2020 NBA playoffs

The 2020 NBA playoffs will be the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2019–20 season. The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin on April 18. However, the league suspended the season on March 11, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic after some players tested positive for the virus.[1]

2020 NBA playoffs
DatesAugust 17 – October 13, 2020
Season2019–20
Teams16
Defending championsToronto Raptors
← 2019

On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan to restart the season on July 31.[2] This proposal was then approved by members of the National Basketball Players Association on June 5. Under this plan, the 22 top teams in the league at the time of the suspension will play eight additional regular season games to determine playoff seeding, and 16 of those teams will then play in a conventional postseason tournament. However, should the ninth seed within a conference finish the regular season within four games of the eighth seed, they will then compete in a play-in series.[3] The last time a play-in game was played to determine a playoff spot was in 1956.[4]

As part of the bubble, all playoff games will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex inside Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida.

Overview

Format
See also: NBA playoffs § Format, Suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, and 2020 NBA Bubble

After the NBA suspended its season on March 11, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the league started to explore implementing a special postseason format just for this year.[5]

On June 4, the NBA Board of Governors approved a plan to restart the season on July 31 in the NBA Bubble, with 22 of the 30 teams in the league, all clubs within six games of a playoff spot. Under this plan, the 22 teams will play eight regular-season "seeding" games. A possible best-of-three play-in series for the final seed in each conference would then be held if the ninth seed finishes the regular season within four games of the eighth seed. The eighth seed would start with a de facto 1–0 lead, meaning that it would need just one win to advance, while the ninth seed would need two. The NBA's regular playoff format would then proceed as normal. All games would be played behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World.[2]

Under the NBA's regular playoff format, the eight teams with the most wins in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record. Each conference's bracket is fixed; there is no reseeding. All rounds are best-of-seven series; the series ends when one team wins four games, and that team advances to the next round. All rounds, including the NBA Finals, are in a 2–2–1–1–1 format. In the conference playoffs, home court advantage goes to the higher-seeded team (number one being the highest). Seeding is based on each team's regular season record within a conference; if two teams have the same record, standard tiebreaker rules are used. Conference seedings are ignored for the NBA Finals: Home court advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record, and, if needed, ties are broken based on head to head record, followed by intra-conference record.

Playoff qualifying

On February 23, 2020, the Milwaukee Bucks became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.[6] The Toronto Raptors,[7] Los Angeles Lakers,[8] and Boston Celtics[9] subsequently clinched playoff berths before the season was suspended on March 11.[5]

† Denotes team that clinched a playoff berth prior to the March 11 suspension of the season
* Denotes team that automatically clinched a playoff berth or a division title on the June approval of the 22-team plan to resume the season

Eastern Conference
SeedTeamRecordClinched
Playoff berthDivision titleBest record
in conference		Best record
in NBA
1Milwaukee Bucks56–17February 23†[6]June 4*August 6[10]August 8
2Toronto Raptors53–19March 5†[7]August 9——
3Boston Celtics48–24March 10†[9]———
4Indiana Pacers45–28June 4*[2]———
5Miami Heat44–29June 4*[2]June 4*——
6Philadelphia 76ers43–30June 4*[2]———
7Brooklyn Nets35–37August 7[11]———
8Orlando Magic33–40August 7[12]———

Western Conference
SeedTeamRecordClinched
Playoff berthDivision titleBest record
in conference		Best record
in NBA
1Los Angeles Lakers52–19March 6†[8]August 3[13]August 3[13]—
2Los Angeles Clippers49–23June 4*[2]———
3Denver Nuggets46–27June 4*[2]August 10——
4Houston Rockets44–28June 4*[2]August 9——
5Oklahoma City Thunder44–28June 4*[2]–——
6Utah Jazz44–28June 4*[2]———
7Dallas Mavericks43–32August 2[14]———
8Portland Trail Blazers35–39August 15———

Playoff bracket

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk.

  First Round Conference Semifinals Conference Finals NBA Finals
                                     
E1 Milwaukee* 0  
E8 Orlando 0  
   
   
E4 Indiana 0
E5 Miami* 0  
   
Eastern Conference
   
E3 Boston 0  
E6 Philadelphia 0  
 
   
E2 Toronto* 0
E7 Brooklyn 0  
 
 
W1 LA Lakers* 0  
W8 Portland 0  
 
   
W4 Houston* 0
W5 Oklahoma City 0  
 
Western Conference
   
W3 Denver* 0  
W6 Utah 0  
 
   
W2 LA Clippers 0
W7 Dallas 0  

* Division winner
Bold Series winner

Play-In Round
Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by NBA. All games will be played behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World.

