Technologies

NBA Streaming 2022: How to Watch, Livestream All the Christmas Day Games

From NBA League Pass to ESPN, TNT and more, you can catch every game during the 2022-2023 NBA season without cable.

The NBA’s annual all-day Christmas Day marathon has arrived. Five games, starting with the Sixers and Knicks at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) and running through Suns and Nuggets at 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT). Whether you are looking to break away from the family or just relax and bond with some hoops, ABC and ESPN will have you covered. Here’s the full schedule for Christmas Day:

Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks, 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT) on ABC, ESPN and streaming on ESPN Plus
Los Angeles Lakers at Dallas Mavericks, 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT) on ABC and ESPN
Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Celtics, 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT) on ABC and ESPN
Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on ABC and ESPN
Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets, 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT) on ABC and ESPN

While all of these games should be easy to find even if you don’t have cable (thanks to the simulcast across both ABC and ESPN), watching and streaming the NBA is a bit more complicated the rest of the year.

Here is everything you need to know about watching and streaming the NBA this season with or without cable.

What you need to know about watching and streaming the NBA

NBA fans looking to follow the drama and stream their team’s games throughout the year will need access to a few channels to catch every second of game time. In addition to your regular regional sports network, you’ll also need ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV for nationally televised contests.

All out-of-market games will continue to air on NBA League Pass, which is a great choice if you follow a team in a different city from where you live. This year the service even got a price cut that brings the starting price for the full season (with the NBA TV channel included) down to $100. The NBA has also worked on revamping its NBA app for phones, tablets and TVs to stream games closer to real-time and cable feeds this year.

With the season in full swing, the price for regular League Pass has dropped to $70 for the remainder of the season while League Pass Premium (which allows two streams at once) is now $90.

It’s important to note that local fans aren’t able to watch their team play on League Pass, as broadcasts of these contests air exclusively on regional sports networks. National games — including playoff games on ABC, ESPN and TNT — are similarly blacked out.

While you absolutely don’t need cable to watch basketball this year, it still might be the easiest and cheapest choice depending on where you live.

Live TV streaming services vs. cable

Die-hard sports fans are beholden to regional sports networks, or RSNs, that carry the majority of the games for their local team. These RSNs are usually included in local cable packages, so most cable subscribers never have to worry about gaining access to the broadcasts on these channels: They can simply turn on the TV and watch the game.

Cord-cutting basketball fans have a tougher path. Because of rights agreements, most live TV streaming services like YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV don’t carry many RSNs. DirecTV Stream is the exception. It has nearly every RSN, particularly the Bally Sports channels (formerly Fox Sports) offered by Sinclair, but you’ll need to spring for its $90-a-month Choice plan.

Ultimately, depending on your location, getting a cable subscription that includes ESPN, TNT and the local RSN might actually be cheaper and easier than streaming — especially if it’s bundled with the home internet you’ll likely be getting anyway.

NBA League Pass, NBA TV and blackouts

For NBA fans looking to watch a ton of out-of-market basketball, a subscription to NBA League Pass has a lot to offer. You can get the whole NBA slate for $70 for the remainder of the season, with commercials and one device, or $90 for the season with in-arena feeds instead of commercials, and the ability to watch on two devices at once. Those interested in following only a single team can buy a Team Pass for $60 for the remainder of the season.

The catch here is «out-of-market.» Most fans are in-market, meaning they follow the local team, and unfortunately for them RSNs have broadcast exclusivity in the region that they cover. That means local NBA games are blacked out on NBA League Pass.

If you’re living in Los Angeles, for example, you won’t be able to watch Lakers or Clippers games on NBA League Pass. The same goes for Knicks or Nets fans in New York, Bucks fans in Milwaukee and so on. The only way to watch most of those home team games in your home market is to get a service that has the local RSN, namely Spectrum SportsNet, Bally Sports SoCal, MSG Network, YES Network or Bally Sports Wisconsin.

Services like NBA League Pass use IP addresses to block out games in viewers’ regions — you’ll just get a black screen or message telling you it’s unavailable if you try to watch those games. That’s why League Pass is ideal for those who want to follow one or more of the teams based in cities other than their own, aka out-of-market teams, but for local fans it’s not as useful.

Some RSNs, particularly some Bally Sports networks, will allow you to pay for their channel without signing up for cable.

Bally Sports Plus: Best local alternative, if your team is included

Bally Sports Plus launched in September and offers users in its coverage area a way to stream Bally Sports channels without cable. The service costs $20 a month or $190 a year for your local Bally Sports channel, including NBA and NHL games (plus MLB games in certain areas). In markets where you normally have two different Bally Sports channels, you can choose to only buy one, or you can bundle them together for $30 a month.

Bally Sports Plus uses your billing ZIP code to determine which channels are available to you, though you’ll be able to log into your channels from anywhere in the country.

