NBA Playoff Schedule 2017: TV Guide, Live-Stream Schedule for Sunday Games
The 2016-17 NBA postseason is still pretty young, but for some teams, the playoffs are likely nearing their end.
On Sunday, the NBA has four games on tap, each of them a Game 4 of the opening round. One team—the Indiana Pacers—faces elimination. Even if the Pacers manage to keep their series alive, the reality is that coming back from a 3-1 deficit isn't easy.
The other three series, however, have compiled a fair amount of drama. The Boston Celtics, for example, managed to make things pretty interesting on Friday night with a 104-87 thumping of the Chicago Bulls. This came after the Celtics looked listless in two losses to open the series. The Oklahoma City Thunder managed to hang on over the Houston Rockets after an 0-2 start to their series as well.
The Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz are also locked in a 2-1 series.
Let's take a look at Sunday's schedule, including television and live-stream information. We'll also examine the latest odds—according to our friends at OddsShark—and some of the latest buzz heading into Sunday's action.
Sunday's Schedule
| 1 p.m. | Cleveland at Indiana | ABC | WatchESPN | CLE -3.5 |
| 3:30 p.m. | Houston at Oklahoma City | ABC | WatchESPN | OKC -1 |
| 6:30 p.m. | Boston at Chicago | TNT | TNTOvertime | BOS -2.5 |
| 9 p.m. | L.A. Clippers at Utah | TNT | TNTOvertime | UT -2.5 |
Latest Buzz
Have the Cavaliers Finally Flipped the Switch?
The Cleveland Cavaliers rarely looked like a championship team late in the regular season. Their defense was atrocious and their offense surprisingly inconsistent. The talk, though, was that Cleveland simply wanted to coast into the postseason, where they would "flip the switch" and start playing championship-caliber ball again.
However, that switch didn't seem within reach during the first two games of their series against the Pacers. Yes, the Cavaliers won those contests—by a combined nine points—but they didn't dominate the No. 7 seed.
Cleveland didn't control Indiana on Thursday night, either, at least not initially. Then a funny thing happened.
The Cavaliers found themselves down by 25 points at halftime, then surged back in two quarters for a five-point victory. LeBron James took over in the second half, finishing the game with 41 points and a triple-double.
"He just willed his team and said, 'I'll put you guys on my back, going to make every play, make the right play,'" Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. "LeBron willed us home, 41, 12 and 13, played the whole second half. That's what playoff basketball is all about."
So in a way, at least James seems to have flipped the playoff switch. At the same time, the Cavaliers seem to have found a winning playoff formula on offense.
For much of the second half, Lue surrounded James with dangerous shooters like Kyle Korver and Channing Frye. Giving James a one-on-one opportunity is never a great idea, and doubling him leaves open looks on the perimeter. Indiana had no answer.
For the final two quarters on Thursday night, the Cavaliers looked like the team that couldn't be stopped last postseason. Perhaps this will be the spark that fires up the switch for Cleveland.
Going Small Helped the Celtics
The Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed looked outclassed in the first two games of their series against the Bulls. Boston reversed the trend on Friday night, blowing out Chicago by 17 points. Their spark came from a lineup change.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens decided to go with a smaller lineup in Game 3, with Gerald Green and Jae Crowder as forwards.
The result was a faster, more versatile team that the Bulls couldn't keep up with. Chicago couldn't match the team's shooting options, either.
"With Green, Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Al Horford, the Celtics have five players you have to guard at the three-point line, and the Bulls simply weren't prepared for that adjustment." Andrew Lynch of Fox Sports explained.
Game 4 is going to tell us a lot about this series and about the Celtics moving forward. If the team continues to go small and the Bulls' struggles against the lineup persist, there's a chance Boston has figured out how it can move on in the postseason.
The mismatches the Celtics can create with this lineup may also give them the tools they need to make a run at the conference title game.
Rondo Out Indefinitely
As impressive as the Celtics were on Friday night, we have to note that the Bulls were short-handed in the contest. Guard Rajon Rondo was out with a broken thumb that he suffered in Game 2.
According to Nick Friedell of ESPN.com, Rondo believes he will be out at least a "couple weeks."
"It couldn't have come at a worse time," Rondo said, per Friedell. "But things happen for a reason. It is what it is. I'm not sure how long I'll be out. I plan on my body healing pretty quickly. The doctors told me a couple weeks, but we'll see how it goes."
If Rondo is indeed out for that long, he'll be out the remainder of this series. That's a problem. Rondo is an experienced leader and a huge part of what the Bulls are able to do on the court.
"It's his ability to rebound and give us extra possessions on the offensive end or rebound and go and just having another coach on the floor," Dwyane Wade explained, per K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "You have a guy who has been in so many playoff series, won a championship. You can't replace that. His experience is unmatched from that standpoint."
If the Bulls don't figure out how to make the proper adjustments on Sunday, Rondo's injury may have opened the door for the Celtics to dominate the remainder of the series.
Griffin Out for Postseason
The Los Angeles Clippers will be dealing with a major injury of their own for the remainder of the postseason. Star forward Blake Griffin suffered a foot injury in the first half of Friday's game against the Utah Jazz and did not return.
The Clippers announced on Saturday that Griffin will not return this postseason:
Los Angeles was able to adjust on Friday, thrusting point guard Chris Paul into more of an offensive role and capturing a 2-1 series lead in the process. However, this injury is going to change the way the team has to play moving forward.
"One of the biggest adjustments is we probably won't be able to play through the post so much," Paul explained, per ESPN.com. "He's such a dynamic player. We go to him in the post, and we cut and move off him. ... He's our other assist guy."
If the Clippers are going to move deep into the postseason, they're going to have to do it without any assistance from Griffin.
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