Technologies
NBA Play-In and Playoffs 2023: How to Watch, Stream Wednesday’s Games Without Cable
The NBA postseason tournament continues tonight on ESPN with two more play-in games.
The NBA postseason has begun. The play-in tournament got underway last night with teams looking to lock up a seventh seed in each conference. In the first play-in game, the Hawks beat the Heat and will now face the No. 2 seed Celtics in the Eastern Conference first round. There was more drama in the second game, with LeBron James leading the Lakers past the Timberwolves in overtime. The Lakers will now head to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies in the Western Conference first round.
The play-in games continue tonight. First up are the Bulls and Raptors. The winner will take on the Heat for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. In the night cap, the Thunder and Pelicans play for the chance to face the Timberwolves for the eighth seed in the West.
The NBA playoffs are off to a great start and should only get more exciting as they progress. Here’s everything you need to know about watching and streaming the NBA postseason with or without cable.


Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the New Orleans Pelicans tonight on ESPN.
Alex Goodlett/Getty ImagesWhat is the schedule for the play-in games?
The play-in game schedule is as follows (all times ET):
Wednesday, April 12:
- Chicago Bulls vs. Toronto Raptors, 7 p.m. on ESPN
- Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New Orleans Pelicans, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
Friday, April 14:
- Bulls/Raptors winner vs. Heat, 7 p.m. on TNT
- Thunder/Pelicans winner vs. Timberwolves, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
When do the NBA Playoffs start?
The NBA playoffs start on Saturday, April 15.
The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday, June 1. Game seven of the Finals, if necessary, will take place on Sunday, June 18.
What does the NBA playoff bracket look like?
What channels will broadcast playoff games?
The play-in games will air on TNT and ESPN. The NBA playoffs will air on TNT, ESPN, ABC and NBA TV.
This year TNT will have the Eastern Conference finals, while ESPN will take the lead on the Western Conference finals. The NBA Finals will air on ABC.
Best options for streaming the NBA playoffs
As all the games will be shown nationally, most of the major streaming TV services offer all the networks you’ll need for watching the NBA playoffs. That said, it can be a bit complicated.
Sling TV’s Orange plan includes ESPN and TNT. NBA TV is available as part of the Sports Extra add-on, which costs $11 a month. ABC, however, is only available in eight markets (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Fresno, Houston and Raleigh) and requires the Orange and Blue combo plan if you want ESPN too. That combo plan costs $65 per month in all of those cities except Fresno, Houston and Raleigh, where it costs $60.
Hulu Plus Live TV costs $70 a month and ESPN, ABC and TNT, but not NBA TV. Click the «View all channels in your area» link at the bottom of its welcome page to see which local networks are available where you live.
YouTube TV costs $73 a month and offers all the main basketball channels for the NBA playoffs, including NBA TV. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
FuboTV costs $75 per month for its Pro option and ABC, ESPN and NBA TV but not TNT. Check out which local networks it offers here.
DirecTV Stream is expensive. It’s the priciest of the five major live TV streaming services. Its cheapest, $65-a-month Entertainment package includes ESPN, ABC, and TNT. You’ll need to move up to the $85-a-month Choice plan to get NBA TV. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels and RSNs are available in your area.
It is worth noting that DirecTV has an additional $15 «advanced receiver service» fee that automatically applies and is extra from the sticker price, which makes the Entertainment package $80 per month and the Choice option $100 per month.
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.
Technologies
Ultrahuman Ring Pro Brings Better Battery Life, More Action and Analysis
The company’s new flagship smart ring stores more data, too. But that doesn’t really help Americans.
Sick of your smart ring’s battery not holding up? Ultrahuman’s new $479 Ring Pro smart ring, unveiled on Friday, offers up to 15 days of battery life on a single charge. The Ring Pro joins the company’s $349 Ring Air, which boosts health tracking, thanks to longer battery life, increased data storage, improved speed and accuracy and a new heart-rate sensing architecture. The ring works in conjunction with the latest Pro charging case.
Ultrahuman also launched its Jade AI, which can act as an agent based on analysis of current and historical health data. Jade can synthesize data from across the company’s products and is compatible with its Rings.
