The Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the knockout stage of the inaugural NBA in-season tournament. Los Angeles had the best record in its group and will take on one of the Western wild cards that came out of the same group, the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers beat the Suns in group play during the In-Season Tournament but that does not matter now. Whoever wins this game will advance to the semi-finals in Las Vegas. The loser will play the loser of the other Western Conference quarterfinal game as a normal regular-season game.
It might not be the NBA Playoffs but the league has still done a great job of adding stakes to these games and making them feel like they matter. Lakers and NBA fans around the world can't wait to tune in and here is everything they need to know.
What channel is the Lakers-Suns game on?
All of the NBA In-Season Tournament knockout games are broadcast nationally and this game will be broadcast on TNT. Fans that do not have TNT through a cable or streaming provider can also watch the game with MAX's free B/R Sports add-on. That add-on will be free through February.
Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST on Tuesday. The first two In-Season Tournament games were played on Monday and the Lakers game is the second leg of a doubleheader. The Knicks and Bucks play at 4:30 p.m. PST before the Lakers tip-off. All quarterfinals games are broadcast on TNT.
NBA In-Season Tournament TV schedule:
With all of the quarterfinal games broadcast on TNT, here is how the rest of the TV schedule looks for the NBA In-Season Tournament:
- Eastern semi-final: Thursday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. PST on ESPN
- Western semi-final: Thursday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. PST on TNT
- NBA In-Season Tournament Finals: Saturday, Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m. PST on ABC
All of these games will be played at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, so tip-off of the Western semi-final could be slightly delayed if the first game goes longer than anticipated.
What if the Lakers lose in the quarterfinal to the Suns?
If the Lakers lose in the quarterfinal to the Suns then the team will play a normal regular season game on Friday, December 8. As of right now, ESPN already has the Los Angeles Clippers-Utah Jazz game as the nationally broadcast game on December 8, so it is likely that this Lakers game would not be nationally televised.
As the higher seed in the In-Season Tournament, the Lakers would host this normal regular-season game. If the Lakers were to make it to the semi-final and lose they would not get an extra regular-season game added to the schedule. They would resume their normal schedule on Tuesday, December 12 against the Dallas Mavericks.