Now that the bj-league's Western Conference finalists are set with the Osaka Evessa and the Ryukyu Golden Kings, the spotlight falls on a quartet of Eastern Conference squads this weekend.
The top-seeded Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix (36-16) and No. 4 Niigata Albirex BB (24-28) will meet on Saturday and Sunday in a conference semifinal series. The winner of that series will face the Tokyo Apache-Sendai 89ers victor in the Eastern Conference final on May 16 at Ariake Colosseum.
The second-seeded Apache (33-19) defeated the third-seeded 89ers (31-21) in six of eight regular-season contests, but that fact won't play a prominent role in this weekend's series at Ariake, according to Tokyo coach Joe Bryant.