Portland Trail Blazers fans (and journalists) who are fans of getting to bed earlier can rejoice this month.
NBC announced Saturday it is switching the start times for its NBA doubleheaders to 5 and 7:30 p.m. PT for the rest of December. That means the Blazers game against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, Dec. 29, will air on NBC/Peacock at 7:30 p.m. instead of its original start time of 8 p.m.
The usual 5 and 8 p.m. PT start times for NBC’s doubleheaders this season have been part of the network’s
“Coast 2 Coast” format. Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch noted this format means the games aren’t part of true nationwide doubleheaders, and that 8 p.m. start time for the latter game has been the latest for nationally televised NBA games in almost two decades.
The games will be the first true doubleheaders on NBC since Opening Night. All other game windows since have been part of the “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” format, with NBC stations in the Eastern, Central and some Mountain time zones getting an 8 PM ET game and stations in the Pacific time zone getting an 11 PM ET game. (Stations are able to carry both games if they choose.)
The 11 PM ET starts have been the latest for any nationally televised NBA games since the 2003 playoffs, when a handful of games aired in that window as part of rare weeknight tripleheaders. By comparison, 10:30 PM ET starts were the norm for years before the league shifted most of its doubleheaders to 7:30/10 PM ET.
If you’re a big fan of doing away with 8 p.m. start times, don’t get used to the change. Lewis said it’s unlikely the NBA will abandon the Coast 2 Coast format after December because of the disruption to local newscasts and late night programming.
Following December, the Blazers have four more NBC games scheduled to start at 8 p.m. during the 2025-26 season:
Blazers @ Golden State Warriors; Tuesday, Jan. 13 @ 8 p.m.; NBC
Blazers vs. Phoenix Suns; Tuesday, Feb. 3 @ 8 p.m.; NBC
Blazers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves; Tuesday, Feb. 24 @ 8 p.m.; NBC
Blazers @ LA Clippers; Tuesday, March 31 @ 8 p.m.; NBC
