NBA PLAYOFFS : CBS Makes Good Switch to Basketball

The Lakers came out roaring against the Phoenix Suns Sunday, quickly building an 11-0 lead. Fortunately, CBS was there to cover it.

The network chose to leave the Atlanta golf tournament playoff between Scott Simpson and Bob Tway and go to Phoenix for the start of the basketball game.

It was a good move by CBS, although golf fans no doubt didn’t appreciate missing the one-hole playoff. However, CBS kept viewers informed, although showing how Simpson won it hole required an excessively long break.

Still, it was better than missing the start of the basketball game.

“When you get to this point of the NBA playoffs, the basketball gets priority,” Neal Pilson, CBS Sports president, said from his home in New York. “We made the decision early last week that we would go to the basketball if the golf ran long.”

Last June 13, the day of Game 3 of the NBA finals between the Lakers and Detroit, the Westchester golf tournament went into a four-way playoff, and CBS stayed with the golf while the game in Michigan was held up.

Seve Ballesteros won the golf tournament on the first extra hole with a birdie putt.

“We might have given the impression in that case that we were going to stick with the golf,” Pilson said. “But the way I recall it, we would have left the golf after that first extra hole no matter what.”