NBA Playoffs 2016: Live Stream Schedule, TV Info, Odds and More
Basketball fans will have to make do without the 2016 NBA playoffs on Friday, but the absence of hardwood action will be short-lived.
On Saturday, the Toronto Raptors will start the climb from a 2-0 hole against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a boost from the home crowd in the Queen City.
LeBron James and his teammates are cakewalking through the postseason with a 10-0 record to this point. Every easy game just adds to their confidence and increases their chances of heading into the NBA Finals well-rested and ready to take on whichever team emerges from the gauntlet that is the Western Conference.
On Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors vie for an edge with the series knotted up at one game apiece. The Thunder stole Game 1 in Oakland and can make the 73-win Warriors sweat by protecting their home court.
This should be an entertaining weekend of hoops. Here's an updated look at the TV and live stream info for the remainder of these series, along with an update on each team's championship odds.
| Sat., May 21 | 8:30 p.m. | Cleveland Cavaliers | Toronto Raptors | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| Sun., May 22 | 8 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Oklahoma City Thunder | TNT | TNT Overtime |
| Mon., May 23 | 8:30 p.m. | Cleveland Cavaliers | Toronto Raptors | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| Tue., May 24 | 9 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Oklahoma City Thunder | TNT | TNT Overtime |
| Wed., May 25* | 8:30 p.m. | Toronto Raptors | Cleveland Cavaliers | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| Thu., May 26 | 9 p.m. | Oklahoma City Thunder | Golden State Warriors | TNT | TNT Overtime |
| Fri., May 27* | 8:30 p.m. | Cleveland Cavaliers | Toronto Raptors | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| Sat., May 28* | 9 p.m. | Golden State Warriors | Oklahoma City Thunder | TNT | TNT Overtime |
| Sun., May 29* | 8:30 p.m. | Toronto Raptors | Cleveland Cavaliers | ESPN | WatchESPN |
| Mon., May 30* | 9 p.m. | Oklahoma City Thunder | Golden State Warriors | TNT | TNT Overtime |
| Golden State Warriors | 5-7 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 8-5 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | 15-2 |
| Toronto Raptors | 75-1 |
Note: Odds courtesy of Odds Shark and updated as of Friday, May 20 at 1 p.m. ET.
Weekend Warriors
After an ice-cold fourth quarter in Game 1 contributed to the Warriors' upset loss, Stephen Curry and his cohorts made it seem like nothing happened with some sublime play in a 118-91 win in Game 2 on Wednesday. Curry scored 28 points, and the Warriors as a team shot 50.6 percent from the field and 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from three in a comprehensive drubbing.
A mostly competitive first half gave way to a breezy third quarter for the Warriors in which they outscored the Thunder 31-19. Perhaps this brilliant, no-look prayer of a layup from Andre Iguodala at the end of the second quarter served as inspiration, per the NBA:
Other than the usual contributions from Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, a huge part of the Thunder's path to victory appears to be the ability of Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter and Steven Adams to control the paint. After strong play from that trio in the first game of the series, Wednesday's outing saw them looking mostly hapless.
Ibaka's strong three-point shooting from the San Antonio series has escaped him, and Kanter looked lost while defending the pick and roll.
The Warriors did well to draw the big fellas out with their speed and crisp passing. Ibaka ended up on the wrong end of a Curry death stare on one particular play.
This all wouldn't be so bad if Durant were playing a full game at his normal superhuman level, but Deadspin's Albert Burneko noted he wilted in the second half of Game 2:
"Picking on this one sequence would be unfair if it weren’t just a slightly Bennie Hill’d up microcosm of Durant’s play through both of the first two games in the series. He’s been lousy. He shot efficiently last night, 29 points on 18 attempts, after a hideous 10-for-30 outing in Game 1, but that’s more than a little misleading: for one thing, he scored 25 of last night’s points in the first half, then all but disappeared; in the decisive third quarter, he only got up two shots but found time for three fouls and three of his eight ghastly turnovers.
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The Thunder desperately need Durant's efficient scoring throughout the entire contest, not just one half. Westbrook is the best athlete in the series and can create his own shot seemingly at will, but he is shooting just 34.3 percent from the floor. Adams and Ibaka aren't really volume scorers down low.
Durant can't waste possessions with turnovers or deferred shots, because the Warriors will make him pay on the next trip down.
Cleveland Rolls
The Cavaliers are playing so well right now, James in particular, that they've turned the Eastern Conference postseason into a mere formality rather than a true test of their fortitude and championship worthiness.
Cleveland won the first game by 31 points and was only slightly less overpowering with a 19-point margin of victory in Game 2 on Thursday night. James had a triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, while Kyrie Irving scored 26 points and Tristan Thompson pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
James was clearly overextended in last year's postseason with Kevin Love injured for most of it and Irving out for the majority of the Finals. He thinks their presence this year has allowed him to choose when he needs to take over, according to Cleveland.com's Joe Vardon:
"It's always difficult to deal with me. I think it adds even more when you have two All-Stars with you, two guys that command multiple eyes any possession. They're so in such a great rhythm right now, I've been able to just pick my spots and do other things to help us try to win ballgames while those guys take the load.
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Kyle Lowry's shooting woes have continued in this series. He scored just 10 points and went 1-of-8 from three in Game 2. DeMarre Carroll has yet to find an offensive rhythm this postseason, and DeMar DeRozan's offensive game is only intermittently effective.
All three of these players need to be playing at their peak, and yet, here we are, two games into a series that has all the makings of another walkover for the Cavaliers.
Although his rugged presence would help, the Raptors would still be outmanned even if Jonas Valanciunas were out there mixing it up at center instead of Bismack Biyombo.
James can defend just about anyone on the Raptors roster, and the Cavaliers can score in a number of different ways on the other end.
Irving breaks down defenses with his handle, Thompson chips in with the occasional buckets down low, and Kevin Love and J.R. Smith stretch the floor with their outside shooting.
With the Thunder and Warriors shaping up to be a hard-fought affair if the OKC tidies up its play a bit, the Cavaliers are looking at another long period of rest between series. Another four-game sweep appears imminent, and the team is much healthier than it was last season at this point.
If the Cavs are going to go on and win the championship, they can thank their diluted, overmatched Eastern Conference foes for rolling out the red carpet on the way to the Finals.
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