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TNT Tips Off 2012-13 NBA Season with Blockbuster Doubleheaders Tuesday, Oct. 30, & Thursday, Nov. 1;
Inside the NBA Studio Team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith On Site in Brooklyn Nov. 1
Opening Night to Feature Defending NBA Champion Miami Heat Hosting Boston Celtics & Dallas Mavericks Visiting New-Look Los Angeles Lakers
TNT to Also Showcase Brooklyn Nets' Debut vs. New York Knicks & Western Conference Finals Rematch Between San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder
For the 11th consecutive year, the NBA season will exclusively open on TNT with a blockbuster doubleheader Tuesday, Oct. 30, showcasing the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat and league MVP LeBron James hosting the Boston Celtics and Kevin Garnett at 8 p.m. ET. In the nightcap, the new-look Los Angeles Lakers and off-season acquisitions Dwight Howard and Steve Nash will host the Dallas Mavericks and Vince Carter at 10:30 p.m. Marv Albert will call the Heat/Celtics game with analyst Steve Kerr and reporter Craig Sager. Kevin Harlan will provide commentary for Lakers/Mavericks with analyst Reggie Miller and reporter David Aldridge.
The network's opening night coverage will include Miami Heat Ring Ceremony presented by Bacardi during the one-hour TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by AutoTrader.com pregame show - hosted by the Sports Emmy Award-winning team of Ernie Johnson and analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal - at 7 p.m. The studio team will also provide the Sprint Halftime Report and Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai post-game show.
TNT's opening week action will also include a signature doubleheader Thursday, Nov. 1, beginning with the home debut of the Brooklyn Nets and Deron Williams against the New York Knicks and Carmelo Anthony at 7 p.m. Albert, a Brooklyn native, will call the Nets/Knicks game with Kerr and Sager. Additionally, TNT's Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai studio team will be on site in Brooklyn for the game. Johnson, Barkley, Smith and O'Neal will contribute to a special one-hour pre-game show live from Brooklyn at 6 p.m. on NBA TV, in addition to post-game coverage on TNT. Matt Winer will also anchor NBA TV's pre-game coverage from Turner Studios in Atlanta with analysts Chris Webber and Rick Fox, along with Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai on TNT.
The Nov. 1 doubleheader will conclude with a Western Conference Finals rematch when the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kevin Durant visit the San Antonio Spurs and Tim Duncan at 9:30 p.m. Harlan will offer play-by-play for Thunder/Spurs with Miller and Aldridge.
TNT's opening week NBA schedule (Thursday's pre-game show airing on NBA TV):
Date Time (ET) Game/Commentators
Tue, Oct. 30
7 p.m.
TNT NBA Tip-Off '12 presented by Autotrader.com (including Miami Heat Ring Ceremony)
Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O'Neal
8 p.m.
Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat
Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Craig Sager
10:30 p.m.
Dallas Mavericks @ L.A. Lakers
Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, David Aldridge
Post-game
Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Johnson, Barkley, Smith, O'Neal
Thu, Nov. 1
6 p.m.
Special NBA TV Pre-Game Show from Brooklyn
Johnson, Barkley, Smith, O'Neal
7 p.m.
New York Knicks @ Brooklyn Nets
Albert, Kerr, Sager
9:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs
Harlan, Miller
NBA on TNT
Turner Sports, marking its 29th year of NBA coverage, will offer a 52-game NBA schedule on TNT for the 2012-13 NBA regular season including 20 Thursday night doubleheaders. TNT recorded its highest-rated and most-viewed NBA regular season ever last year and the network has generated five straight seasons of growth among viewers and households. The network will serve as the exclusive home of NBA All-Star 2013 including NBA All-Star Friday (Feb. 15), NBA All-Star Saturday (Feb. 16), and the 2013 NBA All-Star Game (Feb. 17) in Houston. TNT will also exclusively televise the NBA Eastern Conference Finals this season.
Turner Sports
Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., is an industry leader in televised and online sports programming, airing championship-level sporting events on TBS, TNT and truTV, and managing some of the most popular sports sites on the Internet. Turner Sports' television lineup includes the NBA, Major League Baseball, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, NASCAR and professional golf. The company's digital portfolio includes Bleacher Report, NASCAR.COM, NCAA.com and March Madness Live, PGATOUR.COM and PGA.com, as well as an accompanying collection of mobile websites and connected device apps. Turner Sports and the NBA also jointly manage NBA Digital, which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA LEAGUE PASS, NBA Mobile, the NBA Game Time App, NBADLEAGUE.com and WNBA.com.
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