How to watch the Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors 2025 NBA Playoff series

The final series of the 2025 NBA Playoffs to get underway will feature the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets enter as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference while the Warriors are seeded seventh, having won their way in through the Play-In Tournament. The series will tip off on Sunday, April 20 at 9:30 p.m. ET in a game airing nationally on TNT and TBS; NBC Sports Bay Area and Space City Home Network will cover the game in their respective home markets. If you want to watch the game and the entire NBA playoffs, we recommend you do it with 50% off a subscription to Sling TV.

How to watch the Rockets vs. Warriors playoff series

• When: Sunday, April 20, 2025 at 9:30  p.m. ET
• TV: TNT and truTV nationally, NBC Sports Bay Area in California, and Space City Home Network in Texas
• Stream: Watch with 50% off a subscription to Sling TV
• From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.

Everything you need to know to stream Rockets vs. Warriors:

Rockets vs. Warriors 2025 playoff series broadcast schedule

While the first game of the series will air on TNT, the subsequent games in the series will take place across various channels and streaming services. Sling TV carries every one of the channels you will need to watch every game of the Rockets vs. Warriors series, so it remains our top recommendation. While Sling doesn’t carry ABC in every market across the country, it does offer ESPN3, which simulcasts every sporting event that airs on the Disney-owned broadcast channel.

However, the games that air on TNT and truTV will be available to stream on Max via the Bleacher Report Sports Add-On. The broadcasts will be free of charge for subscribers signed up for one of Max’s ad-free tiers, which start at $17 per month.

*=if necessary

Why we recommend Sling TV to watch Rockets vs. Warriors

Over the next two months, basketball fans will be in heaven as the best that the NBA has to offer battles for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. If you are a die-hard hoops-head who can’t miss a single minute of the postseason action, then Sling is the best streaming option for you. The streamer is the cheapest way to get national broadcast channels and the biggest cable networks, which will be especially important as Sling carries every network that will air the NBA playoffs.

Normally, Sling costs $46 per month, but you can currently get 50% off your first month of service, meaning that you can watch a month of NBA playoff action for as little as $23. Sling has two different base packages, Orange and Blue. You can subscribe to one or both. If you do opt to combine Orange and Blue it will run you $61 monthly — still substantially cheaper than the comparable live TV streaming services — but with the first-month deal, you can stream everything on both packages for just $30.50.

Every nationally broadcast NBA game in the regular and postseason will on ESPN, ABC, [NBA Network], TNT, or truTV so that means that there is no cheaper option to watch all of the hoops action than Sling TV.

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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Related: Get 50% off first month of Sling TV to watch the NBA playoffs!

Can you watch Rockets vs. Warriors for free?

If you are just looking for a streaming service to watch one specific game and nothing else, there are options available for you. DIRECTV, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, and YouTube TV all offer free trials, but they vary in length, so be wary. DIRECTV’s industry-leading trial runs for five days, while Hulu + Live TV’s is a solid three days.

Those are pretty straightforward, but when it comes to the sports-minded streamer Fubo, things can get a little complicated. As The Streamable’s expert David Satin discovered when signing up for the services, figuring out how long Fubo’s trial is — even as you are signing up — can be a bit difficult. Nonetheless, it will be at least one day, with the potential to be as many as seven, depending on a wide range of factors that Fubo does not share publicly.

The YouTube TV trial is said to be “up to two weeks,” but can be as short as two days. So it is difficult to ascertain what you are actually getting before you go through the signup process.

If you are looking to watch the game for free, I would recommend DIRECTV, because that streamer has the longest guaranteed free trial.

Check out a preview of Rockets vs. Warriors

How to watch Rockets vs. Warriors from anywhere

If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the game 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 like Sling TV in order to stream the Rockets vs. Warriors game 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