«With industry-leading hardware paired with Jade biointelligence AI, users can now take real-time actionable interventions towards their health than ever before,» said Mohit Kumar, CEO of Ultrahuman.
No US sales
That hardware isn’t available in the US, though, thanks to the ongoing ban on Ultrahuman’s Rings sales here, stemming from a patent dispute with its competitor, Oura Ring. It’s available for preorder now everywhere else and is slated to ship in March. Jade’s available globally.
Ultrahuman says the Ring Pro boosts battery life to about 15 days in Chill mode — up to 12 days in Turbo — compared to a maximum of six days for the Air. The Pro charger’s battery stores enough for another 45 days, which you top off with Qi-compatible wireless charging. In addition, the case incorporates locator technology via the app and a speaker, as well as usability features such as haptic notifications and a power LED.
The ring can also retain up to 250 days of data versus less than a week for the cheaper model. Ultrahuman redesigned the heart-rate sensor for better signal quality. An upgraded processor improves the accuracy of the local machine learning and overall speed.
It’s offered in gold, silver, black and titanium finishes, with available sizes ranging from 5 to 14.
Jade’s Deep Research Mode is the cross-ecosystem analysis feature, which aggregates data from Ring and Blood Vision and the company’s subscription services, Home and M1 CGM, to provide historical trends, offer current recommendations and flag potential issues, as well as trigger activities such as A-fib detection. Ultrahuman plans to expand its capabilities to include health-adjacent activities, such as ordering food.
Some new apps are also available for the company’s PowerPlug add-on platform, including capabilities such as tracking GLP-1 effects, snoring and respiratory analysis and migraine management tools.
Technologies
The FCC Just Approved Charter’s $34.5B Cox Purchase. Here’s What It Means for 37M Customers
Technologies
Spotify Expands Into Audiobook Rankings With Weekly Charts
The feature is available to both free users and Premium subscribers. Wuthering Heights is reaching the heights on both the US and UK charts.
If you’re a Spotify user, you may be familiar with features like the year-end summary Wrapped, as well as your daily usage stats. Now, the service has a new popularity chart tracking audiobooks.
Spotify’s audiobook charts are now available to free and Premium users within the service’s Audiobooks hub. While only Premium users receive 15 hours of audiobook listening per month, the company offers a larger selection of titles you can buy.
US charts and UK charts are both available now.
Read more: Best Music Streaming Services for 2026
Spotify says that the audiobook charts will help customers discover new and popular titles in real time.
«As we’ve proven with Music and Podcasts Charts, when content is easier to access, discover, and enjoy, the demand grows,» said Duncan Bruce, Spotify’s director of audiobook partnerships and licensing, in a statement on Friday.
Spotify launched audiobooks in 2022, and has since added features such as the AI catchup tool Recaps and PageMatch, which lets you swap more easily between a printed book and the audio version.
Spotify Premium currently costs $13 a month and includes more than 100 million songs, as well as audiobooks. Spotify Premium is currently CNET’s Editors’ Choice for best music streaming service.
The current US audiobooks chart lists Emily Brontë’s romantic classic Wuthering Heights as the top listen, followed by James Clear’s self-help book Atomic Habits and Freida McFadden’s psychological thriller The Housemaid. Audiobook popularity is also broken down by genre, with charts for romance, mystery and thriller books, self-help, science fiction and fantasy, biography and memoir, business and careers, teen and young adult, religion and spirituality, history, and parenting and relationships.
Powered by its blockbuster movie adaptation starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, Wuthering Heights also leads the overall chart for the UK.
-
Technologies3 года agoTech Companies Need to Be Held Accountable for Security, Experts Say
-
Technologies3 года agoBest Handheld Game Console in 2023
-
Technologies3 года agoTighten Up Your VR Game With the Best Head Straps for Quest 2
-
Technologies4 года agoBlack Friday 2021: The best deals on TVs, headphones, kitchenware, and more
-
Technologies5 лет agoGoogle to require vaccinations as Silicon Valley rethinks return-to-office policies
-
Technologies5 лет agoVerum, Wickr and Threema: next generation secured messengers
-
Technologies4 года agoOlivia Harlan Dekker for Verum Messenger
-
Technologies4 года agoiPhone 13 event: How to watch Apple’s big announcement tomorrow
