NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA further adjusted its schedule for nationally televised games, with LeBron James closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to break the league’s scoring record.
James is on record-breaking pace Tuesday at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That game is now airing on his TNT. This change forced us to redo the entire schedule for that night on the network.
TNT was scheduled to show Atlanta in New Orleans, followed by Minnesota in Denver. Instead, it will show Phoenix in Brooklyn first, followed by the Thunder his Lakers game.
The move follows the NBA making a similar adjustment earlier this week to show James and the Lakers nationally on Saturday, where he will likely be closer to Abdul-Jabbar. It was started in the eastern battle of the time. The Lakers vs. Pelicans game was moved to his ESPN2 and aired nationally between Dallas and Golden State at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.
James came out on Thursday needing 89 points to pass Abdul-Jabbar, the league’s leading scorer since 1984.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last month in Paris that the league would not only televise James’ record-breaking game nationally, but make it available for viewing around the world.
If James doesn’t have a record after Tuesday’s game, his next game is already scheduled on national television. It’s the team that started his career before he joined, and it airs on TNT.
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