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How to watch the NBA conference finals: Full schedule, livestream options, more
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The NBA conference finals are here, promising tense matchups from teams hungry for an NBA championship. If you’ve cut the cable cord — or are considering it — subscribing to an affordable live TV streaming platform offering the channels you need to watch your favorite sporting events live is priority No. 1.
We’d like to think of ourselves as streaming platform savants, well-versed in the best streaming platforms available. When it comes to watching the 2024 NBA conference finals, we’re saying yes to Sling TV. The live TV streaming platform offers all the channels we need to watch the NBA conference finals at a surprisingly affordable price, especially compared with cable TV. And when the NBA conference finals are over, we’ll be able to watch the NBA Finals, NHL, baseball, hockey, NASCAR and many NFL games next season, plus our favorite network and cable TV-aired programs — all on one platform.
Sling TV is a slam dunk for NBA fans who want to watch all the terrific basketball being played in the postseason without wasting money on a hefty monthly cable bill. Tap the button below to sign up now, or read on to learn more about watching the 2024 NBA conference finals on Sling TV.
How and when to watch the 2024 NBA conference finals
The conference finals are scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 21, 2024 when the Indiana Pacers face the Boston Celtics for Game 1 of the teams’ playoffs series. This year’s conference finals will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC and TNT, and will stream live on Sling TV.
Sling TV is the best way to stream the 2024 NBA conference finals
If you don’t have cable TV that includes ESPN, TNT and ABC, one of the best and most cost-effective ways to stream the NBA conference finals is through a subscription to Sling TV. To watch every game of the conference finals you’ll need a subscription to the Orange + Blue tier plan, which gives you access to every channel airing the NBA conference finals, and the 2024 NBA Finals airing on ABC.
Sling’s Orange + Blue tier costs $60 per month, but the platform is currently offering 50% off the first month of any pricing tier, making the Orange + Blue tier $30 for the first month.
Top features of Sling TV Orange + Blue tier:
- Sling TV is our top choice to stream the NBA Playoffs.
- Sling TV is also our top choice to stream the NHL Playoffs.
- There are 46 channels to watch in total, including ABC, NBC and Fox (where available).
- You get access to NBA games airing on TNT (not available on some other streaming platforms).
- All subscription tiers include 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage.
When are the 2024 NBA conference finals?
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Conference finals schedule
The conference finals are scheduled to be begin on May 21, 2024. Below is the schedule for the NBA conference finals. All times Eastern.
Eastern Conference
(1) Boston vs. (6) Indiana
• Game 1: Pacers vs. Celtics, Tuesday, May 21 (8:00 ET, ESPN)
• Game 2: Pacers vs. Celtics, Thursday, May 23 (8:00 ET, ESPN)
• Game 3: Celtics vs. Pacers, Saturday, May 25 (8:30 ET, ABC)
• Game 4: Celtics vs. Pacers, Monday, May 27 (8:00 ET, ESPN)
• Game 5: Pacers vs. Celtics, Wednesday, May 29 (8:00 ET, ESPN)*
• Game 6: Celtics vs. Pacers, Friday, May 31 (8:00 ET, ESPN)*
• Game 7: Pacers vs. Celtics, Sunday, June 2 (8:00 ET, ESPN)*
* = if necessary
Western Conference
3) Minnesota vs. (5) Dallas
• Game 1: Mavericks vs. Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 22 (8:30 ET, TNT)
• Game 2: Mavericks vs. Timberwolves, Friday, May 24 (8:30 ET, TNT)
• Game 3: Timberwolves vs. Mavericks, Sunday, May 26 (8:00 ET, TNT)
• Game 4: Timberwolves vs. Mavericks, Tuesday, May 28 (8:30 ET, TNT)
• Game 5: Mavericks vs. Timberwolves, Thursday, May 30 (8:30 ET, TNT)*
• Game 6: Timberwolves vs. Mavericks, Saturday, June 1 (8:30 ET, TNT)*
• Game 7: Mavericks vs. Timberwolves, Monday, June 3 (8:30 ET, TNT)*
* = if necessary
NBA Finals schedule
The 2024 NBA Finals will begin June 6, airing on ABC and streaming on Sling TV.
- Sunday, June 9: Game 2
- Wednesday, June 12: Game 3
- Friday, June 14: Game 4
- Monday, June 17: Game 5 (if necessary)
- Thursday, June 20: Game 6 (if necessary)
- Sunday, June 23: Game 7 (if necessary)
Who’s playing in the 2024 NBA conference finals?
The Boston Celtics punched a ticket to their third straight appearance in the NBA Eastern Conference finals, after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games during the conference semifinals. They’ll face the Indiana Pacers, who ousted the New York Knicks in Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs.
In the West, the Dallas Mavericks will face the Minnesota Timberwolves, who upset the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the second round of of the playoffs.
While the Celtics team is no stranger to the conference finals, and the Mavericks made an appearance in the Western Conference finals in 2022, the Pacers were last seen in the conference finals in 2014 when they lost to the Miami Heat. But it’s the Timberwolves who have the most to celebrate just by getting this far. It’s been 20 years since Wolves fans saw their team in the Western Conference finals.
