Nearly three months after the 2019-20 NBA season was halted on March 11 due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the league finally has an official plan to resume the season.
The NBA Board of Governors, which is comprised of team owners such as Tilman Fertitta with the Houston Rockets, voted overwhelmingly on Thursday in favor of the league’s 22-team restart plan. The lone team to vote against the proposal was Portland, which means Fertitta and the Rockets (as expected) were in support of the restart.
With a goal of limiting exposure to the virus, the plan calls for all games to be played at a neutral complex in Orlando and without fans.
Source: 29-1 vote https://t.co/NT87g6EENp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020
Beginning July 31, the Rockets (40-24) will play eight regular-season games before advancing to the 2020 NBA playoffs. From there, the top eight teams in both the Western Conference and Eastern Conference will compete in best-of-seven series via the traditional bracket format.
The decision means the Rockets will conclude the 2019-20 regular season with 72 games, rather than the usual 82. As such, that means Houston has now mathematically clinched a playoff spot.
The final eight games will still be critical for seeding, however, with seeds from No. 2 all the way to No. 7 in play for the Rockets — who are currently tied with Oklahoma City for the West’s No. 5 spot. Those eight games will also help the league and its teams from a revenue perspective by allowing them to fulfill television contracts with local networks.
The NBA has yet to officially release its schedules for the rebooted season, though early indictions are that the schedules will try to mirror the upcoming slate for each team at the time of the season’s suspension. (Scheduled games against the eight NBA teams not invited to Orlando due to them being out of playoff contention would be scrapped.)
For the Rockets, this would mean opening play against the Los Angeles Lakers (49-14) and Portland Trail Blazers (29-37). However, the league has yet to confirm the scheduling aspect just yet.
With @VinceGoodwill report that the NBA will pick up schedules where they left off, skipping over the teams not in Florida, Rockets would play Lakers, Blazers, Kings, Mavericks, Bucks, Pacers, Sixers and Raptors. Six of those games had been scheduled for on the road.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) June 3, 2020
Further details on the return plan, such as the schedule and the league’s medical protocols for COVID-19 testing and containment, will be announced in the days and weeks ahead as the NBA negotiates terms with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
For now, the NBA and its teams are just happy to have an official plan, and finally a path forward to complete the 2019-20 season.
[lawrence-related id=31842,31653]
I should add here that the union and the league are working through a number of issues. Today's BOG vote is significant, but hardly the finish line. There's still a lot to work out.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) June 4, 2020