Why does the second round of the NBA playoffs have a staggered schedule?
•Yahoo Sports
The second round of this year's NBA playoffs have a pretty weird schedule. There's a good explanation for it.
And then there were eight. On Monday night, we'll see the second round of the 2026 NBA playoffs tip off. But when you go to watch each game and or check the schedule, you might notice something peculiar.
Rather than ensuring every second-round matchup gets the full spotlight and 2. 5-3 hours of breathing room in time between games, the schedule is ... staggered.
Huh? For example, on Monday, we have the Philadelphia 76ers visiting the New York Knicks at 8 p. m.
Eastern with the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves starting their matchup only 1. 5 hours later at 9:30 p. m.