data-mm-id=”_k1ohxfnz9″>A few weeks back, Adam Silver said he hoped to have a concrete return plan to deliver to teams by the first week in June. Well, June has (somehow) already arrived, and Adrian Wojnarowski hopped on Get Up today to report that the league is expecting its Board of Govenors to approve a plan to resume play that would include 22 teams. "There's a lot of focus right now on a 22-team model of bringing teams back to Orlando in a play-in situation. … Thursday will be the day of the vote and it's expected to overwhelmingly pass."@wojespn on the NBA's return to play. pic.twitter.com/7JRfLaOf2Q— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 1, 2020How many teams would be included in a restart was the hottest topic of debate in NBA discourse as the likelihood of basketball returning grew stronger. Cutting the remainder of the regular season entirely and starting from the playoffs seems to be the easiest solution, but there was enough jockeying going on in the back half of the Western Conference playoff picture that half the teams in the West would not be happy with that solution. Thus, a play-in tournament seems the best middle ground, and it appears that will be the case. The interesting development will be if the NBA keeps all things even. With a 22-team format upon resumption of play, it stands to reason that the league would eliminate the bottom four teams from each conference and keep the rest. But the bottom of the West is definitively better than the bottom of the East; the five teams currently sitting behind the Grizzlies for the Western eight seed all have better records than the five teams behind the Eastern eight seed. If the NBA kept it even, the Spurs (27-36) wouldn't get a bid for a play-in tournament, while the Bulls (22-43) will. San Antonio is merely five games behind Memphis, and Chicago is eight games behind Orlando. There's a strong case that the Spurs deserve a shot more than the Bulls. In fact, if the NBA decides to have the 16 playoff teams and the six next best teams by record regardless of conference come down to Disney World, all six teams would be from the Western Conference. A lot rides on exactly how they'll do the play-in tournament (which teams have an automatic berth and who would play who after the play-in) but going by record instead of conference could set up some wonky matchups for top seeds and tough combinations for broadcasts. You can bet the Bucks are going to pull for whatever format has them playing the Magic instead of the Trail Blazers or Pelicans. Silver has a difficult line to toe between keeping fans entertained, keeping teams happy, and putting a quality product on the floor while maintaining the appearance of parity. It's tough to say which path would allow for all of that. I think the NBA will take the simplest route available and take three teams from each conference to add into a play-in tournament. Western Conference teams won't be pleased, but it lessens any complications and the NBA might be more focused on making sure everything is as close to normal as possible instead of experimenting. This would ensure that, even if it probably means some of the first NBA games we'll see in months will be Hornets vs. Wizards and other such matchups. There's still much to be figured out here, but the league is taking it step-by-step. Thursday will represent the biggest one taken yet.
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The United States have done the impossible to beat Egypt 3-0 and advance to the semi finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa.
While all eyes were on Egypt as the African champions had the best chances to advance, Charlie Davies showed the first signs of a possible American revival scoring for 1-0 after 21 minutes.
Michael Bradley s low shot made it 2-0 four minutes after the hour and Clint Dempsey headed home for 3-0 eight minutes later.
Beating Egypt by three goals was enough for the USA to finish ahead of the Africans in this group, and as Italy lost 0-3 to Brazil, the Americans jump from fourth to second place and advance despite losing their two first games.
As a result, the USA play their semi final against European champions Spain nex…
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has warned Australian and Chinese football authorities over their players bad behaviour after fining them for a brawl at an under-19 women s game this month.
The Australian and Chinese teams, and the (China Football Association), have been given stern warnings to ensure that these offences are not repeated in future matches, AFC said in a statement late Thursday.
The AFC also imposed fines totalling 12,000 dollars over the brawl at the AFC U-19 Women?s Championship 2009 match played in Wuhan, China, on August 3.
Australia s Jessica Seaman was suspended for four matches and fined 3,000 dollars after she was found guilty of violating the AFC disciplinary code, AFC said.
Seaman was sent off for violent conduct during …
Borussia Dortmund will not re-sign Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United, according to CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
The Armenia international moved to Old Trafford in August for a reported £26.3million fee, but has struggled to make any impact under Jose Mourinho due largely to injury problems.
Dortmund bought back Shinji Kagawa from United in 2014, while Nuri Sahin and Mario Gotze have rejoined the club in recent seasons after difficult spells away from Signal Iduna Park.
But Watzke, when asked by Kicker if he would consider a move to bring back Mkhitaryan, replied: No.
He continued: Any intelligent player should consider in advance what kind of environment they are moving to.
