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It’s mid-April, and the NBA playoffs start on schedule. Although the playoff calendar has not changed this year, the broadcast schedule for the 2026 NBA Playoffs has.
My NBA consumption skyrockets during the playoffs, and increases with each subsequent round. Rarely do I look for a game to watch during the long 82-game regular season and wait until the court is set before I’m ready to sit down and watch a game from start to final buzzer.
If you’re like me, and your NBA fanbase relies on game highlights, podcasts, and tuning in to the second half, fourth quarter, or (more likely) the last few minutes of an actual live game, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the NBA’s new media landscape as the playoffs begin.
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 part in the qualifiers.
Here’s what you need to know to watch the 2026 NBA Playoffs in this new era, starting with the Play-in Championship that begins tonight.
LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets play tonight against the Miami Heat in the NBA Play-in Championship on Prime Video.
How to watch the NBA Play-in Championship
The tournament begins with two matches tonight, followed by two more tomorrow, before concluding with two matches on Friday. All six games will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime.
Here’s the Play-in tournament schedule. Each game will be streamed exclusively on Prime Video.
Tuesday 14 April
- No. 10 Miami Heat vs. No. 9 Charlotte Hornets: 7:30 p.m. ET
- No. 8 Portland Trail Blazers at No. 7 Phoenix Suns: 10 p.m. ET
Wednesday 15 April
- No. 8 Orlando Magic at No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers: 7:30 p.m. ET
- No. 10 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 9 Los Angeles Clippers: 10 p.m. ET
Friday 17 April
- Eastern Conference Winner 9/10 Loser 7/8: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Western Conference Winner 9/10 and Loser 7/8: 10 p.m. ET
Prime Video will stream all six tournament games this week. Some first and second round matches will also be held until 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.
NBA TV schedule
After this week’s play-in games, the 16-man field is ready for the first round of the NBA playoffs that begin Saturday.
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. And when the calendar turns to June, the NBA Finals will be broadcast on ABC.
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.
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 10-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.