Preseason Tip Time Moved to Accommodate WNBA Finals

The start time for the Portland Trail Blazers’ preseason matchup against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, October 13th has been rescheduled for earlier in the day in light of the WNBA Finals schedule. The tip time has been moved to 2pm from 7pm due to the Mercury facing the Chicago Sky in Game Two of the Finals. Game One is scheduled for Sunday, October 10th. Casey Holdahl of the Trail Blazers reported the news.

The announcement comes after displeasure that the Mercury had to move the location of their home games twice during the WNBA Playoffs, once to accommodate a Maluma concert and again for Disney on Ice. After those incidences, the Phoenix Suns moved their own scheduled preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers to allow for the Mercury to play at the Footprint Center, as the two teams had originally been scheduled to play at the same time. In that case, both the Lakers and the Suns agreed to move the game, and afterward, the Suns supported the Mercury as they faced the Las Vegas Aces in Game Four. Although they lost that game, they were able to move on to the Finals for the first time since 2014 after closing out the series.