NBA playoff TV night
- Three NBA playoff games are scheduled tonight: Pistons at Celtics, Lakers at Rockets, Suns at Thunder. - Tip times are 7:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., and 9:30 p.m. Eastern, across NBA TV and TNT. - The slate frames a compact evening of Game 2s with Boston and OKC seen as heavyweight presences tonight. ( )
Three first-round NBA playoff series resume Tuesday, April 21, with Boston, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers all hosting Game 2s. (nba.com) The official league schedule lists Philadelphia at Boston at 7 p.m. Eastern, Portland at San Antonio at 8 p.m., and Houston at the Lakers at 10:30 p.m. All three games are part of the opening round that began April 18. (nba.com, cbssports.com) Boston opened its series with a 123-91 win over Philadelphia on April 19, while San Antonio beat Portland 111-98 and the Lakers beat Houston 107-98 on April 18. Those results put all three higher seeds up 1-0 entering Tuesday night. (nba.com, cbssports.com) The schedule also shows how compressed the first round is. Game 3 in Celtics-76ers is set for Friday, April 24, Game 3 in Rockets-Lakers is also Friday, and Game 3 in Trail Blazers-Spurs follows the same night. (nba.com, espn.com) This postseason is the first round after the April 14-17 play-in tournament finalized the 16-team field. Philadelphia, Portland and Phoenix advanced through that play-in path, while Miami, the Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte and Golden State were eliminated. (olympics.com, cbssports.com) The bracket looks different from recent years. Oklahoma City entered the West as defending champion and No. 1 seed, while Detroit finished No. 1 in the East and already trails Orlando 1-0 after a Game 1 loss on April 19. (olympics.com, nba.com) Monday’s games already shifted two series. Atlanta beat New York 107-106 to tie that matchup 1-1, and Minnesota beat Denver 119-114 to level that series after the Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead over Toronto with a 115-105 win. (cbssports.com, nba.com) Tuesday’s slate is narrower than the full opening weekend, but it sets up three home teams trying to avoid giving away early control before the bracket shifts cities later this week. By Wednesday night, every first-round series will have completed at least two games. (nba.com, espn.com)
