Right at the start of training camps and with the new season fast approaching, the desire to spend sleepless nights in front of the League Pass is clearly starting to rise and be felt. So to have our daily dose and last until October 19, we are offering you a look back at the 2020 Finals which started … there to the day to the day, under unique conditions to say the least.
No no, you are not dreaming, September 30, 2020 was not the scene ofopening night of the 2020-2021 season but the start of the finals of the 2019-2020 campaign. Not the play-in finals, not the WNBA finals, not the finals of the European field hockey championship or even the contest of the biggest hot dog eater in the States, we are talking about the Finals here with a big F for the best league in the world, the National Basketball Association herself. AWhile 09/30 is already the second day of training camps for most franchises this year, this date was indeed the start of the 2020 Finals last year. At a time when the students have already made their comeback, where the leaves are already falling from the trees and where Neymar is already in his 40th simulation in just three Ligue 1 games, the NBA was not preparing to start its new season. but to conclude the last one. No need to remind you of the context as it marked everyone … but we’re going to do it all the same just to remember the tremendous means employed by the League to arrive at this final series.
One year ago today, the Lakers advanced to the 2020 NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/NUi1y3oYiH
— The Laker Files (@LakerFiles) September 26, 2021
One year ago today, the Miami Heat became Eastern Conference Champions in an unlikely run to the NBA Finals as a No. 5 seed. pic.twitter.com/SFKlDbR9kY
— Jimmy’s Burner (@JimmysBurner5) September 28, 2021
And yes, because despite all the health, administrative and legal constraints, Adam Silver and his friends have somehow managed to survive the pandemic and continue their season. For this, the famous Mickey Mouse bubble was set up in Orlando on July 22, more than four months after the shutdown of the NBA on March 11. A health bubble that will never have burst in almost three months of existence and which has not even known the slightest biting and threatening stick – apart from a few drifts -, and which then let in some relatives to prevent any problem, not only medical health, but also mental health. In the midst of all this, the Black Lives Matter movement continued to grow and even prompted a boycott following the murder of Jacob Blake, but despite all these inconveniences and unforeseen events and in the middle of almost empty stands, the Playoffs continued until reaching the long-awaited Finals, on September 30, 2020. The series pitted you know the Lakers against the Heat, surprise guest of the duel who knew, like other teams, take advantage of the environment and these unique playing conditions to get out of the table of their conference when the Floridians were only fifth in the East. The six matches were then played with the main relatives of the players and coaches, but above all under the astonished eyes of… spectators in videoconference looking like holograms. This innovation then made it possible to fill the stands, involve the supporters and reassure the players, all without taking any health risks. The NBA thus won its bet: no case of COVID came to pierce the bubble, basket-ball fans had a good show and the Lakers even nab their ring. In short, the perfect scenario for the League.
In the end, this Game 1 – like the series – was won by the Lakers 116 to 98 thanks to good performances from AD and LeBron and a monster run of 75-30 in the middle of the game. This meeting was above all the work of hard and exemplary work by the NBA which has succeeded, economically, healthily and sportingly where many other championships and leagues have bowed in the face of the virus. The best league in the world and ahead of everyone else we tell you.
???????? GAME 1 FINAL SCORE ????????
Anthony Davis puts up 34, LeBron tallies 25 PTS, 13 REB, 9 AST and the @Lakers take a 1-0 series lead! #NBAFinals Game 2: Friday – 9:00pm/et, ABC
Caldwell-Pope: 13 PTS, 2 3PM
Danny Green: 11 PTS, 3 3PM, 3 BLK
Jimmy Butler: 23 PTS, 5 AST pic.twitter.com/VXLywzlOzL– NBA (@NBA) October 1, 2020
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