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The NBA playoffs started on time earlier this month, but although the playoff calendar has not changed this year, the broadcast schedule for the 2026 playoffs has.
Under the NBA’s new media rights agreement, games this season are split between its three broadcast partners: Disney (ABC/ESPN), Comcast (NBC/Peacock), and Amazon (Prime Video). Each of these three entities has a portion of the playoffs.
Here’s what you need to know to watch the 2026 NBA Playoffs in this new streaming era of professional basketball.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder face off in a first-round matchup against the Phoenix Suns in their attempt to repeat as NBA champions.
How to watch the NBA Playoffs
The channel lineup needed for this year’s NBA playoffs varies. Gone are the games on TNT and NBA TV. Instead, you’ll need a TV subscription that includes 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 the most coverage of the first round. It will show up to 23 first-round games and 11 second-round games in addition to the Western Conference Finals. All of its games will be broadcast on Peacock and will also be shown on NBC or NBCSN.
The rest of the first-round games will be split between ESPN/ABC and Prime Video. This year’s Eastern Conference Finals will be on ESPN/ABC. In June, the NBA Finals will be broadcast on ABC.
You can see all First round matches 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 access every NBA playoff game.
You can stream every NBA playoff game with Peacock’s $11-per-month premium plan. Read Peacock’s review.
Prime Video will show the first and second round games through May 17.
Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime subscription for $15 per month or $139 per year. You can also just subscribe to Prime Video For $9 a month. Read our Prime Video review.
With ESPN Unlimited, you can watch every NBA playoff game on ESPN or ABC. It will have coverage of every round of the playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
The ESPN Unlimited plan costs $30 per month (or $300 per year) and lets you stream all of ESPN’s linear networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNNews, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, and ACC Network. You can also access programming on ESPN on ABC, ESPN Plus, ESPN3, SECN Plus and ACCNX. Read our ESPN Unlimited review.
(There’s also a $13-per-month ESPN Select plan, which is basically a rebranding of ESPN Plus. With it, you’ll get access to thousands of live games — think small college conferences, whose games you can’t watch anywhere else — but not the NBA.)
The best live TV streaming service for the NBA Playoffs
If you’re already an Amazon Prime subscriber, you only 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 main live TV services – DirectTV, Fubo, hulu plus live tv, sling and YouTube TV — Each carries ABC, NBC, and ESPN, but I can only find NBCSN in the YouTube TV channel listings. So, this is the right choice for the NBA playoffs if you don’t want to miss any game.
YouTube TV costs $83 per month and includes ABC, ESPN, NBC, and NBC Sports Network. Connect your YouTube TV zip code Welcome page To know the local networks available in your area. There’s a five-day trial, and the first three months are discounted to $68 per month for new subscribers.
Live TV services allow you to cancel at any time and require a strong internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our lives TV streaming services guide And our choices for The best sports streaming services.