[From ESPN]

After six weeks of riveting playoff action across both conferences, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers will begin the NBA Finals on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). It'll be the start of a best-of-seven affair to determine which team will claim its first NBA championship. (Indiana won multiple ABA titles; Oklahoma City has one prior NBA crown from when the franchise was the Seattle SuperSonics.) One of the teams also will become the league's seventh consecutive new champion, establishing a record for parity in the NBA.

It's a series that should deliver some exciting basketball. Oklahoma City, representing the Western Conference, was the league's best defensive team this season, while the Eastern Conference's Pacers possess one of the NBA's elite offenses. Both play with a relentless, full-court style designed to wear on the opposition.

To get you prepared for all the action, we've broken down our top 20 players in the Finals, using a combination of how they've performed during the 2024-25 season and in the playoffs so far and their projections for this series.

Read more of ESPN's story HERE