By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The NBA is planned to return with a 22-team format that is expected to be approved by the Board of Governors on Thursday (4/6), ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
Per Wojnarowski, 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams are to play eight regular-season matches plus a play-in tournament for a playoff spot. The matches, that are scheduled to begin on July 31 and finish on October 12, will be held in The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The games will feature the top 16 teams in the two Conferences at the moment of the league’s suspension plus New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and the Washington Wizards. According to Wojnarowski, the tournament for a playoff seed “… will include the No. 8 and No. 9 teams — if the ninth seed finishes the regular season within four games of the eighth, sources said. In that case, the No. 8 seed enters a double-elimination tournament, and the No. 9 seed a single-elimination tournament.”
The safety protocols that are going to be followed include a certain degree of confinement: Players are prohibited from eating outdoor restaurants or play golf. Extra measures will be taken to prevent crowding.