CBS News
In Trump 2020 election case, Jack Smith asks judge for time to determine “appropriate course”
Washington — Special counsel Jack Smith has asked the federal district court in Washington to forego current deadlines in the case against President-elect Donald Trump related to the 2020 election to allow prosecutors more time to assess the “unprecedented circumstance” arising out of his election Tuesday to serve a second term in the White House.
Smith told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in a one-paragraph filing that his office would like additional time to “determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.” He said prosecutors will provide more information to the court by Dec. 2.
Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the White House on Tuesday and will be sworn-in for a second term on Jan. 20. As a result of Trump’s victory, the Justice Department and special counsel’s office are discussing how to wind down the ongoing federal prosecutions against Trump.
The Justice Department has a longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Citing the outcome of the election and Trump’s upcoming inauguration, Smith told the court that the deadlines in the pretrial schedule set by Chutkan should be tossed out “to afford the government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance.”
Trump is facing four federal charges in the case arising out of what Smith alleges was an unlawful scheme to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election. He pleaded not guilty and has denied wrongdoing.
Proceedings in the case were halted for months as Trump pursued claims that he was immune from federal prosecution all the way up to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled in July that former presidents cannot face charges arising from official actions taken while in the White House.
The case returned to Chutkan in August, and a grand jury returned a new indictment against Trump that narrowed the allegations against him to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. The two sides have been arguing in court papers about whether the new charges can stand.
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More than 40 monkeys escaped from a research facility in South Carolina on Wednesday, prompting warnings for nearby residents to secure their doors and windows. The fugitive monkeys had not been captured as of Friday morning.
Here is what we know so far:
Where exactly did the monkeys escape in South Carolina?
The primates broke loose from Alpha Genesis in Yemassee, Beaufort County in South Carolina.
The company confirmed 43 rhesus macaque primates escaped from an enclosure at one of the company’s facilities.
The Yemassee Police Department said on Thursday that traps with bait were set up and thermal imaging cameras were being used in an effort to capture the monkeys.
“Residents are strongly advised to keep doors and windows secured to prevent these animals from entering homes,” police said. “If you spot any of the escaped animals, please contact 911 immediately and refrain from approaching them.”
How did the monkeys escape the research facility?
Greg Westergaard, CEO of Alpha Genesis, told CBS News on Thursday that a caretaker inadvertently failed to secure a door at the enclosure, allowing the monkeys to roam free.
“It’s really like follow-the-leader. You see one go and the others go,” he said. “It was a group of 50 and 7 stayed behind and 43 bolted out the door.”
He told CBS News on Friday that while they have not captured any of the monkeys, they are staying close to the facility.
“They’re just being goofy monkeys jumping back and forth playing with each other,” he said. “It’s kind of like a playground situation here.”
Westergaard said the company has put out baited traps but the monkeys are not going inside them yet.
“They’re jumping down and taking the food and then jumping back up on the fence and the tree line,” he added. “They’re watching us the same way we’re watching them.”
He acknowledged that it would be a long process to get them back and that they didn’t want to chase the monkeys because that would spook them and make them run away.
“We’ve got them very close,” Westergaard said. “This is all like what we want to see.”
What kind of monkeys are they?
The monkeys that escaped are rhesus macaque primates, which have brown fur with red faces and ears. They have close-cropped hair on their heads, which accentuates their very expressive faces.
The rhesus macaques are Asian, Old World monkeys that are primarily found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia and China.
Md Rafayat Haque Khan/ Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Rhesus macaques were imported to the U.S. in the 1970s for biomedical research in laboratories, according to the New England Primate Conservancy.
Rhesus macaques are “bold, extremely curious, and adventurous monkeys” and the species is “highly adaptable to coexisting alongside humans,” the conservancy says.
The rhesus macaque’s typical diet includes roots, fruit, seeds, and bark as well as insects and small animals.
What were they using the monkeys to test?
According to its website, Alpha Gensis breeds monkeys and provides “nonhuman primate products and bio-research services” across the globe. The company’s clinical trials reportedly include research on progressive brain disorders.
Local authorities said Thursday that the escaped primates were “very young females weighing approximately 6-7 lbs” and had never been used for testing due to their age.
Alpha Genesis says its staff of veterinary technicians and animal specialists work with cynomolgous, rhesus and capuchin monkeys.
The Post and Courier newspaper reported last year that Alpha Genesis won a federal contract to oversee a colony of 3,500 rhesus monkeys on South Carolina’s Morgan Island, known as “Monkey Island.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed in a statement that the monkeys were previously living on Morgan Island as “free-range monkeys” and were brought to the Alpha Genesis facility “for conditioning to be around people.”
The facility is registered with the CDC as a nonhuman primates importer, which means it “must meet standards for the importation, quarantine, and use of NHPs,” the agency said.
The CDC added that “the risk to the public is low as long as people do not approach or come in contact” with the monkeys.
How often do research monkeys escape?
This is not the first time primates have escaped from Alpha Genesis.
Eight years ago, 19 primates escaped from the company’s facility but were recaptured about six hours later.
CBS affiliate WCSC in Charleston at the time reported that local officials said the escapes were not infrequent but generally the monkeys return to the compound because they know that is where there is food.
“Every couple of years we’ll have one or two that get out. We have never had this many get out,” Westergaard told CBS News on Friday.
Last year in Pennsylvania, dozens of lab monkeys escaped after a truck carrying 100 of the animals crashed. All the primates were later accounted for.
