NBA Eastern Conference Finals streaming guide: TV schedule, best free live stream options (2024)

The most intense moment of this year’s postseason has arrived with the Boston Celtics facing the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2024 NBA playoffs starting today. If you don’t have cable already, we’ve outlined the best way hoops fans can watch the conference finals and more playoff games for free. Here are the best options for streaming services with free trials or promotional deals for new customers looking to avoid paying for cable.

• You can watch nearly every game of the conference finals live for free with DirecTV Stream (free trial), or watch the rest of NBA playoffs and the NBA Finals on the cheap with our top pick: Sling (Just $15 for the first month).

Where can I watch 2024 Eastern Conference Finals games for free? What networks or TV channels are the NBA playoffs on?

This year’s conference finals will be split between two networks, which are ESPN/ABC and TNT (Turner Networks). All Eastern Conference Finals games will air on ESPN and ABC while all Western Conference Finals games will air simultaneously on TNT and TruTV. The winners of those series will advance to the NBA Finals, which will air exclusively on ABC beginning on June 6. You can find out more about which channels those networks are on in your area by using the channel finders here: Comcast Xfinity, DIRECTV, Dish, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice.

If you want to watch every NBA Finals game for free, you can get every game being broadcast locally on your ABC affiliate (channel finder above) with the help of an over-the-air HDTV antenna. If you need to get one now, a solid and well-rated HDTV antenna can be purchased for around $20 on Amazon and it ships quickly with Prime. If you don’t have a membership already, sign up for a Prime free trial. After you get the antenna set up on your TV, you can watch the NBA Finals, as well as any major events going forward that happen on channels like ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, The CW and more.

Where can I stream the NBA playoffs live for free without cable? Which service is best?

• The best option for watching the rest of the 2024 NBA playoffs is Sling (you’ll need to select the Sling “Orange” package), which will end up costing you just $15 to see every game. Sling is running a $25 off your first month promotional offer and has the cheapest overall streaming plans (normally $40/month). If you go this route, you will have to watch the 2024 NBA Finals in one of two ways. Either you will need to purchase an HDTV antennae if you don’t have one already, to get access to ABC through your local broadcast affiliate. Or, you can watch every NBA playoffs game being broadcast on ABC through the Watch ESPN app on your TV, phone or other streaming device. All playoff games broadcast on ABC -- including every NBA Finals game -- will be simulcast on ESPN3, which you can access with your Sling login information.

• DirecTV Stream is another great option for a streaming service that you can try out for free before you decide to sign up for a full month, and it will have every game of the rest of the playoffs included within the “Entertainment” package ($79.99/month after the free trial expires). However, it is considerably more expensive than Sling. DirecTV Stream has a five-day free trial and is great option if you just want to try out a cord-cutting option before committing to a particular service. With this option, you can watch at least a few conference finals games for free and then decide if it’s worth paying for one month of access to watch the rest of the playoffs.

Our recommendation: Go with Sling. Even with the possible purchase of an HDTV antenna Sling is considerably cheaper than going with DirecTV Stream if you plan to purchase access to a streaming service for the rest of the NBA playoffs.

What is the 2024 NBA playoffs schedule of games?

The NBA playoffs began with Round 1 starting on Saturday, April 20 and the second round of action wrapped up on Sunday, May 19. Here’s a look at the complete schedule for the rest of the postseason.

Conference finals: The Eastern Conference Finals begin on Tuesday, May 21 and the Western Conference Finals begin on Wednesday, May 22. Here’s a look at the schedule for the East:

No. 1 seed Boston Celtics vs. No. 6 seed Indiana Pacers

• Game 1: Pacers at Celtics, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 21 (ESPN)
• Game 2: Pacers at Celtics, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 23 (ESPN)
• Game 3: Celtics at Pacers, 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 25 (ABC)
• Game 4: Celtics at Pacers, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Monday, May 27 (ESPN)
• *Game 5: Pacers at Celtics, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 29 (ESPN)
• *Game 6: Celtics at Pacers, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Friday, May 31 (ESPN)
• *Game 7: Pacers at Celtics on Sunday, 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 2 (ESPN)

*if necessary

The 2024 NBA Finals

The final series of these playoffs takes place starting on Monday, June 6. Here’s a look at the full schedule for NBA Finals games, which will all be broadcast live on ABC.

• Thursday, June 6: Game 1
• Sunday, June 9: Game 2
• Wednesday, June 12: Game 3
• Friday, June 14: Game 4
• Monday, June 17: Game 5 (if necessary)
• Thursday, June 20: Game 6 (if necessary)
• Sunday, June 23: Game 7 (if necessary)