After a few days of uncertainty, on Friday, the NBA released revised schedules for its 2020 playoffs, including a trio of Game 5 first-round playoff contests will be played on Saturday, Aug. 29.
The trio will include the Thunder and Rockets, who will carry a 2-2 series into a contest that is expected to feature Russell Westbrook making his playoff debut for Houston.
After a historic player strike on Wednesday, three days’ worth of playoff games were postponed. A brief time period followed where it seemed that the season was in jeopardy, but cooler heads eventually prevailed after the NBA Players Association met, came to an accord and brought their concerns to the NBA’s owners.
As a result, the season is back on and play will resume.
NBA playoff schedule for Saturday and Sunday. pic.twitter.com/9PhPYn5tIC
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 28, 2020
Collectively, the NBA community — from organizations to the commissioner’s office to head coaches, officials and the players — have been outspoken in their support of Black Lives Matter and police and social justice reform.
The strike — originally born from the Milwaukee Bucks’ protesting of the incident resulting in Wisconsin man Jacob Blake being shot seven times by police — has resulted in the NBA announcing it will join the NBPA in several key initiatives. Among them are the league’s practice facilities and/or arenas being used as polling sites to combat voter suppression efforts, as well as its dedicating advertising dollars and airtime to social justice initiatives.
Obviously, those steps won’t solve the issues that the players are collectively fighting for. As a result, the fight will continue.
Fortunately, for basketball fans, as will the playoffs.
.jpg?w=600)
