NBA UNVEILS GAME AND NATIONAL SCHEDULES
FOR SECOND HALF OF 2020-21 SEASON
The Memphis Grizzlies will play 40 games in 68 days. It's a brutal second half schedule. You can hear all the Memphis Grizzlies games on 92.9 FM ESPN.
Memphis, Tenn. – The NBA announced the Memphis Grizzlies will tip off the Second Half of the 2020-21 regular season, the 20th Season of the franchise in Memphis, on Wednesday, March 10, against Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards at FedExForum.
The Grizzlies will close out the 2020-21 regular season with 40 games (18 home, 22 road), including 34 contests originally slated for the Second Half and six games that were postponed during the First Half of the season.
Thirty-nine of these 40 games will be broadcast regionally on FOX Sports Southeast, which will be rebranded to Bally Sports Southeast in the coming months, with all regional broadcasts presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. In addition, all regional broadcasts will be streamed on the FOX Sports GO app. The telecasts will continue to be anchored by the network’s pre- and postgame show, Grizzlies LIVE, presented by Ford and your Mid-South Ford Dealers.
The Grizzlies also will host Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on April 14 at FedExForum in a nationally-televised game on ESPN. All 40 games during the Second Half will be carried on the Grizzlies’ flagship radio station 92.9 FM ESPN and across the Grizzlies Radio Network.
Memphis will play seven games at FedExForum during the month of March, including matchups against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on March 12, Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat on March 17, a two-game series with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors on March 19 and March 20 and Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on March 22. Mike Conley returns to Memphis on March 31 with the Utah Jazz, current leaders of the Western Conference.
The Grizzlies will play 11 of their 17 games in April away from home, including a seven-game road trip – the longest ever during the Memphis era of the franchise – from April 16-26. Memphis will travel to play Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls on April 16, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks April 17, Jokic and the Nuggets on April 19, Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers on April 21 and Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers twice on April 23 and April 25 before circling back to Denver to close the seven-game excursion on April 26.
Memphis will close the Second Half with 10 games in 16 days during the month of May, including home back-to-backs against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans (May 10) and the Mavericks (May 11) and a two-game set with De’Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings (May 13 and May 14) before closing the schedule on the road against the Warriors on May 16.
The Grizzlies will play 11 back-to-back sets, including four in which both games will be at FedExForum. Memphis’ four-game home stands from March 17-22 and May 10-14 tie the team’s longest of the 2020-21 season. Six of the Grizzlies’ 18 home games will be on weekends, including five games on Friday, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.
At the conclusion of the Second Half of the 2020-21 regular season schedule, a play-in series will be held between the Nos. 7-10 teams in each conference to determine the final two playoff seeds.
– Second Half of Regular Season Begins March 10 and Concludes May 16 –
– NBA Play-In Tournament Held May 18-21; NBA Playoffs Start May 22 –
NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2021 – The NBA today released its game schedule and broadcast schedules for
TNT, ESPN, ABC, NBA TV and ESPN Radio for the Second Half of the 2020-21 regular season, which
will begin Wednesday, March 10 and conclude Sunday, May 16.
The Second Half of the regular season will be followed by the 2021 NBA Play-In Tournament (May 18-
21) and the 2021 NBA Playoffs, which will tip off Saturday, May 22. The Play-In Tournament will
determine the teams that will fill the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference. The teams
with the seventh-highest through the tenth-highest winning percentages in each conference will qualify
for the Play-In Tournament.
The game schedules across TNT and ESPN for the final week of the regular season (May 10-16) will be
determined at a later date in order to provide the most compelling matchups to a national audience
leading into the NBA Play-In Tournament and the NBA Playoffs. In the final week of the regular
season, TNT will present doubleheaders Tuesday, May 11 and Thursday, May 13, and ESPN will
televise doubleheaders Wednesday, May 12 and Friday, May 14. ESPN will also air a game Sunday,
May 16 on the final day of the regular season.
TNT will tip off its coverage of the Second Half of the season Thursday, March 11 with a doubleheader
as the Brooklyn Nets host the Boston Celtics (7:30 p.m. ET) and the Golden State Warriors visit the LA
Clippers (10 p.m. ET). ESPN will begin its Second Half coverage Sunday, March 14 when the New
Orleans Pelicans host the Clippers (9 p.m. ET). On Monday, March 15, ESPN’s first doubleheader in
the Second Half will feature the New York Knicks visiting the Nets (8 p.m. ET) and the Lakers taking
on the Warriors in San Francisco (10:30 p.m. ET).
ABC Sunday Showcase and NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC will both continue in the Second Half of
the season. In ABC’s first two telecasts of the Second Half, the Lakers will face the Clippers in Sunday
Showcase on April 4 (3:30 p.m. ET) and then visit the Nets in NBA Saturday Primetime on April 10
(8:30 p.m. ET).
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On Wednesday, March 10, the first day of game action in the Second Half of the season, NBA TV will
present the San Antonio Spurs visiting the Dallas Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET). NBA TV’s coverage will
continue Friday, March 12 with a doubleheader as the Memphis Grizzlies host the Denver Nuggets (8
p.m. ET) and the Indiana Pacers meet the Lakers in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. ET).
ESPN Radio will air its first game in the Second Half on Sunday, March 14 when the Pelicans host the
Clippers at 9 p.m. ET.
Other schedule highlights for the Second Half of the 2020-21 season:
• TNT’s doubleheader Thursday, April 8 will open with a rematch of NBA Finals 2020 presented
by YouTube TV as the Miami Heat hosts the Lakers (7:30 p.m. ET), followed by the Phoenix
Suns visiting the Clippers (10 p.m. ET).
• The Utah Jazz, which has a league-leading 25-6 record, will visit the defending NBA champion
Lakers twice in a three-day span on ESPN: Saturday, April 17 (3:30 p.m. ET) and Monday, April
19 (10 p.m. ET). Utah will also host Brooklyn on Wednesday, March 24 on ESPN (10 p.m. ET).
• The Philadelphia 76ers, who lead the Eastern Conference at 21-11, will meet the Bucks three
times in the Second Half of the season: Wednesday, March 17 on ESPN (7 p.m. ET); Thursday,
April 22 on TNT (7 p.m. ET); and Saturday, April 24 on ESPN (3:30 p.m. ET).
• ABC’s regular-season game coverage will conclude Sunday, May 2 with a Sunday Showcase
matchup between the Nets and Bucks in Milwaukee (3:30 p.m. ET).
• NBA TV will tip off the final week of the regular season with a doubleheader Monday, May 10:
Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks (7:30 p.m. ET) and Jazz at Warriors (10 p.m. ET).
• The Second Half will reach fans in 215 countries and territories in more than 50 languages.
The Play-In Tournament will begin Tuesday, May 18 and conclude Friday, May 21. The teams with the
seventh-highest and eighth-highest winning percentages in each conference will each have two
opportunities to win one game to earn a playoff spot. The teams with the ninth-highest and tenth-highest
winning percentages in each conference will each have to win two consecutive games to earn a playoff
spot.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the team with the seventh-highest winning percentage in each
conference will host the team with the eighth-highest winning percentage in its conference in a Play-In
Game (the “Seven-Eight Game”). The winner of the Seven-Eight Game in each conference will be the
seventh seed in the playoffs for its conference.
The team with the ninth-highest winning percentage in each conference will host the team with the
tenth-highest winning percentage in its conference in a Play-In Game (the “Nine-Ten Game”). The loser
of the Seven-Eight Game will host the winner of the Nine-Ten Game in a Play-In Game, and the winner
of that game will be the eighth seed in the playoffs for its conference.
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