The Late Push to the NBA Playoffs


After the All-Star break, action resumes today in the NBA regular season here in the United States.

And as the teams return to the court, news regarding trades have been hugging the spotlight lately.

During the break, a big-name star in DeMarcus Cousins found himself traded by the Sacramento Kings to the New Orleans Pelicans while other stars like Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George have found themselves involved in trade rumors as well.

In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers are still at the top of the standings while the Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors complete the top four where homecourt advantage awaits at the end of the season.

Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Charlotte, New York, Atlanta, Detroit and Miami are battling it out for the remaining four slots.

Over in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors are safely at the top primarily because of Kevin Durant's addition while San Antonio, Houston and the Los Angeles Clippers complete the top four.

Battling it out for the eighth and last slot are New Orleans, Sacramento, Minnesota, Denver and Portland although the Kings may have given up the playoff hunt with their decision to trade Cousins.

Every game counts from here on and this is why some teams are still burning the lines as we write this in an effort to strengthen their lineups through trades which may surprise a lot of fans even back in the Philippines where the NBA is avidly followed.

ABS-CBN S+A resumes its free TV coverage of the NBA this week with the Warriors-Clippers match on Friday while the Timberwolves face the Rockets on Sunday.

ABS-CBN Sports' Ken Ti told me once that it was the decision of the network to move the Channel 2 games from Sundays to Saturdays in order to strengthen the Sports+Action channel especially with most TV owners now switching to digital TV.

In addition, ABS-CBN is trying to woo more children to watch its Sunday programming even if its Disney movies have been frequently shown in their dubbed Tagalog language.

By switching the NBA to Saturdays, ABS-CBN also avoids a problem with the noontime show ASAP starting late if the live NBA game goes overtime, After all, ASAP has a lot of viewers because it is only in this show where practically the entire ABS-CBN family of talents performs every week, not to mention the presence of veterans Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano who are still going strong even in their '50s.

The cable channels like BTV, NBA Premium and Fox Sports also still have their NBA coverages although one problem is that NBA Premium may not be affordable for those who don't have enough money to subscribe to satellite or digital cable TV.

The NBA playoffs start in April and lasts until June with the finals so just enjoy the ride.


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