Why are there no NBA games on April 8th? Exploring reasons for Monday’s break

From October to April, the NBA has games scheduled on a nightly basis. However, there are no games slated to be played on April 8th. Here is the reasoning behind the one-day break to close out the regular season.

The cause of this minor gap in the NBA schedule is because of the NCAA Tournament. March Madness comes to an end Monday night, as the final two teams are squaring off in the national championship game.

This year, a pair of No. 1 seeds will be battling it out in the title game. Zach Edey and Purdue are set to take on UConn on college basketball's biggest stage. Since this game typically draws in a lot of viewers, Adam Silver and other league officials feel it's a good day to keep open.

Following this one-day break, the league will be back in full swing on Tuesday. Teams have three or four games left on their regular season schedule. The final games will be played on April 14th, with the play-in tournament starting a few days later.

In these final days of the regular season, the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves currently hold the top spot in each conference.

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Are there any other days where there are no NBA games?

Aside from the day of the NCAA national championship, there is one other day where there are no NBA games scheduled. That being Election Day. This is something the league has implemented more recently, with the goal being to try and get more fans to go out and vote.

Along with no games being played, some teams did even more to try and get fans to the polls. A couple of franchises voulnteered to have their arenas be voting stations that day.

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How many games do NBA teams have left?

As mentioned before, every team has played at least 78 games at this point. This week, everyone will play their remaining three to four games before completely wrapping up on Sunday.

Even though there aren't many games left, these last handful of matchups are still important for a lot of teams. The standings are tight in both conferences as teams look to alter their playoff fate.

In the Western Conference, teams up and down the standings are battling for position. The Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets are tied for the top seed, with the OKC Thunder just a game behind them. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans are fighting for the highly-coveted sixth seed to avoid the play-in.

Moving to the Eastern Conference, the standings are tight at the top. The Celtics have a sizable lead in first place, but multiple teams have caught up to the Milwaukee Bucks in second place. The Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers are all within a game-and-a-half of the struggling Bucks.