Some names are bigger than others, but from Jaylen Brown and Luka Doncic to Donte DiVincenzo and Chet Holmgren, here are the 10 biggest playoff X-factors. Read more »

Deandre Ayton's ceiling is somewhat fixed, due to work ethic, disposition, or the fact that his skills are more alluring than applicable. Read more »

Ricky Rubio seemed, as the passage of time compresses the finer details, like he was always peaking brilliantly or in the midst of a lull from which he might never emerge, but he was also a consistent presence. Read more »

In terms of raw court dynamics, we haven't seen such a complementary rim-plus-arc pairing such as Dame and Giannis since the days of Shaq and Kobe, of T-Mac and Yao. Read more »

We've ranked every team's wing corps from 1 to 30 based on the top three wings' production, upside and versatility. Read more »

The primary knock against Ayton is that he wants more. For the Suns to beat the Nuggets, let alone reach The Finals, they need Ayton to narrow his role - then thrive in it. Read more »

The Celtics finished first in Net Rating ahead of the Cavaliers, who jumped up from 13th last season and 28th as recently as 2021. Read more »

Deandre Ayton has played the role of a thankless big man and given finite room to flourish. The bill has seemed to come due on the good will he's shown during his subjugation into such a blunt instrument role. Read more »

Whether you're one of Chris Paul's eager critics, or someone with enough of a tolerance for sorrow to keep riding the roller coaster with him more hopefully, there's no questioning that, even if this sadly mythical loss isn't a proper send-off, it could act as a fitting, sourly poetic bookend to his career. Read more »

The No. 9 seed Pelicans, largely microwaved at the end of the season through trades and rapid youth project improvements, wouldn't be here without the new format, but now they look like a team that should've belonged in it all along. Read more »

The Suns jumped from 30th in the NBA in Net Rating in 17-18 to 29th to 18th in 19-20 to third last season and first in 21-22. Read more »

On his fifth team, in his 17th season, the man who may be his sport's greatest commander of all time has fatefully found his greatest love: a potent battleship crew that is willing to do everything just his way. Read more »

Devin Booker had been the guy he was in 20-21 for at least two seasons, and his trajectory toward that plateau was as steady as it gets. Read more »

One team wins it all and they are the happiest group of guys who ever lived, they are invincible and immortal and beautiful and exhausted. They vacation, extravagantly. And then we reset and go again. Read more »

In the NBA, there is no story beyond the narrative. But these Finals are different. The teams and players have oscillated wildly between extremes from game to game, at once confirming and refuting any prior notions. Read more »

Death by a million cuts has always been the driving philosophy of Chris Paul's angular, probing game, and in the Suns he has the ultimate armada of like-minded blades. Read more »

It would be a stretch to say the Bucks need to perfect, or suggest that they could be. They need to be at the top of their good-good game, because that's where the Suns are, that's the register at which we're operating in these Finals. Read more »