The NBA playoffs are nearly upon us. But first, the play-in tournament must take place.
A staple of April’s calendar for the last five years, the play-in tournament is the NBA’s appetizer to postseason basketball. The teams involved make up the 7–10 seeds in the East and West. The first game between the No. 7 seed and No. 8 seed will determine who plays the No. 2 seed in the first round of the playoffs. The No. 9 and No. 10 seeds play a single-elimination game for the right to play the loser of the 7–8 game. The winner of that third and final game will be the No. 8 seed in the playoff bracket and take on the No. 1 seed in the opening round of the postseason.
It’s a fun way to kick off the best time of year for the NBA. But watching this year’s slate of games might prove complicated for some fans—not a single one of the five play-in games will be available on regular broadcast networks.
To help you puzzle it all out, here’s what you need to know about the viewing experience for this year’s NBA play-in game.
When are the NBA play-in games?
This year’s play-in tournament will take place over the course of three days: Tuesday, April 14, Wednesday, April 15 and Friday, April 17. Tuesday and Wednesday will feature four games, while Friday will bring a double-header that makes for the conclusion of the play-in tournament.
Tuesday will feature the East’s 9 vs. 10 game and the West’s 7 vs. 8 game. Wednesday will bring the East’s 7 vs. 8 game and the West’s 9 vs. 10 game. Friday will feature the losers of the 7 vs. 8 and the winner of the 9 vs. 10 games for both conferences.
The participating teams in the Eastern Conference are the 76ers (7th seed), the Magic (8th seed), the Hornets (9th seed) and Heat (10th seed). In the Western Conference it will be the Suns (7th seed), Trail Blazers (8th seed), the Clippers (9th seed) and the Warriors (10th seed).
How to watch the NBA play-in tournament
This year’s NBA play-in tournament will be broadcast exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
There are no traditional broadcast options available for the play-in tournament. That means you won’t find it on cable or satellite TV even if you reside in one of the local markets that will be featured this week.
Those already subscribed to Prime Video just have to log in to their accounts and will be able to watch the games from there. For those who are not subscribed, as of writing Amazon is offering a 30-day free trial for new subscribers.
This is the only option. Fans who want to watch this year’s play-in tournament must subscribe to Prime Video for access to the broadcast.
Why is the play-in tournament exclusively on Amazon Prime?
The NBA sold the rights to the play-in tournament exclusively to Amazon as part of the new media rights deal that kicked in this season.
After putting pen to paper in 2024, the 2025–26 campaign was the first under the $76 billion media rights deal. Per the NBA’s announcement, the arrangement with Prime is as follows.
“Amazon will distribute 66 NBA regular-season games on Prime Video each season, including Thursday night doubleheaders beginning in January, Friday evening doubleheaders, select Saturday afternoon games, at least one game on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), and the Quarterfinals and Semifinals in the Knockout Round of the Emirates NBA Cup,” the league said. “In addition, Prime Video will stream the Championship Game of the Emirates NBA Cup.
“Prime Video will also distribute all six SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament games. In the playoffs, Prime Video will stream approximately one-third of the first and second rounds each year.”
In simpler terms, Amazon paid many billions of dollars to the NBA for the right to exclusively broadcast a handful of playoff games and the play-in tournament.
Do any of the play-in teams stand a chance in the postseason?
While the play-in tournament is a fun way to determine the final two teams of each conference’s playoff bracket, it’s fair to wonder how much it matters. The NBA playoffs stick to chalk consistently; nearly every champion has been a top-three seed in the playoffs. First-round upsets of the top two seeds are exceedingly rare. Are the eight teams about to embark upon the play-in tournament just competing for the chance to get crushed by a much better team in a four-game sweep the following week?
That has been largely true for the play-in tournament’s existence—but not entirely. The 2023 Heat will forever be a famous example as an eight seed who made a run from the play-in all the way to the NBA Finals before running out of gas. The Lakers got to the conference finals that same year after a play-in showing of their own. Does this year’s slate of teams have any hope of following that path?
The Hornets seem like a very strong candidate for such an unexpected run. After starting off the season very poorly due to injuries and a lack of cohesiveness, Charlotte completely turned it around once the calendar flipped to 2026 and has been one of the best teams in the league since January. The hole the team dug to kick off the campaign was so deep they failed to climb any higher than the ninth seed but the Hornets have the ingredients necessary to pull off a first-round upset—an explosive, three-point centric offense led by several high-grade talents in LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Kon Kneuppel.
In the West it will always be tempting to believe in Golden State when Steph Curry is healthy. He missed the last few months of the season with a knee injury but appears to be at or near full strength hitting the postseason. This Warriors team is old, injured and will have to play the Thunder if they can avoid elimination in the play-in tournament so it’s pretty difficult to envision a deep run. But a fun first-round series featuring numerous, stereotypical Curry explosions is very much in play.
The rest of the squads we’ll see play in the next few days profile as more typical low seeds who will struggle to be more than easy fodder for the juggernauts they’ll face after the play-in tournament. But it will be fun to watch them fight anyway.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How to Watch NBA Play-In Tournament 2026 With and Without Cable: Full Viewing Guide.
