NBA Playoffs 2020: What to Know as the First Round Starts Monday
Don Juan Moore/Getty; Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty
In what may have seemed like an impossibility only a few months ago, the NBA is closer than ever to crowning a champion.
The NBA playoffs start Monday from Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where dozens of players have lived for weeks inside a "bubble" during the coronavirus pandemic. The first round of the tournament features 16 teams from the Western and Eastern conferences participating in a best-of-seven series that will see the winners move on to the second round slated to start in late August or early September.
The winners of the seminals will then move on to the conference finals, followed by the finals, set to begin on Sept. 30.
Here are the matchups for the first round of the playoffs:
Eastern Conference
No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks vs. No. 8 Orlando Magic
No. 2 Toronto Raptors vs. No. 7 New Jersey Nets
No. 3 Boston Celtics vs. No. 6 Philadelphia 76ers
No. 4 Indiana Pacers vs. No. 5 Miami Heat
Western Conference
No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Portland Trail Blazers
No. 2 Los Angeles Clippers vs. No. 7 Dallas Mavericks
No. 3 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 6 Utah Jazz
No. 4 Houston Rockets vs. No. 5 Oklahoma City Thunder
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Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Damian Lillard
Four teams from each conference will see action on Monday, starting with the Jazz playing the Nuggets at 1:30 p.m. EST. This will be followed by three other games, all on ESPN:
Brooklyn vs. Toronto, 4 p.m. EST
Philadelphia vs. Boston, 6:30 p.m. EST
Dallas vs. L.A. Clippers, 9 p.m. EST
The Clippers — led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George — are considered one of the favorites to win the NBA title, which would be their first in franchise history. But the Los Angeles Lakers, who finished the regular season at the top of the Western Conference, are also in the running to win it all.
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The two teams are expected to meet in the Western Conference finals, which would be the first time they've played in the postseason since the Clippers moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 1984.
But with a long way to go until then, Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis already have their work cut out for them when they take on Damian Lillard and the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST on TNT.
While Lillard has played impressively all season long, his performance since the NBA restart led him to be named NBA Bubble MVP this weekend.
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Tuesday will see the start of three other first-round matchups, including the favorites of the East, the Milwaukee Bucks, taking on the Orlando Magic at 1:30 p.m. EST.
Then, the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers will begin their series at 4 p.m. EST, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder facing the Houston Rockets at 6:30 p.m. EST. All of Tuesday's games will be broadcast on TNT.
For any fans worried that coronavirus could threaten the playoffs, not a single person has tested positive since the league invited players to the Disney campus bubble in July.
