Cavaliers through to NBA Finals

May 28, 2016 - 3:58 AM Matthew Dellavedova, LeBron James and their Cleveland Cavaliers are heading back to the NBA Finals.

A year after their chase for a championship was derailed by season-ending injuries to All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cavaliers are hungry for the title they feel cruelly eluded them.

They crushed the Toronto Raptors 113-87 in Toronto on Friday to clinch the Eastern Conference title series 4-2.

James was on a mission to extinguish the Raptors with 33 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots.

"I don't think last year I appreciated it enough getting back to the finals," James, who has been to six straight finals series with two different teams, said.

"This year I am going to appreciate it."

The Cavaliers will play the winner of the Western Conference Finals between the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder lead the series 3-2 and can eliminate the Warriors on Saturday with a win in game six in front of their wild Oklahoma City home crowd.

If the Warriors win, the series will be decided on Monday in Oakland.

Australian point guard Dellavedova emerged as a cult hero in last year's finals, stepping up to be James' sidekick before losing the title to the Warriors, which feature Melbourne-born centre Andrew Bogut.

It will be the fourth straight year Australians will be part of the Finals with Patty Mills and Aron Baynes winning the championship in 2014 with the San Antonio Spurs and losing to the Miami Heat in 2013.

If the Thunder beat the Warriors and make the finals it will become an Australasian battle between Dellavedova and the Thunder's New Zealand centre Steven Adams.

Dellavedova played just eight minutes against Toronto, with Cavaliers' coach Tyronn Lue rarely resting starting point guard Kyrie Irving who played 40 minutes and James who was on the court for a marathon 41 minutes.

Game one of the NBA Finals will be played on Wednesday.

Source: AAP