Looking to book a spot in the East Finals for the fourth time in the last five years, the Boston Celtics host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 tonight. Though the C’s have lost twice at home this postseason, they still enter this one as heavy favorites, especially with Cleveland dealing with injuries to Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert.
Game 5 is tipping off very soon, at 7:00 p.m. ET, and will be televised nationally on TNT. But if you don’t have cable and are looking for ways to stream the NBA playoffs, we have a handful of different ways you can watch the Cavs vs Celtics live online.
If you’re only interested in watching a live stream of this single game, then you may want to check out some of the free-trial options in the next section. But if you plan on watching the rest of the NBA playoffs (games are spread across TNT, ESPN and ABC), then Sling TV is the absolute cheapest way to do that.
The “Sling Blue” channel package includes TNT, while “Sling Orange” comes with ESPN and ESPN3 (which simulcasts the ABC games). Getting both would normally cost $55 per month, but there’s currently a Sling TV deal that will get your first month for just $30, which is an insanely cheap way to watch every NBA playoff game.
Or, if you just want “Sling Blue” for tonight’s game and all of the TNT games, that’s only $15 for your first month.
Both YouTube TV (“Base Plan”) and DirecTV Stream (“Entertainment” channel package or above) include TNT, and both come with a free five-day trial.
These are the perfect options if you just want to watch the Cavs vs Celtics Game 5 (and the next four days of games, as ABC and ESPN are also included), but if you want to watch all of the playoffs, both options become more expensive than Sling after their free trials. YouTube TV is $58 per month for your first three months, while DirecTV Stream is $80 per month.
While Sling comes in as the cheapest way to watch every NBA playoff game, Max is the cheapest way to watch every TNT game, including the Celtics vs Cavs Game 5.
It’s just $10 per month for a subscription to Max, and that’s all you need to watch any NBA (or NHL) playoff game that’s televised on TNT (or TBS or truTV). Technically the games are part of the B/R Sports add-on, which will eventually be an additional $10 per month, but that’s currently included for free.
If you aren’t in the United States, you can use a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to a digital server in the US (thus bypass any location restrictions) and watch the game via one of the aforementioned streaming services.
NordVPN would be our recommendation, as it tops our rankings of the best VPN services. It doesn’t come with a free trial, but it does have a 30-day money-back guarantee, which allows you to try it out risk-free.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.