The NBA will broadcast two Cavs games on national television

The NBA has not scheduled Christmas games for any of the top teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences. They don’t completely make up for this mistake, but they do ensure that the matches between these two teams are televised nationally.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will play the Oklahoma City Thunder twice on national television in early January, just over a week apart. The Jan. 8 game in Cleveland will be broadcast on ESPN. The game on the 16th in Oklahoma City will be broadcast on TNT and the start time has been moved to 7:30 ET.

The Cavs and Thunder mirror each other in some ways. They are led by an All-NBA guard, are young teams that win with depth, and both have phenomenal defense. Additionally, neither team has fully proven that their regular season success can translate to the playoffs.

The Thunder won both matchups last season. They narrowly defeated the Cavs in Cleveland with a 108-105 victory. Their matchup in Oklahoma City was less closely contested than the final score of 128-120 would suggest, as the Cavs struggled to defend the Thunder in space.

The Cavs are currently 5-0 against the Western Conference, but have yet to play a team that is currently in the top four of the conference this season. Their first game against such a team will be on January 3rd when they face the Dallas Mavericks on the road.

These games against Oklahoma City should be fun. It will be a good test for both and is the type of matchup the NBA should highlight instead of further promoting teams based solely on their market size or the aging stars they have. This is a step in the right direction for the league.