In an attempt to draw in as many viewers as possible, or perhaps just out of curiosity, ESPN and the NBA have changed the national television schedule for Wednesday and Thursday of next week. Memphis vs. Milwaukee will only be shown locally on television, but the April 3rd game between Oklahoma City and Boston has been thrust into the national spotlight.TNT/truTV has chosen to air Sacramento vs. New York the following night, delaying the Atlanta vs. Dallas match.
Following my Twitter/X announcement, Celtic supporters joked that ESPN will be airing the G-League Maine Celtics to the public. They assumed that since the team had already secured the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Boston-based Celtics would be hosting a large number of regular fans.
But in interviews with Heavy Sports on Monday afternoon, league sources
An NBA coach stated, “But with how tight things are in the Western Conference, OKC will still be playing for something.” Given how tight things are at the top, that area is a mess. Nobody wants to play a series with Denver in which the Nuggets have home court, not even OKC or Minnesota.
Even if the Celtics’ matchup with the Thunder does not have a positional objective attached to it, there is a new NBA regulation that will prohibit the team from throwing their entire squad at the visitors.
disputed that idea on a few points.
First off, if the Celtics get to the NBA Finals, which they very much intend to do, they might still be attempting to secure the best overall record in the league and the homecourt advantage that entails. However, with 11 games remaining and leads of 7 games over Denver, 7 and a half games over Oklahoma City, and 8 games over Minnesota going into Monday night’s play, it’s feasible that target may be all but met by next Wednesday.
