Heat opens playoffs on Tuesday with unusual twist
The Miami Heat will open the NBA postseason next week in a most unusual way: with weekday afternoon games.
That’s unprecedented in modern NBA times but necessary in the NBA bubble, with the league playing four playoff games every day in the first round and using two courts on the Disney campus to do it.
And the Heat-Pacers series was relegated to afternoon starts initially because it’s not viewed by the national networks as an appealing television draw.
Game 1 of the Heat-Pacers series will be 4 p.m. Tuesday on TNT and Fox Sports Sun.
Game 2 will be at 1 p.m. Thursday on ESPN and Fox Sports Sun, with Game 3 scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Saturday on TNT and Fox Sports Sun.
Game 4 will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, also on TNT and Fox Sports Sun.
Games 5, 6 and 7 -- if needed -- would be the following Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Times and TV information have not been set for those games.
Only three NBA series will not include a prime-time game during the first three games of the series: Heat-Pacers, Toronto-Brooklyn and Utah-Denver.
All eight playoff series will play every other day.
The winner of the Heat-Pacers series will face the winner of the Milwaukee-Orlando series in the second round.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 7:16 PM.
