Tuesday’s NBA on TNT game between the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets was not exactly the most exhilarating matchup.
The game was over before it ever really got going, with the Celtics jumping out to an early 28-2 lead over the Nets, who were without James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
The Celtics continued to dominate the rest of the game, and with about three minutes left in the third quarter TNT suddenly lost its feed of the game from Barclays Center.
This allowed the broadcast to do a live look-in to the Philadelphia 76ers-Phoenix Suns game, which was much closer and fans were clamoring for the network to flex it in when it became clear the Nets would be without their stars.
Because the game was being aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia, TNT did not have the rights to the game, which meant they could not fully cut to the full broadcast.
Instead, Adam Lefkoe, Candace Parker, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade provided commentary while airing NBC Sports Philadelphia’s feed.
TNT occasionally cut back to the studio and even went to some other games, but the main focus remained on the 76ers-Suns, which Phoenix pulled out with a 114-109 victory.
When it became evident that the Suns were going to win, TNT suddenly got the feed back for the fourth quarter of the Nets-Celtics.
Obviously, fans were not totally buying the fact that there were “technical difficulties” and began theorizing that maybe the network preferred to give coverage to the end of the more exciting game.
It does seem pretty convenient, right?
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