The NHL may have been the first of the U.S.’s major four sports leagues to release their return-to-play format, but it appears the NBA will be the first to set a date for when play will resume.
Although Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie had originally heard July 15 was the day the NBA was aiming to resume play, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting the league intends to get things rolling again on July 31 — with the aim of the 2020 NBA Playoffs ending on October 12, should the NBA Finals go to seven games.
But the NBA does not intend to jump right into the postseason. According to Woj, eight regular season games will be played, and there will be a play-in game for the eighth spot in each conference.
These wrinkles could impact Brooklyn.
When play stopped, the Nets were the seventh seed in the East, holding a half-game lead on the Orlando Magic, who led the Washington Wizards — the only non-playoff team from the East who will take part in the remainder of the season at Disney — by 5.5 games.
Earning the No. 7 spot will be tough for Washington, but they’ll have a chance to make the playoffs as the last team even if their ranking doesn’t improve from No. 9. So, unless the Nets want to partake in this play-in scenario, they need to be at their best when play resumes to ensure they make the 2020 NBA Playoffs outright.