While the NBA’s schedule for the restarted playoffs has room for every series to go a full seven games, that won’t be a necessity in every instance, as evidenced by the Raptors and Celtics both sweeping their first round opponents this week.
With both teams finishing off their opening series on Sunday evening in Orlando, the league was not going to make them both wait a full week to begin Round 2. Instead, the two teams will meet beginning Thursday, even as some first round series (like Mavs-Clippers) continue. The league announced the full schedule for their highly anticipated second round series on Sunday night, with times and TV network designations still to come.
Toronto-Boston Eastern Conference semifinals series:
Game 1 – Thursday, August 27
Game 2 – Saturday, August 29
Game 3 – Monday, August 31
Game 4 – Wednesday, September 2
Game 5* – Friday, September 4
Game 6* – Sunday, September 6
Game 7* – Tuesday, September 8— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 24, 2020
It will be interesting to see when the league puts those second round tip times if Clippers-Mavs and Nuggets-Jazz continue to six or seven games. One would expect a series involving the Celtics and the defending champs to earn relative top billing even if the other series are hotly contested still. It also sets up the winner of that series to, potentially, earn a bit of a rest advantage over whomever makes it to the conference finals, as the Bucks still must play a Game 5 against the Magic before all-but assuredly squaring off with the Miami Heat in Round 2.