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The NBA's live Twitter shows debut this week

You can expect commentary and Twitter chats on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Peter Llewellyn-USA Today Sports

As promised, the NBA and Turner have launched their two original shows on Twitter... and they might scratch your itch if you can't get enough basketball in your life. The first, The Starters, streams live every Tuesday at 11AM Eastern and delivers passionate commentary from the crew that hosts NBA TV and official podcasts. The Warmup, meanwhile, is a more interactive affair: the half-hour show from Ben Lyons and Ro Parrish integrates Twitter chats into each episode (Thursdays at 7:30PM Eastern), and it merges b-ball with "lifestyle, music and pop culture." It's more of an entertainment show that just happens to have basketball as a hook, then.

You can visit either show on the web, and the NBA's Twitter account will also host shows as they air. Twitter is also marking the occasion with hashtag-triggered flags for all 30 league teams: tweet hashtags like #DubNation (Warriors) or #WeTheNorth (Raptors) and you'll show your pride.

The shows aren't the same as watching honest-to-goodness games, but they help fill out Twitter's strategy of offering live programming for virtually every major sport in the US and beyond. The jury's still out on how well this sports-centric strategy works, though. Twitter has only been offering its live sports coverage since July, and it remains to be seen how many will tune in online versus tweeting while they watch games on TV.