June 26, 2020

The New Orleans Pelicans will resume the 2019-20 NBA season on Thursday, July 30 against the Utah Jazz at 5:30 p.m. CT on TNT. The Pelicans, one of 22 teams participating in the NBA season restart, will play eight seeding games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

In the return to play format, all 22 teams will compete in eight “seeding games.” At the end of the seeding games, a play-in tournament will occur between the teams in eighth and ninth place in their respective conference should they be separated by four games or less, with the eighth place team in a double-elimination position and the team in ninth place in a single-elimination position. The winner of the play-in tournament will earn the right to the final playoff position in their conference.

The NBA’s standard playoff tiebreaker procedures will be used to break any ties on the basis of winning percentage. Once the 16-team playoff field is set, the NBA Playoffs will proceed in a traditional conference-based format with four rounds and best-of-seven series in each round. The 2020 NBA Finals will end no later than October 13.

Earlier today, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced that they have finalized a comprehensive plan for a July 30 restart to the 2019-20 season, which includes stringent health and safety protocols, a single-site campus at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and the goal of taking collective action to combat systemic racism and promote social justice.

The NBA and the NBPA confirmed today an agreement on health and safety protocols that will govern the resumption of the season. The rigorous program, which addresses risks related to COVID-19 and focuses on the well-being of players, coaches, officials and staff, was developed in consultation with public health experts, infectious disease specialists and government officials.

The Pelicans’ eight seeding game schedule is below: