• Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James Begin NBA Championship Defense this Sunday on ABC
• ESPN to Exclusively Televise Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies Final State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament Game on Friday at 9 p.m. ET
• Four NBA Countdown Pregame Episodes this Weekend Beginning Tonight at 8 p.m. ET

The 2021 NBA Playoffs will tip off with five nationally-televised first round games on ESPN platforms this weekend. Game coverage starts on Saturday, May 22, with a Game 1 quadrupleheader spanning 11 hours across ESPN and ABC.

The Brooklyn Nets – led by the trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden – will host the Boston Celtics and the duo of Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. Two Curt Gowdy Media Award-winning commentators – Mike Breen and analyst Doris Burke – will provide commentary with Lisa Salters reporting.

Earlier on Saturday, the defending Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler will square off with the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo at 2 p.m. on ESPN. Ryan Ruocco, analyst and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Hubie Brown and reporter Malika Andrews will provide commentary. At 4:30 p.m., the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard host the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Dončić. Dave Pasch will call the action with analyst Richard Jefferson and reporter Jorge Sedano.

Saturday’s coverage culminates at 10:30 p.m. when the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard visit the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokić. Jason Benetti and analyst Vince Carter will both call their first playoff telecast with Cassidy Hubbarth reporting.

Los Angeles Lakers begin title defense

This Sunday, May 23, the Los Angeles Lakers – led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis – will begin their NBA Championship defense as they visit the Phoenix Suns and Chris Paul in Game 1. Mark Jones will provide commentary with analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson with Rachel Nichols reporting.

All NBA games on ESPN and ABC platforms are available to stream on the ESPN App. Commentator assignments and coverage details for ESPN’s games beyond May 23 will be announced in the coming days.

State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament final game

ESPN will exclusively televise the final Western Conference State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament game on Friday, May 21, at 9 p.m. The Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry will host the Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant on ESPN. Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and reporter Rachel Nichols will be on the call.

NBA Countdown

Maria Taylor will host four editions of the NBA Countdown pregame show this weekend, including a one-hour ESPN show from 1-2 p.m. on Saturday leading into the Heat vs. Bucks game. Taylor will be joined by analysts Jalen Rose and Jay Williams and ESPN Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski. The team will return for halftime shows throughout the day on Saturday and lead a 15-minute edition of the show prior to the Nets vs. Celtics game on ABC. NBA Countdown will return on Sunday from 3-330 p.m. on ABC preceding the Lakers vs. Suns matchup. The team will also preview the Warriors vs. Grizzlies game tonight beginning at 8 p.m.

ESPN and ABC

ESPN Radio

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