How Many NBA Games Will There Be in 2021?

The NBA has released the schedule for the 2021 season. Here’s a look at how many games there will be.

The NBA’s Current Plan

The NBA is planning to have a 72-game regular season that will start on December 22, 2020 and end on April 11, 2021. The playoffs will start on April 18 and the Finals will conclude on July 22. This is all subject to change, however, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The NBA’s regular season

The NBA’s current plan is to have a 72-game regular season, which is down from the usual 82 games. The 2020-2021 season was originally supposed to start on October 22, 2020, but it was pushed back to December 22, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular season will end on May 16, 2021. The playoffs will then start on May 22 and will end no later than July 22.

The NBA’s playoff format

The NBA’s playoff format has been adapted for the 2020-2021 season in order to accommodate the league’s condensed 72-game schedule.

The playoffs will begin on May 22, 2021 and will conclude on July 22, 2021.

The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-seven series. The second round and Conference Finals will both be best-of-seven series. The NBA Finals will be a best-of-seven series.

There will be 16 teams in the playoffs, 8 from each conference. The teams with the best record in each conference will earn the top seed in their respective conference. The remaining teams will be seeded based on their regular season record.

Potential Changes to the NBA’s Plan

We’re in the midst of a global pandemic, and the 2020 NBA season was put on hold as a result. Now, the question on everyone’s mind is how many games will there be in 2021? The answer isn’t so simple. The NBA is still deciding on the format for the 2021 season, and there are a few potential changes that could be made. Let’s take a look at what those changes could be.

A shorter regular season

If the NBA does indeed shorten its regular season, it would not be the first time. In fact, it would mark the fifth time in league history that the NBA has played fewer than 82 games in a season. The most recent instance came during the 2011-12 campaign, when a lockout shortened the season to 66 games.

A shorter regular season would also mean a later start to the 2021-22 campaign. That could push back the start of free agency and training camp, as well as make it more difficult for players to find opportunities to play in international competitions like the FIBA World Cup and Olympics.

A different playoff format

The current plan is for the NBA regular season to start on December 22, 2020, and end on May 16, 2021. The playoffs would then begin on May 22 and last until July 22.

However, there is a potential change to the playoff format that could push the Finals back to August. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the league is considering a “play-in tournament” for the seventh and eighth seeds in each conference.

This means that teams that finish the regular season with the seventh and eighth best records in their respective conferences would have to play each other in order to earn a spot in the playoffs. The winner of each game would then advance to the first round of the playoffs, where they would play one of the top four seeds in their conference.

While this change would add more excitement to the end of the regular season, it could also lead to a later start date for next season. If the change is approved, it is likely that the 2021-2022 NBA season would start in December 2021 instead of October or November.

The Impact of These Changes

The 2021 NBA season is looking a lot different than what we are used to. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging on, the NBA has had to change their plans for the upcoming season. The biggest change is that there will be only 72 games instead of the usual 82. This will have a big impact on the way the season plays out.

On the NBA’s TV partners

The NBA’s TV partners are bracing for a potential hit to their ratings and advertising revenue as the league prepares to play a 72-game schedule in 2021, instead of the traditional 82-game schedule.

ESPN and Turner Sports, which air NBA games on their various channels, have already lost games to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. And they are likely to lose more games next year, as the league tries to make up for lost revenue by cramming in as many games as possible into a shorter timeframe.

That could mean more doubleheader nights –– and less opportunity for each game to stand out. It could also mean lower ratings, as viewers may be less likely or inclined to watch two NBA games back-to-back.

“Any time you have less inventory, it puts pressure on ratings,” said one TV executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The drop in ratings would likely lead to a drop in ad revenue, which is the lifeblood of sports television. ESPN charges advertisers upwards of $500,000 for a 30-second spot during an NBA game, according to people familiar with the matter. Turner charges slightly less.

But if ratings go down, advertisers will be able to negotiate for lower rates. And if enough advertisers do that, it could have a ripple effect on the entire industry, as other networks that rely on advertising dollars will be forced to lower their rates as well.

On the NBA’s players

The Guardian reports that the players have been “left in the dark” about how many games they will be expected to play in the 2021 season. The report cites one player who said that he was told by an NBA official that the league is still working on a schedule and that nothing has been finalized.

The report also notes that, while the NBA has not released any information about the 2021 season, it is widely believed that the league will play a shorter schedule than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This would likely mean that each team would play fewer games, and that there would be more time between games.

While it is not clear how many games the players will ultimately be asked to play, it is clear that the pandemic has had a major impact on the NBA’s plans for the 2021 season. It remains to be seen how this will affect the league’s players.

On the NBA’s fans

The NBA has seen a lot of changes over the past few years, and those changes have had a big impact on the league’s fans. The most recent change is the addition of an extra play-in game to the playoffs, which means that there will be more games played overall. This change, along with others, has led to some fans feeling like they are being left out of the league’s decision-making process.

The NBA has always been a league that has been willing to experiment with its format, and that willingness has led to some changes that have been widely praised by fans. However, the recent changes to the playoff format have not been received as well by fans, who feel like they are being left out of the loop.

It is clear that the NBA is a league that is constantly evolving, and that those changes can have a big impact on the fans. As the league continues to change, it will be important for them to keep their fan base in mind and make sure that they are including them in the decision-making process.