After the coronavirus shut down the NBA season along with everything else, basketball returned at the end of July at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex inside Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The best 22 of the league's 30 teams wrapped up playing eight games to finish the regular season on Friday (and the Blazers won the play-in game against the Grizzlies on Saturday), and this week brought the long-awaited start of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
The good news for basketball fans is that there will be four games every day for the next week and all will be broadcast nationally. Thursday's first game tips off at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) to accommodate a particularly busy day that also features the NBA Draft Lottery, which will determine the order of selection for the NBA Draft in the fall.
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After the Magic and Blazers pulled off some big upsets on Tuesday, both No. 1 seeds will look for revenge tonight. Here's today's schedule, with all games and the lottery drawing set to air on ESPN. All series are best of seven.
- Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers (MIA leads 1-0), 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT)
- Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets (HOU leads 1-0), 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT)
- Orlando Magic vs. Milwaukee Bucks (ORL leads 1-0), 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT)
- NBA Draft Lottery, 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT)
- Portland Trail Blazers vs. Los Angeles Lakers (POR leads 1-0), 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT)
Looking to watch the playoffs without cable? We have you covered below.
LeBron James, left, and Damian Lillard are set to do battle once again on Thursday night. The Blazers lead the best-of-seven series 1-0.
Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
When did the regular NBA playoffs start?
The regular NBA playoffs, which follow a traditional seven-game format, began on Aug. 17. Four games are on the schedule each day for at least the first week. All games will be broadcast nationally on either TNT, ESPN, ABC or NBA TV.
Game 7 of the NBA Finals will take place, if necessary, no later than Oct. 13.
How can I watch the NBA playoffs on TV without cable?
As in a regular non-COVID season, Disney-owned ABC and ESPN will broadcast games, with ABC broadcasting the NBA Finals. ESPN is the exclusive TV network for the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals.
AT&T-owned Turner Sports, which runs TNT and "jointly" manages the league's NBA Digital division that includes NBA TV, will also be broadcasting games. The network is a close NBA partner and broadcasts several regular-season games weekly as well as the bulk of playoff games. TNT is the exclusive TV network for the 2020 Western Conference Finals.
You can see the NBA's national television schedule here, with games on ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV.
You don't need cable or satellite TV to watch the games on ESPN or TNT. Most of the channels are offered on four of the major live TV streaming services, though not all streaming services offer ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV.
Read more: How to cut the cable TV cord in 2020
YouTube TV
Carries ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV
YouTube TV costs $65 a month and includes all four national channels that carry live NBA games. Read our YouTube TV review.
Sling TV Orange
Carries ESPN, TNT and NBA TV
Sling TV's $30-a-month Orange package includes ESPN and TNT but not ABC. If you want NBA TV you will also need to subscribe to the Sports Extra add-on for an additional $10 per month. Read our Sling TV review.
Hulu with Live TV
Carries ABC, ESPN and TNT
Hulu with Live TV costs $55 a month and includes ESPN and TNT as well as ABC in most areas. It does not, however, carry NBA TV. Read our Hulu with Live TV review.
FuboTV
Carries ABC, ESPN and NBA TV
FuboTV recently added ESPN and ABC, where available, to give it three of the four major channels — ABC, ESPN and NBA TV — if you get the $60-per-month Standard package plus the $6-per-month Fubo Extra add-on (for NBA TV).
TNT is no longer available on FuboTV. Read our FuboTV review.
AT&T TV Now
Carries ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV
AT&T TV Now includes ABC, ESPN and TNT with its $55 per month Plus package, with some regional sports networks, like those in New York and Los Angeles, available in the $80 per month Max offering. NBA TV, however, is not included until you go to the $124-per-month Xtra package. Read our AT&T TV Now review.
Which teams are in?
Here are the 16 teams competing for the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy.
Eastern Conference
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Toronto Raptors
- Boston Celtics
- Miami Heat
- Indiana Pacers
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Orlando Magic
Western Conference
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Denver Nuggets
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Houston Rockets
- Utah Jazz
- Dallas Mavericks
- Portland Trail Blazers
The eliminated teams are all done for the year and are prepping for the offseason and NBA Draft, which will be held on Oct. 16. Better luck next year, Knicks fans.
Which players are sitting out?
Whether from injury, positive COVID-19 tests or any other reason, like concern about getting hurt or catching the coronavirus, several notable players have been sitting out the restart.
- Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets)
- Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn Nets)
- DeAndre Jordan (Brooklyn Nets)
- Taurean Prince (Brooklyn Nets)
- Spencer Dinwiddie (Brooklyn Nets)
- Wilson Chandler (Brooklyn Nets)
- Bojan Bogdanovic (Utah Jazz)
- Willie Cauley-Stein (Dallas Mavericks)
- Avery Bradley (Los Angeles Lakers)
- Thabo Sefolosha (Houston Rockets)
- Trevor Ariza (Portland Trail Blazers)
Where are the games being held?
Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports complex will be the home of the NBA action.
ESPN
The NBA is using three different venues on the ESPN Wide World of Sports campus: the HP Field House, Visa Athletic Center and a site Disney calls The Arena.
The HP Field House has been previously used to host an NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament called the Orlando Invitational. Its next tournament — featuring the likes of Auburn, Michigan State and Gonzaga — is currently set to run Thanksgiving weekend.
See also
- 10 ways to save money on streaming
- How to cut the cable TV cord in 2020
- See more at Streaming TV Insider
Where are the players staying? What do they do when not playing?
The players, team staff and their personnel and families are divided across three different Disney properties: the Grand Destino, the Grand Floridian and the Yacht Club.
The hotels are sorted by team standings, with top seeds like the Bucks, Lakers, Raptors and Clippers staying at the Grand Destino, which opened last year. Teams that were on the playoff bubble — like the Blazers — are staying at Disney's Yacht Club.
Sources: NBA teams Disney hotels based on seeding:
-Grand Destino: Bucks, Lakers, Raptors, Clippers, Celtics, Nuggets, Jazz, Heat
-Grand Floridian: Thunder, 76ers, Rockets, Pacers, Mavericks, Nets, Grizzlies, Magic
-Yacht Club: Blazers, Kings, Pelicans, Spurs, Suns, Wizards— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 16, 2020
As Stadium and The Athletic's Shams Charania notes, when not playing players can attend other games, go to movie screenings and play video games, plus take advantage of pools, trails, barbers, manicurists and pedicurists.
In NBA's ORL campus:
– Hotel amenities: players-only lounge (NBA 2K, TVs, gaming), pool/trails, barbers, manicurists, pedicurists
– 24-hour VIP concierge
– Daily entertainment: Movie screenings, DJ sets, video games, ping pong, pool, lawn games
– Players can attend other games— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 16, 2020
Pingpong is also available, but just singles games. Doubles are not allowed in order to maintain social distancing, as pointed out by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
My favorite detail in the 113-page health-and-safety protocol for Orlando shared with teams in past several minutes: No doubles in ping pong. "Until directed otherwise by the NBA, players should play singles only so that they can maintain six feet of distance from each other."
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 17, 2020
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