What NBA Teams Play on TNT Tonight?
If you’re looking for NBA action on TNT tonight, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a breakdown of what teams are playing on TNT tonight.
The Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the most successful teams in NBA history, winning 16 championships. They are currently the only team to have played in all 30 NBA Finals series. The Lakers play their home games at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Staples Center is also home to the Los Angeles Clippers, making it the only arena in the NBA to be shared by two teams. The Lakers are currently coached by Frank Vogel and led by superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The team is also known for its long-standing rivalry with the Boston Celtics, which is considered to be one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.
The Los Angeles Clippers
The LA Clippers will play the Portland Trail Blazers on TNT tonight at 10:00pm EST.
The Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors play the Houston Rockets on TNT tonight. The game starts at 8:00 pm EST.
The Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league’s Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. The Rockets have won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles. The team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team originally based in San Diego, in 1967. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston.
The Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets, picking first overall, selected power forward Elvin Hayes, who would lead the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season. The Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976–77 season when they traded for center Moses Malone. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award twice and led Houston to the conference finals in his first year with the team. He also led them to the NBA Finals in 1981 where they were defeated by the Boston Celtics in six games. In 1984, the Rockets drafted center Hakeem Olajuwon, who would be paired with 7 feet 4 inches (2.24 m) Ralph Sampson forming one of the tallest front courts ever assembled for any sport.[4][5] Nicknamed “Twin Towers”, they led the team to four consecutive conference finals appearances and back-to-back NBA Finals appearances starting from that season until bowing out after losing Game 6 of what many believe were two poorly officiated Western Conference Finals battles against their crosstown rivals,[6][7] and eventual back-to-back world champion Los Angeles Lakers respectively.[8]
Olajuwon became rocket’s franchise player as he led them to more success including back-to-back championships in 1994 and 1995 while being named 1994 NBA Finals MVP and 1995 NBA regular season MVP.[9] In 1996 after Sampson was traded followed by head coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigning due to health reasons,[10][11] Olajuwon was named sole captain resulting him becoming only player/coach/captain trio to ever win an NBA championship.[12][13] Also during that championship winning streak period from 1993–1995 Olajuwon became only player ever to average at least 25 points 15 rebounds 5 blocks per game for 3 straight seasons which is known as “The Dream Shake” among other nicknames he received throughout his Hall Of Fame career.[14]
Following another sweep by Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers during back-to-back years where they won 3 straight championships 2000–2002,[15][16] Leslie Alexander decided it was time for change firing head coach Jeff Van Gundy after 5 plus seasons and acquiring All Star experienced veteran head coach Rick Adelman.[17] That change propelled them towards immediate success reaching conference finals following season but lost against eventual champions Spurs[18][19] but gave competitive effort which included Tracy McGrady scoring 13 points within 35 seconds near end of 4th quarter comeback attempt that just fell short during game 7.[20][21] McGrady would be later joined by future All Stars such as Yao Ming and Shane Battier[22][23], helping onions make playoffs 8 out of next 10 seasons including back-to-back 50 plus win seasons led by Adelman from 2004–2007 but never making it past second round again during that time frame.[24]
