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2016-2017 NBA Schedule: Breaking Down the Clippers' National TV Schedule

The Clippers, as they have throughout the Chris Paul era, will be a prominent fixture on national television during the regular season. Check out how many games they have on each major station, as well as what teams they are facing in these national broadcasts.

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Clippers will have 34 nationally televised games this season, counting the nine games they will appear on NBA TV-- they have 25 on ESPN, TNT, and ABC. They are tied for second in true national television broadcasts with the Bulls and Cavs, and behind the Warriors (28). As Lucas has outlined here, they also have an appearance on Christmas against the hometown rival Los Angeles Lakers.

The Clippers will appear five times on ABC, 10 times on TNT, and 10 times on ESPN in addition to the 9 NBA TV games (not covered here). The ABC matches are mostly Saturday night games, the TNT games are on Thursday evenings (except in March and April, where they're now on Monday nights), and the ESPN broadcasts are Wednesday and Friday evenings.

ABC

The ABC games are all towards the second half of the season. All but one of the games falls on Saturday night. The one exception is a Super Bowl Sunday matinee against the Celtics (the Clippers played in the same time slot last season at Miami).

Date Away Home Time (PST)
Sat, Jan 28 Clippers Warriors 5:30 PM
Sun, Feb 5 Clippers Celtics 11:00 AM
Sat, Mar 4 Clippers Bulls 5:30 PM
Sat, Mar 18 Cavaliers Clippers 5:30 PM
Sat, Apr 8 Clippers Spurs 5:30 PM
ESPN

The ESPN contests start right away, though there are none in the month of January, oddly enough.

Date Away Home Time (PST)
Wed, Nov 2 Thunder Clippers 7:30 PM
Wed, Nov 16 Grizzlies Clippers 7:30 PM
Fri, Nov 18 Clippers Kings 7:30 PM
Wed, Dec 7 Warriors Clippers 7:30 PM
Sun, Dec 25 Clippers Lakers 7:30 PM
Wed, Feb 8 Clippers Knicks 5:00 PM
Fri, Feb 24 Spurs Clippers 7:30 PM
Wed, Mar 1 Rockets Clippers 7:30 PM
Wed, Mar 15 Bucks Clippers 7:30 PM
Wed, Apr 5 Mavericks Clippers 7:30 PM
TNT

The first Clippers game of the season, against the Blazers, will kick off their TNT slate:

Date Away Home Time (PST)
Thu, Oct 27 Clippers Blazers 7:30 PM
Thu, Dec 1 Clippers Cavaliers 5:00 PM
Thu, Dec 22 Spurs Clippers 7:30 PM
Mon, Jan 16 Thunder Clippers 7:30 PM
Thu, Jan 19 Timberwolves Clippers 7:30 PM
Thu, Feb 2 Clippers Warriors 7:30 PM
Thu, Feb 23 Warriors Clippers 7:30 PM
Mon, Mar 6 Celtics Clippers 7:30 PM
Mon, Mar 20 Knicks Clippers 7:30 PM
Mon, Apr 10 Rockets Clippers 7:30 PM

A few other interesting nuggets. Every single Clippers-Warriors matchup is on national television: the NBA is fully aware of the Clips rivalry with Golden State, and these games will be highly anticipated, as they have been for the past few years. Other top teams are also well represented: both of the Clippers' games against the Cavs are nationally televised, as are three versus the Spurs and two more against the Thunder.

The Clippers also have multiple national broadcasts against the Rockets (2), Celtics (2), and Knicks (2). Weirdly, only one game versus the Blazers is nationally broadcast, and the Clippers-Grizzlies rivalry is dying as well, with a lone ESPN game being nationally televised.

While the Clippers play 4 of their 5 ABC games on the road, 7 of their 10 ESPN games and 7 of their 10 TNT games come at home. 10 TNT games is tied with the Warriors for the most of any team, a result of those two teams being among the only viable options for late night telecasts.

So that's about all for national television games. The NBA TV games aren't as big a deal, and are also far more likely to change as the season goes along. It should be an exciting ride, and just about every single one of these contests is going to be exciting. The regular season is 10 weeks away!