- Coverage begins with a bumper four live games back-to-back on Christmas Day
- Live NBA games every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on ESPN this Season
ESPN will begin its exclusive UK coverage of the long-awaited NBA season with four live games back-to-back on Christmas Day, as the new campaign tips off.
After an agreement was reached to end the 149 day lockout, the regular season is now scheduled to run from 25th December 2011 until 26th April 2012 with a shortened 66-game season. The playoffs will then commence on the 28th April while the finals are scheduled to be played in late June.
The season-opening quadruple-header starts with the Boston Celtics visiting rivals New York Knicks followed by a repeat of last season’s NBA Finals as LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat travel to face the defending champions Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki. The third tip-off of the day sees 16-time champions the Los Angeles Lakers host the Chicago Bulls, led by current NBA MVP Derrick Rose. The final game sees contenders from both the East and West face off, as Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic travel to the Oklahoma City Thunder to take on last season’s scoring champ, Kevin Durant, and his teammates.
Additionally, The NBA and ESPN will again feature two of the NBA season’s staple celebrations when they feature a another four-game bill on Martin Luther King Day (16th January) and the NBA All Star Game (26th February) featuring the best players from the Eastern Conference taking on the best from the Western Conference in Orlando. The All-Star weekend will also feature the annual Slam Dunk Contest, Three-Point Shootout and Skills Challenge as well as the Rookie and Celebrity games
ESPN’s season-long coverage of NBA will see the channel televise 62 live games throughout the regular season (including a game each Monday, Wednesday and Friday), as well as exclusive games throughout the NBA Playoffs and every game from the NBA Finals.
Accompanying ESPN’s live coverage this season will be the ESPN produced studio show, NBA Tonight, which gives a round-up of all the action from around the league, as well as NBA Action, the award-winning original series which gives fans an inside look at game day preparation for the league’s star athletes.
