We’re just days from the start of the NBA’s first-ever play-in tournament, as we wait to see how Steph Curry, Ja Morant, and Jayson Tatum will wow us in a do-or-die situation. And on Friday, the league released a full TV broadcast schedule for the tourney.
https://twitter.com/NBAPR/status/1393356228294811651
If you’re wanting to build out your couch or bar schedule for the week, the first game on Tuesday is likely to feature both Tatum and LaMelo Ball, with Chuck, Shaq and Co. in the studio.
The next night, we will get LeBron James and Anthony Davis or Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum go up against the West’s eighth seed, which will be either Golden State or Memphis. Talk about star power!
But of course, the main event is the elimination games on Thursday and Friday. As usual, TNT gets the Eastern Conference and ESPN gets the Western Conference game. For reference, those games could feature — as an example — Morant vs. Curry. Or Ball vs. Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal.
If last year’s single-elimination play-in told us anything, it’s that we should be in for some awesome basketball. The game averaged 2 million viewers — more than many playoff games — and featured some high level hoops between Morant’s Grizzlies and Lillard’s Trail Blazers.
The play-in tournament starts next Tuesday.