Western Conference

(8) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (9) Memphis Grizzlies
August 15
2:30pm
Memphis Grizzlies 122, Portland Trail Blazers 126
Scoring by quarter: 19–31, 33–27, 42–31, 28–37
Pts: Ja Morant 35
Rebs: Jonas Valančiūnas 17
Asts: Kyle Anderson 9		 Pts: Damian Lillard 31
Rebs: Jusuf Nurkić 21
Asts: Damian Lillard 10
Portland wins series 1–0
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Bay Lake, Florida
Referees: James Capers, Pat Fraher, and Tony Brown

First round
Note: All times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA. All games will be played behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World.

Eastern Conference

(1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (8) Orlando Magic
August 26
TBD
Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks*
TBD
August 28
TBD
Milwaukee Bucks vs. Orlando Magic*
TBD
August 30
TBD
Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks*
TBD

This will be the second playoff meeting between the two teams, with the Bucks winning the first meeting.[15]

(2) Toronto Raptors vs. (7) Brooklyn Nets
August 25
TBD
Brooklyn Nets vs. Toronto Raptors*
TBD
August 27
TBD
Toronto Raptors vs. Brooklyn Nets*
TBD
August 29
TBD
Brooklyn Nets vs. Toronto Raptors*
TBD

This will be the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Nets winning the two previous meetings.[16]

(3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers

This will be the 22nd playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning 13 of the first 21 meetings.[17]

(4) Indiana Pacers vs. (5) Miami Heat
August 26
TBD
Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers*
TBD
August 28
TBD
Indiana Pacers vs. Miami Heat*
TBD
August 30
TBD
Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers*
TBD

This will be the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Heat winning three of the first four meetings.[18]

Western Conference

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Portland Trail Blazers

This will be the 12th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning nine of the first eleven meetings.[19]

(2) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (7) Dallas Mavericks

This will be the first playoff meeting between the Clippers and the Mavericks.[20]

(3) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Utah Jazz
August 25
TBD
Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets*
TBD
August 27
TBD
Denver Nuggets vs. Utah Jazz*
TBD
August 29
TBD
Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets*
TBD

This will be the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning three of the first four meetings.[21]

(4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Oklahoma City Thunder

This will be the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Thunder/SuperSonics winning six of the first eight meetings.[22]

Media coverage

Television

ESPN, ABC, TNT, and NBA TV are set to telecast the playoffs nationally in the United States. During the first two rounds, games will be split between TNT, ESPN, and ABC regardless of conference. NBA TV will also televise selected games in the first round. Regional sports networks affiliated with the teams could also broadcast the games, except for games televised on ABC. The Western Conference Finals will air on TNT, while ESPN will televise the Eastern Conference Finals. ABC owns the exclusive television rights to the 2020 NBA Finals, which would be the 18th consecutive year for the network.[23]

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References
  1. "NBA to suspend season following tonight's games" (Press release). National Basketball Association. March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  2. "NBA approves 22-team format to finish season". ESPN. June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  3. "NBPA reps vote to approve 22-team format to finish season". Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  4. "How the Blazers, Grizzlies, Spurs and Suns make the West play-in". ESPN.com. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  5. Zillgitt, Jeff (March 12, 2020). "What's next for NBA, teams, players during coronavirus hiatus?". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  6. "Bucks earliest to clinch playoff berth in 15 years". ESPN.com. February 23, 2020. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  7. "Raptors clinch playoff spot with win over Warriors". TSN.ca. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  8. "Lakers Clinch 1st Playoff Berth Since 2013 with Win over Giannis, Bucks". Bleacher Report. March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  9. "Celtics Clinch Playoff Spot With Win Over Pacers". Sports Illustrated. March 10, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  10. "Giannis Antetokounmpo says Bucks' biggest obstacle after clinching 1-seed 'is ourselves'". ESPN. August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  11. "Nets 'took care of business' in clinching playoff spot, Jacque Vaughn says". ESPN. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  12. "Holiday scores 28; Pelicans top Wizards without Williamson". ESPN. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  13. "Lakers beat Jazz 116-108 to clinch top seed in West". ESPN. August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  14. "Mavericks clinch playoff spot with Grizzlies' loss; drought to end at 3 years". ESPN. August 2, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  15. "Team Rivalry Finder — Milwaukee Bucks versus Orlando Magic (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  16. "Team Rivalry Finder — Brooklyn Nets versus Toronto Raptors (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. August 9, 2020. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  17. "Team Rivalry Finder — Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  18. "Team Rivalry Finder — Indiana Pacers versus Miami Heat (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  19. "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Lakers versus Portland Trail Blazers (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  20. "Team Rivalry Finder — Los Angeles Clippers versus Dallas Mavericks (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  21. "Team Rivalry Finder — Denver Nuggets versus Utah Jazz (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  22. "Team Rivalry Finder — Houston Rockets versus Oklahoma City Thunder (Playoffs)". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  23. "2020 NBA Playoffs Schedule". Sportsmediawatch.com. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
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