NBA announcing schedule for Cavaliers’ national TV games this week
Last season stood out for the Cleveland Cavaliers for a unique reason: at the start of the year, the Cavs had exactly 0 scheduled national television games. It was a defensible decision by the league and its broadcast partners, as the small-market Cavs had won just 22 games the season before, but it turned out to be a big mistake.
The Cavaliers took off out of the gates and played well the entire season, with two young All-Stars and a rookie phenom. They were flexed into a few open slots later in the year because they were too good and too exciting not to. Heading into this season, it was fait accompli that the Cavs would be on national television.
The Cleveland Cavaliers play on national television this week
One of those games occurs this week, as the Cavaliers will be on TNT Thursday night to kick off the evening. Inside the NBA will start the evening by announcing the All-Star Reserves, and then the Cavs will host the Memphis Grizzlies at 7:30 PM ET.
It’s an exciting matchup of two of the league’s young contenders. Darius Garland and Ja Morant are two of the best players from the 2019 NBA Draft and two of the best point guards in the entire league. Add in Donovan Mitchell and Desmond Bane, and suddenly two of the three or four best backcourts in the entire NBA will be facing off.
It’s the same thing on the defensive end, where the Grizzlies have the Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner in Jaren Jackson Jr., while the Cavaliers have two All-Defense candidates in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. The two teams are tied for first in the NBA in defense.
Who will be the broadcast team for the Cavaliers’ game on TNT tonight?
It took longer than usual for Turner to announce its broadcast teams for TNT Thursday night, perhaps because of inclement weather. The assignments are out now, and the Cavs and Grizzlies get some high-profile names leading the way.
Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Stephanie Ready will be the broadcast team for tonight’s game, a combination of one of the greatest basketball play-by-play guys in the history of the NBA in Harlan and one of the best shooters in NBA history in Miller. Ready is as cool as they come on the sideline.
The Cavs won’t have to wait long for their next national television game, playing on ESPN next Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
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The TNT got a great game for tonight, and there should be some defensive firepower tested by offensive explosions from the guards. Will the Cavs win? Playing at home they should have a great chance to win an evenly-matched contest.