Monday’s Start Time Pushed Back to 8:00 p.m. to Accommodate Live Broadcast on VERSUS

(Photo Credit: Dutch Cowgill)

April 6, 2010

MCALLEN, TEXAS - The Western Conference Champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers announced today that their second game of the first round of the 2010 NBA Development League Playoffs against the Reno Bighorns will be broadcast live nationally on VERSUS, presented by Papa John’s, on Monday beginning at 8:00 p.m. at State Farm Arena.

VERSUS can be found on channel 314 (SD)/1314 (HD) on Time Warner Cable, channel 151 on Dish Network and channel 603 on DIRECTV. This is the fourth nationally televised Vipers home game this year, and the first one to be broadcast live.

The Vipers are 3-0 when playing on VERSUS, including a 109-76 win over the Bighorns on February 6 in which the Vipers broke the franchise record for margin of victory and tied the franchise record for fewest points allowed in a single game.

Game one will take place on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at the Reno Events Center. Game three (if necessary) will be on Tuesday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. at State Farm Arena.

Single-game playoff tickets are on sale now and can be purchased through the Vipers, Ticketmaster or the State Farm Arena box office.

Vipers season ticket holders also can purchase a playoff package that includes tickets to all six potential Vipers home playoff games at the discounted per-game price of their regular season tickets. Tickets to any games not played may be applied towards renewal of 2010-11 season tickets or may be redeemed for a refund following the conclusion of the playoffs.

The NBA Development League is using an expanded playoff format this season. Each of the three rounds of playoffs will use a best-of-three format, with the lower seed hosting game one and the higher seed hosting games two and three if necessary.

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are the NBA Development League affiliate of the NBA Houston Rockets. The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA’s official minor league and features 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA teams. 63 former NBA Development League players were on 2009-10 NBA start-of-season rosters, amounting to almost 15 percent of NBA players, and the league continues to develop coaches, referees, and front office staff for the NBA and its teams. In fostering the league’s connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA Development League Cares programs. The NBA Development League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout the season fans can watch all NBA Development League games on NBA Futurecast, the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast.