Recent sports media news, including the 1,000th NBA playoff game on TNT, a potential Oprah-related conflict for the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals, and some college football scheduling notes involving high-profile teams Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida State and Miami.
- Turner Sports Reaches NBA Milestone: Wednesday’s Grizzlies/Thunder Game 5 will be the one-thousandth NBA playoff game televised by Turner Sports. Turner first began airing NBA games during the 1984-85 season. On Tuesday’s edition of Inside the NBA, TNT showed highlights of the first NBA playoff game televised by Turner Sports — a 1985 matchup between the Bullets and Sixers that featured current TNT analyst Charles Barkley. (Turner Sports)
- Oprah Conflict Could Reportedly Affect East Finals: The NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals is scheduled to begin next Wednesday night, but would ordinarily move up to Monday if there were no Game 7s in the second round. If that is the case this year, however, the hypothetical Heat/Bulls series (the Celtics and Hawks can only win in seven) would reportedly move up to Sunday night, as talk show host Oprah Winfrey has the United Center booked on Monday. Should either series go seven, the East Finals would begin on Wednesday as scheduled. (Miami Herald via cbssports.com)
- College Football Scheduling Notes: ESPN and ABC will air a pair of high profile out-of-conference matchups on September 7, with Oklahoma/Florida State and Ohio State/Miami both airing in primetime. One game will air on ESPN at 7:30 PM ET, and the other will air on ABC at 8 PM ET. Much later in the season, ABC will air Boston College/Miami on the day after Thanksgiving. (espnmediazone.com)
