NBA Schedule: Nets Get Marquee Treatment From ESPN

Posted by | 07/26/2012 at 10:06 pm

The New Jersey Nets’ move to Brooklyn has resulted in a dramatic increase in appearances on one of the NBA’s three broadcasters.

ESPN is scheduled to televise nine Brooklyn Nets games during the 2012-13 NBA regular season, according to the national television schedule released Thursday. The nine appearances is one short of the maximum, and matches the number of ESPN appearances for the Celtics, Mavericks and Spurs.

For some perspective, the Nets were scheduled for the same number of appearances on ESPN during the 2003-04 season — when the franchise was coming off of a second straight appearance in the NBA Finals.

Beyond the Nets, ESPN is set to feature the usual suspects during the 2012-13 season. The Heat, Thunder, Lakers, Knicks, Clippers and Bulls will each make the maximum ten appearances on the network, followed by the previously mentioned Nets, Celtics, Mavericks and Spurs with nine each.

In a testament to how far the Celtics/Lakers rivalry has fallen, the teams’ meeting in Los Angeles will air on ESPN February 20 at 10:30 PM ET. In previous years, the teams would play one game each season in the ABC Sunday afternoon window.

Because ESPN televises more games than ABC or TNT, it should not surprising that several of the lesser NBA lights are scheduled for appearances. The Pistons, for example, are scheduled for two appearances — including a head-to-head matchup with the Wizards.

(Schedule information from ESPN Media Zone)

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Andrea-Cavalli/757338131 Andrea Cavalli

    I’m a bit surprised about the Bulls being on national TV as often despite Derrick Rose being injured. On othe other hand, the Nets making many all of those appearances is not surprising at all..it’s Brooklyn for crying out loud!

    Btw, looks like the Pistons/Knicks game on January 17 will be played overseas since the schedule says the game is going to be played in a location to be determined and both the Pistons and Knicks have several off days before and after the game, which is typical of when teams play outside the U.S. (see Nets and Raptors in 2011).

     I think the game is going to be played in London (or even Manchester since there were talks to host an NBA game there) since they already lost last year’s games between Nets and Magic because of the lockout.