By Canadian Press

Some sports ready to return, but other schedules remain murky in week of protests

Aug 28, 2020 | 8:20 AM

The professional sports schedule is expected to start getting busier on Friday after a string of postponements the past two days, but it won’t be back to normal just yet.

While the NBA has said it hopes to resume its playoffs on Friday or Saturday in the aftermath of two gameless days at the league’s bubble at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, no firm schedule is on the table. The Eastern Conference semifinal opener between the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics needs to be rescheduled after being called off Thursday.

The Milwaukee Bucks triggered two days of cancellations by refusing to take the court Wednesday to protest social and racial injustice in the aftermath of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin last weekend.

The NHL, meanwhile, will have a second straight day without games on Friday before it resumes its playoff schedule on Saturday with three games in Toronto and Edmonton.

The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning kick things off Saturday at 12 p.m. ET with Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal in Toronto. The New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers square off in Game 4 of their series on Saturday night in Toronto, and the Vancouver Canucks face the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal in the final game of the night in Edmonton.

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Major League Baseball returns for Jackie Robinson Day on Friday, honouring the man who broke the colour barrier in the sport after 10 postponements the past two days.

Tennis also returns after play was postponed yesterday. Canadian Milos Raonic is in semifinal action at the Western & Southern Open in New York.

A Major League Soccer game in Montreal between the Impact and Toronto FC is scheduled for Friday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2020.

The Canadian Press