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    Brilliance, and Heartbreak: The Story of Chris Paul’s Career

    Paul, the veteran Phoenix Suns point guard, ends this N.B.A. season the same way he has 15 times before: without a championship. The question is whether that should define him.In defeat, Devin Booker said that the youthful Phoenix Suns had hoped to skip many of the brutal roadblocks that can quickly vanquish a team with championship aspirations. More

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    A Free-Throw Expert’s Advice for Giannis: Just Shoot It

    Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks star, has frustrated fans and opponents with his drawn-out free-throw routine that often ends with a miss.Philip Flory, a college basketball player from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., is a huge fan of the Milwaukee Bucks. He is rooting for them in the N.B.A. finals against the Phoenix Suns, though Flory has found himself cringing whenever Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ do-everything forward and one of his favorite players, tries to do one of the few things that make him look vulnerable: shoot free throws. More

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    N.B.A. Finals: Booker Leads Suns Over Bucks in Game 2

    “If Book shoots it, I expect it to go in,” Chris Paul said after Phoenix took a 2-0 lead over Milwaukee in the N.B.A. Finals.PHOENIX — Devin Booker grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich., as a devoted Detroit Pistons fan. He keyed on Ben Wallace’s energy, Chauncey Billups’ steadiness, Rasheed Wallace’s tenacity and Tayshaun Prince’s versatility. More

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    For the Milwaukee Bucks, the Jrue Holiday Gamble Yielded a Jackpot

    When the Bucks acquired Holiday, it was hardly clear that they had solved their problems and improved their chances of enticing Giannis Antetokounmpo to stay.The Milwaukee Bucks were in an unusual position during the last off-season.They were title contenders facing wholesale upheaval, with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s so-called supermax contract extension unsigned after they had again slunk out of the playoffs disappointingly early, despite having the best regular-season record for a second consecutive season. More

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    Bucks Beat Hawks and Advance to the N.B.A. Finals

    Milwaukee was playing without its injured star, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks will face the Phoenix Suns in the finals.The Milwaukee Bucks advanced to their first N.B.A. finals since 1974 after defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 118-107, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night to take the series, four games to two. They will face the Phoenix Suns in the N.B.A. finals starting Tuesday. More

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    Phoenix Suns Headed to First N.B.A. Finals in Almost 30 Years

    This will be the first trip to the finals for the Suns’ veteran leader, Chris Paul, who scored 41 points in the series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.The Phoenix Suns, after missing the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons, are headed to the N.B.A. finals for the first time since 1993. More

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    The N.B.A. Champion May Literally Be the Last Team Standing

    Injuries to stars have dominated and reshaped the playoffs, raising questions about the legitimacy of winning it all this year in a weakened field.The Milwaukee Bucks were in the midst of a comeback on Tuesday against the Atlanta Hawks, who were without their best player, Trae Young. With the Bucks up two games to one in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals series, a win would have put the franchise on the brink of making its first N.B.A. finals since 1974. More