MLB

PIT 4 TB 2
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CHC 10 OAK 2
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NBA

NY 105 CLE 124
CHA 105  IND 119
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Ranking league's 12 realistic contenders as playoff picture comes into focus

As we approach the business-end of the season, one hoped-for reality of the NBA has come into focus: The league's goal to create more parity is working.

We've got several elite teams, yes, but there are a host of other would-be contenders lurking just below this season's Big Three -- rejuvenated former-juggernauts, here-they-come youth movements, surging question marks and other teams that could, if it all breaks right, surprise everyone.

Even among the elite, some small-market teams are romping, poised to win now and for years to come. The road to the Finals no longer necessarily rolls solely through the lands of LeBron James and Steph Curry, nor through Celtics green. And the future is full of myriad newbies who could, soon, contend.

With exactly one month left before the playoffs, we can spot 10 possible NBA contenders in a hope-filled view of who could win it all.

There are just three teams atop the NBA's season-long, king-of-the-hill marathon. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder are head and shoulders above everyone else.

Each boasts a top-10 offense and defense, historically a strong indicator of a championship-level team. The Cavs (first and sixth), the Celtics (third and fifth) and the Thunder (fourth and first) have that balance associated with the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

And yet.

As great as they are -- and they are great -- their march to June glory is far from assured. These versions of the Thunder and Cavs have not been to a conference finals, let alone a Finals, and the road to a ring, as the Celtics can surely tell you, is usually paved with fits and starts, including conference finals and Finals letdowns. It's often a slow, methodical journey.

Yes, one of these unproven teams could win it all this year. But they could also come up short, just as the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown-led Celtics did in 2023, 2022, 2020, 2018 and 2017. Those were all years Boston made at least the conference finals but failed to win it all.

In every one of those seasons other than 2020, the Celtics finished at least in second place in the Eastern Conference.

Point is: Winning in the regular season is one thing. Winning in the playoffs is something else entirely, and often takes time even for the most formidable organizations.

Speaking of the Celtics, this year's version is trying to defy recent history and show back-to-back champs can still be a thing. The league is sitting on a streak of seven straight NBA seasons without a repeat champion.

Sure, Boston can win it all. They're my favorite. But there's a reason grabbing that glory has gotten harder.

Which brings us to some of the other teams that could keep that revolving-door-of-NBA champions swinging round as the leagues's parity reality continues to ramp up.

Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are good enough to win it all this year, a statement of fact that would have been preposterous before the trade deadline changed everything.

Yes, the Lakers need LeBron James back and healthy, a hope that's currently accompanied by a question mark as they await his return from a groin injury. But when he does come back, and if he can stay healthy, the 40-year-old will be at the tail end of a season almost as good as the one from 2012-13, when he last won a Most Valuable Player award.

The Lakers also have the best defense in the league since Jan. 6, a stretch of a whopping 28 games -- and, it is worth noting, a stretch in which the now-departed Anthony Davis played only nine times.