When the Boston Celtics come back to finish the 2019-20 NBA season, don’t expect them to pick up right where they left off.
Yahoo Sports Keith Smith reports the NBA is very unlikely to try and restart the schedule that was on tap before the coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench into the works for the currently suspended season.
You may also have heard ESPN’s Brian Windhorst talking about 70 games as a benchmark the league needs to get teams to. This is so important broadcast rights revenue crosses a threshold to secure much-needed payouts for those contracts in a season already missing gate receipts.
That benchmark is real, and probably represents the low-water mark the league plans on getting to, but we should expect the possibility of more regular season games to be attempted even among the teams closest to that magic number.
According to Smith, other rules may be relaxed or altered as well — G League players like Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters might be available for the Celtics all the way through the playoffs, and expanding active rosters from 13 to 15.
In short, expect the unexpected in these extraordinary times.
The resumption of the season is likely to take place in just one or two locations, with reports suggesting both the former and the latter circulating, Las Vegas, Nevada and especially Disney World in Orlando, Florida among leading options.
But if Boston won’t be playing out the full schedule as it was, how many more games and against whom might they play?
Truthfully, we have no idea. But, we can also make an educated guess. On Friday, Smith reported that every team in the league save the Los Angeles Lakers need six games or less to hit that magic number of 70 games, the laggard Lakers needing a seventh.
So, six games seems a reasonable number of contests for most franchises; let’s take a look at who they might be.
Game 1 – Milwaukee Bucks
While we said not to expect Boston to pick up where it left off, this one might actually be worth going back to in any restart of the 2019-20 season.
Two of the hottest teams in the East would certainly be a big media draw — something the league desperately needs to give its broadcast partners — and it would give us a potential preview of an East Semifinals or Finals matchup to boot.
Game 2 – Toronto Raptors
Another East rival sure to be in the mix for a postseason meeting, the two teams have yet to complete their usual four-game slate in one of the closest seasons in years between the two northeastern franchises.
Every meeting so far this season has been must-watch television, and with how closely matched to two teams are, there’s no reason to think anything different now.
Game 3 – Miami Heat
One of the three most likely teams to move in the East standings, this matchup has been good for drama for over a decade no matter the state of either franchise.
And the prospect of seeding implications always brings an added edge to make a contest between these two teams even more intense.
Game 4 – Brooklyn Nets
While there’s a good chance Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant may not be back in action at all in 2019-20 never mind for the regular season, that hasn’t stopped the previous games between these teams from being knock-down, drag-out battles.
Like the Heat, there could be seeding implications given how close the Nets are to the Orlando Magic in the standings. And if Brooklyn’s dynamic duo are up to the challenge, pitting them against a rested Celtics would be pure dynamite viewing.
Game 5 – Philadelphia 76ers
While these two rivals have already finished their allotted series this season, the games they’ve played have had that playoff-level intensity we’ll be looking for in our resumed, regular season concentrate.
Yet another potential postseason foil for Boston, a late-season tilt would give both teams a better chance to prepare for the organization each is most likely to face in the first round
Game 6 – Los Angeles Lakers
If decades of sportsmanlike enmity aren’t enough to get your eyes on the screen, the LeBron James/Anthony Davis vs. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown narrative ought to.
For the truly optimistic among us, this could even be an NBA Finals preview, but even if it isn’t a pitched battle between the league’s fiercest rivals is always among the best possible games to catch.
