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]
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.
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.
Template:2020 NBA playoffs
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.