When you are playing in surroundings where things are working for y…
Juventus great Gianluigi Buffon would be unsurprised if Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo signed for the Serie A champions.
Ronaldo, 33, is linked with a stunning €100million switch from Madrid to Juve, with the deal reportedly close to completion.
The Portugal international s arrival would come after Buffon s departure, the former Italy goalkeeper having signed with Paris Saint-Germain.
Buffon, who made more than 500 league appearances for Juve, said Ronaldo joining the club would come as no surprise.
I wouldn t be surprised to see Ronaldo at Juventus, he told Sky Sport on Monday.
It would make me happy because it is what the Juventus world needs, to find new idols and adore them.
Buffon confirmed his Juve exit in May, having been t…
What the papers say
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola is hopeful of holding on to striker Dominic Solanke despite interest from Tottenham. The Evening Standard reports that Iraola expects the 26-year-old to stay at the club after the transfer window has closed.
Albania striker Armando Broja remains in the sights of Fulham, who are considering a late move before the deadline, according to the Standard. But the Daily Mail says they are reluctant to meet Chelsea’s £50million asking price for the 22-year-old.
Brighton are in talks with Tottenham about Spanish winger Bryan Gil, reports the Standard. They are keen on taking the 22-year-old on loan.
Crystal Palace are also weighing up a late loan deal, according to the Daily Telegraph. They are keen on Ivory Coas…
(GSM) Cristiano Ronaldo is confident Real Madrid can turn around their Champions League tie with Olympique Lyon and avoid elimination from the competition at the last-16 stage for the sixth successive year.
Real were handed a 1-0 defeat in the first leg in France after Lyon midfielder Jean Makoun struck a brilliant 25-yard drive past Iker Casillas just after half-time.
Los Blancos failed to reach the high level of their last La Liga matches and it could have been worse for Manuel Pellegrini s team with the hosts hitting the post in the first half through Cesar Delgado and creating a number of other chances.
Despite Real s disappointing display Ronaldo is adamant this is not the end of the tournament for the Spanish giants.
In football anything is possib…
Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola applauded his team s defensive cohesion on Wednesday after they edged past Bayer Leverkusen to the DFB Pokal semi-finals.
After the quarter-final tie in Leverkusen ended scoreless through 120 minutes, Bayern s five penalty takers all converted, while goalkeeper Manuel Neuer saved Josip Drmic s opener for the hosts to give the Bavarian visitors victory.
Leverkusen dominated the match with 12 shots to five, although both teams finished with three efforts on target, but Guardiola claimed his team produced a better defensive performance than in their previous meeting with Roger Schmidt s men.
In December, Bayern won 1-0 in Munich but Guardiola claimed he had spent a lot of time drilling his team in dealing with Leverkusen s counter…
The agent of Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola, Josep Maria Orobitg, says he remains in the dark over his client s future with the Bundesliga champions.
Guardiola s contract expires at the end of the season with Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirming recently that discussions would be held after the culmination of the first half of the Bundesliga campaign.
But Orobitg acknowledged Guardiola s future could lie elsewhere, amid rumours of interest from the likes of Premier League sides Chelsea and Manchester City.
Not even I know what Pep s intentions are, he told TZ.
We ve had some intensive talks in the past few days, but when it comes to things like this, he s very private.
He will make up his mind entirely based on his own impressions.
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Turning our attention to the final round of Nicaraguan Premier League fixtures this weekend, Real Estelí will be hoping to secure their spot in the top-two when they make the trip to Jalapa in what could be another low-scoring encounter late on Saturday night.
Starting with the hosts, while Jalapa may have managed to secure their spot in the play-offs with plenty of time to spare, the Yellow and Greens have endured a very worrying end to the campaign. Watching his side s morale take a huge dent thanks to a 6-1 hammering away at league leaders Managua in midweek, Head Coach Leónidas Rodríguez has seen his squad fail to win any of their last four Premier League appearances. Hit with a 2-0 defeat when they last faced off against Re…
Diego Simeone insists the referee was correct to add on 10 additional minutes in Atletico Madrid s dramatic late win at Espanyol due to the home side s time-wasting.
Atleti were heading for a first defeat of the season after Raul de Tomas gave Espanyol the lead through their first LaLiga goal in nine matches.
But Simeone s decision to make a triple substitution at half-time, before also turning to Joao Felix and Matheus Cunha in the second half, paid off for the reigning champions.
Yannick Carrasco fired in an equaliser in the 79th minute – Atleti s 300th LaLiga goal against Espanyol – and then set up Lemar s winner in the ninth of 10 added-on minutes.
Six substitutions were made in the second half and there was a lengthy VAR check for an earlier dis…