Technologies
NBA Playoffs 2023: Schedule, How to Watch Lakers vs. Grizzlies, Clippers vs. Suns Today Without Cable
The first round continues on Sunday with four more games on ABC and TNT.

It’s a good day to be a basketball fan. With the play-in tournament behind us, Sunday continues the playoff basketball fun with four more first-round contests. Sixteen of the league’s best teams square off this weekend, beginning a month-and-a-half of games to determine who meets in the NBA Finals in June.
Saturday saw the home team win three of the four contests, with only the Knicks providing a road victory as they held off the Cavaliers in Cleveland. Sunday’s road teams — the Lakers, Heat, Clippers and Timberwolves — will hope today is more favorable to visitors when they take on the Grizzlies, Bucks, Suns and Nuggets, respectively.
The first game, the Lakers at the Grizzlies, kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. After that the action switches to TNT for the rest of the day.
Here’s everything you need to know about watching and live streaming today’s games, and the rest of the NBA postseason, with or without cable.
What is the NBA playoffs schedule?
Here is the schedule (and seeds) for the NBA playoffs over the next couple of days (all times ET). The highest seeds have home-court advantage in each best-of-seven series.
Sunday, April 16
- Los Angeles Lakers (7) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (2), 3 p.m. ET on ABC (Game 1)
- Miami Heat (8) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (1), 5:30 p.m. ET on TNT (Game 1)
- Los Angeles Clippers (5) vs. Phoenix Suns (4), 8 p.m. ET on TNT (Game 1)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (8) vs. Denver Nuggets (1) 10:30 p.m. ET on TNT (Game 1)
Monday, April 17
- Brooklyn Nets (6) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (3), 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT (Sixers lead series 1-0)
- Golden State Warriors (6) vs. Sacramento Kings (3), 10 p.m. ET on TNT (Kings lead series 1-0)
Tuesday, April 18
- Atlanta Hawks (7) vs. Boston Celtics (2), 7 p.m. ET on NBA TV (Celtics lead 1-0)
- New York Knicks (5) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (4), 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT (Knicks lead 1-0)
- Los Angeles Clippers (5) vs. Phoenix Suns (4), 10 p.m. ET on TNT (Game 2)
For the full playoff schedule check out NBA.com.


LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers continue their quest for another NBA title on Sunday.
Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty ImagesWhat does the NBA playoff bracket look like?
What channels will broadcast playoff games?
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
Everything We Know About the Star Wars: Starfighter Movie
Starring Ryan Gosling as a character new to the famed space franchise, Starfighter is set after Episode 9, The Rise of Skywalker.

There’s a new Star Wars movie coming, and with it a trip to a galaxy far, far away in a new time period. Star Wars: Starfighter is scheduled for a May 2027 release, starring Ryan Gosling (yes, Ken from the Barbie movie) as a brand new character for the franchise. We don’t know much about his role or the film yet, though director Shawn Levy revealed a bit last week during the Star Wars Celebration fan event in Japan.
«The movie is a new adventure. It’s new characters,» said Levy. «It takes place in a new period of time after the battle of Exegol, after Episode 9.»
Episode 9 refers to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which came out in 2019, and the planet Exegol was the site of a battle during the war between the First Order and the Resistance.
No one was surprised to see plans for a new Star Wars movie, given how the franchise has drastically expanded since Disney bought the franchise’s parent company, Lucasfilm, in 2012.
Fans ready for a standalone Star Wars film
The new film has excited superfans like Jimmy «Mac» McInerney, host and producer of the Rebel Force Radio: Star Wars Podcast.
«Superfans like me will be there for anything Star Wars, but I really hope Levy and Gosling will pack the appropriate punch to excite the masses,» McInerney told CNET. «I’m also very optimistic that this will be a standalone story with a solid beginning, middle and end.»
The movie will be set around five years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and it won’t follow any of the main plot lines from past films. So it’s not a prequel or a sequel, it’s a new adventure.
Mclnerney thinks the standalone nature of Star Wars: Starfighter might be a good thing.
«Sometimes Star Wars gets crushed under the weight of its existing lore, so it’s nice to know this will be a self-contained adventure,» he said. «This could provide fandom with a nice palate cleanser following the divisive sequel trilogy and propel the franchise into the future.»
For now, you can find all the Star Wars content your heart desires on the streaming service Disney+.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 25, #418
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 418 for April 25.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
CNET writers love to cover skygazing, from eclipses to the northern lights to planetary smiley faces. If you love looking up at the stars, today’s Strands puzzle is for you. If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: It’s in the stars.
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Skygazing.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- LATE, RENT, DRIP, DAMN, ROSE, ROSES, PRESS, DIME, TAME, TAMED, RUNT, MACE, MACES, DENT, DENTS, CANE, TALL, CENT.
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- SWAN, CROSS, DIPPER, HUNTER, MAIDEN, CENTAUR
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is CONSTELLATIONS. To find it, start with the C that’s the first letter to the left on the top row (easy!), and wind across and down.
Toughest Strands puzzles
Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.
#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.
#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.
#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 25, #214
Here are the hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 214, for April 25.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
There are some funny names for basketball errors, and a few of them are in today’s Connections: Sports Edition. And yes, the NFL draft is still going on, so there’s one of those categories, too. Read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now after making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: On your mark, get set…
Green group hint: Whoops in hoops.
Blue group hint: Picked first.
Purple group hint: Opposite of «go.»
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Track and field events.
Green group: Basketball violations.
Blue group: Previous No. 1 NFL draft picks.
Purple group: ____ stop.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is track and field events. The four answers are 100 meters, decathlon, pole vault and steeplechase.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is basketball violations. The four answers are 5-second, backcourt, goaltending and traveling.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is previous No. 1 NFL draft picks. The four answers are Burrow, Fisher, Long and Luck.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ stop. The four answers are back, jump, pit and short.
Toughest Connections: Sports Edition categories
The Connections: Sports Edition puzzle can be tough, but it really depends on which sports you know the most about. My husband aces anything having to do with Formula 1, my best friend is a hockey buff, and I can answer any question about Minnesota teams.
That said, it’s hard to pick the toughest Connections categories, but here are some I found exceptionally mind-blowing recently.
#1: Series A Clubs, Jan. 11. Answers: Atalanta, Juventus, Lazio, Roma.
#2: WNBA MVPs, Jan. 21. Answers: Catchings, Delle Donne, Fowles and Stewart.
#3: Premier League team nicknames, Jan. 17. Answers: Bees, Cherries, Foxes and Hammers.
#4: Homophones of NBA player names, Jan. 26. Answers: Barns, Connect, Heart and Hero.
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