NBA Playoffs 2026: How to Watch the Play-In Tournament Tonight


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It’s mid-April, and the NBA playoffs are starting right on schedule. While the playoff calendar hasn’t changed this year, the broadcast schedule has shifted for the 2026 NBA playoffs. 

My NBA consumption goes way up during the playoffs, increasing with each subsequent round. I rarely seek out a game to watch during the lengthy, 82-game regular season and wait for the playoff field to be set before I’m ready to sit down and watch a game from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer.

If you’re like me, and your NBA fandom subsists on game highlights, podcasts and catching the occasional second half, fourth quarter or (more likely) the final few minutes of an actual live game, then you’ll need to get yourself acquainted with the new NBA media landscape with the start of the playoffs. 

Under the NBA’s new media-rights deal, games this season were split across its three broadcast partners: Disney (ABC/ESPN), Comcast (NBC/Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video). And each of these three entities has a part of the playoffs.

Here’s what you need to know to watch the 2026 NBA playoffs in this new era, starting with the Play-in tournament that begins tonight.

LaMelo Ball #1 of the Charlotte Hornets reacts during the first half of a basketball game against the Detroit Pistons at Spectrum Center on February 09, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets are in action tonight against the Miami Heat in the NBA Play-in tournament on Prime Video.

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How to watch the NBA Play-in tournament

The play-in tournament begins with two games tonight followed by two more games tomorrow before concluding with two games on Friday. All six games will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime.

Here’s the Play-in tournament schedule. Each game will stream exclusively on Prime Video.

Tuesday, April 14

  • No. 10 Miami Heat at No. 9 Charlotte Hornets: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • No. 8 Portland Trail Blazers at No. 7 Phoenix Suns: 10 p.m. ET

Wednesday, April 15

  • No. 8 Orlando Magic at No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • No. 10 Golden State Warriors at No. 9 LA Clippers: 10 p.m. ET

Friday, April 17

  • Eastern Conference 9/10 winner at 7/8 loser: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • Western Conference 9/10 winner at 7/8 loser: 10 p.m. ET

CNET

Prime Video will stream the six play-in tournament games this week. It will also have some first- and second-round games through May 17.

Prime Video is included with an Amazon Prime subscription for $15 a month or $139 a year. You can also subscribe only to Prime Video for $9 a month. Read our Prime Video review.

NBA playoff TV schedule

After the play-in games this week, the field of 16 is set for the first round of the NBA playoffs that begins on Saturday. 

The channel lineup needed for the NBA playoffs is different this year. Gone are games on TNT and NBA TV. Instead, you’ll need a TV subscription that has 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 first-round coverage. It will show up to 23 first-round games and 11 second-round games as well as the Western Conference Finals. Every one of its games will stream on Peacock and also be shown on either 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/CNET

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 have access to every NBA playoff game.

You can stream every NBA playoff broadcast with Peacock’s $11-a-month Premium plan. Read our Peacock review.

Zooey Liao/CNET

With ESPN Unlimited, you can watch every NBA playoff game that’s on ESPN or ABC. It will have coverage for every round of the playoffs, including the Eastern Conference Finals and 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

If you are already an Amazon Prime subscriber, then you just 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 major live TV streaming services — DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu Plus Live TV, Sling and YouTube TV — each carry ABC, NBC and ESPN, but I can find NBCSN only on YouTube TV’s channel listings. So, that’s the pick for the NBA playoffs if you don’t want to miss a game.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV costs $83 a month and includes ABC, ESPN, NBC and NBC Sports Network. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV’s welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area. There is a 10-day trial, and the first three months are discounted to $68 a month for new subscribers.

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.





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What are SCCM Discovery Methods?

SCCM is required to find gadgets before it can handle them. It’s not compulsory to find PCs, on the off chance that you physically install the customer, it will show up in the console and it tends to be executed properly. The issue is that on the off chance that you have a thousand PCs, it tends to be a particular interaction. By utilizing Active Directory System Discovery, every one of your PCs will appear in the console, from that point you can decide to install the customer utilizing different SCCM techniques. Obviously in the event that you require data about your client and gatherings, you have to design User and Group discovery, it’s the best way to acquire this data SCCM. 

Why SCCM discovery methods?

The discovery recognizes PC and client assets that you can handle utilizing Configuration Manager. It can likewise find the organization framework in your environment. Discovery makes a discovery data record (DDR) for each found item and stores this data in the SCCM data set. At the point when a resource is found the data about the asset is placed in a document that is alluded to as a DDR. DDRs are handled by site servers and get into the SCCM database. From that point they are repeated by database replication with all destinations. 

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Types of SCCM Discovery Methods

There are six types of Discovery Methods that can be arranged. Every one focuses on a particular item type (Computers, Groups, Users, Active Directory) : 

1. Active Directory System Discovery

Finds PCs in your association from indicated areas in Active Directory. To push the SCCM customer to the PCs, the resources should be found first. You can indicate to find just PCs which have signed on to the area in a given timeframe. This choice is valuable to avoid old PC accounts from Active Directory. You likewise have the choice to get custom Active Directory Attributes. This is helpful if your association stores custom data in AD.

  • Open the SCCM Console
  • Go to Administration / Hierarchy Configuration / Discovery Methods
  • Right-Click Active Directory System Discovery and choose Properties

Active Directory System Discovery

  • You can enable the method by analysing Enable Active Directory System Discovery on the General tab.
  • Click the Star icon shown and choose the Active Directory container which you need to incorporate in the discovery process.

