2020 NBA Playoff Schedule: Dates, Start Times, TV Info Announced After Protests
August 28, 2020
The NBA postseason will resume Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET after players paused the playoffs for three days to protest systemic racism and police brutality following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic provided the schedule for Saturday through Tuesday:
Thirteen teams remain in the NBA playoffs.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic will lead the resumption of the playoffs, and ESPN will televise the action.
The Bucks' decision to not take the court for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Magic on Wednesday eventually led to three days of games being postponed.
That afternoon, Milwaukee explained its decision to sit, in part citing the shooting of Blake three days prior in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is 40 miles from the Bucks' home city:
The Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers, all of whom were scheduled to play Wednesday, followed suit.
There was talk of the postseason potentially being in jeopardy, but the decision was made to continue and begin a more active effort in the fight for social justice.
The fruits of the discussions between players, coaches and team governors have already begun to appear. Of note, NBA arenas owned and controlled by the franchises will be made available to become polling stations on Election Day on November 3.
The NBA and NBPA produced a joint statement regarding their efforts:
All games on Saturday and Sunday will be first-round series matchups, with the exception of the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, who swept their first-round opponents and are set to face each other in Round 2. The C's and Raps will face off Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.