The Timberwolves-Nuggets first-round NBA playoff series was the final one to tip off this weekend. The scheduled start time was 9:30 p.m. Central on Sunday night, but because the previous playoff game ran long, it didn't begin until 9:51, or 8:51 in Denver.
Late starts are nothing new in the postseason, but at least one prominent NBA figure voiced his disdain for just how late the games were starting, saying the league needed to better consider fans.
"I'm excited for the game, but I just don't think it's fair to have them playing that late," TNT analyst Charles Barkley said.
At the start of TNT's tripleheader Sunday — the first game of the day, Lakers-Grizzlies, was broadcast on ABC — studio host Ernie Johnson was running over the schedule, with the Heat-Bucks game to follow at 4:30 p.m. Central, followed by Clippers-Suns at 7 p.m. and finally the Wolves-Nuggets game, scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. Mountain time in Denver, 9:30 p.m. Central in the Twin Cities and 10:30 p.m. on the East Coast.
At the end of reading the schedule, Johnson noted Barkley had "this befuddled look on this face."
"I have a problem with that game starting at 10:30, I do have a problem with that," the 11-time All-Star forward responded.
Johnson pointed out the game wasn't starting at 10:30 in Denver, but Barkley said: "That's not the point. Listen man, we had the whole day to ourselves. We should have played 1 o'clock, 3 o'clock. To have that last game at 10:30 Eastern, that's just wrong. I don't care what anybody says."
The league allots 2½ hours for games, so Barkley's revised schedule should have been 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Eastern, or 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. On Saturday, the playoff schedule began at 1 p.m. Eastern (Nets-76ers) and was followed by games at 3:30 (Hawks-Celtics), 6 (Knicks-Cavaliers) and 8:30 (Warriors-Kings).