NBA Under Fire Over Peacock Playoff Decision
The first round of the NBA playoffs will continue with four more games on Sunday.
The first two games of the day feature the No. 7 seed Philadelphia 76ers vs. the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics and the No. 8 seed Phoenix Suns vs. the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder. Both of these games will be broadcast nationally on ESPN/ABC.
The next two games, featuring the No. 8 seed Orlando Magic vs. the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons and the No. 7 seed Portland Trail Blazers vs. the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs, will be broadcast exclusively on Peacock.
This move comes as a result of the NBA's new multi-billion dollar media rights deal.
On Saturday, three of the four NBA playoff games were broadcast exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
The top-seeded Pistons begin their playoff journey against the Magic, and Victor Wembanyama makes his playoff debut as the Spurs host the Trail Blazers. pic.twitter.com/SS4OnHivei
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) April 19, 2026
Many NBA fans aren't happy with the decision to have these games on a paid subscription service.
"Tanking is a major problem in the NBA but I think having the most important games on Peacock/Prime is just as bad or worse..Fewer fans not able to watch the playoffs in social settings is NEVER a good thing," one wrote.
"The NBA will have playoff games on Peacock. Yeah they need to rethink that decision for next season," another said.
"Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Peacock getting major NBA/NFL games is going to kill sports bars," another added.
"It's still very dumb that for the @NBA we need ESPN for a game 1, Peacock for a Game 2, and then Prime for a Game 3. Like what dude?" another wrote.
The Magic and Pistons will tipoff on Peacock at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Trail Blazers and Spurs will tipoff at 9 p.m. ET.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Sports section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 10:18 AM.