
I understand that there can't be national TV games every night, but there are many times where TNT or ESPN show a crap game on the same night that there is a interesting, compelling, or high-stakes game being played. If the NBA wants to get as popular as the NFL, they need to make it a priority to show the games that people want to see. If I were a casual fan just flipping channels tonight, I would look at the Pacers/Hornets game and I would not tune in. Now, if the Spurs/Rockets game was on instead, you bet I'd stay on that channel.
It's not like there is no time to adjust and rebook travel for the production crew. 2 weeks ago you can easily circle the Rockets/Spurs game and say that you want to broadcast that game on your network. That's more than enough time to get the logistics ironed out.