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Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers will play the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals at 9 p.m. ET. You can watch it on WJLA-TV or your local ABC station in the US. The Lakers lead the series 3-1 and will win their 17th championship if they win tonight.
SB Nation Reacts: Most think a healthy Heat roster wouldn’t make a difference in the series, plurality believe LeBron will be the Finals MVP
Earlier this week, SB Nation Reacts had a survey on the NBA Finals so far. First, people were asked whether a healthy Miami Heat roster would make a difference in the outcome. A clear majority, 59 percent said no.
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Respondents were also asked who they thought would be the Finals MVP. Nearly half said LeBron James will get it with Anthony Davis coming up at a distant second.
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To sign up for SB Nation Reacts, click on the link below.
And how long will it be before we see basketball again?
In addition, tonight’s game, if it’s the last one of the 2019-20 NBA season, will be the last game we’ll see for awhile. The 2020-21 NBA season will be the 2021 season simply because it will start in January at the earliest. Though the league would like games to be played with fans next season, that will largely depend on how many coronavirus cases and deaths the United States has in the months ahead.
I’m not optimistic that things will be kept under control this winter, so I think we can expect games to be without fans next season, especially since the Florida bubble this summer was a success. Meanwhile, MLB and the NFL have experienced team outbreaks. Though baseball teams had the relative benefit of playing during the summer and when people can congregate outside more easily, the NFL is having outbreaks as the weather gets colder.
Meanwhile, no NBA players or team personnel tested positive for the coronavirus since initial quarantines last July. The same happened with the WNBA though there was a scare involving the Seattle Storm during the playoffs.
That’s why I strongly believe next season should be in a bubble, even though I’m also sure the NBA will still try to bring fans in arenas later in the season once spring rolls around. I’m thinking the season will start around February or so, but that’s just a hunch.
Enjoy the game everyone!