Lakers and Warriors games go until 1am too so this argument makes no sense.
I guess you missed the "occasionally" part. You also missed the part about the deep playoff runs. The Warriors have
31 games on national TV this season. Many of these are on the road against East Coast teams which will be played during prime time viewing for East Coast audiences. They also have some early start (5:00pm) home weekend games that will also be broadcast when folks on the East Coast are still awake.
And then there are the playoffs, with many additional Saturday and Sunday afternoon games, plus road games against an East Coast team three years in a row.
Here's where that "occasionally" part comes in for the Blazers: "Eleven games will be nationally televised, eight of which are home games." So, all but three of the Blazers nationally televised games are at home. The three road games that are on national TV this season are at SAC, at LAC and at MIN. They have ZERO nationally televised games with an East Coast start time. And even the
one game in the Central Time Zone against MIN had an 8:00pm (CST) start time, which means a 9:00pm East Coast start time - assuming it starts on time, as the 2nd game of a double header.
As far as the playoffs go, GSW has played 8 games in CLE the last three years. The Blazers have played ZERO playoff games against an Eastern Conference team since 1992.
Do you really not get this? Do you really think viewers on the East Coast have the opportunity to watch as many POR games as they do GSW games? Really? You seem like you're arguing just to argue.
BNM