A: It all comes down to national appeal, since every playoff game will be televised nationally (as well, of course, in South Florida on Fox Sports Sun). And, let’s face it, it’s not as if Heat-Pacers oozes national sex appeal. Plus, because of timing issues, the prime, 9 p.m. time slots have to be left for the West Coast teams, since those games will be starting at 6 p.m. in Los Angeles. As it is, the Lakers and Clippers basically will own that slot on alternating nights, as it should be, with the Lakers featuring LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and with the Clippers led by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Most teams outside of the Lakers and Clippers, in fact, are not exactly thrilled with their less-than-showcase playoff slots (time slots that also limit or deny teams the ability to hold game-day shootarounds). But, let’s face it, in the East nothing comes close to the potential intrigue of Celtics-76ers. So, basically, you bide your time for ensuing rounds, when the earliest starts will be out and there will be more typical (but not totally typical) viewing slots. Again, because of the need to disinfect arenas, it is not easy to line up games at Disney without ample time between to allow for needed safety measure. So, early it is.
