The NBA is back! After COVID-19 disrupted the 2020 season, basketball fans are thrilled for the upcoming 2021 NBA season. Despite the current global situation, the NBA is determined to make the season operate as smoothly as possible, given the circumstances.

For the 75th NBA season, a special structure was adapted to help accommodate the Coronavirus. This year, only 72 games will be played, instead of the typical 82. Also, to determine this year’s 7th and 8th seed playoff teams, the NBA will host a “Play-In Tournament” after the regular season ends and before the first round of the playoffs begin. For this tournament, the 7th through 10th seeds of each conference will play to determine the bottom two seeds for each bracket.

To make it more fair, the 7th and 8th seeds will get two chances to make it to the playoffs, while the 9th and 10th seed teams only get one. The first round of games in this mini-tournament will be between the 7th and 8th seeds of each conference, and the winner is ranked 7th seed. However, the loser of this game still gets another chance to make it to the playoffs. The other set of games will be between the 9th and 10th seeds in each bracket. The winner of this game will play the loser of the 7th-8th seed game, in order to get the 8th seed in the playoffs, while the loser goes home.

So far this season, most teams have played around twenty games, while some have played less due to COVID postponements. In the East, the Philadelphia 76ers are in first place, closely followed by the Brooklyn Nets, who had acquired James Harden in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Rockets earlier this season. In the West, the Utah Jazz, lead the conference with outstanding performances by Donovan Mitchell.The Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers follow not far behind the Jazz.

Pine Crest basketball enthusiasts are excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds.

Max Weinberger ‘24 said, “I’m a big NBA fan and I’m so excited to be able to watch my team again. Being able to follow the NBA again is one of the few things that is normal for us during these times.”

Fans hope that the NBA season will continue as normal for the remaining scheduled games.