Not even the star power of LeBron James, let alone the outside chance James Dolan might write another insulting email to an elderly fan, was enough to keep Sunday’s Cavs/Knicks matinee at MSG on ABC’s programming schedule. The New York Post’s Marc Berman reports the game was pulled in favor of some sort of Oscar coverage, “the first time in the network’s 13 years of telecasting Sunday games it has obliterated a basketball window without replacing it with another game, according to industry sources.”
All of the Knicks’ final five games scheduled for national TV quietly have been pulled — vs. the Cavaliers; at the Lakers (March 12, TNT), which had been announced; at the Suns (March 15, TNT); vs. the Clippers (March 25 , ESPN); and vs. the Nets (April 1, NBATV).
The Knicks (10-44) had 23 national games on their schedule entering the season and 13 were yanked, including the last 10 appearances.
In one of the bigger embarrassments of the season, the Lakers-Knicks game on Super Bowl Sunday was pulled off ESPN for celebrity bowling.
Even worse, one of the celebrities was Mark Linn-Baker!