The National Basketball Association (NBA) has unveiled a new change in format for the upcoming 2020-21 season. Due to COVID-19, the 19-20 playoffs were held after a 3 month break and thus the new campaign will also be held later than usual. The season starts on December 22, the major change being the number of matches. Usually each team plays 82 games each in the regular season though this year it has been shortened to 72 games to also help the players be available for the Olympics next year in 2021.
The biggest tweak has been the format to determine the 7th and 8th seed in the Western and Eastern conference. It will be a similar format to the one used in the bubble for the playoffs earlier this year.
A mini tournament is going to be scheduled to take place for teams that sit between the 7th and 10th place.
The team with the 7th highest winning percentage plays the team with the 8th highest winning percentage in a home game to determine who finishes 7th. The loser of that match will play the winner of a playoff game between the team with the 9th and 10th highest winning percentage to find out which team finishes 8th.
Fixtures for the upcoming NBA season will be announced soon.
