How to watch Raptors vs. Nets first-round series

The 2020 NBA Playoffs begin on Monday, August 17th after the seeding round wrapped up the regular season with each team playing eight games in the bubble in Orlando. We started with 22 teams and now we’re down to the 16 teams that will compete for the 2020 NBA Championship. The first round of the playoffs kicks off with best-of-7 series in both the Western Conference and Eastern Conference.

The No. 2 seed Toronto Raptors will take on the No. 7 seed Brooklyn Nets in an Eastern Conference first-round series. The Raptors enter with the second-best record in the NBA at 52-19. The Nets did well in the NBA bubble despite injuries and players opting out. Brooklyn finished the regular season 35-36.

The Raptors have the fourth-best odds to win the championship at +1000 while the Nets come in at the worst odds of +40000. Brooklyn had championship aspirations that quickly dissolved after a handful of their top players went down with injury or opted out.

Let’s go over those injuries. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both needed surgery and the Nets didn’t want to risk further injury by bringing them back. Spencer Dinwiddie and Taurean Prince opted out of the restart due to Covid-19 and personal reasons. So the Nets were left with Caris LeVert, Joe Harris and Jarrett Allen to lead the team. The trio did a solid job in the seeding round.

As for the defending champs, they’ve got a healthy rotation for the first time in, well, almost all season long. The Raptors dealt with injuries left and right before the season stopped in March. Now 100% healthy, the Raptors are ready to defend their title.

Below is a run down of the Raptors-Nets series and how to watch it. The ESPN games are available to stream on ESPN.

Raptors vs. Nets series info

Game 1: Mon, Aug 17 Brooklyn at Toronto, 4 ET, ESPN
Game 2: Wed, Aug 19 Brooklyn at Toronto, 1:30 ET, NBATV
Game 3: Fri, Aug 21 Toronto at Brooklyn, 1:30 ET, NBATV
Game 4: Sun, Aug 23 Toronto at Brooklyn, 6:30 ET, TNT
Game 5*: Tue, Aug 25 Brooklyn at Toronto, TBD, TBD
Game 6*: Thu, Aug 27 Toronto at Brooklyn, TBD, ESPN
Game 7*: Sat, Aug 29 Brooklyn at Toronto, TBD, TNT