NBA unveils start times for season's final 2 days
The Lakers and Celtics both play twice over the season’s final two days.
Keep your calendar open this weekend, because there will be no shortage of NBA games to watch.
The NBA announced the start times for the last two days of the season — May 15 and 16 — and there will be 21 games to catch over those 48 hours. Many of those games will have direct implications on the State Farm Play-In Tournament as well as the overall 2021 NBA playoffs.
The action starts on Saturday with all six games on NBA League Pass. Three games are up at 1 p.m. ET: the Chicago Bulls visit the Brooklyn Nets, the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks host the Charlotte Hornets. Each of those squads are either in the Play-In chase or jockeying for a higher playoff seed.
▪️ #5 POR: vs. UTA, PHX
▪️ SAS: 1 win to clinch Play-In
▪️ ATL/MIA/NYK: Identical records from 4-6 in the East@DaKidGowie is back with our weekly look at the #StateFarmPlayIn Tournament picture! pic.twitter.com/PwrKhhmq8D— NBA (@NBA) May 12, 2021
After that, the Minnesota Timberwolves host the Boston Celtics (2 p.m. ET) and the Phoenix Suns visit the San Antonio Spurs (2 p.m. ET) followed by a Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks showdown that evening (8 p.m. ET). Those six teams are either already in the playoffs or in the Play-In mix.
Come Sunday, all 15 teams will be in action. Three games tip off at 1 p.m. ET: Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks (on ESPN), Indiana Pacers vs. Toronto Raptors (on NBA League Pass) and Charlotte Hornets vs. Washington Wizards (on NBA League Pass).
From there, games tip off at 2 p.m. ET (Suns vs. Spurs), 3:30 p.m. ET (Grizzlies vs. Warriors on ESPN) before three games at 7 p.m. ET, one at 8 p.m. ET and six at 9 p.m. ET.
The complete schedule for each day is below.
Saturday, May 15
| AWAY | HOME | START TIME (ET) |
| Chicago | Brooklyn | 1 p.m. |
| L.A. Lakers | Indiana | 1 p.m. |
| Charlotte | New York | 1 p.m. |
| Boston | Minnesota | 2 p.m. |
| Phoenix | San Antonio | 2 p.m. |
| Miami | Milwaukee | 8 p.m. |
Sunday, May 16
| AWAY | HOME | START TIME (ET) |
| Boston | New York | 1 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Indiana | Toronto | 1 p.m. |
| Charlotte | Washington | 1 p.m. |
| Phoenix | San Antonio | 2 p.m. |
| Memphis | Golden State | 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) |
| Houston | Atlanta | 7 p.m. |
| Cleveland | Brooklyn | 7 p.m. |
| Orlando | Philadelphia | 7 p.m. |
| Miami | Detroit | 8 p.m. |
| Milwaukee | Chicago | 9 p.m. |
| Dallas | Minnesota | 9 p.m. |
| LA Clippers | Oklahoma City | 9 p.m. |
| L.A. Lakers | New Orleans | 9 p.m. |
| Denver | Portland | 9 p.m. |
| Utah | Sacramento | 9 p.m. |
