The National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League return to play this week in their respective bubbles. 22 teams in the NBA that were part of the seeding portion of the rest of the regular season (8 games each) were invited to Orlando, Florida to play at the Walt Disney World Resort. The NHL will play games in both Edmonton and Toronto, Canada.
The NBA plans to get going Thursday with a doubleheader with the Utah Jazz taking on the New Orleans Pelicans, and then at 9 p.m. Eastern the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers renew their rivalry. The Boston Celtics first game in the bubble will take place on Friday at 6:30 when they face the top Eastern seed the Milwaukee Bucks. The 22 teams are battling for 16 spots while the only ones not involved in the leagues return due to records are Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland, Minnesota, and Golden State. An interesting dynamic added to the seeding format for the restart. If a team that finishes ninth is within four games of the eighth seed, a one game play in would happen to see who goes to the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The NHL will start the return with 24 teams and a round robin tournament to determine the order from one to four in each conference. This weekend also includes the start of eight different best of five qualifying rounds, where the winners will advance to the quarerfinal round of the NHL playoffs. The first puck drop for return to play will be one of the best of five qualifiers between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes in Toronto on Saturday at 12 noon. The Boston Bruins who had the best record in the league when played stopped in March, will now have to play in that round robin to try to keep that top spot with the three other teams that were in the top four in the conference when play halted. Their first game is Sunday at 3 p.m. against the Philadelphia Flyers. After the round robins and qualifying rounds are complete, the seeds and matchups will then be set for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The United States Open that takes place in New York announced Wednesday that amid concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, no fans will be allowed at the annual event in September. The major golfing event that takes place at Winged Foot Country Club will also not hold qualifying rounds either, and will create a non-exempt list and try to reflect the field it usually gets. The tournament is scheduled for September 17-20. The PGA Tour returned on June 11 with no fans and has played every week since. The PGA Championship is set to go from August 6-9 with no fans in San Francisco, while the British Open was canceled in April, and the biggest event of the year the Masters was rescheduled to November 12-15 and that is still being talked about as far as fan attendance.
