NBA Playoff Schedule 2016: Guide to TV Start Times, Live Stream Info
When the matchups for the second round of the 2016 NBA postseason came together, the series between the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat, at least on paper, looked like the one basketball fans outside of the Queen City and South Florida could skip if they were so inclined.
The Golden State Warriors are always appointment viewing, Oklahoma City-San Antonio is an undeniably tasty matchup, and Cleveland-Atlanta at least has LeBron James. The viewing rationale for Miami-Toronto seemed less obvious for casual viewers.
And yet Miami-Toronto has so far been the most competitive series of the bunch, as the first two games have both gone to overtime. Thunder vs. Spurs has featured more competence on offense, but it's hard to beat the drama inherent to two games featuring extra basketball.
Game 3 between the two evenly matched squads is Saturday, followed by the Stephen Curry-less Warriors looking to go up three games to none on the overmatched Portland Trail Blazers.
The NBA playoffs is a fine way to spend a weekend night, and hopefully there is much more to come from all four of these series. Here's a look at the upcoming start times for the remainder of this round. Live streams can be found either at WatchESPN or TNT Overtime.
| May 7 | 5 p.m. | Toronto Raptors | Miami Heat | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| May 7 | 8:30 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Portland Trail Blazers | ABC | WatchESPN |
| May 8 | 3:30 p.m | Cleveland Cavaliers | Atlanta Hawks | ABC | WatchESPN |
| May 8 | 8 p.m. | San Antonio Spurs | Oklahoma City Thunder | TNT | TNT |
| May 9 | 8 p.m. | Toronto Raptors | Miami Heat | TNT | TNT |
| May 9 | 10:30 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Portland Trail Blazers | TNT | TNT |
| May 10 | TBD | Oklahoma City Thunder | San Antonio Spurs | TNT | TNT |
| May 10* | 7 p.m. | Atlanta Hawks | Cleveland Cavaliers | TNT | TNT |
| May 11 | 8 p.m. | Miami Heat | Toronto Raptors | TNT | TNT |
| May 11* | 10:30 p.m. | Portland Trail Blazers | Golden State Warriors | TNT | TNT |
| May 12* | TBD | Cleveland Cavaliers | Atlanta Hawks | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| May 12* | TBD | San Antonio Spurs | Oklahoma City Thunder | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| May 13* | TBD | Toronto Raptors | Miami Heat | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| May 13* | TBD | Golden State Warriors | Portland Trail Blazers | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| May 15* | TBD | Atlanta Hawks | Cleveland Cavaliers | N/A | N/A |
| May 15* | TBD | Miami Heat | Toronto Raptors | N/A | N/A |
| May 15* | TBD | Oklahoma City Thunder | San Antonio Spurs | N/A | N/A |
| May 16* | TBD | Portland Trail Blazers | Golden State Warriors | N/A | N/A |
Toronto-Miami Preview
The Heat should feel good about what they've accomplished so far in these playoffs. Despite coming into the postseason without forward Chris Bosh, the Heat dispatched Charlotte in the first round and went 1-1 in Toronto before heading home to Miami for Game 3.
Erik Spoelstra's men could make things much easier on themselves by taking better care of the basketball. Miami has already turned the ball over 38 times in this series. At least when the players do manage to hold onto it, they are finding a way to produce.
Miami's offensive production has been balanced, with five players scoring in double figures in each of the first two games of this series. Dwyane Wade has turned back the clock a bit with his steely performances, and Goran Dragic has scored 20 points or more in three straight games thanks to an improved shooting stroke, as he told the Miami Herald's Ethan J. Skolnick:
"It's good. It felt like it's back on track, like a few years ago. I feel great. Hopefully to carry on. We need to regroup and have a huge two games in Miami.
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Of course, the strong foundation the Heat have laid down in surviving Game 1 and nearly snagging Game 2 could be undone if Toronto's Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan find their respective jumpers.
Aside from his miraculous rainbow heave that tied Game 1 at the end of regulation and forced overtime, Lowry's postseason has been a long string of lowlights, as his shooting stats suggest.
| .427 | FG % | .308 |
| .388 | 3P % | .158 |
| .811 | FT % | .689 |
| .516 | eFG% | .342 |
| 21.2 | PPG | 13.6 |
DeRozan scored 30 points to propel the Raptors to a Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers in the first round. However, he needed 32 shots to get there, and he's had similar issues making the most out of his volume shooting against Miami. DeRozan notched 22 points on 22 shots in Game 1 and followed that up with 20 on 24 in Game 2 on Thursday.
Toronto's frontcourt pairing of Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll has kept it competitive in this series, especially the former.
ESPN.com's Mike Mazzeo believes Toronto needs to get the Lithuanian the ball more often:
"Those adjustments should start with getting big man Jonas Valanciunas more involved. Valanciunas has been a force in Games 1 and 2, scoring 39 points and grabbing 26 rebounds. It wasn't until the Raptors finally got him the ball in Game 2 that they made their fourth-quarter comeback.
During the playoffs, Valanciunas has averaged 1.03 points per play in half-court sets (124 plays) as opposed to 0.66 for Lowry (166 plays) and 0.72 for DeRozan (216 plays), according to ESPN Stats & Information. Valanciunas also went 3-for-4 on post-ups in Game 2 and is shooting 8-for-18 on post-ups in the postseason.
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If Lowry can get his offensive game together, Miami could find this team is just as troublesome on the home front as it was away from South Beach.
Hassan Whiteside hasn't found a way to neutralize Valanciunas. If Toronto can draw him away from his main assignment by hitting some mid-range jumpers, the Heat will need more on offense to compensate.
