LeBron and Lakers waiting. When NBA Finals begin depends on Game 6 between Heat and Celtics
After clinching the Western Conference and a spot in the 2020 NBA Finals, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers now have some time off before facing either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics in the championship series.
And the Heat will have a very short turnaround to the NBA Finals if it needs a seventh game to eliminate the Celtics.
The NBA Finals will begin either Wednesday or Friday depending on the result of Sunday night’s Game 6 between the Heat and Celtics, the league announced Saturday. Miami holds a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
If the Heat defeats the Celtics in Game 6 on Sunday to clinch the East and a matchup with the Lakers for the NBA title, the Finals would begin Wednesday at 9 p.m. on ABC.
If the Heat loses to the Celtics on Sunday and a Game 7 is necessary to determine the East champion, the Finals would begin Friday at 9 p.m. on ABC. In this scenario, Game 7 between Miami and Boston would be played Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
If the Finals begin Wednesday, the rest of the series schedule (all games on ABC) would be: Game 2 on Friday 9 p.m.; Game 3 on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.; Game 4 on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m.; Game 5 on Friday, Oct. 9 at 9 p.m.; Game 6 on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.; and Game 7 on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m.
If the Finals begin Friday, the rest of the series schedule (all games on ABC) would be: Game 2 on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.; Game 3 on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m.; Game 4 on Friday, Oct. 9 at 9 p.m.; Game 5 on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.; Game 6 on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m.; and Game 7 on Friday, Oct. 16 at 9 p.m.
The NBA and ESPN/ABC decided to schedule a potential Game 7 between the Heat and Celtics on Wednesday on ABC instead of Tuesday on ESPN because it wanted to avoid a conflict with the first presidential debate on Tuesday night, which will be aired on all four major over-the-air networks.
The flip side, though, is the winner of that potential Game 7 would have just one full day of preparation before the Finals begin, in that scenario.
In crafting a Finals schedule, the NBA and ABC were determined to avoid competing with corporate partner ESPN’s Monday Night Football package, presidential debates and to a somewhat lesser extent, Thursday night NFL games.
But two NBA Finals games will compete with NBC Sunday night football games — Oct. 4 (against a Philadelphia-San Francisco game) and potentially Oct. 11 (against a Minnesota-Seattle game). Those two Sunday night NBA Finals games will start at 7:30 p.m., giving it a 50 minute head start on the NFL games. NFL regular-season games have drawn substantially more viewers than NBA playoff games in five head-to-head matchups in the past two weeks.
Like the Heat, the Marlins also will play a playoff game on Wednesday, when the four National League first-round series begin. The Marlins’ opponent and start time are not yet determined.
This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 12:08 AM.