Active Directory container

  • Choose the frequency on which you require the discovery to occur on the Poling Schedule tab.
  • A 7 day cycle with a 5 minutes delta interval is usually applicable in most conditions.

Poling Schedule tab

  • You can choose custom ascribes to incorporate during discovery on the Active Directory Attribute tab. 
  • This is helpful on the off chance that you have custom information in the Active Directory that you need to use in SCCM. 

Active Directory Attribute

  • You can choose to find just records which have logged or refreshed their passwords since a particular number of days, on the Options tab. 
  • This is valuable if your Active Directory isn’t perfect. Utilize this to find great records.

Options tab

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2. SCCM Active Directory Group Discovery

Discovers groups from indicated areas in Active Directory. The discovery cycle finds local, worldwide or general security gatherings. At the point when you arrange the Group discovery you have the alternative to find the participation of distribution teams. With the Active Directory Group Discovery you can likewise find the PCs that have signed in to the space in a given timeframe. When found, you can utilize data for example, to make organization dependent on Active Directory groups. Be cautious while arranging this strategy : If you find a group that includes a PC object that isn’t found in Active Directory System Discovery, the PC will be found. On the off chance that automatic customer push is empowered, this could prompt undesirable customers PCs. 

To find resources utilising this methods :

  • Open the SCCM Console
  • Go to Hierarchy Configuration /Administration / Discovery Methods
  • Right-Click Active Directory Group Discovery and choose Properties.

 Discovery Methods

  • You can enable the method by analysing Enable Active Directory Group Discovery on the General tab.
  • Click on the Add button on the bottom to include a particular location or a specific group.
  • If you discover a group which includes a computer object which is NOT discovered in Active Directory System Discovery, the computer would be discovered.

General tab

  • Choose the frequency on which you require the discovery to occur on the Poling Schedule tab.
  • A 7 day cycle with a 5 minutes delta interval is usually applicable in most conditions.

 Poling Schedule tab

  • You can choose to find just records which have logged or refreshed their passwords since a particular number of days, on the Options tab. 
  • This is valuable if your Active Directory isn’t perfect. Utilize this to find great records.

the Options tab

3. Configuration Manager Active Directory User Discovery

Discovery process finds client accounts from determined areas in Active Directory. You additionally have the choice to bring custom Active Directory Attributes. This is valuable if your association stores custom data in AD about your clients. When found, you can utilize group data for instance to make client based arrangements. 

To find resources using this methods :

  • Open the SCCM Console
  • Go to Administration / Hierarchy Configuration / Discovery Methods
  • Right-Click Active Directory User Discovery and Choose Properties

Configuration Manager Active Directory User Discovery

  • You can enable the method by analysing Enable Active Directory User Discovery on the General tab.
  • Select the Star icon and choose the Active Directory container which you need to include in the discovery process.

Active Directory User Discovery

  • Choose the frequency on which you require the discovery to occur on the Poling Schedule tab.
  • A 7 day cycle with a 5 minutes delta interval is usually applicable in most conditions.

Enable Active Directory User Discovery

  • You can choose custom attributes to incorporate during discovery on the Active Directory Attribute tab.
  • It is useful if you have custom data in Active Directory which you need to utilise in SCCM.

delta interval

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4. Active Directory Forest Discovery

Finds Active Directory subnets and sites, and makes Configuration Manager limits for each site and subnet from the forests that have been arranged for revelation. Utilizing this discovery strategy you can naturally make the Active Directory or IP subnet limits which are inside the discovered Active Directory Forests. It is valuable in the event that you have various AD Site and Subnet, rather than making them manually, utilize this technique to do the work for you. 

To find assets utilizing this methods :

  • Open the SCCM Console
  • Go to Administration / Hierarchy Configuration / Discovery Methods
  • Right-Click Active Directory Forest Discovery and select Properties

custom attributes to incorporate

  • You can enable the method by analysing Enable Active Directory Forest Discovery on the General tab.
  • Choose the required options

Active Directory Forest Discovery

5. Heartbeat Discovery

HeartBeat Discovery operates on each customer and to refresh their discovery records in the database. The records (Discovery Data Records) are shipped off the Management Point in a determined span of time. Heartbeat Discovery can drive disclosure of a PC as another resource record, or could also repopulate the information record of a PC which was erased from the database. 

HeartBeat Discovery is empowered and planned to execute each 7 days. To find resources utilizing this strategies : 

  • Open the SCCM Console
  • Move to Hierarchy Configuration /  Administration / Discovery Methods
  • Right click the Heartbeat Discovery and choose Properties

Heartbeat Discovery

  • You can enable the technique by analysing Enable Heartbeat Discovery on the General tab.
  • Ensure that this setting is empowered and that the timetable operates less much of the time than the Clear Install Flag maintenance task.

Install Flag maintenance task

6. Network Discovery

The Network Discovery scans your network framework for network gadgets which includes an IP address. It can look through the spaces, SNMP tools and DHCP servers to discover the resources. It likewise finds gadgets that probably won’t be located by other discovery strategies. This incorporates printers, bridges, and routers. 

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 Conclusion

Configuration Manager utilizes an assortment of discovery strategies to assemble resource data and every one of the discovery techniques accumulates data about various items. You ought to comprehend its accessible configurations and restrictions to proficiently utilize a discovery technique. Hope this article assists you in understanding more about SCCM discovery methods.

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