NBA Playoff Schedule 2016: TV Coverage Guide for Remainder of Postseason
In the opening stages of the NBA playoffs, it appeared few, if any first-round series would require a long-term commitment to settle the score. However, with the help of home cooking and untimely injuries, three matchups remain ongoing.
If not for the basketball gods smiting the Los Angeles Clippers, the Western Conference may have both of its semifinal showdowns decided. Yet two major injuries have turned the tables on what initially appeared an open-and-shut case.
In the Eastern Conference, home-court advantage has heavily swayed two evenly matched series. The other nearly saw the underdog sprint ahead before stumbling toward the finish line on Tuesday.
Let's take a look at the available postseason schedule and the three Game 6 showdowns set for Friday night.
| Fri., April 29 | Toronto Raptors at Indiana Pacers | 7:30 p.m. | First | 6 | ESPNews/NBA TV |
| Fri., April 29 | Miami Heat at Charlotte Hornets | 8 p.m. | First | 6 | ESPN |
| Fri., April 29 | Los Angeles Clippers at Portland Trail Blazers | 10:30 p.m. | First | 6 | ESPN |
| Sat., April 30 | Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs | TBD | Second | 1 | TNT |
| Sun., May 1 | Indiana Pacers at Toronto Raptors | TBD | First | 7* | TBD |
| Sun., May 1 | Charlotte Hornets at Miami Heat | TBD | First | 7* | TBD |
| Sun., May 1 | Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Clippers | TBD | First | 7* | TBD |
| Mon., May 2 | Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers | 7 p.m. | Second | 1 | TNT |
| Mon., May 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs | 9:30 p.m. | Second | 2 | TNT |
| Wed., May 4 | Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers | 8 p.m. | Second | 2 | TNT |
| Fri., May 6 | Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks | 7 p.m. | Second | 3 | ESPN |
| Fri., May 6 | San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder | 9:30 p.m. | Second | 3 | ESPN |
| Sun., May 8 | Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks | 3:30 p.m. | Second | 4 | ABC |
| Sun., May 8 | San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder | 8 p.m. | Second | 4 | TNT |
| Tue., May 10 | Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers | TBD | Second | 5* | TNT |
| Tue., May 10 | Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs | TBD | Second | 5* | TNT |
| Thur., May 12 | Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks | TBD | Second | 6* | ESPN |
| Thur., May 12 | San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder | TBD | Second | 6* | ESPN |
| Sun., May 15 | Atlanta Hawks at Cleveland Cavaliers | TBD | Second | 7* | TBD |
| Sun., May 15 | Oklahoma City Thunder at San Antonio Spurs | TBD | Second | 7* | TNT |
Toronto Raptors vs. Indiana Pacers
This section almost read much differently. The Toronto Raptors again falling short in the first round. Paul George carrying the Indiana Pacers on his back with a marvelous 39-point outing. All that good stuff.
Instead, Indiana squandered a 13-point lead by scoring nine points during the fourth quarter. Per ESPN Stats & Info, Toronto locked down defensively to prevent any easy looks:
Some innovative tinkering by head coach Dwane Casey paid major dividends. To counteract Indiana's streaking perimeter shooting, Casey went small. For most of the final period, point guard Cory Joseph and wingman Nick Powell joined star guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Center Bismack Biyombo took starter Jonas Valanciunas' spot in crunch time, finishing with a game-high 16 rebounds.
Coaches try out new groupings all the time, but typically not late in Game 5 of a tied playoff series. “It was a crazy thing to think about,” DeRozan said after the win, per Sportsnet's Eric Koreen. “Like, we never even ran a play together in practice.”
Will Casey return to the same unit after catching lightning in a bottle? Either way, his squad can use a better offensive outing from Lowry, who has shot 31.4 percent from the floor this series.
Valanciunas picked up the slack in Game 2, and DeRozan shouldered the scoring burden in Game 5, but the Raptors won't last long if their star point guard keeps struggling.
Miami Heat vs. Charlotte Hornets
Miami Heat, meet regression to the mean. Miami, regression. Regression, Miami.
The Heat honored their nickname to open the series up 2-0 over the Charlotte Hornets, registering 123 points in Game 1 and 115 in Game 2. They have since averaged 91.7 points per game in three successive loses. They must stop the slide on the road or pack up.
Considering they shot 33.6 percent from three-point range this season, it's no surprise the Heat couldn't sustain their early lights' out shooting from behind the arc:
| 3PM-A | 18-34 | 23-69 |
| 3P % | 52.9 | 33.3 |
Along with attaining identical 48-34 records during the season, the Heat and Hornets both held losing records on the road. After trading home victories, Charlotte stole one in South Beach behind a game-winning three from Courtney Lee.
“It hurts losing at home,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said, according to the Charlotte Observer's Scott Fowler. “But welcome to the playoffs. They only start when someone loses at home.”
The series wasn't over when Miami jumped to a 2-0 lead, and it's far from finished with Charlotte claiming a 3-2 advantage.
Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Turns out simultaneously losing two superstars can really swing a series.
The Clippers opened their first-round slate with two blowout victories over the Portland Trail Blazers. When Golden State Warrior's Stephen Curry went down with an MCL sprain, they suddenly stood a chance of reaching their first conference final in franchise history.
Then, after dropping Game 3 at full strength, the Clippers lost Chris Paul during a Game 4 loss in which they unraveled late without their floor general. Griffin then aggravated a left quadriceps injury before Game 5, and neither is returning to save the day.
Before Portland took the series lead with a 108-98 win on Wednesday night, ESPN Stats & Info put numbers to a fair assumption that an NBA team gets a lot worse without its top two stars:
Los Angeles played valiantly, but the Blazers eventually pulled away in the fourth quarter behind 16 points from Damian Lillard.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers discussed his team's tenacious effort, per the Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch:
"They wanted to win. They were just up, and sometimes you get up too much. They heard the same thing that you guys said. You know, for 48 hours, hard game, can they win? So I liked the emotion, but they didn't sustain it. Like, the pace we played at in the first half was terrific, we just couldn't sustain the pace.
"
Portland can vanquish Los Angeles on Friday night inside Moda Center, where it is 30-13 including two first-round triumphs. Without Paul steering the ship, the Clippers will struggle to squeeze enough offense out of their small-ball lineup to counter Lillard and Co.
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