Ahead of tonight’s NBA Draft (7:30 ESPN), the league announced several structural changes for the 2020-21 season.
The play-in theme, adapted during the “bubble,” seems to have caught commissioner Adam Silver’s interest. The same format will be amended into the upcoming season starting December 22.
What does this mean?
- Teams battling for the 7th and 8th seeds will compete in single and double elimination formats.
- The 7th and 8th seeds with the highest win percentage in each conference will have the right to “win and you’re in” the playoffs.
- The 9th and 10th highest winning percentages will have to win two games for the final 8th seed.
- The 7th vs. 8th for the 7th seed (single game elimination with 7th seed hosting)
- The loser of the 7th vs 8th seed game hosts the winner of the 9th vs 10th seed game for the 8th and final playoff seed.
Worth noting, the official schedule for NBA teams will be released in different segments throughout the season. Meaning, you won’t have the ability to look down the road in advance to see who you could potentially play.
NBA All Star week is tentatively scheduled to take place the week of March 5-10.
The new play-in format has been implemented, as the league states, on a “one-year basis.”
NBA upcoming schedule:
- NBA Preseason Dec. 11-19
- NBA All-star week March 5-10, 2021
- NBA Play-in tournament May-18-21, 2021
· NBA Playoffs May 22-July 22, 2021
Tune in tonight for the 2021 NBA Draft on ESPN 7:30 PM