Despite suggestions to the contrary, it seems that most NBC stations located in the Mountain time zone will be receiving the NBA game designated for the Eastern and Central time zones during NBC’s first “Coast 2 Coast” NBA telecast on Tuesday.
According to the map compiled by 506sports, the majority of Mountain time zone NBC affiliates have opted to carry the New York Knicks-Milwaukee Bucks game, which tips off at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, instead of the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors game, which tips off at 8 p.m. PT.
NBA on NBC map for Tuesday night 10/28. Red is Knicks-Bucks, blue is Clippers-Warriors. Despite NBC saying the Mountain time zone will see the western game, most stations there are listed as showing NY-MIL.
Both games can be seen nationally on Peacock. pic.twitter.com/wLTWhT7WKH
— 506 Sports (@506sports) October 27, 2025
Throughout its advertising for “Coast 2 Coast,” NBC has often mentioned that the Eastern and Central time zones will get the game that begins at 8 p.m. ET, while the Mountain and Pacific time zones will receive the game that begins at 8 p.m. PT. But based on the schedules provided by local affiliates, it seems many are opting to air the earlier game, then running an additional hour of local news before transitioning to typical late-night programming.
Regardless of the decisions by local affiliates, both of NBC’s Tuesday night “Coast 2 Coast” games will be available to stream live on Peacock.
In reality, very few people will be impacted by this confusion. Fewer than 7% of Americans live in the Mountain time zone, and it’s the only one impacted by the inconsistency. Viewers in the Pacific time zone will always get the West Coast game, while Eastern and Central time will always get the East Coast game.
However, the revelation does show that which game to air can seemingly be done at the affiliate level. Perhaps this opens the door for the possibility of NBC getting some East Coast teams playing on the West Coast during the late window in future seasons, and then being able to show that game in the local market. This year, the West Coast game exclusively features teams in the Western Conference for the entirety of the season.
For now, just a small percentage of the country will be inconvenienced by not knowing which NBA game they’ll be getting on NBC each Tuesday.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.