The NBA Finals are set. In a matchup that no one saw coming — well, at least half of it, anyway — the Los Angeles Lakers emerged as the champions of the Western Conference, while the Miami Heat came out on top of the Eastern Conference. It’s a fascinating stylistic matchup, one that has the added subplot of LeBron James taking on the team he dramatically left in free agency back in 2014.
That, though, is in the past, and right now, the two teams have their collective eyes on winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. Picking up four wins in this series is going to be really, really hard, and thanks to the Heat taking care of business on Sunday evening in Game 6 against the Boston Celtics, we now know how the Finals schedule will look. (All times EST)
Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 30, 9 p.m.
Game 2: Friday, Oct. 2, 9 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 9 p.m.
Game 5: Friday, Oct. 9, 9 p.m.
Game 6: Sunday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Game 7: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 9 p.m.
Of course, while it is everyone here at Dime’s strong preference that this series ends up being seven absolutely fantastic games, those final three tilts on the schedule will only be played if necessary. As for how you can watch, all games will be broadcast on ABC. The two teams played twice this season — once in November, once in December — with the Lakers picking up a pair of wins.