A late night in New Orleans got a bit later on Friday, and a box in Atlanta was to blame.
The start for the Game 3 matchup between the Hawks and Heat was delayed 30 minutes after a suspicious package was discovered outside State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Multiple gates of the arena were closed as authorities investigated the package, the team announced.
The contents were found "not to be explosive," and the arena was filled to capacity with a bit of a delay.
But that 30 minutes also affected the Smoothie King Center, which had its scheduled 8:30 p.m. start time pushed back to 9 p.m. to accommodate the earlier action, also slated for ESPN.
But 9 p.m. Central tipoffs are nothing new for this series, as that's when each of Games 1 and 2 tipped off in Phoenix, with both teams winning a game before the series shifted to New Orleans. But Pelicans fans will still get a half-hour reprieve on Sunday for Game 4, with tipoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
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