COMPETITION in the 2019-20 National Basketball Association听 (NBA) season enters the final stretch beginning today with Game One of the best-of-seven finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat at the NBA Campus in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
After more than 80 days in the restarted season, left standing are the Western Conference top seeds Lakers and Eastern Conference fifth seeds Heat, who will collide in the 鈥淏ig Dance鈥 for the first time in league history.
The Lakers topped the Denver Nuggets in the West finals in five games while the Heat got the better of the Boston Celtics in the East in six.
Below is a by-the-numbers look at the NBA Finals 2020 which will be presented by YouTube TV.
4 鈥 Miami is seeking its听fourth听NBA championship.
4 鈥 Heat President Pat Riley coached the Lakers to听four听NBA championships during the 1980s.
5 鈥 Miami鈥檚 Erik Spoelstra is making his听fifth听NBA Finals appearance as a head coach.
5 鈥 The Heat is the first听fifth听seed to reach the NBA Finals since the current playoff format was implemented in the 1983-84 season.
5 鈥 There are a combined听five听international players on NBA Finals rosters: Kyle Alexander (Miami; Canada), Kostas Antetokounmpo (Lakers; Greece; Basketball Without Borders Africa 2015), Goran Dragi膰 (Miami; Slovenia), Kelly Olynyk (Miami; Canada; BWB Americas 2009), Chris Silva (Miami; Gabon)
10 鈥 Miami and Los Angeles both finished in听10th听place in their respective conferences last season, making this the first NBA Finals to feature two teams that did not qualify for the playoffs the previous season.
10 鈥撎齃eBron James will play in his听10th听NBA Finals, joining Bill Russell (12), Sam Jones (11), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (10) as the only players with 10 or more appearances.
12听鈥 ABC/ESPN鈥檚 broadcast team of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson will work The Finals together for the听12th听time.
15 鈥 Fifteen听players competing in this season鈥檚 NBA Finals have played in the NBA G League, including six Lakers and nine members of the Heat.
17 鈥撎齌he Lakers are trying to win their听17th听NBA championship, which would tie the Boston Celtics for the most in league history.
18听鈥 ESPN will produce The Finals on ABC for the听18th听consecutive year.
29.6 鈥撎齃os Angeles鈥 Anthony Davis is averaging听29.6听points in his playoff career.听 Only two players have a higher playoff scoring average (minimum 25 games): Michael Jordan (33.4 ppg) and Allen Iverson (29.7 ppg).
66 鈥撎齋ixty-six听international media members from 23 countries and territories have participated in NBA player Zoom media calls since the start of the NBA Playoffs.
215/48 鈥撎齌he NBA Finals will reach fans in听215听countries and territories in听48听languages on their televisions, computers, mobile phones and tablets.
2000 鈥撎齅iami rookie Tyler Herro will be the first player born in the听2000s听to play in the NBA Finals. 鈥 Michael Angelo S. Murillo
