The 75th season of the National Basketball Association league is ready to kick-start from 22nd December. Event to take place in Disney World Orlando, Florida. The new structure for the 2020-21 season includes a Play-In Tournament. 

The play-In tournament is to decide the team that will fill the 7th and 8th playoff seeds in each conference. The NBA finals are planned to be wrapped up before the Tokyo Olympics to make the players available for the Olympics. 

The season has been delayed because of the Pandemic and the span will be shortened and reportedly end before the beginning of the Tokyo Olympics. 

| “Schedule will be released in 2 segments”

                     -Adam Silver, Commissioner of NBA. 

The structure aggregates are:

• No. of participating teams: 30
• Total no. of games: 72

Important dates:

• Play-in Tournament: 22 December 2020- 16 May 2021

                                          : 18 May- 2021- 21 May 2021

• Playoffs: 22 May 2021- 6 July 2021
• Finals: 8 July 2021- 22 July 2021

The Play-in theme hooked the focus of modified structure.

What you should be knowing about this Play-in sports format?

The play-in theme was applied during the “Bubble” which got appreciation from basketball fans and administrations over the world.

‘Bubble’ is an isolated environment that enacts a high degree of safety protocols. It made the 2020 NBA season possible, unlike other sports that were postponed. 

Play-In game concept includes the matches of lowest qualifiers priorly, followed by the encounter between highly capable teams. 

The format provides an advantage to high capability teams, giving them time to relax whereas the low qualifiers get the chance to improve and prove themselves. 

In any game ‘the seed’ represents a competitor team.

Let’s get this format in a nutshell,

• The schedule for the NBA teams will be released in different segments making the further competitor a surprise for the teams.
• The format is applied on a ‘one-year basis’, due to the Covid Pandemic.
• Single and double elimination formats will be followed toward the teams battling for 7th and 8th seeds.
• The teams with the highest winning percentage will have to win 2 matches for the 8th seed.
• The team which loses the 7th and 8th seed game will host the winner of the 9th vs. 10th seed game for the final playoff seed.
• A total of 42 games will be played, that is, 3 games per team against each intraconference opponent.
• 30 games will be played against the opposite conference.

 

The teams participating in season 2020-21:

30 teams will be participating in the game including:

The Eastern Conference:

• Atlanta Hawks
• Boston Celtics
• Brooklyn Nets
• Charlotte Hornets
• Chicago Bulls
• Cleveland Cavaliers
• Detroit Pistons
• Indiana Pacers
• Miami Heat
• Milwaukee Bucks
• NewYork Knicks

The Western Conference:

• Denver Nuggets
• Golden State Warriors
• Houston Rockets
• Los Angeles Clippers
• Los Angeles Lakers
• Memphis Grizzlies
• Minnesota Timberwolves
• New Orleans Pelicans
• Oklahoma City Thunder
• Phoenix Suns
• Portland TrailBlazer
• Sacramento Kings
• San Antonio Spurs
• Utah Jazz

Media partners to capture live moments from sports:

For the fifth time in a row, ABC, TNT, ESPN, and NBA TV will be there for live coverage of the program. 

That was all about the NBA’s updated format. Keep yourself updated with more such sports news.