The NBA on Thursday released the schedule of game dates (and most game times) for the first round of the upcoming 2020 NBA playoffs.
All games will take place at the NBA’s Disney World “bubble” complex, located near Orlando in Central Florida.
For the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, games will take place every other day beginning Tuesday, Aug. 18.
The first four games all have afternoon start times for the team’s home markets in Houston and Oklahoma City. Because there are only two basketball facilities approved for playoff game use at the bubble, not all games can be in prime time — since each court has to host multiple games each day, at least at the beginning of the round.
#Rockets vs. Thunder playoff schedule is set. #OneMission
Game 1: Tuesday, 8/18, 5:30 p.m. Central (TNT)
Game 2: Thursday, 8/20, 2:30 p.m. Central (ESPN)
Game 3: Saturday, 8/22, 5:00 p.m. Central (ESPN)
Game 4: Monday, 8/24, 3:00 p.m. Central (TNT)— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) August 13, 2020
Tip-off times are not set for Game 5 and beyond, because the NBA doesn’t yet know if those games will be necessary in each series. If some series wrap up early, that would open up more prime-time slots.
All games will be shown on national television, with Game 1 and Game 4 of Rockets-Thunder shown on TNT and Game 2 and Game 3 on ESPN. As with tip-off times, information for any hypothetical games from Game 5 and beyond has yet to be released.
Houston will likely be without All-Star guard Russell Westbrook (right quad strain) to start the series, but backcourt mate and MVP finalist James Harden should be ready to go. The Thunder will be led by a healthy Chris Paul, who joined Harden and Westbrook as an All-Star this year.
Paul and Westbrook, of course, were traded for one another in the blockbuster deal involving these two teams in July 2019. As a result, there’s certainly no shortage of juicy storylines in this series.
Both the Rockets and Thunder will wrap up their 2019-20 regular season schedule on Friday. With the first-round matchup already locked in, the main priority for both teams will be getting as healthy as possible by the time their series tips off next Tuesday.
The complete playoff schedule for all eight of the NBA’s first-round series can be viewed below.
🚨 2020 #NBAPlayoffs First Round Schedule 🚨
The NBA Playoffs begin Monday, August 17th with games all day and night!
Full Schedule: https://t.co/m6M3b8qUDf pic.twitter.com/jcheJ5HSni
— NBA (@NBA) August 13, 2020
