Tonight's big playoff slate
- NBA first-round action continues with two highlighted games on April 22: Magic at Pistons, then Suns at Thunder. - Game times announced are Orlando Magic (8) at Detroit Pistons (1) at 6 p.m. ET, then Phoenix Suns (8) at Oklahoma City Thunder (1) at 8:30 p.m. ET. - Networks are splitting coverage across services, so follow-up viewing guides list channels and streaming info for tonight's doubleheader (jsonline.com) (espn.com).
Two first-round series were set to continue on Tuesday, April 22, with Orlando at Detroit in the early game and Phoenix at Oklahoma City in the nightcap. (nba.com) The schedule listed Magic-Pistons for 6 p.m. Eastern and Suns-Thunder for 8:30 p.m. Eastern as part of an ESPN doubleheader. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s viewing guide also flagged the split between television and streaming options for the postseason. (jsonline.com) The matchups paired two No. 8 seeds against No. 1 seeds. Detroit entered as the top seed in the East, and Oklahoma City entered as the top seed in the West after locking in its third straight No. 1 seed, according to ESPN’s playoff tracker. (espn.com) The night mattered because both lower seeds opened their series in immediate trouble. Phoenix lost Game 1 at Oklahoma City, 119-84, and Detroit had already dropped Game 1 at home to Orlando, 112-101, before Tuesday’s Game 2. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) That put pressure on the favorites for different reasons. Oklahoma City was trying to avoid any early wobble in a title defense, while Detroit was trying to keep a 60-win season from turning into a 0-2 hole before the series shifted to Orlando. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) The playoff calendar has also become harder to follow on one channel. ESPN said its games stream through the ESPN App, while other first-round windows have been spread across NBC, Peacock and NBC Sports platforms. (espn.com) (jsonline.com) By the end of the night, both No. 1 seeds had steadied themselves. NBA.com’s live recap said Detroit beat Orlando 98-83 behind 27 points and 11 assists from Cade Cunningham, and Oklahoma City beat Phoenix to seize a 2-0 series lead. (nba.com) The series now move on with Game 3s on Saturday, April 25. ESPN’s team schedules list Pistons-Magic at 1 p.m. Eastern and Thunder-Suns at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, with both games on Peacock and NBC Sports Network. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2)
