worked as an assistant for multiple NBA teams (including the Warriors in 2004-05); consulted for the NBA G League; and is now on his third and most successful stint as an NBA head coach.

FATHER TIME: Klay Thompson's father, Mychal Thompson, was selected by Portland with the first pick of the 1978 NBA Draft and spent seven productive seasons with the team.

RIP TIES: Longtime Warriors TV analyst Jim Barnett scored the first point in Blazers history, in the 1970-71 season, when he averaged a career-high 18.5 points in his one season there. Portland's "Rip City" nickname was coined by play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely after a deep shot by Barnett in a game that season.

ROAD WARRIORS:With their Game 6 close-out win at Houston, the Warriors have now won at least one road game in an NBA-record 21 consecutive playoff series.