ESPN to Exclusively Televise State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament Western Conference Games
May 19: Defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James Host Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry; Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant Host San Antonio Spurs and DeMar DeRozan in Early Game
May 21: Final Western Conference Play-In Tournament Game on ESPN
ESPN Radio to Nationally Broadcast Every State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament Game
ESPN will exclusively televise the State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament Western Conference games beginning with a prime-time doubleheader this Wednesday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. ET and 10 p.m. ESPN will then televise the final Western Conference tournament game on Friday, May 21 (start time TBD). The State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament will determine the final two playoff spots in each conference. All NBA games on ESPN are available to stream via the ESPN App.
This Wednesday at 10 p.m., the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James (7th place) will host the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry (8th place) in a star-studded showdown. The winner secures the 7th overall seed in the Western Conference, while the loser will then play the winner of the 9th place vs. 10th place game on Friday, May 21 at 10 p.m. Mike Breen, the 2020 Curt Gowdy Media Award-winning broadcaster, will provide commentary for these games with analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. Rachel Nichols will serve as the sideline reporter
In the first half of ESPN’s Wednesday doubleheader, the Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant (9th place) host the San Antonio Spurs and DeMar DeRozan (10th place) at 7:30 p.m. ET. Mark Jones will call the action for the Spurs vs. Grizzlies game telecast with 2018 Curt Gowdy Media Award-winning analyst Doris Burke and reporter Lisa Salters.
SportsCenter with Stephen A. Smith will tip off ESPN’s coverage on May 19, with a 30-minute pregame show, beginning at 7 p.m. Additionally, the NBA Countdown pregame show will precede Friday’s game with Maria Taylor as host and Jalen Rose, Jay Williams and Adrian Wojnarowski rounding out the crew.
ESPN Radio will nationally broadcast every game from the State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament. The schedule is below:
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Commentators |
| Tue, May 18 | 6:30 p.m. | Charlotte Hornets vs. Indiana Pacers | Marc Kestecher, Jon Barry |
| Tue, May 18 | 9 p.m. | Washington Wizards vs. Boston Celtics | Sean Kelley, P.J. Carlesimo |
| Wed, May 19 | 7:30 p.m. | San Antonio Spurs vs. Memphis Grizzlies | Sean Kelley, P.J. Carlesimo |
| Wed, May 19 | 10 p.m. | Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers | Marc Kestecher, Jon Barry |
| Thu, May 20 | 8 p.m. | Eastern Conference 7th/8th Loser vs. 9th/10th Winner | Marc Kestecher, Jon Barry |
| Fri, May 21 | TBD | Western Conference 7th/8th Loser vs. 9th/10th Winner | Sean Kelley, P.J. Carlesimo |
ESPN, ABC and ESPN Radio’s coverage of the 2021 NBA Playoffs will begin on Saturday, May 22. More information, including commentator assignments and coverage details, will be announced this week.
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