DirecTV Stream: Simplest for fans of the local team at $90 for Choice package

For those determined to watch their local basketball team without a cable or satellite TV subscription, a live TV streaming service is the best bet. While it is pricey, DirecTV Stream is the best option for most people, particularly those where the local games air on Bally Sports networks.

DirecTV requires its $90-per-month Choice package to get RSNs, though this option also includes ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBA TV, so you should be all set for basketball. If you live in a Ballys area, you could pair a Bally Sports Plus package with something like YouTube TV and save a few bucks per month.

It’s worth noting that the Choice package will be increasing by $10 and will cost $100 per month starting in January.

YouTube TV similarly includes all the major national channels and normally runs $65 per month, while Ballys — as mentioned above — generally runs $20 to $30 per month depending on your area. While in some cases this will be $5 per month cheaper than DirecTV, you will need to switch between different apps to stream everything.

Below is a chart of all of the NBA teams in the US and their corresponding RSNs.

Note: None of the (US-based) services carry the RSN for the Toronto Raptors. Fans in the US looking to watch Pascal Siakam and co. need to use NBA League Pass to get all the games that are not either on your local RSN or on a US national broadcast.

Some key takeaways:

The RSNs above are typically only available to local subscribers. Refer to the individual service’s details below to find out if you live in a place where you can receive a particular RSN.
DirecTV Stream’s $90-a-month Choice package includes NBA TV and all of the RSNs for basketball, with the exception of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Sixers fans hoping to watch Joel Embiid pulverize the competition will have to look elsewhere.
They could jump over to FuboTV, Hulu Plus Live TV or YouTube TV, which all carry NBC Sports Philadelphia, but fans of other teams will mostly be out of luck. FuboTV only offers 10 RSNs for basketball, while Hulu Plus Live TV and YouTube TV only have six. Sling TV doesn’t offer a single RSN.

One other note: If you don’t recognize the name of some of these channels, don’t worry. What were formerly Fox Sports RSNs have been rebranded as Bally Sports, because the channels are no longer owned by Fox but Sinclair, which partnered with casino group Bally’s to rename them.

Best options for nationally broadcast games

Aside from DirecTV Stream, the odds are long that a live TV streaming service carries the RSN for your local team’s games, which makes the other four services better bets for watching nationally televised games.

Each live TV streaming service offers a free trial, allows you to cancel anytime and requires a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.

Looking for a deal on your next movie night?

Compare prices or add promo codes to your next streaming service subscription with a single click when using the CNET Shopping extension.

Technologies

iPhone 17 Preorders Spike and Overall Phone Sales Aren’t Slowing Down Despite Tariffs

Global smartphone shipments saw a notable increase in the third quarter of 2025. Plus, preorders for Apple’s new iPhone 17 beat out the iPhone 16.

Despite tariffs and market uncertainty, global smartphone shipments increased 2.6% in the third quarter of 2025, compared to the same time last year, according to the International Data Corporation. Additionally, preorders for the iPhone 17, which launched last month, outpaced last year’s iPhone 16.

These increased sales include premium phones like the latest iPhones and Samsung foldables, suggesting yet again that pricier phones still sell in periods of economic strain. It’s a remarkable achievement, says IDC senior research director Nabila Popal, citing shrewd financing options as the reason people keep buying these high-end phones, which cost anywhere from $800 to nearly $2,000.

«[Phone makers] have mastered the art of innovation not only in hardware and software to entice upgrades but also in removing purchase friction. They have flawlessly combined cutting-edge devices with innovative financing models and aggressive trade-in programs that make the upgrading decision a ‘no-brainer’ for consumers,» Popal said in an IDC press release.

Apple sold 58.6 million iPhones this quarter, an increase of 2.9% over the same period in 2024, with more preorders for the iPhone 17 series than its predecessor. But Samsung wasn’t far behind, with its Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 selling better than all of the company’s prior foldables. The company still reigns atop the phone market with 61.4 million phones sold, representing 19% of the market in the third quarter of this year — an increase of 6.3% from the same period last year. Meanwhile, Apple lands slightly behind Samsung with 18.2% market share this quarter.

The other phone makers trailing Apple and Samsung are, in order: Xiaomi, with 13.5% of the market; Transsion, with 9%; and Vivo with 8.9%. The remaining companies in the phones industry, from Chinese stalwarts like Oppo and Honor to Motorola and Google, make up the remaining 31.4% of the market for the quarter. All told, 322.7 million phones were sold, up from 314.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, according to IDC.

IDC’s findings for the third quarter continue the small but steady growth of phone sales over the year, including a modest 1% increase in the preceding three months — which includes the April deadline when President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs. In the second quarter, IDC cited midrange devices like Samsung’s Galaxy A36 and other phones that started incorporating AI. But even persistent tariffs haven’t slowed down people’s appetites for pricier phones in the third quarter.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, Oct. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword has an odd vertical shape, with an extra Across clue, and only four Down clues. The clues are not terribly difficult, but one or two could be tricky. Read on if you need the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.