East Coast basketball fans rejoice. You will no longer have to stay up until midnight to watch the NBA Finals.
The NBA gave the welcome news when it revealed the start times for its Finals games on Wednesday, announced via ESPN. Instead of the usual 9 p.m. ET start times for games on weeknights, this year’s series will see games tip off at 8:30 p.m ET at the latest.
Per Sports Media Watch, this will mark the first time since 2003 that the NBA has moved up its Finals start times. The league moved back to 9 p.m. ET weeknight games the following season due to a 40-percent ratings plunge.
It’s unclear if the NBA will see similar results with this change. The league saw its best Finals ratings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, which was boosted by a Boston Celtics-Golden State Warriors matchup, but ratings are still low compared to even five years ago thanks to a variety of reasons, most notably the constant decrease in cable television subscribers.
But ratings are the NBA’s problem. Earlier start times will be a welcome change for many fans on the East Coast who have long had to choose between sleep and seeing the ends of the most important games of the year.
Here’s the full NBA Finals schedule, with all games televised on ABC.
NBA Finals start times, schedule
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Game 1: Thursday, June 1, 8:30 p.m. ET
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Game 2: Sunday, June 4, 8 p.m. ET
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Game 3 :Wednesday, June 7, 8:30 p.m. ET
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Game 4: Friday, June 9, 8:30 p.m. ET
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Game 5: Monday, June 12, 8:30 p.m. ET*
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Game 6: Thursday, June 15, 8:30 p.m. ET*
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Game 7: Sunday, June 18, 8 p.m. ET*
*if necessary
