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Jalen Brunson led the New York Knicks to an overtime win in game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden.
NBA fans have a great weekend of basketball ahead of them. After staging an epic, fourth-quarter comeback behind the heroics of Jalen Brunson to take game 1 in overtime, the Knicks are back in front of their home fans tonight for game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers. The series then shifts to Cleveland for game 3 on Saturday and game 4 on Monday.
The Western Conference finals between the Thunder and Spurs is tied at one game each. After getting the split in Oklahoma City, the Spurs host the next two games in San Antonio. Game 3 is set for Friday with game 4 following on Sunday.
The Knicks-Cavs series is being shown on ESPN and ABC, and the Thunder-Spurs series is on NBC and Peacock. Keep reading to see the TV schedule for the conference finals and the best ways to watch or stream every game.
How to watch the NBA playoffs
Now that we’ve reached the conference finals, you no longer need to worry about NBA games streaming on Prime Video. Every remaining playoff game will be shown on TV on ESPN/ABC or NBC.
The Knicks-Cavs series will be broadcast on ESPN, except for game 3 this Saturday, which will be shown on ABC. The Thunder-Spurs series will be shown on NBC. You can get these channels with a live TV streaming service. And you can also stream the rest of the NBA playoffs with ESPN Unlimited and Peacock.
Here is the TV schedule for the conference finals. All times ET.
Easter Conference finals
- Game 1: Knicks 115, Cavs 104 (OT)
- Game 2: Thursday, May 21, 8 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 3: Saturday, May 23, 8 p.m. on ABC
- Game 4: Monday, May 25, 8 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 5*: Wednesday, May 27, 8 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 6*: Friday, May 29, 8 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 7*: Sunday, May 31, 8 p.m. on ESPN
Western Conference finals
- Game 1: Spurs 122, Thunder 115 (2x OT)
- Game 2: Thunder 122, Spurs 113
- Game 3: Friday, May 22, 8:30 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 4: Sunday, May 24, 8 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 5*: Tuesday, May 26, 8:30 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 6*: Thursday, May 28, 8:30 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
- Game 7*: Saturday, May 30, 8 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
*If necessary
Peacock will stream the Western Conference finals. Games on Peacock will also appear on NBC, so you don’t necessarily need Peacock to watch.
You can stream every NBA playoff broadcast with Peacock’s $11-a-month Premium plan. Read our Peacock review.
With ESPN Unlimited, you can watch every NBA playoff game that’s on ESPN or ABC. It will stream the Eastern Conference finals as well as the 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
Two of the major live TV streaming services — DirecTV and YouTube TV — offer sports-focused skinny bundles with ESPN, ABC and NBC that cost less per month than their full package. These plans put them on par with Sling’s monthly cost. Not every service carries every local network in every area, however, so be sure to check the links below to see which channels are available where you live.
YouTube TV’s sports plans costs $55 a month for the first year (before rising to $65 a month) and includes ABC, ESPN and NBC. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV’s welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
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.
