NBA Playoff Schedule 2018: Tip Times, TV Network Coverage and More for Saturday

Saturday's four-game slate features the first elimination game of the 2018 NBA playoffs.

It's win-or-go-fishing for the Portland Trail Blazers, who have yet to find an answer for Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans. The single-browed superstar has been predictably dominant, and his clicking-on-most-cylinders supporting cast has positioned the Pellies for perhaps their first sweep—and only second series win—in franchise history.

Elsewhere, the Houston Rockets could put the Minnesota Timberwolves on the brink of elimination with a third straight victory. The Miami Heat hope to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole against the process-trusting Philadelphia 76ers. And the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz will unknot their 1-1 tie as their series heads to Salt Lake City for the first time.

That's a full day's worth of hoops, all of it deserving of your attention. So, let's lay out Saturday's full schedule and then zero in on the pair of Game 4 collisions.

Saturday's NBA Playoff Schedule

Game 4—Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat, 2:30 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 4—Portland Trail Blazers at New Orleans Pelicans, 5 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 3—Houston Rockets at Minnesota Timberwolves, 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT

Game 3—Oklahoma City Thunder at Utah Jazz, 10 p.m. ET on TNT

Simmons, Embiid Have Sixers Rolling

It's hard not be the center of attention when you're 7'0" tall and balling in a black mask that looks like it belongs to a supervillain. Throw in the fact Joel Embiid was making his playoff debut—finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks—after returning from a three-week absence (orbital bone fracture), and it was hard not to make him the focal point of all Game 3 coverage.

But Embiid arguably wasn't Philly's best player Thursday night. He wasn't the most important statistically, at least.

That honor went to fellow postseason newbie Ben Simmons, who has been harassing the Heat all series. His plus-24 pushed his on-court ledger to plus-30 for the series, while his per-game averages went to 20 points, 10 rebounds and 9.7 assists.

That's more points, rebounds and assists than any Heat player is averaging. They're also a giant reason why he's having perhaps the best postseason for a rookie in more than two decades, as Basketball-Reference.com noted:

"He's not just a rookie-of-the-year candidate," Dwyane Wade said, per Philly.com's Keith Pompey. "He's a very good basketball player. We have our work cut out for us every night because of what he brings to the table."

This experienced, well-coached Miami team has been a good first postseason test for Philly. The Heat have held second-half leads in all three games, and they've relied on their balance to offset inconsistent performances from most of their players. 

But there's a sizable talent advantage for the Sixers, and it's surfaced throughout this series.

During Philly's lone loss, the 36-year-old Wade managed to reverse time—28 points in Game 2, 19 in the other two combined—and the Sixers' shooters missed a ton of clean looks (16-of-53 on uncontested shots).

In the other contests, Philly has breathed fire from three and enjoyed victory margins of 27 and 20 points. The Sixers drilled 18 triples in each, shooting a mind-numbing 58.1 percent outside.

Miami will have desperation and a feisty home-court crowd on its side. But the combination of Simmons, Embiid, Dario Saric (21.3 points per game) and Philly's role players might be too much to overcome.

Pelicans Are Peaking

As much as you might think content is the key to obituary writing, nothing is more critical than timing. The deeper New Orleans travels into the postseason, the more absurd it seems this squad was written off for dead when DeMarcus Cousins ruptured his Achilles in late January.

While Boogie's absence initially transformed Davis into a one-man wrecking crew, the Pelicans are now pestering the Blazers with a ferocious foursome. Davis remains the focal point (28.3 points, 12.3 rebounds), but he's sharing the load with Jrue Holiday (23.3 points, 6.0 assists), Nikola Mirotic (21 points, 3.7 threes) and Rajon Rondo (12.7 points, 12.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds).

As Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports opined, New Orleans skipper Alvin Gentry is having a phenomenal series:

Portland kept two of the three contests close, which usually sets up Damian Lillard to steal the show in "Lillard Time."

But the Blazers' All-Star point guard has appeared uncomfortable all series. He has the same number of points as shots (55 each), and he's tallied fewer assists (13) than turnovers (15). His field-goal percentage (32.7) is down double digits from the regular season (43.9).

He admitted the Pelicans' defensive strategy is taking him out of his game, via NBA TV:

New Orleans, which can and does play 5-out offense, has also neutralized Portland's bruising big man, Jusuf Nurkic. The fourth-year center has seen significant drops from his regular-season marks in minutes (from 26.4 to 20), points (14.3 to 9.7) and field-goal shooting (50.5 to 38.5).

Oh, he was also on the wrong end of perhaps this postseason's best poster.

While no series is over until the final curtain drops, history says an 0-3 deficit is a death sentence. Even if you tried glossing over the astronomical odds, you'd still see two teams trending in opposite directions.

Statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.