The NBA Friday released the television schedule for the first half of its 2020-21 season, including its Christmas and Martin Luther King Jr. holiday lineup of games.
ESPN and ABC will televise a total of 49 games during the first half of the season, which begins Dec. 22. The schedule includes five Christmas Day games -- New Orleans Pelicans-Miami Heat; Golden State Warriors-Milwaukee Bucks; Brooklyn Nets-Boston Celtics; Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers-Denver Nuggets. ABC will air five primetime Saturday night games through Feb. 27, beginning Jan. 30 with the Lakers-Celtics game.
TNT will air 36 games through Feb. 27, including a Dec. 22 opening night doubleheader featuring the Warriors and Nets, followed by Lakers-Clippers. TNT’s three-game Martin Luther King Jr. holiday lineup includes Warriors-Lakers, Phoenix Suns-Memphis Grizzlies and Bucks-Nets.
Related: NBA to Start New Season in September
NBA TV will air 61 live games during the first half of the season, beginning with a Dec. 26 tripleheader featuring the Grizzlies-Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers-New York Knicks, Houston Rockets-Portland Trailblazers games.
The schedule for the second half of the season will be released at a later date, according to the league, which will play a truncated 72 game schedule due to the pandemic.
