The New York Knicks couldn’t close the deal at the Garden in the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers Wednesday, blowing a 14-point lead in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
With 22 seconds left, Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith hit a 3-pointer, making what looked like a runaway victory minutes earlier a 2-point game.
Then, two-time NBA All-Star Tyrese Haliburton hit a long 2-pointer off the back of the rim at the buzzer — a shot he initially thought to be a game-winning 3-pointer — to tie the game 125-125. The Pacers eventually defeated the Knicks in overtime, 138-135.
The Knicks have a chance to tie the series 1-1 in Game 2 before hitting the road. The game starts at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) tonight at Madison Square Garden.
Here’s how to watch tonight’s game, for free.
How to watch New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers (Game 2) for free
You can stream tonight’s game live on the NBA’s YouTube livestream for free — but you’ll need a virtual private network, or VPN. The free stream is geolocked to India, which you can bypass with a VPN.
There are both free and paid VPNs you can use, but we recommend using ExpressVPN. It’s a transparent, easy-to-use service that works well with streaming. It’ll run you $13 a month.
Our top free VPN, Proton VPN, won’t be inundated with ads, but it also doesn’t let you choose your VPN location, which doesn’t make it ideal to catch tonight’s game.
How to use a VPN to stream tonight’s game for free
- Sign up for ExpressVPN or a similar service.
- Download the program or app to your phone or computer.
- Connect to a VPN server in India.
- Head to YouTube to watch the game.
If you don’t want to commit to the service without trying it, ExpressVPN and other services offer a free trial. So while you might be able to watch this game free of charge, you may have to pay for the next one.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you’ll get three months free and save 49%. That’s the equivalent of $6.67 a month.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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Other ways to stream NBA playoff games
You can tune into the NBA playoff games with a cable subscription, live TV streaming service or VPN. The games will air across ABC, ESPN and TNT.
You can sign up for YouTubeTV, Hulu Plus Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV or HBO Max.
YouTube TV costs $83 per month and has all three channels you’ll need to watch every game in the NBA playoffs.
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Max, recently renamed HBO Max (again), has a $17-a-month Standard plan that will show the TNT broadcasts for the NBA playoffs. You won’t get ABC or ESPN access, however.
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