NBA Is Back: Here's The Return Date, Play-In Tournament Rules, Number Of Games And Teams Scheduled
The NBA is back. Well, not officially, but that’s expected to happen Thursday when the league’s Board of Governors are presented with a plan to resume and finish the 2019-2020 season.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, 22 teams will head to Orlando, Florida and play at Disney’s ESPN World Wide of Sports Complex. The NBA wants to re-start the season on July 31. Wojnarowski has reported that Game 7 of the NBA Finals would be set for Oct. 12.
The 16-team playoff format will remain the same, according to ESPN. A short play-in tournament could decide the final postseason berth in each conference.
The NBA's Board of Governors has a 12:30 PM ET call on Thursday with the intention of approving the league's plan for a 22-team return-to-play in Orlando, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/Sh7k6ylCdz
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 3, 2020
The play-in format requires a double-elimination format for the 8th seed, a single-elimination for the 9th seed, per sources.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 3, 2020
So the NBA's inviting 22 teams to Orlando: 13 Western Conference, 9 Eastern Conference. Eight-regular season games per team. Play-in for the 8th seeds. July 31-October 12. Vote tomorrow to ratify.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 3, 2020
The NBA's back.
All 22 teams will play eight regular-season games in Orlando. If the No.9 seed finishes fewer than four games behind the No.8 seed, those two teams will play for the right to reach the postseason.
The No.8 seed would need one victory over the No.9 seed to clinch a playoff berth. The No.9 seed would have to defeat the No.8 seed twice.
Five Western Conference teams (New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs) and one Eastern Conference team (Washington Wizards) have a chance to make the postseason in Orlando.
Per a Disney source: For the regular season games (a total of 88) the plan for now is to play in two different arenas with multiple games per day.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 3, 2020
Think Summer League setup, but with actual games that count.
Playoffs will be 2-4 games per day for early rounds. 1-2 games after.
The stands will be empty during regular-season games. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, players could have guests in the arena during the playoffs.
The NBA suspended the season on March 11 when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Each team had an average of 17 games left on their regular-season schedule.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.
- MOST POPULAR IN Sports
