It’s postseason time for the NBA! The 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament starts on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. ET, and will play out on ESPN and TNT. There are eight total teams left vying for two open spots in each conference, and some big-name players are at risk of missing the rest of the playoffs. You can stream every game of the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament with a subscription to Sling TV.

How to watch 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament

• When: Starts Tuesday, April 15
• TV: ESPN, TNT
• Stream: Watch with a subscription to Sling TV.
• From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.

Everything you need to know about 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament

What is the schedule of 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament games?

Seventh-seed tournament games

The winner of these games advances to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in their respective conference. Loser plays for the No. 8 seed.

Eigth-seed tournament games

Winners of games on Friday, April 18 advance as No. 8 seed in their respective conferences.

Why do we recommend watching 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament on Sling TV?

Sling TV is our favorite choice for watching the Play-In Tournament games. It’s got both TNT and ESPN in its Orange plan, which starts at $46 per month. That’s already the cheapest way to watch without a free trial, but Sling TV is also offering 50% off your first month’s subscription if you’re a new subscriber, so you could pay as little as $23 to watch the tournament.

Save with Sling

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Sling TV

Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.

You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.

Save with Sling

$19.99+ / month

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Can you watch 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament for free?

Yes, you can watch the games on a number of streamers that offer a free trial. DIRECTV is one such service; DIRECTV’s streaming option comes with a five-day free trial for new subscribers. Its MySports package comes with ESPN and TNT, and starts at $70 per month after the trial ends.

Hulu + Live TV comes with a three-day free trial for all new customers. It, too comes with ESPN and TNT, and it also includes the Disney Bundle free in each plan starting at $83 per month.

YouTube TV comes with a free trial as well, but it lasts between two and 14 days, depending on what time of month you subscribe and other factors. Once the trial ends, YouTube TV starts at $83 per month.

What are all the services you can use to watch 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament?

There are four live TV streaming services you can use to watch all games from the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament. We’ve mentioned them all above: DIRECTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV. As discussed, Sling TV is our favorite of these options.

Fubo does not carry TNT, so while you can watch all games appearing on ESPN with this service, you’ll need a subscription to a Max ad-free plan alongside to see every game.

About 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament

The NBA’s Play-In Tournament was first established in 2020 as a way to make things more intriguing for fans and give teams more incentive to finish the season strong. It gives clubs who haven’t found a way to break into the top of the NBA standings a chance to make their mark in the postseason.

There are some big names trying to work their way into the NBA playoffs through the Play-In Tournament, such as Golden State’s Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Chicago’s Coby White, Atlanta’s Trae Young, and others. Not all of these teams will make it through, but those that do will get to see their seasons continue instead of having to clear out their lockers until fall.

How to watch 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament from anywhere

If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the games as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming service like Sling TV in order to stream the 2025 NBA Play-In Tournament with a VPN.

NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!

While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.

• Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
• Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
• Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available