Report: Latest 2020 NBA Finals Schedule Details Amid Conference Finals

The 2020 NBA Finals could reportedly begin as early as Wednesday, depending on how quickly the conference finals wrap up.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported the schedule details Saturday with the Los Angeles Lakers leading the Denver Nuggets 3-1 in the Western Conference and the Miami Heat up 3-2 on the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference:

The Lakers get their first chance to close out the Nuggets on Saturday night. Game 6 would be Monday and Game 7 would be Wednesday if Denver, which overcame a 3-1 deficit in each of the previous two rounds, can mount another massive comeback.

Boston staved off elimination Friday with a Game 5 win over the Heat. Miami gets a second chance to punch its Finals ticket Sunday. A potential Game 7 hasn't been scheduled in the East.

The NBA announced Oct. 13 would be the last Finals date when it restarted the 2019-20 campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic. It'll remain on track to hit that date if the championship series starts Friday and goes the distance. The timeline could be moved by two days if the series begins Wednesday.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers are a heavy favorite (-330) to win the title, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. L.A. is followed by the Heat (+440), Celtics (+800) and Nuggets (+3600).

Meanwhile, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told CNN's Bob Costas (via ESPN) he no longer expects next season to begin Dec. 1, with the new start date likely being moved to January 2021.

"But there's still a lot that we need to learn in terms of rapid testing, for example," Silver said Tuesday. "Would that be a means of getting fans into our buildings? Will there be other protections?"

He also said the expectation is to play a full 82-game regular season and the playoffs.

In a typical year, that would take around eight months, not counting training camp and the preseason. So the question becomes whether the league will attempt to shorten the calendar or adapt to a new time frame since getting back on the October-to-June calendar isn't plausible if next season ends around September.

The NBA also has other questions to answer, such as what type of protocols to implement in 2021 since it's not reasonable to play an entire season inside a "bubble" like it used to finish this campaign.

For now, the focus is on completing the postseason without any COVID-19 setbacks in order to crown the Lakers, Heat, Celtics or Nuggets as the 2020 champions.