LeBron James Paul George
LeBron James and Paul George will meet in the playoffs for the fourth time. Pictured: James drives to the basket against George at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Feb. 8, 2017. Reuters/Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The 2017 NBA Playoffs start with the Cleveland Cavaliers looking to defend last year’s championship. LeBron James and Co. will host the Indiana Pacers Saturday afternoon, kicking off Saturday’s slate of four postseason games.

Game 1 of the playoff series has a start time of 3 p.m. EDT at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavs have the Eastern Conference’s best home record. ABC will broadcast the game on TV, and viewers can watch a free live stream online with WatchESPN.

Ending the regular season with four straight losses, the Cavaliers dropped to the No.2 seed in the Eastern Conference, allowing the Boston Celtics to gain home-court advantage until the NBA Finals. But the Cavs are still the favorites in the East, and it would be stunning for the Pacers to pull off the upset.

LeBron James has reached the NBA Finals in six straight years, and that streak is expected to continue. His teams have lost just two total first-round games during that time, and they haven’t suffered an opening-round defeat since 2012. The Cavs swept the Detroit Pistons a year ago, and they took care of the Celtics in four games in the 2015 first round.

Cleveland won nine more games than Indiana in the regular season, and they took three out of four games against the Pacers. If James plays the same way against Indiana in the playoffs as he did throughout the year, the Pacers will be hard-pressed to even steal one victory.

James put up 32.3 points per game against Indiana, his highest scoring average against any team, and he did so while shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor. He also averaged 8.3 rebounds, 8.0 assists and just 3.0 turnovers per game when playing the Pacers.

It’s been three years since James has faced the Pacers in the postseason, but they are certainly a familiar foe. James and the Miami Heat defeated Indiana every year in the playoffs from 2012-2014, though the Pacers always won at least two games in the series. Before Miami won their second straight title in 2013, Indiana pushed them to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Indiana’s roster has undergone some changes over the last few years, with the likes of Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson heading elsewhere. Paul George has remained the one constant, making his fourth All-Star team in the last five years. He averaged 24.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game against Cleveland this season.

The Cavs are 8.5-point favorites against the Pacers in Game 1, via OddsShark.