The teams in each conference are ranked by their win-loss record from the regular season. The six teams with the most wins from each conference progress immediately to the playoffs. The seventh- to 10th-placed teams in each conference then play for the remaining four spots in a play-in tournament.

To catch every game of the NBA Playoffs and the NBA Finals, you'll need a TV package with ABC, ESPN, TNT, and NBA TV. Select matchups will also air on ESPN Deportes if you prefer Spanish-language commentary. Because NBA playoff games are nationally televised, NBA League Pass won't broadcast any playoff games live.

To watch out-of-market regular season games live, subscribe to the app's NBA League Pass and League Pass Premium tiers. If you have a pay TV subscription, you can stream regular season and playoff games live with the ESPN and Watch TNT apps.

As for the NBA Finals, ABC brought in an average of 11.64 million viewers -- a decrease from 2022, when a six-game series between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics averaged 12.402 million.

The first four playoff spots in each conference are awarded to the teams that finish with the best record in each division (North, South, East and West). The remaining six spots (three from the AFC and three from the NFC) are given to the teams with the best record who did not win their division.

The NBA play-in tournament is a second-chance event that makes teams that finish from seventh to 10th place in the standings compete for the final two spots in each conference. Teams that finish seventh and eighth get two chances to win a qualifying game.

You can watch ABC's NBA games for free if you get an OTA antenna. OTA antennas hook up to your TV and allow you to watch networks like ABC for free. You can also get a free streaming trial for services like DIRECTV STREAM and fuboTV.

NBA Playoffs Schedule: How to Stream Games Online League Pass lets subscribers access hundreds of live games and 24/7 access to news, highlights, studio shows and classic games from the archives starting at $14.99/month, however NBA Playoffs games typically air and stream on TNT, ESPN and ESPN platforms.

You can watch ABC's NBA playoff games for free with an OTA antenna. If you sign up for a streaming live TV service like DIRECTV STREAM, you'll be able to watch every NBA playoff game without cable.

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The championship-clinching Game 5 averaged 13.08 million viewers, up 1% vs. last year's Game 5, and peaked at 17.88 million viewers at 11 p.m. ET. Across all @NBA social media platforms, the 2023 NBA Playoffs garnered eight billion views, making it the most-viewed playoffs ever.

The highest rated and most watched NBA Finals series was the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz, which averaged an 18.7 rating / 33 share and 29.04 million viewers on NBC.