NBA schedule release: Afternoon basketball, an easy road from the Pelicans and other key takeaways – CBS Sports

Early on Friday, the NBA and the gamers association finalized a strategy to resume the 2019-20 season on July 30 at Disney World in Orlando. In spite of all of the concerns, ranging from health and safety, to basketball being an interruption from the social justice motion, all indications indicate them playing basketball later on this summer..
While the whole thing is still rather theoretical, especially with coronavirus cases surging in Florida, the plan has actually never felt more real than it did on Friday night, when the league revealed the schedule. All 22 teams welcomed to the bubble will play eight “seeding video games” that will help meet local television agreements, make some cash for the league and offer groups and gamers an opportunity to get back in video game shape prior to the playoffs. Basically its playing out a shortened version of the rest of the routine season.
The seeding video games will begin on July 30, and run through Aug. 14. There will be an optimum of seven games per day, and simply 2 of the three courts in use will be established for national TV. With the schedule now set, here are some essential takeaways:.
Afternoon basketball.
The league has simply over 2 weeks to schedule 8 games for 22 teams, all with only three courts available. With a real crunch on time and resources, and in an effort to optimize the audience for each video game, the league is providing us a rare treat: afternoon basketball..
Sure there will be video games on throughout the afternoon on weekends throughout a normal season, however just a few occasionally. On weekdays, the earliest tip-offs are generally 7 p.m. ET. Due to the extenuating scenarios, games throughout the afternoon arent simply a necessity but will be available to even more individuals, as work scenarios have changed dramatically across the nation. Plus, with fans not allowed the arena, getting more games on television simply makes sense..

When the season was shut down, the Pelicans were 28-36, which put them 3.5 games behind the Grizzlies for the final and 8th playoff area in the West. They would have had some major ground to comprise down the stretch, but with an easy schedule and Zion Williamsons arrival, lots of believed they had a real possibility at pulling it off..
Now that we understand their schedule for Orlando, that feeling remains the exact same. The Pelicans have the easiest schedule based upon challenger winning percentage. In reality, at.495, theyre the only team out of 22 with an opponent winning portion thats under.500. Theyll play allure and Clippers to begin, but then end up with the Grizzlies, Kings, Wizards, Spurs, Kings and Magic..
All informed thats 6 video games versus teams who are under.500, just 3 versus teams presently in a playoff area, and only one versus a real competitor. Passing the Grizzlies in just 8 video games will be difficult, however they must have an opportunity of being within 4, which would put them in a play-in tournament situation..

All 22 groups invited to the bubble will play eight “seeding video games” that will assist meet local TV agreements, make some cash for the league and give groups and players a chance to get back in game shape prior to the playoffs. The seeding games will begin on July 30, and run through Aug. 14. There will be an optimum of seven video games per day, and simply two of the 3 courts in usage will be set up for national Television. Sure there will be games on during the afternoon on weekends during a regular season, however just a few here and there. Due to the extenuating circumstances, video games during the afternoon arent just a necessity however will be accessible to even more people, as work situations have changed significantly across the country.

There will be at least one afternoon video game each and every single day, except for July 30, which is the new “opening night.” The earliest scheduled video game today is a 12:30 p.m. ET tip-off in between the Wizards and Thunder on Sunday, Aug. 9..
All roadways indicate the playoffs for Pelicans.

The conspiracy theorists will suggest that the league set it up that way to get Williamson into the playoffs, and theres no doubt that the league desires that to occur from a marketing perspective. The Pels had the simplest remaining schedule prior to the suspension of the season, and the league tried to preserve that balance in Orlando.
National television disparities.
Certainly the league and the TV networks are going to want the finest teams on TV more often than the bad groups. In basic, thats not a surprise, but even still, the variation in national TV video games is pretty intriguing..
The Lakers, for instance, will have at least 7 of their video games on either ESPN, ABC or TNT. Up next is the Celtics with 6, while other contenders such as the Bucks and Clippers have 5 each. On the other hand, you have teams such as the Wizards and Suns with zero such video games on either of those channels, which is simply another tip that they should not even be there in the very first place..
Possibly the most surprising notes in the nationwide television breakdown is that the Sixers have only two video games on ESPN, ABC or TNT, and Luka Doncic and the Mavericks were restricted to 3..