NBA Playoff Schedule 2016: Round-by-Round Dates, TV and Live Stream Guide
Forget about the Golden State Warriors’ regular-season wins record. Forget about Kobe Bryant’s epic final act. Forget it all.
Reminisce about those things once the playoffs are over.
But now? Let’s focus on the present.
On Saturday, the NBA postseason begins with the No. 7-seed Indiana Pacers visiting the No. 2-seed Toronto Raptors at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. By Sunday night, every series will be underway.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Let’s take a look at these next few weeks, shall we?
Schedule
| Rosters set for NBA playoffs | April 15 (3 p.m. ET) | |
| NBA playoffs begin | April 16 | |
| Conference semifinals begin | May 2 | April 30 or May 1 |
| Conference finals begin | May 17 | May 15 or May 16 |
| NBA Finals begin | June 2 |
You can stream ESPN games here, TNT games here and NBA TV games here. For specifics on which games are on which networks, head over to NBA.com.
Resilient No. 8 Seeds
Brooms City?
Everybody expects the Warriors to chew the Houston Rockets up, spit them out and move on to Round 2.
But will it be that simple? Hardwood Paroxysm’s Matt Moore thinks so:
It’s possible. Don’t be so sure, though.
Houston has become a punching bag for fans and media alike down the stretch of this season. Making fun of James Harden’s defense, jabbing Dwight Howard and jeering the Rockets up and down—it’s fun, isn’t?
For the Rockets, this has to be fuel for the fire.
Last year, nobody expected them to reach the Western Conference Finals. The Dubs won, of course, but Houston made them sweat in the 4-1 series. Two of Golden State’s wins were within six points. Granted, the other two were beatdowns, but so are most of the Warriors’ victories.
“A lot of people wrote us off, thought we weren't going to make the playoffs and here we are,” Harden said, per Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. “We're gonna take it one game at a time. We faced those guys in the Western Conference Finals. Obviously they're playing well and we are too.”
Josh Smith’s tune was more emphatic, per ESPN’s Calvin Watkins:
The Warriors have had virtually no extra rest down the stretch thanks to their successful chase for 73 wins, and Houston is coming in confident and likely angry.
Don’t count on Harden and Co. to win the series, but set down the brooms. Give Houston a game at home.
Motor City slowing down Cavaliers
LeBron James doesn’t break a sweat until the conference semifinals.
Since 2011-12, the King has lost one game in the opening round of the postseason. One. The outlier was an 89-87 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in Game 4 of the 2012 playoffs.
Carmelo Anthony dropped 41 points. Confetti fell. Then the Miami Heat beat the Knicks down in Game 5, 106-94, and James went on to win his first title.
Things might be different this year.
The Detroit Pistons are no joke and have been especially unfunny since bringing in some heavy artillery at the trade deadline.
This team is vintage Motor City. Take a look at Reggie Jackson’s stance on the series, per Ethan J. Skolnick of the Miami Herald:
Jackson is right—the Cavaliers are no little “homeboy.” They’re the Goliath of the Eastern Conference.
Now, Detroit isn’t a strong pick to win. But as Josh Eberley of Today’s Fastbreak pointed out, the Cavaliers aren’t doing cartwheels about this matchup:
How come?
Well, the Pistons will bang. Andre Drummond will be a force. Jackson will spearhead the offense. Head coach Stan Van Gundy will have Detroit playing like a Stan Van Gundy team.
It won’t be pretty. And, for the Cavs, it won’t be easy.
Expect James, Kyrie Irving and the rest of the crew to emerge victorious, but not without a few bumps and bruises.
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