If I were a TNT executive I’d be calling Alan Silver right now and demanding a sincere and groveling apology. I go through all the trouble to choose a nice in-state matchup between two good teams and some fatheaded coach has to go and sit his stars? Viewers want compelling superstars and Shaq making a fool of himself during halftime. They only got one of those things.
They also got Cory Joseph scoring 18 meaningless points, mostly on unexciting layups. Woo. The camera crew couldn’t even be bothered to show a good shot of him; so instead you get a thumbnail of Popovich looking like the game turned out about as expected.