Hey Newbs, At least they didn't stop showing the Rockets Playoff Game on TV

I used to think the same thing as I remember it happening, but when I did some googling, it didn't happen near as often as I thought it did.

More on point, however, is that playoff games were once tape delayed:

The worst season for tape delays was 1981. That year, CBS again intended to show many live late night games from the west coast. However, the Lakers and Trail Blazers were upset in the mini-series and the top-seeded Suns were eliminated in the next round. During the 1981 playoffs, CBS televised a whopping 17 games at 11:30 pm ET, but due to the lack of west coast game site, only three of these games aired live. On 4/29, CBS actually provided regional coverage of two games on tape delay (the first and last time they would do this). The Celtics-Rockets Finals featured 4 games on tape delay including the clinching contest for the second straight year. CBS aired games 1 and 2 on a 4-hour delay.

 

The league was not in great shape in 1981.

 

IT WAS AN NBA FINALS GAME.

Smh.