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NBA playoffs for $30 a month
ESPN Unlimited
The first round of the NBA playoffs was wild. For the first time in league history, two teams in the same round came back from 3-1 series deficits. The Philadelphia 76ers won three straight to knock off the Celtics, and the Detroit Pistons did the same against the Magic to avoid a first-round exit as a No. 1 seed.
Eight teams remain in the hunt for the title, and the second round gets started tonight. Here are the round 2 matchups:
- No. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers
- No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers
- No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers
- No. 2 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves
As in the first round of the playoffs, second-round games will be split across the NBA’s three broadcast partners: Disney (ABC/ESPN), Comcast (NBC/Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video).
Here’s what you need to know to watch the 2026 NBA playoffs in this new streaming era for professional basketball.
Joel Embiid had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in game 7 against the Boston Celtics to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
How to watch the NBA playoffs
The channel lineup needed for the NBA playoffs is different this year. Gone are games on TNT and NBA TV. Instead, you’ll need a TV subscription that has ABC, ESPN, NBC and NBC Sports Network — plus Amazon Prime. Or you can go the streaming route and use Prime Video, Peacock and ESPN Unlimited.
NBC/Peacock has 11 second-round games as well as the Western Conference Finals. Every one of its games will stream on Peacock and also be shown on either NBC or NBCSN.
The rest of the second round games will be split between ESPN/ABC and Prime Video. This year’s Eastern Conference finals will be on ESPN/ABC. And in June, the NBA Finals will be broadcast on ABC.
You can see all of the first-round matchups and TV schedule here.
Peacock will stream NBA playoff games from the first round through the Western Conference Finals. Games on Peacock will also appear on NBC or NBC Sports Network, so you don’t necessarily need Peacock to have access to every NBA playoff game.
You can stream every NBA playoff broadcast with Peacock’s $11-a-month Premium plan. Read our Peacock review.
Prime Video will show first- and second-round games through May 17.
Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime subscription for $15 a month or $139 a year. You can also subscribe only to Prime Video for $9 a month. Read our Prime Video review.
With ESPN Unlimited, you can watch every NBA playoff game that’s on ESPN or ABC. It will have coverage for every round of the playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
The ESPN Unlimited plan costs $30 a month (or $300 a year) and lets you stream all of ESPN’s linear networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network and ACC Network. You also get access to programming on ESPN on ABC, ESPN Plus, ESPN3, SECN Plus and ACCNX. Read our ESPN Unlimited review.
(There’s also a $13-a-month ESPN Select plan, which is basically a rebranding of ESPN Plus. With it, you’ll have access to thousands of live games — think small college conferences, whose games you can’t watch anywhere else — but not the NBA.)
Best live TV streaming service for the NBA Playoffs
If you are already an Amazon Prime subscriber, then you just need four TV channels to get full coverage of the NBA playoffs: ABC, ESPN, NBC and NBC Sports Network. The catch is NBCSN, which Comcast just relaunched late last year ahead of its coverage of the Winter Olympics.
The five major live TV streaming services — DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling and YouTube TV — each carry ABC, NBC and ESPN, but I can find NBCSN only on YouTube TV’s channel listings. So, that’s the pick for the NBA playoffs if you don’t want to miss a game.
YouTube TV costs $83 a month and includes ABC, ESPN, NBC and NBC Sports Network. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV’s welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area. There is a five-day trial, and the first three months are discounted to $68 a month for new subscribers.
Read our YouTube TV review.
Live TV streaming services allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide and our picks for the best sports streaming services.
NBA playoff TV schedule
Here are the matchups, series standings and TV schedule for the second round of the playoffs. All times ET.
No. 1 Detroit Pistons vs. No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers
- Game 1: Tuesday, May 5, 7 p.m. on Peacock/NBCSN
- Game 2: Thursday, May 7, 7 p.m. on Prime Video
- Game 3: Saturday, May 9, 3 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 4: Monday, May 11, 8 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 5*: Wednesday, May 13, TBD
- Game 6*: Friday, May 15, TBD
- Game 7*: Sunday, May 17, TBD
No. 3 New York Knicks vs. No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers
- Game 1: Monday, May 4, 8 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 2: Wednesday, May 6, 7 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 3: Friday, May 8, 7 p.m. on Prime Video
- Game 4: Sunday, May 10, 3:30 p.m. on ABC
- Game 5*: Tuesday, May 12, TBD
- Game 6*: Thursday, May 14, TBD
- Game 7*: Sunday, May 17, TBD
No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 4 Los Angeles Lakers
- Game 1: Tuesday, May 5, 8:30 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 2: Thursday, May 7, 9:30 p.m. on Prime Video
- Game 3: Saturday, May 9, 8:30 p.m. on ABC
- Game 4: Monday, May 11, 10:30 p.m. on Prime Video
- Game 5*: Wednesday, May 13, TBD
- Game 6*: Saturday, May 16, TBD
- Game 7*: Monday, May 18, TBD
No. 2 San Antonio Spurs vs. No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves
- Game 1: Monday, May 4, 9:30 p.m. on Peacock/NBCSN
- Game 2: Wednesday, May 6, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 3: Friday, May 8, 9:30 p.m. on Prime Video
- Game 4: Sunday, May 10, 7:30 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 5*: Tuesday, May 12, TBD
- Game 6*: Friday, May 15, TBD
- Game 7*: Sunday, May 17, TBD
*If necessary.
