The two teams from Los Angeles, LeBron James' Lakers and Kawhi Leonard's Clippers, will face off on Thursday, July 30th in the first day of the NBA season resumption, which will start with a match between the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans.

The NBA announced the schedule for the end of the season on Friday, in which 22 teams will compete for the championship ring between late July and October at the Disney World sports complex in Orlando, Florida.

The program includes the 88 games - each team will play 8 - that will be played to determine the qualified franchises for the playoffs and their positions.

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The menu for the first day will begin with the match between the Pelicans of the young phenomenon Zion Williamson and the Jazz of the French center Rudy Gobert, whose coronavirus infection forced the suspension of the season since March 12th.

Afterwards, the star match between the Lakers and the Clippers, two of the main favorites for the title, which currently occupy the first and second position in the Western Conference, respectively.

On July 31st, it will be the turn of the Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo, leader of the Eastern Conference, who will play against the Boston Celtics.

In this second day, other matches were also scheduled such as the one between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Portland Trail Blazers, the two main candidates to secure the last playoff spot in the West; and the Houston Rockets against the Dallas Mavericks, featuring the duel between James Harden and Luka Doncic.

In the first 16 days, the NBA will offer a marathon of matches, up to seven on the same day, which will be played behind closed doors in three courts at Disney World, at times between 12:30 local time (16:30 in Ecuador) and 21:00 (20:00 in Ecuador).

The NBA selected these 88 games from the 259 in the regular season that were pending due to the suspension.

If, at the end of the games, a franchise is within four wins or less of the team in the eighth place in a Conference, both will play a playoff to decide who qualifies for the playoffs.

The playoffs will start on August 17th and end no later than October 13th, if it's necessary to reach the seventh game of the finals. (D)