Will The NBA Restart On Time? 2020 Season Expected To Return As Planned

The NBA’s “bubble” in Orlando, Florida appears to be working as well as the league could’ve hoped. With the date for the restart of the 2019-2020 season inching closer, the schedule is expected to go on as planned.

Games are set to resume on July 30 after a 141-day hiatus. The NBA has -500 odds to restart on time at BetOnline. The online sportsbook gives the league +300 odds to postpone the restart.

The Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans are scheduled to face off in the first game back. The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are also set to meet on July 30 at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

On June 26, the NBA announced its official plan to restart the season and crown a 2020 champion. The season was suspended indefinitely on March 11 when Jazz center Rudy Gobert became the first player to test positive for COVID-19.

The league’s top 22 teams have reported to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, where each team is scheduled to play eight regular-season games over the course of 16 days. The first round of the playoffs is set to begin on Aug. 17. The 2020 NBA Finals are expected to finish no later than Oct. 13.

Every game will be played at one of three facilities on the complex. No fans will be in attendance.

There has been plenty of skepticism regarding the NBA’s restart, despite a rigorous coronavirus testing program. The league announced that 25 out of 351 players tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two weeks of June.

On July 13, the NBA announced that only two players tested positive for COVID-19 since arriving on the league’s Disney campus on July 7. Those players left the campus to isolate at home or in isolation housing.