Two more teams can punch their tickets into the second round of the NBA playoffs on Tuesday, April 28 as a trio of Game 5s highlight the postseason schedule.
And it’s both the No. 2 seeds in each conference – the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs, eying series wins. They’ll look to join the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, who became the first team to win their first-round series after sweeping the Phoenix Suns on Monday, April 27.
Up first is the Celtics, who have a 3-1 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers as they return home after winning consecutive road games. A series win would propel the Celtics to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the fifth straight season.
Like Boston, the Spurs followed up a Game 2 home loss with back-to-back road victories to take a 3-1 series lead over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Sparked by the return of NBA Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama, who missed Game 3 with a concussion, San Antonio rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to eventually overwhelm the Trail Blazers in a 21-point Game 4 victory. Now, the Spurs return home, looking to win their first playoff series in nine years.
Also on April 28, the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks will play in an Eastern Conference Game 5 in a series that’s knotted at 2-2.
Here’s what to know about the NBA playoff schedule on April 28, including start times, where to watch, an updated bracket and scores:
What NBA games are on tonight? NBA playoff games start times
Three Game 5s are on the NBA playoff schedule on April 28:
Times are Central
What channel are the NBA playoffs on? Where to watch the NBA games today on TV, stream
ESPN and NBC are the broadcast channels for the games. ESPN, which can be streamed on Fubo, has a doubleheader, starting with the Philadelphia 76ers against the Boston Celtics for Game 5 in the Eastern Conference, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference.
The Atlanta Hawks-New York Knicks Game 5 will air on NBC and stream on Peacock.
Here’s where to watch the NBA playoff games on April 28:
Stream the NBA playoffs on Peacock
Stream ESPN on Fubo
NBA playoff bracket
Here’s the 2026 NBA playoff bracket (all series are best-of-seven) and the status of each series heading into games on April 28:
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
NBA playoff series, schedule
Eastern Conference
Detroit Pistons (1) vs. Orlando Magic (8)
Boston Celtics (2) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (7)
New York Knicks (3) vs. Atlanta Hawks (6)
Cleveland Cavaliers (4) vs. Toronto Raptors (5)
Western Conference
Oklahoma City Thunder (1) vs. Phoenix Suns (8)
San Antonio Spurs (2) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (7)
Denver Nuggets (3) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (6)
Los Angeles Lakers (4) vs. Houston Rockets (5)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: NBA playoff TV schedule tonight, start times, where to watch games
Reporting by Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
